DIY vs. PIY

We had quite a DIY Day at the house yesterday.  My birthday is tomorrow so I saved up my birthday money and bought a new ceiling fan for the Master bedroom...you know you're getting old when you look forward to buying practical gifts with cash you receive for holidays!



The "before" fan...the wicker inserts were hideous!



Justin and I aren't very knowledgeable when it comes to fix-its and other repairs.  The past couple of months, the ceiling fan in our bedroom started to get louder, LOuder and LOUDER...and it was rocking!  I was just waiting for it to come crashing down on us and the dog some night!  We eventually stopped using it and pulled out an old floor fan from the basement.



Figuring out what we would need from Home Depot



Mom and Dad were able to come to Manhattan yesterday and help with the installation.  We are BEYOND grateful for their help!  Well, Mom played with the dog which was a benefit as it kept Mitzy entertained :-)  If you know Dad very well, it's pretty hard to find a free minute in his schedule...some days I think I'm busy, but then I hear what all he accomplishes in a day's time and then I realize my life is nothing like his!



Justin had dust marks all over him--the fan was filthy!



Over the course of the afternoon, Dad and Justin were able to get the new fan installed, a dimmer switch put in the dining room and a new knob put on the front door.  It had been broken since before we bought the house and since the deadbolt worked, we really hadn't dealt with it...but when you have an extra set of hands to help, you finish all the projects you can!  We never got around to hanging Justin's massive poster that he was given after his final season at K-State, but that can wait :-)

 

We were glad to have Dad's help because we had no idea what to do!



And then came today's PIY project...yes, I meant to type a "P".  It transforms the acronym to "Pay It Yourself" and some projects automatically earn that tag!

The "after" fan--it's much more updated and super quiet :-)



We finally ordered our chimney cap and they put it on this afternoon!  It looks great!  The chimney had a few bricks missing off the top two rows--a definate eyesore--but since the chimney had no flue, we would find all sorts of things on the hearth...clumps of mud, rocks, bird feathers, anything that could fall from the sky. It was slightly annoying but also horrible for our utilities!  I'm excited to see how much of a difference it will make to have a chimney stuffed with insulation and topped off with a metal cap...

The chimney with its new cap!