Quick Question on Contractors

A quick post while I get a few more in-depth ones put together (energy audits, dryer clean-ups, and new coffee tables, oh my!). As I type this, I have a furnace guy here to check some high CO levels that showed up during our energy audit. And my question is: what do you do when you have a contractor over? I'm never sure of the etiquette. Do I leave them alone completely? Do I hover? Do I leave them alone and check back in every 10 minutes, 20 minutes, hour, etc? Should I show an interest in what they're doing? Should I make small talk? Should I offer them something to drink? (My instinct on this one is no, unless it is for seriously lengthy work--I don't think this guy in particular will be here for more than a half hour.)

Please leave your comments--I'm interested to see what other people do. Obviously in most cases, it depends on the type of work being done and how long the contractor(s) are in the home, but please let me know your thoughts. Oh, and get excited for the next few posts on all sorts of interesting topics!

I'm in love!

OK, a bit of an overstatement, but just trying to get in the Valentine's Day spirit. I found this picture cross-posted via multiple furniture and home decor blogs and it is the perfect piece for our living room. The size is about right, the color is perfect (our living room is teal and red), and the height is just enough to clear our baseboards and let heat escape out the bottom.

(Credit: Southern Living)

Unfortunately, it was only an "inspirational" picture to give readers decorating ideas and the cabinet is not for sale.

Here is what we have: an old Target wicker piece that actually was part of their bathroom decor line circa. 2004. It has served us well over the 6 years we've owned it. But I would love to get something a little more polished and with more doors so I can hide the clutter out of sight.

So keep your eyes pealed! It's hard to search on craiglist since "dresser" or "hall cabinet" or "entry furniture" type keywords are so broad. Finding a small piece with lots of storage space that stands at least 10 inches off the ground is tough. We're looking forward to garage sale season this spring, but in a meantime, holler if you see something!

Locks without Keys

Our door just got another makeover! D's parents gave us, among other things, a new door lock for Christmas. They had become big fans of the kind that use an entry code, as opposed to a key. We were skeptical and not particularly inclined to change our locks, especially after our initial costly re-keying right after we moved in. But we decided that it was ok to have a front door that didn't match the same key as the rest of the house. We would continue to carry the key that goes to other doors (just in case of a battery failure or whatnot) and then rely on the keyless entry of the front door. Plus having a regular toggle lock on the front door (inside) meant that we could not accidentally lock ourself into our house, which always seemed like a scary, if unlikely, possibility.

So we went about installing our new Kwikset contraption:

Only to discover too-late that the box had been a return (i.e. was not factory sealed) and that the bolts necessary to installing everything had been stripped beyond use. We were cranky and decided that D would run out for a new kit while I stayed home, so that we would not have to reinstall the old lock. He called Lowe's to make sure they had another in stock and set off.

But of course, when he arrived, he discovered that they were out of stock of our kit. The customer service desk told him that another Lowe's 10 miles farther did have one. So he went. And they were out. I don't know why stores insist on using bad software to determine stocking. Would it be that hard to go check the shelves?

Fast forward about an hour and we admitted defeat, reinstalling our original locks.

Let with no keyless entry kits but with a lingering desire to install one, we started doing some research of our own. It seemed that Schlage's kit does not have an engine, which meant that it required one more step to locking and unlocking (i.e. the bolt does not retract or extend on its own). Though that was a little annoying, it also meant much longer battery life and fewer parts to wear out (some reviewers claimed the Kwikset locks died after only 2 years, while Schlage's lasted 5 or more). Plus some of the security features were better: with Kwikset, you can add new keycodes as long as you have access to the house, while with Schlage, you need a special administrative code, so that the random cat sitter or contractor could not surreptitiously add new accesses when we weren't paying attention.

A few days later, armed with our new Schlage kit, we tried again:

The profile is a little bigger because of that part that sticks out. We were worried that we wouldn't be able to close our storm door fully. Fortunately, everything fit, with just a couple millimeters to spare.

It's not particularly attractive but now we can feel a little better knowing we don't need to give out our keys to the cat/house sitters or other people needing one-time entry. We can let guests into our house even if we aren't there. Also we can always get in (and out) if we lose our keys.

This will take some getting used to. I still approach the door, keys in hand, every time. I wonder how long it will take that reflex to fade away.