Dining Room

I use the term dining room because it sounds better then "the hallway to the outside". It's a very small 103" x 120". There was an air conditon built into the wall (not a window). The door open into the room and took up much of the floor space. With 3 dogs in the house, I wanted a doggie door.

We liked the glass door looking out to the back of the property. Another glass door was a must. We special order from Home Depot an extra large sliding glass door. Even though I hate dirty tracks associated with sliding doors, I felt that to free up the floor space from swing doors, this was the only option. The dh did a great job taking out the old a/c unit, enlarging the door opening and installing the new door.


The doggie door panel was easy to install with a couple of screws and the glass doors will lock onto the panel. As extra security, we got a piece of wood cut to fit into the track.


The curtains were added. At first DH thought they made the room look even smaller. I decide against a valance and placed the rod close to the ceiling. It seem to help. I love the cottage feel of the room now.

Now, I'm on the hunt for a smaller table. Maybe something square with pull out leaves. It must seat 6 when completely pulled out for family get togethers but breaks down small enough to walk around on most days.

Insulation & Radiant Barrier Spray

President Obama's promise of cap & trade to bring our energy supplier to their knees with fines and over taxation passed the house and soon the senate. We will all be facing unbelievable increased cost to heat and cool our houses. Grrr......I could go on and on about this but what I was intended to talk about is getting our attic in shape to handle the summer heat.

We had radiant barrier sprayed in and 10 inches of insulation blown in. The whole operation took about two hours plus 15 minutes talking the old dog into letting them out of the attic. She even got a taste of one.

The spray on barrier helps keep your home cool by reflecting back the suns radiant energy and preventing heat build-up in your attic. They promise a 30% savings on your electric bill. It's hard to believe this very thin silver tinted wash would do much. The whole package cost $1,300. Its going to be a while before we recoup that cost but I believe the house is staying cooler.