DH and I decided to upgrade a few things around the house. We had a builder-installed brass chandelier in the dining room (and matching pendant in the front hall) so we splurged and bought a new chandelier and pendant light. I was so delighted with them! The chandelier is much BIGGER and looks great! Plus the lights are halogen so really nice clean light (sorry, but I hate fluorescent lights!).

After we installed the chandelier I noticed that the dimmer switch would get HOT. In the past with the old light, I noticed it would get warm but this was HOT. I even brought over our instant read digital thermometer and the dimmer switch (which is metal), and it read 97 degrees!! Ouch!

So I looked online and after reassuring myself that my house was not going to burn down immediately, I realized that our light switch is probably a standard 600W while our chandelier is a 900W. Oops! Who knew? Anyway, we have ordered, through a contractor, a new light switch that he will install next week when it comes in.

The contractor has also installed 3 new bathroom sinks (the 4th will be installed next week), 3 new faucets, repaired our leaking shower, installed an electrical outlet outside the bathroom door (so we can use a night light and NOT keep the bathroom light on all.night.long). He is going to install a new kitchen sink and faucet as soon as the sink gets here (just ordered it - a Kohler Langlade "Smart Divide" in Caviar). He also installed a new security light at the side of the house which will make taking the garbage out much easier (it was PITCH black out there as neither the backdoor light nor the garage light reached the side of the house). He also ran the wire so we can install an overhead light in our bedroom. I am having a hard time finding exactly what I want though so he just had to cap off the box he installed and Stephen can install the light once we get it.

Now that we've started here there are so many more things that I would like to do. Long term (i.e. expen$ive) list and short term. Long term I'd love to install a gas fireplace insert in the living room, get a gas stove top (currently have a ceramic/glass one), hardwood floors in dining room, and the list goes on. Short term, I'd like to stain the deck and porch(in the summer), fix the lattice work around the deck (got broken digging for septic tank), and sew some new curtains for my kitchen.

If we keep at it all, we'll have a brand new house!