You may already know that my house has pretty much ZERO yard space.  I’ve written about the trials and tribulations of a small yard, combined with living through the California drought and so it may come as no surprise that when I wanted to plant a spring garden this year, i had to do a little bit of thinking outside the box.

Did you know that the average lifespan of an heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system is 15-20 years? Many systems can (and often do) last much longer, especially with proper maintenance, but in the U.S. many homeowners choose to replace or upgrade their systems more frequently. If your system is older than 20 years, you may want to consider replacement, even if it is still in good working order.

This post has actually been more than 4 months in the making.  I started a lawn ‘makeover’ this past spring, when I believed our California drought ravaged our lawn was beyond salvation.  I thought it was going to be a fruitless last-ditch attempt to green up our lawn while following the mandatory state water restrictions, but I was stunned with what actually happened.  This past summer, while in one of the worst droughts on record, I was able to cut down my water usage by 60% and wound up with a greener, healthier lawn than we ever had.  

I finally decided to share the results with you when  Scotts® EveryDrop™  asked me to write a post educating people about the California drought crisis.  I know many homeowners have given up hope for saving their lawns.. but  I have been working on getting the perfect green lawn for more than 4 months, and have finally found success!  It is possible! 

If you are using toilets installed anytime in the last century (okay.. it sounds crazy when I say it that way.. but I mean “Pre-2000”) it is pretty likely that you are either using way more water than you have to, or are using outdated technology which conserves water but is not very efficient at flushing waste or frequently clogs.

The toilets in our house were 1988 monsters using almost 4 gallons per flush. (For perspective, todays standard of “low flow” is 1.28 gallons.) If you are using a toilet from the 70s, you could be using as much as seven gallons!  SEVEN GALLONS!!  That is the equivalent of flushing a modern toilet more than five times.  (Side note: if you are using toilet from the 70s.. it is probably pretty gross by now and you should change it anyhow!)

Today’s low-flow toilets are pretty amazing, considering that some of them use as little as 0.8 gallons of water and yet have astounding ability to flush a small pony down the drain (okay, maybe that is a slight exaggeration.. but they are much more powerful than their previous water saving counterparts.)

I’ve previously written about the pros of saving on your utility bills, and so this project was a no brainer.  And to make it even better, our utility district has a $50 rebate on any Water Sense toilet, so this project practically paid for itself.  (Most water districts do offer rebates, just check with your local company.)

In our upstairs bathrooms these are the toilets we had:

You can see how large the tank was in order to hold all the water.

It was just a huge WASTE even though they weren't in the most commonly used bathrooms.  I chose a new 1.28 gallon per flush American Standard model as a replacement.   I took a side by side photos with the new one (the ruler is for reference) to show you the difference in tank size when you covert to a water efficient model
You also will notice the tank is tapered, to give you more flushing power with less water.   Plus it takes up less space in your bathroom, which is never a bad thing right?

So how did I decide exactly which one was the best choice for me? 

When figuring out what kind of toilet you want to upgrade to, there are lots of things to keep in mind.

TOILET SELECTION:

Now that colder weather is moving in most of us will typically see an increase in home energy usage (and energy bills.)  These increases are typically the result of things like the increased cost of heat (either electric, oil or natural gas), increased electricity usage (with decreasing daylight), and increased water usage (more clothing layers means more laundry!)

So, today I’m partnering with PG&E to share some quick tips on how I make my home more efficient and take some of the sting out of those huge winter energy bills.  I have read a LOT of lists for ways to make my home more efficient, but today I'm going to share with you what I have PERSONALLY done to save money during the winter.  I don't want to recommend something I'm not willing to do myself.

If you need a little motivation to get more efficient, you can win one (of seven) $100 Home Depot Gift Cards by entering the #PEGhome Instagram Photo Challenge on PG&E’s Instagram page (now through November 23rd.)

Friday already? The days are just flying!  I’m still working on getting all my spring and Easter stuff up, but today I am taking a break to post the relatively dramatic change that happened in the kids’ bathroom (which also is the guest bathroom) with nothing much more than paint and a little lumber.

The full original reveal from 2011 can be seen here, and here is what it looks like today, more than 3 years later.

The first thing I did was take down the old brass sliding shower door and replaced it with a curtain (Full tutorial on that is a previous flashback Friday post)

We lived with the bathroom for a while like this until I couldn’t stand it for one more minute and decided it was time for a major (albeit cosmetic) overhaul.

I painted the walls (Martha Stewart’s Buckwheat Flour) and added a window treatment.  I didn’t want a color that was too dark, but I needed a lot more contrast between the molding and the walls.  Also, a quick tip: See how the curtain/valance is hung COMPLETELY above the window?  It makes the long thin window look taller and doesn’t block any of the much needed natural light.

The most dramatic difference was cutting down and framing the mirror (full tutorial here.)

When we first moved into this house, everything was brass.  I mean EVERYTHING.  Lighting fixtures, door hardware, medicine cabinets, switchplate covers.. If it could be brass, it was!

One of the first things I did, was rip out the brass sliding glass doors which were on the girls' bathtub.  Not only were they ugly golden brass, but it was a GIANT pain in the butt to bathe your kids in a tub with doors. 

First you need to remove the doors from the track, and then remove the three screws on each side of the track that hold it to the tub surround (or wall.)

