We are a young couple remodeling our first house...one outdated / ugly thing at a time. This blog documents our remodel projects and ideas.
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4.28.2011

One Day...

That's what I say all the time - one day... And so I thought it would be a perfect time to show you some of the projects I started on but haven't finished. You know, I'll finish them one day.

First up is this leggy table I picked up at a thrift store:
This is it in the store. I'm thinking it would look great as a sofa table, or an entry table, or a sewing table, or a buffet table, or etc. Yep, this little table is oozing with potential. So I sanded it down and fixed a few gouges in the wood. Then I painted the bottom part of the table with my infamous blue paint. And that is where I stopped. Here is a one-day-I'll-finish-it teaser pic:

Next is a lamp...another brass lamp:
I have a game plan for this lamp - spray paint and new shade. Well, I got the spray painting done and that's it. I haven't finished the shade yet. Want another one-day-teaser-pic? Okay, here it is sporting a new lime green color:

Then there is this stool:
My mom got a smoking deal on this stool and then I swooped in and snagged it from her house. I have some plans to make this stool chic. But, once again, I haven't finished it.

So there are three projects that I have started on and yet to finish. And if I ever get around to finishing these one day, I'll be sure to post some pictures.

4.27.2011

New Bedding & Tornado "Fun"

I am struggling to keep up with my life. I know, everyone feels that way. But when bad weather happens, I go into overdrive for work. And with almost a week worth of severe weather and tornadoes, I have been working 14+ hour days (and then more when I get home). So, I don't have any house progress reports or neat projects to share with you right now. But, I'm not just popping in for nothing. I do want to show off the new bedding I got for the master. I've been eyeing it for months and finally splurged since it was on sale.

Old:

New:

Obviously I still have a lot to do. The old bedding picture needed a lot of TLC and I think the yellow warms up the dim lit room. I like the bedding, so it will stay.

That's all I've got folks. Besides for this shot I snapped with my iPhone of me in the tub having some tornado fun:
Yep, the dogs are in there with me. And that other iPhone is my work phone. It never stops buzzing when there is an emergency. This has been my life this week. Taking cover in the tub and then heading out into the weather to assess storm damage and assist with the recovery.

I will post some of my "I-started-on-it-and-now-don't-have-the-time-to-finish" projects tomorrow to emphasize how much of a bad blogger I've been lately.

4.20.2011

Catastrophe

My addiction has hurt me, literally. And threw a wrench into the direction of this blog post. I planned to post about spray painting the old plant stands for the garden cute colors. Instead, I was injured.

It started out as a good plan - spray paint the plant stands a cute color.

But it quickly turned into a catastrophe. While putting the trigger onto the top of the spray paint, it slipped and cut the top of my hand in two places. Here are the guilty ones:

I never expected to be injured while spray painting. It is a sad day.

4.19.2011

We're Having Quadruplets!

Well, maybe triplets. One of the eggs might be broken:

Momma Robin set the nest up right outside our bedroom door. We only use that door to let the dogs outside, so hopefully we aren't disturbing the nest too much.


And to make it easier on Momma Robin, I setup a bird feeder in the back yard...with the help of Paris.

Yes, I am the proud "momma" of four Robin eggs. I'll be sure to keep y'all posted with baby pictures.

4.18.2011

How Does Your Garden Grow?

According to my grandma, Saturday was "the day" to plant. More specifically, Saturday was the day to plant things that grow above ground - tomato, peppers, etc. and Sunday was the day to plant things that grow below ground - potato, onion, etc. And she warned me to not wait until Monday because it was a bad day to plant. Who knew that there were so many rules to planting a garden?! I sure didn't.

I have never had a garden of my own, but everyone else in my family does. I thought it was about time to join in and try a garden this year too. And plant on Saturday, not Monday.

Here are the garden goodies:

Hopefully, I will be growing tomatoes, cucumber, yellow squash, eggplant, bell peppers, broccoli, and cilantro - all above ground growers so perfect for Saturday planting. And yes, everything is planted in containers. I don't have a plow or tiller and am way too lazy to till the ground by hand.

After a few minutes of playing in the dirt, my container garden was setup in the sun on the patio.


Planting in containers is actually a good thing because the patio needed to be cleaned desperately. We had a large dog house in the corner, which is in the shade. And the two chairs and table were in the sun. Have you ever tried to sit outside in the spring or summer in Arkansas in the sun? You can't do it because it gets hot! So the dog house was cleaned and put up in the attic - our two small dogs stay inside so they don't need a dog house.

Now our table and chairs are in the shady corner, and the dogs lay below the chairs when we are outside. It has been nice to sit out there and enjoy the day...in the shade.

And everyone keep your green fingers crossed that my garden grows. This first timer needs all the help and support I can get when it comes to gardening.

4.14.2011

I Need More Color

Hot off the heels of successfully adding color to the house via the pantry, I was ready to paint something else. It is an addiction, just like spray paint. I get to painting and don't want to stop. So, this time I painted the back of the built-ins the same blue color from the pantry - a girl's gotta get the most out of a $5 can of miss matched paint. These built-ins are located in the sun room. And the back of them is only visible when you are in the sun room, so it isn't like there is a large blue spot painted on the wall. Behold the boring-in-need-of-some-organizing built-ins:
And of course I painted these built-ins when the hubby wasn't home. You know I do all the sneaky-he-might-not-like-this kind of projects when I am home alone. So, armed with my miss matched paint, a brush, and some painter's tape, I was ready to get some more color into the house.

I don't know what got into me, but I taped off the built-ins. I never use tape and just cut in when I paint. But I thought it might be easier to use the tape. Guess what, it is not!

Sure it was easy to paint with the tape, but when the tape was removed, the lines were wavy and blotchy.

I want crisp lines. So I had to cut in with the brush anyways. Now I know why I never use tape.

Anyways, enough about that. On to the finished picture:

 Much better. The color is much more fun and works really well for a sun room. I also did a little shelf rearranging and organizing. I used a tray to corral the liquor bottles and make a mini bar area.

The best part...this makeover was free! And I still have plenty of paint left over for another project! What should I paint next?

4.13.2011

Something Big, Really Big

Do you know what that is? That would be a hole in my master bath floor. Surprise! The biggest remodel project has begun. A total master bath overhaul.  We had not planned to completely tear out the bath, but guess what...we did. And when we removed the whirlpool tub, we found this surprise hole in the slab. I just love the builders of our house. They never cease to surprise me.

I am glad that I remodeled the guest bath  because we will be using it for the next few months while the master bath gets the works. So that is my something big.

4.04.2011

Updating the Cafeteria

I recently had the pleasure of updating the cafeteria at work. The old thing was in major need of updating. It is in the basement of a 1966 building - so a dark, dingy, used-to-be fallout shelter. Yes, it's a little scary at times. The only downfall to this project was that the tables and chairs had to stay. And we couldn't rearrange anything...so basically this was a minor update, but much needed.

The previous colors in the cafeteria were teal, olive and smoke-stained white - back in 1966 when it was built, it was legal to smoke in the building.

Nice, huh? Anyways, the new paint colors are Sherwin Williams Latte and Fired Brick. The plan is to have the red along the back wall and the Latte on all the other walls. I wanted to be able to see the warm, inviting red while walking down the hall to the cafeteria.

And with the magic of a great crew to paint the walls, I am able to show the after pictures.

Priming the walls:
That same corner with paint:

The kitchen area before:
Kitchen area now:

It is almost complete. The artwork is ordered and I am awaiting the arrival of it. Once it gets here, I will show some more of the after pictures.