home improvement?

Mother's Day came early this year! This week Team Fulkerson has delved into some much-needed, much wished-for home improvement projects.

We had the carpets professionally cleaned for the first time ever! What a concept...I kept playing with the kids, doing dishes, folding laundry...and the carpets were cleaned at the same time!

Only problem was that the guy who did the carpet cleaning asked for a tip.

Twice.

I wasn't expecting that. I'm new to this...someone needs to warn me about these things! I don't tip my furnace maintenance guys or the guy who carries my water softener salt down into the basement.

Have they both hated me for the last 8 years?

We also hired a handyman company come do some things around the house. I've been wishing for a new bathroom faucet and some new light fixtures for years...so I had high hopes. I was so excited to get started!

Then the handymen arrived.

One of them spilled coffee on my cleaned-less-than-24-hours-ago stairs and didn't cop to it or say he was sorry. I found the spots after he left. That's a lucky thing for him. He'll get an earful if he ever comes back this way. I thought that was pitiful.

Maybe he's friends with the carpet cleaning guy I stiffed.

The guy who was assigned to work on our to-do list for three days apparently is handy when it comes to patching drywall and painting (good!) but not so handy with having the necessary tools, being willing to go buy the necessary supplies, or plumbing in general (bad, considering I wanted a faucet installed). Without giving you all of the gory details, I'll just say that after three days we still can't use our downstairs sink, we have several holes in the walls surrounding the new light fixtures, and the other major project he was hired to do (build frames for our existing vanity mirrors) wasn't even started.

Here are a few photos so you can all enjoy the view.

Is it normal for the after to look decidedly worse than the before?

Maybe just for Team Fulkerson.

Have a great weekend everyone! Be thankful you're not our handyman's boss, who's coming bright and early Monday morning to finish the job!

This used to be our drain...and one of our nicer hand towels.

Mirror and faucet look good. It will be great when we can use this bathroom again! I know I should pick up the towel and clean up the mess but I'm being obnoxious and leaving it for the handyman's boss to see Monday morning. (Tattletale).

I am so happy with our new light fixtures! Too bad the previous light hid several holes in the drywall that are now exposed (see the rectangles next to the globes?). Our handyman doesn't carry drywall in his truck, nor does he go to places like Lowe's (literally a mile away) to acquire some. Instead he asks ticked-off housewives with crying children to go to Lowe's - for the second time that day- to go buy drywall instead.

Interesting approach.

The good news is that the wood frame surrounding our front door is repainted and we have a functioning doorbell for the first time in six months! Aah, the little victories in life. The doorbell chime was only installed upside down for a little while...