Fast Fix It

Before my Mum arrived, we did a little sprucing up around the house. Nothing like a visitor to get you to work on your household "To Do" list - right?

Nothing major, but lots of little things that no-one will ever notice like:

• Scraping the old caulk from around the tub
• Adding fresh white new caulk...ahhh it looks so clean
• Cleaning off the mineral deposits from the faucets
• Sealing the Granite counter tops so the water marks don't show
• Repairing the silicone seal around the sinks

I feel better having done them - because I get to cross something off my list. Even if I'm the only one who knows.

One thing hubby and I did do - that is a little More noticeable (or actually, to make them Less noticeable) - was to paint the recessed lighting in our kitchen.

Our house is over 20 years old and has these lovely recessed fluorescent panels in the ceiling.

The lighting is the least of our worries when it comes to updating the kitchen, so having an electrician come in and replace them with pot lights is not going to happen any time soon.

Our solution?

Paint them white to blend in with the ceiling so they (hopefully) fade away, instead of drawing your attention to them with the dark oak frame.

I know - my father is probably rolling over in his grave at the thought of me painting over real Oak! In this case - I think it was necessary.

We also replaced the plastic diffuser panels. I didn't realize how yellow they had gotten over the years - and of course, they were a lovely bubble rain texture (Sorry, I hated them so much I forgot to take the picture before we smashed them into itty bitty pieces).

The hardest thing about this project was cutting the plastic panels down to size..apparently standard fluorescent lighting has changed over time and we had a bear of a time cutting them.

Did you like how I said "we". That implied that I actually did something on this project. Dear Hubby was the one standing on the stool on the kitchen counter painting the wood. I tried to cut the panels, but just didn't have the oomph (and I consider myself pretty strong), so he had to do that too. Does it count that it was my idea?

The kitchen is so much brighter now and I'm happy with the temporary fix results.