Rants and Ramblings: random commentary about culture, media, politics, technology and whatnot.

home improvement, part 2

It’s funny how owning our own place has made mundane things like thermostats seem exciting. And Home Depot is like our second home: We’ve visited the home superstore four times in the past five days.

Between the two extra days I had off work, our weekend houseguest and our plan to host a new year’s party tonight, Rob and I have had both the time and motivation to whip the place up into presentable shape. The focus of most of our efforts: Our freakishly large bathroom. Over the past few days, we’ve done quite a lot:

• Repainted the walls from a light almond to a snow white (our color scheme is black / white, and the almond walls made the room seem a bit dark)
• Replaced and repositioned the rusted metal phalanges holding the shower rod to the wall
• Removed the old towel bars, patched the resulting holes and hung new towel bars that match the sink fixtures
• Purchased a cheap-but-sturdy bench at IKEA to store towels within easy reach

There’s still some work to do — we didn’t finish the ceiling in time — but I think the updated bathroom is a huge improvement over what we had originally. It’s definitely a little happier and brighter.

We also upgraded our 20-year-old thermostat with something a little more … modern. We’ve been eyeing a digital thermometer for a while, so we put a Home Depot gift card to use and finally sprang for one. It was surprisingly challenging to find a digital thermostat that works with a heat pump, but the one we ultimately got is super-cool. We’ve programmed it to adjust the temperature according to our schedule, so that, say, in winter, it brings the temperature down at night and while we’re at work, but brings the temperature up to a more comfortable level when we’re home and awake. We’re hoping it’ll be a little more energy and cost-efficient than the old thermostat.

Plus, it’ll be a little less potentially hazardous: While we were taking the old thermostat apart, we realized that it contains two small vials of mercury. (The new thermostat is mercury-free.) We’ll be deposting that with the Arlington County hazardous waste department posthaste. Sure, it’s contained and has probably been just fine for the past twenty years, but I’d rather not have it sitting around in my house.