Noobies VÜ

Once again I take up my hammer to try and make some improvements to my house. This one is gonna take a little time though, couple weekends worth.
My house is an odd house dear readers, it's kind of a stupid house, it's also unique and I do like it, but damn, every time I try to improve it I run into the idiocy of the former owners.
It gets wretched hot upstairs and I have a real difficult time dealing with it. It's one of those things that I find myself surprised that the people who lived here previously tolerated it. 
I was dubious that there was any insulation on the rear wall and the outside sheathing is looking really bad so I decided to put up some vinyl siding. After an annoying experience with an asshat for customer service at Lowe's (apparently I shouldn't shop for things on Sundays- duh.) I wound up at Home Depot and I found some really inexpensive siding.
Just a little aside, Lowe's has a ton of siding on their website, but they tell you there are 4 profiles and 12 colors, I challenge someone to locate them. Home Depot on the other hand doesn't have anything on their site except for fixture mounts. WTF? This was the reason for my trip to Lowe's but look out! Lowe's doesn't carry siding in their stores, you have to special order (just don't try to look for samples on a Sunday). But Home Depot actually carries siding.
Back to the siding I found at HD. They had a single box of 4.5" double lap for $46! They only carry 5" double lap now I guess. I can also tell you a single box will help no one. Except me! I only have to cover the upper bit above the back roof and it's 32' x 32" and this is more than enough for that. Just FYI, a box of siding is normally $158.
Here's the tragic back of my house, don't judge me I have a budget. lol

I pulled off the old sheathing to take a look at what was under it; I figured if I was going to side it I should go the extra mile and address the insulation as well.
This is what I found...

Last night and early this morning I put in more insulation (The big wads shoved inside the voids really don't offer much I don't think) and secured the sheathing a bit more effectively. Next weekend I install the siding! Hopefully.

All the projects I've done have been in other parts of the house but I finally decided I should do something in my master. Admittedly it's not like anyone else goes in there, but hey, I sleep there!
I've collected quite a few Egyptian objet d'art; papyrus, tiles, etc but no real place to put them. Then I decided I had a whole wall in my bedroom that I could put them on. 
The only real issue I had was figuring out how best to arrange them. I'm still not thrilled with the end result, but it's a start. Next up, new headboard, book cases and perhaps a spot of paint.
Forgive the wires and stuff from the TV, I just installed it and the shelf so I hadn't really cleaned up.

I'll probably wind up rearranging them eventually. I'm not sure I love them all blown on one wall, but for now...

Since I have moved my TV upstairs I had this fabulous TV stand that I got just gathering dust in the living room looking sad with no real purpose. It was too low to really display much on it and I decided I might have a better use for it.
I've needed more storage for some things from the kitchen and I didn't have any place to store my "fancy" plates. It was still a bit short for that purpose but then I remembered some hardware I had from my old bookcase that I made a few years back but had to sadly dismantle. So I grabbed the stainless uprights and my drill and some more lumber and paint from Home Depot and made a stand to put the TV stand on.
It's not ideal, but it's functional and I don't have a wasted piece of furniture. :)

It holds my pier one dishes, crock pot and the huge pot my beloved brother got me for making gumbo! I plan on getting some baskets and cook books to put below. Storage is always good!

I have had my washer and dryer stacked since I got them a couple years ago. I have never really liked them like that but the cost of the snazzy pedestals that the manufacturer makes are stupid expensive. I've seen lots of how-to's online and finally decided I'd make my own.
The Supplies

 And, the final product, (ignore my poor tiles, and yes, I know I'm gonna have to move those heavy ass machines and pedestal all over again when I fix them. I just don't know how to do the tile yet and I honestly didn't realize how big it really would wind up being. I overestimated the size I needed but I figured it was safer to be too big than too small.)

And there you have it. I'm happy with them and all told it was about $100 a pretty good bargain if you ask me. Just one of those pedestals is $299. I don't have storage in this but I have a few shelves so I think I'm okay with that.