Tuesday Tip

Hide the ugly panel.  The circuit panel, breaker box, utility panel, or whatever you happen to call it, is quite ugly and everybody has one!

Just after we got married, we moved into our new Tudor style townhouse. It had a finished basement at ground level that walked out to our little yard and was full of natural light. We spent a lot of time in it, especially watching TV.  The stupid circuit breaker panel was located in the middle of the main wall!  Brilliant, Mr. Builder. At first I covered it with a piece of artwork and later this:




circa 1988

 
The TV sat on a shelf that pulled out and swiveled, so we could still reach the panel when necessary. We just sold this pine piece. The person who bought said it looked exactly like the one in the family room from the movie "Date Night".  Putting it on my list to rent!

Here is what you need to make a cover for your own panel:

Plus, a long/piano hinge which I already had in the basement storage room!  Perhaps, if I completed this 2 years ago, wasn't trying to do the storage room too, I  may have taken the time to spell out "circuit breaker panel" or even added some creative embellishment. But, after weeks of work, I was dabbing letters at lightening speed...just wanted to finish!

Before:

Open:

After:

I thought it was best to spread out parts of the garage makeover.  Otherwise tomorrow's post showing the "afters" would be far too long. I want it to be inspiring, not feel like work just reading it!

Gladiator in the House

Another exhausting weekend and with it came relief that the 5 years of crap that piled up in the garage and storage room  has come to end. Yes, Oscar has left the house!  Perhaps, I should reward myself with this:

Okay, my husband worked so hard too and the reward is for the whole family. Our Gladiator has a shield like this:

Confused? Here's a full length view:

Handsome and rugged don't you think? We have a side by side refrigerator in the A&A kitchen and if you have kids or parties, they are not accommodating as far as large platters, pizza boxes or extra beverages! So, we have always had a second refrigerator in the garage. If you examined the hideous mess of the garage "before" you probably saw your basic white fridge. It was 17 years old and wasn't keeping the temperatures level mainly because it is meant to be inside! I've had a crush on the Gladiator for some time. My favorite part is that it's on huge casters. You may recall from here my love over things with mobility!

Part of the garage makeover.....