BensonHsu.com

previously the sileightymania.com journal.

Browsing Posts in Home Improvement

I went to Costco to buy another shelving unit… I’m slowly cleaning up and organizing my garage, but it always seems like my car gets the worst of it!

Finally replaced our smashed up cooktop with this new one.

Learned about Sears Outlet stores (awesome) and picked it up refurbished but still in the box for 380 vs MSRP 680.

Some cool stats about the new cooktop –

  • it’s stainless steel so that it won’t shatter like the last one
  • it has a one huge burner that outputs the gas flame at 14,200 BTUs (the largest burner on the previous stove only output around 9,000 BTUs)
  • Kenmore was listed by Consumer Reports as the 2nd best in terms of repairs
  • all 4 burner grill covers are even height, so that you can move pots and pans around the cooktop without having to first pick them up and risk spilling

D’OH!

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Our stove top broke yesterday… bummer.

Nice Office

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I’m not a fan of the way they split the house into 2, but I do enjoy this office and it’s view.

I was just keeping up with my local house listings as I do everyday, so that I can keep a eye on the housing market – old man homeowner stuff. If you’re interested in doing the same, I defined house listing criteria on redfin.com, and they e-mail me any new listings and updates on recent sales.

I came across this quaint little house….

Definitely looks like an older white couple lives here…

A glimpse behind the house piqued my interest. What’s that peaking out of that garage?

And then I found the Holy Grail of house modifications! As Nadine said “Oh, snap!”

Okay full on “garage” with a lift, shop tools, TV, and according to the listing, a bathroom.  This is what I need.  Plus maybe a bar and a hammock.

What started off as a one day paint job turned into a pretty big project.

We ended up:

  • painting the entire bathroom
  • stripping the old 5 layers of paint off of the vanity (the wood thing underneath the counter top) and then sanding it down
  • painting the vanity
  • getting a new granite countertop
  • buying a new brushed aluminum faucet and matching fixtures
  • removing the old mirror that took up the entire wall and replacing with a nice framed mirror
  • Redoing the plumbing underneath the sink (it was all old and nasty)

It took us 2 weeks and we were barely able to finish it one hour before family came over for Elise’s birthday party.

This is how the bathroom looked when we moved in.

This is the bathroom after all of our hard work. New counter top, new sink, new knobs on the vanity, new faucet.

You can see our new mirror here

New shower curtain to match our new color theme of the room. Nadine framed some really great photos she's taken at various beaches.