Count Down to Loo Loo

Tomorrow is the Feast of Saint Loo Loo. It will be without my fellow Loo Looites but I will be celebrating it with two of my favorite people, Goo and Gouda. Last year I missed it as I started pre-term labor and had to be on bed rest. You just can't Loo Loo while lying on your right or left side only.

 

I think I will stop by the store on my way home and grab some exotic fruit and some chicken!

 

Oh and stay tuned readers because we have some great things in the works. We will soon hit our 1000 site hit here on Falling Down House and when we do we will have a giveaway! I'll release details as we get closer.

 

Also, I stopped by my favorite Home Improvement store while on vacation last week (IKEA) and got a few great projects for the Chateau I am dying to show you.

 

 

Let me know what you did for the Feast of Saint Loo Loo!

 

 

 

We are Staging a Coup!

One of the most frustrating things about living in a townhome isn't the neighbors, it's the HOA. The Home Owners Association, always evil, they boost a aura of ill-will wrapped in the intention of providing a nice neighborhood that keeps home values high. Ours is a new level of evil because it is manned by morons that don't actually live in their units. The by-laws allow anyone that owns a unit to be on the board and they don't have to live there.

 

This annoys me to no end. The President of the Board has been it for 9 years despite there being a 3 year term limit on the job and has vetoed every resolution that would improve the community. He has shot down the leash resolution, turning the community into a gated one, requiring the owners that rent to get a background check before hand, and eliminating the ability to rent to registered sex offenders. In essence he has vetoed any and every bill that would make it so he couldn't rent his units to any pond scum that has money in hand.  Now I am between a guy that sells pot, and a guy that went to jail for lewdness with a minor under the age of 14! Lovely right???

 

So what is a girl to do? We are staging a coup! C has secured a position on the board and there are 2 new spots opening up that we along with the majority of the tenet owners have set up to get filled by like minded people. Then it's time to oust the President and start work on making our little paradise one that's found instead of a Paradise Lost.

 

We are working to get the following done:

 

1.     a playground for the kids - there was a park but the President had it taken out after he received noise complaints from his renter. As he was the only person on the board at the time there was no one to say no!

2.     lights that work around the community

3.     stricter rules on who you can rent to - i.e. no one with felonies!

4.     Gates on the backyards that don't fall off every time they are opened!

 

I'll let you know how it goes.

 

 

Standaroules Plumbarmacy

When I was a kid I had two favorite movies and I must confess they are still my favorites. Both movies were Disney one was called "Blackbeard's Ghost" and the other was "The Snowball Express". Coincidentally both movies starred Dean Jones.

 

Today I want to talk about the latter film. What could it have to do with home improvement probably nothing but I bet you a shinny quarter I can get there! In the movie Dean Jones' Great-Uncle Jake dies and leaves the main character Mr. Baxter his hotel. He is told that the hotel is making a great deal of money so without thinking about it he quits his job in a wonderful permanent fashion and decides to movie his family to Silver Spring, Colorado and run the hotel.

 

 

When he and his family arrive it's to find that the hotel is far from making money it has been closed for decades and is in bad need of repair. The hotel is beautiful and well worth putting the time and money into making it great again. This is exactly what the Baxter's decide to do. They turn it into a Ski Lodge. Of course it all goes wrong in the movie and they end up with a giant hole going all the way through the hotel and the guppies in the water would really suck but I'd love to have a place like this. My father was a professional Chef in Las Vegas for 40 years and the hospitality industry is in my blood so I think I could really do well with this too! Even if it wasn't in Belize.

 

So, what does this have to do with Le Chateau Ghetto?? Nothing other than the fact that I believe with enough love and money (hopefully more of the first than the latter) it will be great again too!!

 

 

If not maybe somewhere I have a Great-Uncle Jake and he can leave me a hotel that I can fix up and run…

 

 

 

Look What I found

I'm pretty new to blogging and most of the time as I look through blogland I find great ideas that make me feel stupid and inept. There is alot of great stuff out there but let's face it I'm kind of mediocre when it comes to implementation. So it takes great talent from a person to make me feel like I can actually do a project that I find on these blogs. I found one today. It's from Vivienne on the V Spot. She has taken a normal chandelier and turned it into an art form.

She makes this look easy and I'd like to try it. She has some great ideas so use the link and go check her out!

http://viv-spot.blogspot.com/2011/04/lighten-up-already.html

The difference between Antique and Just Old

Have you ever found a great piece of furniture at a Thrift Store or Flea Market and wondered if it was a real antique and if it would be okay to strip it down and paint it? Have you ever found out you just ruined the value on a great antique dresser by painting it blue?

There are a few rules you can use to help you out in this situation. I don't know how often I've been regaled by friends on the wonderful antique found at the thrift store, all the while looking at a 30 year old dresser that looks like someone took a hammer to it. ( I know I mention hammers a lot , cuz I like them). While these finds are nice when fixed up and repurposed it hardly makes them the same thing as a Louis XVI chair or a Chippendale Dresser. I've come to realize that most people really don't know the difference between something that is just old versus a real antique.

So here are the rules (I use that loosely as I am not an expert. I dropped out of college back in 2001!)

First let's ask ourselves what is an ANTIQUE?:

Antique - any work of art, piece of furniture, decorative object, or the like, created or produced in a former period, or, according to U.S. customs laws, 100 years before date of purchase.

1.   100 years or older - So to qualify as a "real" antique the piece really should be made before 1911. So that means the lovely mid-century modern piece you just found doesn't really work. However, it's great to paint and repurpose to your heart's content.

There are a few exceptions to the 100 year old rule of thumb such as Automobiles.

They only need to be 25 years old. Which means my van is halfway there!

However, ladies be aware… If a guy gives you what he swears is an antique engagement ring and it's a diamond chances are he isn't getting what he paid for. Engagement rings before WWII were very rarely diamonds. That's only been a recent thing. Diamonds haven't always been a girl's best friend. De Beers made them popular with very clever advertizing!

Keeping up with tradition my ring is a garnet! Not an antique but I love it! (Now if I could find it - another story there)

2.   It has to be collectable. If your piece is 175 years old but no one but you wants it then it really has no value but sentimental. I have a desk that my great-grandfather built in Denmark and brought over to Utah with him. It's plain, it's simple. I love it and it is worthless. No one wants it but me.

3.   It must be rare… Louis the 16th furniture is valuable because there aren't thousands upon thousands out there. If you find one I'll pay you $5 for it day or night!

Is it okay to paint?

Chances are it is okay to paint. However, if your piece has a patina on it well, that's often better looking than any paint you could put on it.

What is patina you ask?

Patina - a thin layer formed by corrosion on the surface of some metals and minerals, especially the green layer that covers copper and bronze and is valued for its color

a pleasing surface sheen that develops on an object with age or frequent handling. (somewhat it just means dirty)

Removing patinas from the wrong thing though can make your valuable piece something just to throw away!

So, the next time you're worried about painting that flea market find just use these rules and if you're still not certain call an expert. You can get an appraisal for usually under $100!