Staggered It Is!

Thank you Liz, B, Molly, Kelly, and Summer for your sound advice regarding our giant living room wall problem. Thanks to your input we decided to add a third shelf and hung them staggered. Hope you guys like the end result!

Rejuvenate Kitchen, Part 2 (Otherwise Known as DONE)

Yes, yes, I know. I haven't made an appearance here in ages. But you're about to see why, because kids I've been working my heiney off trying to get this kitchen rejuvenation (not quite a remodel and not quite simply redecorating) done. Ok, Matt helped, too, but since I was the Project Manager on this venture (remind me later to post about my ingenious system for avoiding killing your spouse when tackling home projects together), the onus to wrap things up was squarely on my shoulders. But now...We. Are. Done. Praise Jesus, hallelujah, and amen. Remember this post from when we started? If not and you're too lazy to click the link and go back to review it, let me refresh your memory of what the kitchen looked like before.

[Shudder.]


But a new floor, wall paint, artwork, cabinet paint, hardware, roman shade and tile backsplash later, and voila!

Why Didn't We Do This Sooner?

We're not finished taking our photos and whatnot back out, and we still need to re-hang the curtains on the French doors, but I knew if I didn't post an updated photo of our new floors some of you out there would be unhappy with me. We couldn't be happier with how it turned out. Now everybody come visit us! (Er, how many of you caught the appearance of that fancy new HD flat screen tv in the last shot? Sigh. The rest of the downstairs just looked so good that we couldn't bring ourselves to defile it by bringing our old, ugly, ginormous tube tv back in. Movie nights at our house from now on! In part because we can't afford to go out ever again.)

1:20 Flooring Update

Here's the starting point. We packed up and moved out everything we could do on our own so that the guys could get to the actual laying of the floor as quickly as possible. I ran out to do a couple of errands, came back an hour later, and they'd already done all this. Then just a few minutes ago we peeked from the landing and saw this.

Sequestered

Today M and I are stuck upstairs all day while our first floor is totally transformed by the installation of new laminate flooring. Goodbye to the old, stained ivory carpet. Hooray! Farewell strange mystery stain that appeared out of nowhere in the living room. So long horrible eyesore created that infamous day when I dropped a bottle of orange oil cleaner onto the rug and then scrubbed it in vain so long and so vigorously that the carpet stretched and developed a wrinkle. Arg. And adios embarrassing transition from the kitchen into the dining room. You've been hidden under a throw rug so long I almost forgot you were there. Almost. And lest we forget the spot that started it all, hello tear in the linoleum. Nice knowing you.

The two downsides to this day are 1) it's supposed to be 103 today and we're stuck upstairs and can't use the a/c because all the doors and windows are open downstairs, and 2) I have to find someway to entertain myself up here all day long. Here are my various plans and projects:

• Nap
• Go to Home Depot and get supplies to transform an old corkboard into a chalkboard for the kitchen
• Make a dent in my stack of Netflix movies, including 27 Dresses and The Business of Being Born
• Did I say nap?
• Update my 3six5 photos before Kelly kicks me out of the club
• Post periodic updates of the floor installation
• Bug Matt and keep him from getting anything done (he's working from the home office today)

Operation: Rejuvenate Kitchen, Part 1

When I moved into my house [gulp] ten years ago, one of the things I loved most about it was the new kitchen, complete with granite countertops. Coming from a tiny 1940s-era duplex with a nearly original stove and fridge, this was a big step up in the world, believe you me. With my mom's help, I set right to decorating it.

