stopping to take a breath and blog

I've been quite busy since I've taken possession of the house trying to get things organized. I thought I would be a lot further ahead but I'm slowly getting there. I am taking my time with things instead of just rushing through things. And some things are just taking longer than I thought it would take. I'm basically focusing on the main floor first. Things that I have completed to date include:

- hanging pendent lights over breakfast bar. $38 from Rona.

- swapping light switches to decora and dimmer switches for the Great Room and kitchen lights. Still other switches to do but these were the first ones to get done. From left to right: the left is a 3-way dimmer switch to control the breakfast bar pendents (other switch is by the patio door and also is a dimmer, cost $70); dimmer switch for potlights in kitchen (cost $40); regular decora switch for ceiling fan in Great Room (cost $2); dimmer switch for Great Room potlights with remote control, I had bought this a long time ago for my old place and never did end up installing it

- installed ceiling fan in Great Room. It was a bit of a pain to hang but works well. Only $25 from Home Depot.

- building two Ikea bookcases. I'm becoming a pro at assembling Ikea stuff. Although I don't think it's anything to be really proud about. :) Here's the one in the Great Room.

- setting up home theatre. I ran the speaker wire for the rear channels down into the basement through the central vac rough-in. I then came back up through a hole in the floor by the heat register. I'll insulate the wire a little more just in case it gets warm. I think it'll be okay. It's not *in* the vent itself

- built and hung the Ikea Leksvik coat/hat rack by front door

- installed bathroom fixtures

- swapped out window crank handles for ones that fold in and are more compact. I got these from...you guessed it...Home Depot. The standard crank handles are quite long and can get in the way more if you've got inside mounted blinds. The new ones are less instrusive.

The shopping also continues. I don't know how many trips I've made to Home Depot lately. Luckily it's very close by but still. And I sorely underbudgeted for bathroom accessories. I spent a whopping $300 at Bed, Bath and Beyond. Yikes!