A Home Gym?

My husband's birthday is just around the corner.  He's hard to buy for - he never really wants anything and will usually tell me he needs socks or underwear for Christmas.  Seriously - what says holiday festivus like new boxer briefs???

This year, I'm taking matters into my own hands and I really want to surprise him.  We have a spare room in the basement and an assortment of fitness equipment ... so I'm going to turn it into a gym!  Here's some pictures of the room right now ....

Updated - 4/1/11 - Below is the finished project ... all it took was some cleaning and organization, some interlocking floor mats, and a few miscellaneous fitness supplies.

My husband was thoroughly surprised and excited, however he did kindly ask me if I meant to position the rowing machine facing away from the TV .... oops.  Shows you how much I know about working out!

Smile!

On this dreary Monday, I thought you might enjoy a picture of Harv in his holiday jammies and matching hat.  XXL was just not big enough and he's practically splitting the seams.  Too many Christmas cookies, I guess!

The Ugly Kitchen

My husband and I bought our first home in August 2010.  Overall, the home was in great condition, but was very drab color-wise and the kitchen and bathrooms were slightly outdated.  I added a picture (above) of the kitchen when we first moved in so that you can see our boring, laminate cabinets.  New cabinetry was not in the budget, so we worked with what we had.  Also, while the cabinets were unattractive, they were in good condition, so we didn't want to replace them based on aesthetic appeal only.

First, we bought trim at Lowes for about $3 per 8-foot piece and cut it to size to frame the cabinets to add texture and detail.  Below is a picture of one of the drawers with trim prior to painting.

Follow that with 2 coats of primer, 2 coats of paint (Glidden brand - 'Cornsilk'), and new hardware from Target (about $70 for all pieces) .. and you have a completely "new" kitchen for about $150.  It was a time consuming project, but well worth it. 

The Tray

I bought this 16x16 inch tray (above) at a Goodwill store for $4.  I didn't like the tiles but loved the beautiful carved wood.  I ordered 4 new tiles from MexicanTiles.com for about 2$ each plus shipping, then popped out the old ones and glued in the new ones with Liquid Nails (see below).  I made a matching trivet, too.  Ta-da!  It's perfect hanging in my Spanish-themed kitchen, and can be taken down with a moment's notice to serve margaritas on the porch!  I love functional "art."

About Me

You should know something about me right off the bat.  I'm very cheap.  I think seriously before spending five bucks and regularly patrol several local thrift stores and neighborhood yard sales to find inexpensive items.  Part of that may come from the way I was raised - slightly thrifty with a mentality that wasting anything is bad - and part of that may come from surviving two years as a grad student in DC on minimal student loan refunds and 70$ per week in babysitting income.  Add that intense frugality to my creativity .. and you've got one crafty bastard!

I started this blog in order to share some of my projects with friends and family, as well as to basically brag about something really cool I made for practically nothing.  I hope you enjoy my ideas!