We Got Robbed!

No, really. Someone kicked in our door and robbed our house! I hate people. And for a while we thought two of the cats got out (Oreo and Shadow). We found Oreo right away running around in the driveway, but we couldn't find Shadow, our little scaredy cat that's never been outside at our house. He was missing for 36 hours (36 long hours of searching the house and the neighborhood, creating a heated bed for him outside and other ridiculousness) before he suddenly reappeared in my desk chair one morning. So we were glad we didn't lose a kitty on top of everything else.

We were able to get some contractors out the next day to repair the door frame and reinforce it so it's stronger than ever. We even put on new handles and locks for added security. So hopefully if this jerk tries it again, he'll just break his stupid foot. I didn't take any pictures of the busted up door frame, but I did snap a picture of my work in progress on repairing the trim. The contractors did a great job with the structural repairs, but they left it looking pretty rough. Paint was chipping off from where they hammered and where the burglar splintered the wood and there were holes where all the screws went in. Here's an in-progress shot of my repair work.


You can sort of see our pretty new oil-rubbed bronze handle and deadbolt on the door.

 I ended up chipping off most of the paint on that piece of trim and then building up the divots from the hammering with wood filler. I also smathered it around anywhere the paint met the wood so there wouldn't be raised ridges. Hopefully I can get it all sanded out smooth tonight and apply some primer.

I decided since I had the tools all out, I might as well touch up the nail holes and such around the two kitchen windows. I was planning on changing the window treatments anyway, so why not now? I took down the broken mini blinds on the window of the sink, as well as the shower curtain window treatments I made for free when we first moved in.


So here's where I'm at now.



It's amazing how much bigger the kitchen feels with this window open like that. If we didn't like our privacy so much, I'd be tempted to not put up any blinds or curtains at all.




The window sill was all scratched up from kitties and 82 years of use, so I filled in those holes as well.


I purchased some new blinds for the window over the sink. The old ones were metal mini blinds that were broken on one side, so obviously even a bare window is an upgrade. haha But the new ones are 2" white ones with a faux-wood design and they should match the other kitchen windows much better. I might stop there and leave it otherwise open since I like how big the room feels without window treatments. But we'll see how it looks once it's all painted and the blinds are hung. Also, I'm hoping to replace the blinds on the door with a curtain, since the blinds bang against the door everytime you open or close it, which is a little annoying. But I'll probably pick that out once I decide on a color for the door.

For now, I'm just happy to have a secure door that will hopefully keep those boogeymen out!