Oh, you want a better look at the fruit-themed wallpaper border, you say? And as for that lovely shade of yellow, doesn't it remind you of cold mustard and ham sandwiches on Wonder bread that you savored as a child? Or pollen from a big summer blossom of some sort? What's that? Did I hear you correctly? Baby dookie? Hmm. I suppose that, too. But I like to think more positively. Surround myself with goodness and light and all that business........ Ok, people, cut me some slack. It was the mid-90s, and wallpaper borders were still in. Sorta. And at the time I really liked this fruit pattern. I cannot deny my past! The point is, though, that some time ago I stopped liking it. And I never liked the color and cheap construction of the cabinetry. It's hard to tell in these pictures (you mean I have to focus, compose, AND pay attention to lighting and such?), but they have a purply-pink tint to them that is just...unpleasant. It used to be worse, though. The knobs were shiny brass. Ugh. A couple years ago I spray painted them all silver--a temporary fix. But the time has finally come to do something about this sad, outdated, worn out looking kitchen. We started by choosing a paint color for the cabinets. Here are our two test patches. We chose the darker taupey-gray color on the left to complement the granite. And last Saturday we tore the kitchen all to heck and got started. You know some of you out there who confess to me that your house is a mess, and I say something like, "You should see mine! I'm living like a crazy hoarder on a Jerry Springer special!" and then you guffaw and say something like, "Yeah, right! Your house is never a mess." You can't say that anymore. I have photographic evidence right here. We removed the cabinet doors, and painted the facings, walls, and the ceiling. Here's the new paint color next to the old. And here I am wedged behind the fridge. Gads, this is an unflattering picture. Oh well. Just keeping it real here, folks. Matt was in charge of painting the walls, and I must say he did a fine job of it. Every single exposed hair on his body was matted with paint by the time he finished, but he never spilled and the walls looked beautiful. Again, my cruddy photography makes it hard to see, but it's a really nice neutral off white with a touch of beigey-gray. We also tore out our old, ugly oven hood. That sucker was a pain in the arse to tear out (at least, er, it looked from my vantage point sitting at the dining room table with a cold beverage like Matt was having a hard time of it), so Matt was especially happy when it finally came loose and went straight into the trash bin. (Please don't ask about his t-shirt. Someday I'll do a post on his shirt collection, but until then I don't want to talk about it.) Installing the new one was no picnic, either. It involved going to Home Depot and buying some round saw attachment thingy for our drill, which we used to spray wood shavings all over the dadgum house. I mean, er, to drill a hole in the existing cupboard. We don't own any safety goggles, so we improvised by using my old $7 Target sunglasses. But once we'd done that, everything else went smoothly and before I knew it I was the owner of The Quietest Kitchen Fan On the Planet. Now all we have left to do is:

1. Paint the baseboards
2. Paint the door and doorframe
3. Find lovely artwork for that big white wall
4. Get a new roman shade for the window
5. Install a travertine backsplash all by our lonesomes (!!!!)
6. Install new flooring.......know why? This is why:

Refrigerator + linoleum + gravity + friction = a more expensive kitchen remodel than we'd anticipated. Stay tuned for more progress reports!

Goodbye, Hello

Hello, mid-1990s dining room light fixture. Maybe at some point people thought you were fashionable, but I think now is the appropriate time for me to be honest and tell you the truth: I never liked you. Sure, you provided a nice little breeze on a hot summer afternoon or when the oven was on. But how can I put this delicately? Hmm, I can't. Because the truth is you're butt ugly, and it was high time for you to go. Goodbye. Good riddance. Now....hello, lovely! Don't you want to come over and eat with us now?

Surprise Makeover!

I woke up this morning feeling unexpectedly inspired to do some blog housekeeping--starting with a pretty girly makeover. Hope you like it!

PS: I took that banner shot with my much-loved new camera, which I'll post about later. Happy Friday, everyone!

All Spruced Up

Being ten years old, it was time for our townhome complex to receive a fresh coat of paint! BEFORE: Dated color scheme, water-stained stucco, faded greenish-teal trim. AFTER: Hello, lovely.

Master Bath Remodel, 10:00 AM

My master bath has been in a state of suspended remodel for almost 4 months. I know, I should be ashamed to admit that. But it didn't seem like that much time had gone by......really, it didn't. Although I'm getting a slightly later start than I'd anticipated, the plan today is to wrap this baby up. What's already been done: Cabinetry painted, flowered wallpaper removed, and, uhm, I guess that's it. (But that was a really big job. Note to self: If I ever wallpaper again, I will not use wallpaper primer, which claims to make removal easier down the road. It doesn't. Instead, it makes the wallpaper tear off in tiny little pieces. Arg.) Oh, and the old light fixture has been partially removed. Here are my starting photos: What's left to be done today: Prep walls, paint, install new light fixture, medicine cabinet, and towel rack. (Oops, I forgot to include the light fixture in that last photo. Well, now you'll just be surprised when you see it installed.) So hopefully this evening (or at this rate, maybe tomorrow....) I'll have pictures up of a lovely completely transformed bathroom.