Oh my gosh...more updates!

Let's see...what can I cram in here...? How about bathroom progress and Shrinky Dinking bedroom windows?

Swapped out some knobs and Murphy Oiled the door. Small changes, but they make me smile. Perhaps most frustratingly, I didn't account for the thickness of the linen closet door (or the bedroom closet doors), so the ugly, shameful linen knob and okay-but-ho-hum closet knobs must stay for now.

Anyway, here are a few quick before-and-afters:

Ugh...this knob makes me sad every time I look at it...soon I shall vanquish it!

Original hardware. Nice, but a bit too contemporary.

Old meets new...

Ahh, a swap-out for cottage charm.

Again, fine-but-modern knobbie here.

But adding a boost of charm is great!

Something else that made me frown every day...nasty gunked-up door...

It'll never look new, but at least the smudges and grease are gone. Way better.

As for the bedroom, we bought one of those shrink-wrap kits to help with insulation up there. It is for reals like 10-20 degrees colder up there. We also wanted to cover a few windows downstairs, but those have the gorgeous wood frames, and the kit said not to use it on unpainted wood. So I got to it upstairs. I'd like to say it's making a difference, but it's not like it's suddenly balmy up there. We want to check the attic insulation...the guest room is warm and comfortable, but it gets progressively colder as you move toward the front of the house. Also, the heat barely gets pushed out of the office and master bedroom vents, so that's a huge chunk of the problem. But hey, we have warm jammies, a down comforter, a kitten, and each other for extra warmth. We're making it work.

Here's the process of, as I like to call it, Shrinky Dinking:

First step is to add the double-sided tape to the outside of the sill.

After setting for 15 minutes, you peel off the outside backing.

Press the sheet of plastic against the tape, pulling it taut to reduce wrinkling.

Close-up of pressing the plastic against the tape.

Using a blow-dryer, you heat the plastic, creating a tight fit--hence the Shrinky Dink reference!

Then you simply trim off the excess...

...and until you go to lean into the casement like I do all the time, you'll never know there's a barrier there!

I'll update when it's time to take down the plastic to let you know how that goes...I'm nervous about the damage to the paint from the tape...but a bridge to cross when we get there.