The track may still be stuck down with caulk or liquid nails, so just keep prying it up until it pops off. 
Once your tracks are off, it will reveal another reason that sliding glass doors are NASTY:

That is all the crap that collected under the track.  Disgusting moldy crud.  Fortunately it only takes a little elbow grease and a razor blade to get rid of it.  (I did have to bleach some of the caulk to get the discoloration off.)

Once the doors were off, the brass fixtures were screaming to be replaced.  What should have been a straightforward project turned into a little bit of a nightmare because the valve which supports the shower handle would only accept Price Pfister faucets manufactured before 1994 (it was from the "09 series" in case you have one too!)

Therefore used an universal retro trim kit for the internal handle mounting hardware and splash guard along with the actual Price Pfister Pasadena handle, spout, and shower-head.
 (Since doing this project I have since learned that you can buy Pfister Retrofit Kits at the plumbing supply store or even Amazon which would make the retro trim kit unnecessary.  See how far I've come!?!)

Welcome to the first edition of Flashback Friday, where I feature old posts from my early days of DIY'ing and blogging!  You will have to excuse some of the photos, simplicity of projects and lack of decent tutorials.  I was just a baby blogger who was doing everything for the very first time.  
This bathroom was on the main level of the house, and was the bathroom that all the guests would use. I was embarrassed to have people use it.  The giant WOODEN towel bar (which was actually moldy) and fleshy colored ceramic tiles which looked straight out of a Chinese restaurant.

The vanity was orangey oak, which  had gotten water damaged over the years.  Here is a photo of it once I removed it, you can see exactly where it sat next to the tub. Gross.  Here is the full tour of the "before" from back in 2011.

My budget for this makeover (which was pretty much an entirely new bathroom except for floors, tub and toilet) was $1000.   The vast bulk of the money ($550) went to having the walls and tub surround professionally reglazed pure white(since there was NO SAVING that ugly tile.)

The previous remodeler had illegally spliced Romex wiring into the house's original knob and tube. It was a fire waiting to happen.  And they hadn't even put in a junction box, just hid the splice behind the cabinet.   NOT COOL!  I had to hire an electrician for that part of the project.
 For additional in-progress photos, and more detailed descriptions of what I did, visit this old post.


I would say it was a VERY VERY successful transformation, especially for a first time DIY'r!

It is finally here! The day I share with you my finished master bathroom renovation! This is the largest project I have ever tackled on my own, and I am really proud of it. It only took about 6 months and a little more than $5000 but I did it!  Single-handedly and while pregnant, I renovated my bathroom.
I installed the corner cabinet since I removed the ugly brass-trimmed medicine cabinet, I got the closet style I could find to the existing cabinetry.  I still have to add crown molding to the top of the cabinet.

The wall color is Mushroom Bisque from Behr and the ceilings are Frost from Kelly-Moore.


Plywood (for subfloor): $19.54 2x4s (for knee wall): $9.31 Roofing Paper: $11.71 Metal Mesh: $8.15 Mortar Mix: $12.06 Drain: $9.82 ABS plumbing glue: $3.07 Wood for blocking (salvaged from demo): $0 PVC shower liner (5 ft): $33.91 PVC liner adhesive: $5.93 PVC corner patches: $2.25 Silicone Caulk: $5.93 Cement board (5 sheets): $57.35 Mortar Mix: $21.63 Hardibacker Screws: $7.86

Cement board tape: $6.41

All Purpose Sand: $5.64

Portland Cement: $4.34

Mortar Mix: $12.06 Metal Mesh: $8.15 RedGuard: $44.62 3/4 inch roller cover: $3.77 Floor Grout: $8.47

Travertine 3x6 tiles (102 sq.ft. at $4.26): $314.96

Two 18-inch travertine tiles ($2.39/each)

2x2 Travertine (13 sq. ft. @$9.38/each): $121.94

Price Pfister Shower Retrofit Kit: $24.18

Price Pfister Shower Trim Kit: $47.51

511 Impregnantor: $32.27

Sanded grout: $27.10 Sanded caulk: $13.76 Glass door plus install: $1410.00

3/4 inch plywood: $24.27

Marble Slab (and Installation): $1404.60

Romex wire (25 feet): $11.67

6 inch HALO can light (I reused the old trim kit): $12.99

Junction boxes: $4.20

Romex wire clamp connecters: $1.49

Danze Roman Tub Rough In Valve Set: $66.97

Danze Roman Tub Trim Kit: $141.00

Danze Faucets ($80.97/each): $161.94

Water supply line: $4.87

Shut off valve: $7.63

ABS drain adapters ($1.48/each): $2.96

ABS angled junction pipe: $5.23

Cabinet Hardware: Free!

Towel Bars, TP holder, glass shelf: Free!

Wall Sconces: Free!

Wall Mirrors: ($35/each): $70.00

Corner Cabinet (plus trim): $1044.18

Cabinet Stain: $41.84

Wall paint: $31.98

Wall patching materials: $22.00

TOTAL RENOVATION COST: $5358.30

   I started demo on October 9th and I finished the entire project on January 15th.  It was a long project, but you have to take into account the holidays as well as having 2 kids underfoot and the fact I was pregnant and had morning sickness the entire time I was tiling.  I probably could have completed it in less than 1/4 of that time if I had set my mind to it. 

I hope this inspires someone to tackle that project you have been putting off and only dreaming of!  If I can do it, you can do it!