Last month, I refinanced the house to take advantage of the super-low interest rates. The application process included a termite inspection, an appraisal, and an inspection by a construction expert from my lender. All 3 inspections happened on the same day, one right after the other.

Since the house was essentially built in 2010 (major renovation), we weren’t expecting any issues, but we were definitely interested in the results of the reports. I remember the termite problem we had in the house where I grew up. It wasn’t pretty. Those little buggers can do some serious damage, and you likely won’t know it until it’s too late unless you have an inspection by a licensed, reputable pest control service.

I wish I had known about Pinterest while we were planning the house renovation. It is such a great tool for finding amazing products, collecting ideas, and organizing information. It took me a while to jump on the bandwagon, but once I did, I immediately saw how fun and helpful Pinterest can be. That's why I said, "Yes!" when the good folks over at MakeUseOf.com asked me to write Your Guide to Pinterest.

The guide includes everything you need to know to get started with Pinterest. It was really fun to write, and I hope people will...ahem... make use of it. Ha ha.

Every time the Chiasso catalog arrives, I look for barstools for the kitchen island. Unless you're right in front of the stove on one of those cushiony mats, standing on hard bamboo for any length of time can make your feet hurt.

We spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and it has proved to be a natural gathering place when we have visitors, so we've been on the hunt for some nice, affordable barstools since the day we moved in.

Red ones.

During a recent trip to Colorado, Brad and I came across some corrugated metal siding in its natural habitat: industrial buildings. I never really noticed metal siding before we decided to use it on our own house, but now I see it everywhere I go. Here are a couple buildings we saw in Englewood, Colorado.

It is the Murphy's Law of front-yard landscaping in Chicago: right after you make any improvement, some utility company will necessarily arrive and tear up your hard work. Months ago, Peoples Gas replaced a gas line in the neighborhood and had to (barely) dig up some of our front lawn. We didn't think they'd ever come back, so we sprinkled some grass seed and hoped for the best. It grew...sort of.

We love our metal roof. The rain sounds great on it, and it will last for ages. When Brad's brother, Andrew, said he was shopping for a new roof for his house, we suggested he look into metal, too. Flash forward: he got the new roof installed last week, and it looks great!

Even though we didn't win the This Old House renovation contest, I'll still show them some love. Check out this article, From Scary to Stunning - 31 Scary Houses Turned into Spectacular Homes. Pretty amazing what some TLC (and an army of contractors) can do, right?

Here's a quick update on some landscaping efforts we have made over the past few months. We started with a mud pit. Trash is a constant problem in the front. Note the Corona bottle and plastic cup in this shot of Java meeting a neighbor dog. Bit by bit, though, things have improved. We (mostly Brad) made a picnic table and chairs, built a deck, assembled a fire table and planted many plants.