This is the post where I admit my home is not picture perfect…oh, about 99% of the time. I am embarrassed to admit sometimes we are house lazy! I think a lot of people get that way with cleaning and small fix up projects. There is one thing we did not do when we moved in that has been nagging at me ever since.
We have hardwood floors running throughout our main level including the kitchen. The builder used white plastic runners to put the fridge on to avoid scratching the floor. We moved in and never removed the white runners. We were nervous about moving the fridge out and possibly damaging the floor. So, this white plastic has poked out from under our fridge for over to years now. Seriously, house lazy!
Not too long ago, I remembered there were more of the white runners in the cabinet above the fridge. I figured if we laid two more down to roll the fridge out onto, then we could remove the ones under the fridge and roll it back in place with minimal chance of damaging the floor. Finally, this past Saturday I stopped being house lazy and got rid of the runners.
I put down two more runners and rolled the fridge onto them. Once they were far enough out I pulled up the runners that used to be under the fridge. You have probably figured out by now that if we never pulled these out, we also probably never cleaned the dust of the back of the fridge for two years. Yuck.
Surprisingly, it was not as bad as I thought it would be. I used a broom to knock the dust off the vent on the back of the fridge and to sweep up the floor. Then I vacuumed for good measure.
We carefully rolled the fridge back in place and saw the aftermath of those runners. Our silly fear of damaging the floor by rolling out the fridge probably caused more damage.
I used Murphy’s Oil soap to clean up the floor and revealed tiny marks where dirt and dust had gotten under the runners and damaged the floor…ugh! Luckily, the marks aren’t noticeable when you look at the floor while standing.
Overall, the entire look is way better. The beautiful wood floors running straight under the fridge. No white plastic dust and dirt trappers poking out. Ridiculous it took us over 2 years to do this 15 minute task.
What is the craziest thing you have let go undone for too long in your home? Please share your house lazy story with me.
There are so many of these simple projects that need to be taken care of at our house, I couldn’t pick just one. Our stairs to our basement are unfinished and we haven’t put up baseboards after a basement reno.
Meanwhile upstairs, I patched and prepped our hallway for painting 2 years ago and haven’t even bought the paint.
Those are some of the larger projects. There are so many little things around the house we have just learned to live with.
Danielle,
We have unfinished stairs and a lack of flooring and baseboards in our basement. We keep telling ourselves it is because we are in the middle of the basement finishing project, but the rest of the work has been done for a couple months.
Paint touchups are a big miss for us. We paint during nap times or when we have a babysitter. When the times up we are done and have to leave things partially painted until we can find more kid-free time which is rare.
It seems that the builder should have removed those after putting the fridge in… perhaps a little house lazy on their end? :)
I have painted and stenciled my office only to have about 30 minutes of touch-up work still keeping me from moving all our stuff back in. It’s been about a month and a half… and counting!
Noel,
I am with you on finishing the final touchups. Thankfully, the blog helps me complete things so I can share them here.
When we repainted the living room the blue painter’s tape pulled paint off the side of the mantle. Still haven’t touched it up and it’s on the side visible from the whole room. I used to blame it on having a toddler and newborn in tow and not wanting to get the paint out but the boys are in 3rd and 5th grade now! Yikes time to get this done in between work, school for me and the kids and all the life that gets in the way!
we moved in a little over two years ago and just about a month ago i got around to something that had been bugging me since we moved in– a little piece of that clear sticky saran wrap stuff (that the movers put over all the carpet when they are moving your stuff in) was stuck under the footboard of our bed and i couldn’t get it out myself cuz i couldn’t lift the bed and pull it out at the same time. i finally remembered to ask my husband to help me with it… 2 years later!
I painted the powder room SIX YEARS ago and never put the mirror back up. So, there’s a huge hole in the wall where the mirror should be. HUGE. And now, I think I want to re-do the room again…. It’s a sickness really.
Thanks for sharing Suze. You cracked me up, but only because I understand. We have had a half painted two story living room for over a year. No hiding that from guests.