Lightening the Mood

This weekend's nursery project was adding the recessed lighting. Overall, it only took a couple of hours, and turned out really well. We went with the white airtight baffle trim to match the rest of the house. Now we just need to pick out a ceiling fan.

Mood Board 1

They're all the rage on the interweb nowadays. So I thought I would make one to brainstorm what I am thinking for the nursery. Here is a sample of the direction we plan on going.

1. Possible Paint Colors : Comic Coral (Sherwin Williams), Wheat Bread (Behr)
2. Yellow Pillow from Pottery Barn (link) : Not sure if this is the exact pillow I want, but it has the right texture and fits the color pallette.
3. Bonavita Peyton Crib (link): The top rated crib on consumer reports and looks like it would fit in most styles.
4. Ikea Expedit(link) bookshelf: Displaying knick knacks, dolls, baskets to hold items, etc.
5. West Elm Capiz table lamp (link)
6. Pottery Barn Kids Audry Chenille Dot Panel Window Treatment (link)
7. Pink Piggy Bank from Target: This has already been purchased (not the exact one in the picture, but similar)
8. Dwell Studio Dragonfly Crib Bedding (link)
9. Babies 'R' Us Glider (link): and the ottoman.
10. Pottery Barn Moorish Rug (link): No longer in stores, so we'll have to snag one off ebay.
    

Extreme Makeover - Tax Addition

While this update is not exactly a home improvement, it will make it a bit easier for us to make some. You see, our tax appraisal came in at almost $70k more than we paid for our house. Amber went in and protested the appraisal. After a short disagreement, we agreed on a value of about $10k more than we paid for it.

This means we will save almost $125 a month in taxes. Every little bit helps I suppose.

The Media Center

As a testament to my possession of a Y chromosome, the media center is just about the only thing done in the house at the moment. Though most of the components have been up for about 3 months, I did not consider it complete until the recent acquisition of an xbox 360(mainly for netflix and guitar hero).

Overall, I have been extremely happy with the set-up. The tower speakers and turntable are probably the only things I would be interested in changing. The receiver is really a workhorse and I got a great deal on it. The remote is amazing, though I wish it was RF. The TV is exceptionally awesome, especially with respect to the deal I got on it on Black Friday.

Here is a list of the components with some linkage for specs:

• TV - LG 52LG60 (link)
• Blu-Ray - Sony BDP-s350 (link)
• Remote - Logitech Harmony One (link)
• Satellite - DirecTV HD DVR (link)

• Receiver - Onkyo TX-SR706 (link)
• Center Speaker - Polk audio CSi A4 (link)
• Tower Speakers - Polk audio r60 (no longer available)
• Rear Speakers - Polk audio OWM3 (link)
• Subwoofer - Hsu Research STF-2 (link)

• Turntable - Audio Technica AT-PL50 (link)
• TV Stand - PB Rhys Large (link)
• Other - XBox 360, Nintendo Wii

All Quiet On The Wills Family Front

Hello Blog. Long time no see. I hope you are doing well.

I hate that it's been 4 and a half months since my last post, but seeing as you are a home improvement blog and very little home improvement has been done, it makes some sense. Having left roadrunner for VHA (and acquiring a commute)in March and finished up my masters degree this May, you could say life just got in the way. Lest ye fear , updates aplenty are coming down the pipe (hopefully).

We've gotten back into the groove in the last couple of weeks and are looking forward to knocking out some big issues in the next couple of weeks. We've been picking out appliances, flooring, paint colors etc. and I expect it all to hit in a quick manner. Also, we're going to give our front landscaping a complete overhaul shortly.

Also, if you weren't aware, we are having a little girl. Oct 3 is the projected due date.