Sunny Cabo

Last week we had a bit of a break from home improvement projects in San Jose del Cabo. The city is near Cabo San Lucas, which is on the southernmost tip of the Baja Peninsula in Mexico. The area is very dry (the first real desert I've been in)... last year it rained just 2 days. We traveled with Eric's family and stayed in a condo right on the beach! Just take a look at the balcony:

The beach was pristine and very sparsely populated. 

We were warned that swimming could be dangerous due to the undertow, but as it turned out, the surf was just about perfect for wake boarding!! (thought the water was fa-reee-zing.... thus the wetsuit)

We enjoyed a bunch of activities while we were there - snorkeling, parasailing, and horseback riding (not to mention a lot of lazing around)!

Oh, and we enjoyed some of the local food, including tamales from a street vendor and churros from a Mexican fair (where they were also inexplicably selling large quantities of blankets...?)... Anyway, the churros were pretty exciting:

All in all it was a really fun trip!

Since we've been back, we're already hitting the home improvement stuff hard. I'll post again soon to show you our new Ikea purchases and a great Craigslist find.

Help me decide: basement windows

I need some help.

I ordered bamboo roman blinds from Overstock.com. $17.99 each for 48" width blinds!

They may or may not have sat around in the entryway for a couple of days before I got around to hanging them. They were pretty easy to hang (I actually did it myself). I just pre-drilled some holes in the wooden window frame so it would be easier to mount the brackets. Once the brackets were up, I simply attached the actual shades to the brackets. Here's what I ended up with:

I really like the color and the natural look! Now here's the issue:

That is in the fully retracted position. See how much of the window is still covered up? I'm worried that they cover up too much of the window, which is something I really want to avoid doing in a basement. (Obviously less cave-like is desirable.)

So while I really do not like the idea of shipping these back, I'm thinking of returning them (though I really do like the look...) Can you tell I'm conflicted?

I've come up with a couple of other options, either going with plain white mini-blinds, like these from Home Depot:

Or white roll-ups, like these from Ikea:

So, what do you think? Any other ideas I haven't considered? You can add your answer to the poll below and leave a comment if you have other ideas. Thanks for the input!

We've got CARPET

Well the moment I've been waiting for is finally here - the carpet has arrived! I love it! It looks great and is super soft to boot. After the installer guy left, I was literally just sitting/laying down there on the new carpet, working on my laptop. Remember what the rooms looked like when we moved in? Here's a refresher.

Family room before:

Family room during:

Family room after:

Bedroom before (unfortunately I only have the realtor's pic):

Bedroom during:

Bedroom after:

BAM!! I just love love love the transformation. Thanks so much dad for all your help on this. Seriously.

Gizmo had to check out the new carpet too...

He literally walked all around the perimeter of rooms with very careful placement of each paw, like he was walking across gravel or something sharp.

I think he'll like it after he gets used to it. I on the other hand, am enjoying it quite a lot already. We moved the computer desks down there already (which means that my dining room can now really function as a dining room - score!!). 

I'll leave you with one more before and after comparison.

Before (realtor's shot):

After:

Not bad, huh? Now for some furniture.  :)

Everything but the Floor

There has been a lot of work on the basement going on this weekend... in preparation for carpet installation Monday morning! I am sooo sooooooo sooooooooo excited to get the carpet installed!!!

So, I'll give you a peek of all the little details we have been working on lately.

Probably the most important item was adding a door to the bedroom.

Ha! If only it were that easy. It actually took a fair amount of shimming to get it lined up properly.

We also added all the little details, like electrical outlets, covers for the outlets and light switches, register covers for the heating vents, and trim pieces around the recessed lights. It was pretty amazing just how much more finished the room looked after adding each little piece of the puzzle. Just look at the difference after adding the trim to the lights:

Before:

After:

The baseboard was one of my favorite parts. It looks great! Here's a peek at the transformation in the bedroom (don't worry, we'll be painting the closet door handles white to match the doors).

Before:

After:

Isn't it amazing how finished it looks? Now we just need the carpet... well and a few other minor details... like adding a door knob on the door into the bedroom, filling in the nail holes in the baseboard, hanging blinds and painting the window trim white. Who needs things like doorknobs, blinds, and painted trim anyway?

Wish me luck with the carpet installation tomorrow.