DIY Shelf With Hooks Reveal, We Lost A Tree, Carpeting Cleaning Choices? Garage Cleanup

DIY Shelf With Hooks Reveal-
I was going to finish our DIY Shelf With Hooks project in the last 2 weeks. I couldn't spray paint outside due to weather. It was 70 yesterday, with gusting winds to 45 mph. No outside spraying, so I switched to indoors. I have sprayed inside our garage with the side door and garage door open a bit. Warm and good ventilation. I spray on the bottom of an upside down laundry basket. Works great!

1st coat

I knew it would take several coats to really seal the wood since it was new wood. Going into a high traffic area I also wanted it to be durable! I did 2 coats and let sit overnight to cure. I did one more early today, after a light sanding, now it's all done! Thanks Dave!

Sumac on the left last week

We Lost A Tree-

After my husband's beloved Mother Bette passed away he planted to tree in honor of her. He wanted to plant a Sumac tree, since she'd had one. It's been here 11 years and has been healthy. What I didn't know was that they tend to lean. In a high wind area that might not have been the best choice. I wasn't aware of this. Today we had another high wind blowing thru and Dave found the tree on the ground when he went out to mow. There was no way to salvage it. He went ahead and was able to cut a major root with his sawz all and remove the tree-

Major trunk on the ground

The rest of the tree is in pieces in our garbage can. Sad. I'm trying to think of what to plant now that's a not a big tree? Maybe a large shrub, like a vine Maple. I am doing do some research now on what might be a smaller tree to plant. Maybe a small Oak tree? I could use this 5 Ways To Eat Acorns if I do! I also like the American Mountain Ash tree, very pretty-

From Online Tree Farm

Carpeting Cleaning Choices?

We had new carpeting installed in our 3 bedrooms about 7 years ago. While we wanted to do hardwood thru the entire house we couldn't afford it. We tore up all the old the household carpeting ourselves, and had the the bedrooms re-carpeted. We did a nice sage green. The living room and halls Dave and I re-floored with a nice Costco wood-look laminate. It still looks pretty good! We had our carpet shampooed about 18 months ago by a company that did a damp clean with soap, pads, and was a coupon deal. Looked good, at first. Later dirty track marks showed from the left over soapy reside :( Needing to be more deep cleaned this time I went online and checked Consumer Reports. You can join online for $5.00 per month, a great deal for a quick research project! I quickly rules out a rented machine, to much soap and wettness. For a deep cleaning we decided to go with Stanley Steamer after looking at CS. I like the no-chemical route, and it sucks up the leftover soap. Having asthma and allergies, removing dust mites, etc. is awesome!

I also had them do our 4-year old area rug in the living room (from Ross), now it looks like new. It is rubber backed, but was too big for a commercial laundry mat. $ well spent,after 4 years of spot cleaning. We did the 3 bedrooms for $99.00 and $35.00 for the area rug (Boise prices). I could have used a $20.00 off coupon but I accidentally deleted the email. We're good for a few years now.  

Super clean!

After

Garage Cleanup-

Last weekend Dave and I both took a vacation day for a 3 day weekend. I started a new job inside my hospital organization (excellent transfer!) and we wanted to wrap some things up. On the top of the list was cleaning the garage area below-

Before, what a mess!

Too many garden things (destined for a new shed this fall) and misc stuff stored. It was organized at one point. We started sorting first, using sawhorses for the small things-

We had- trash, donations, small amount of hazardous waste for the local pickup area, a bike "trunk bag" selling on Craigslist, and the rest to keep. We decided to build a new shed this fall. We'll use as much recycled materials as possible (as usual). We tore down the old one, as it was too small and narrow. The garden items will live out there.  In the "after" picture you can see the empty shelves! We also cleaned a smaller area where we store our paints for the house. I pitched a few things and organized the rest. We now have some empty space!