Quick Update!!

Hall painting is complete!

2012 Father's Day pics are posted!

New art for the Family Room

There is a lot going on here still, but it's an improvement

The Classics, of course. Nate was particular about the books and the order of them.

We bought closet storage boxes and stowed remotes, dvd's and other small stuff

Half Bath

Wall Decal - $10.00

This still needs someo character, but I plan on adding plates to the wall as I find ones that will fit. I tried to wait until I had a collection, but it was harder than I thought.

Hoepfully, more updates to come very soon!!!

Let's talk about the bath

As the summer heat rolls in from the South and bear down hard on us in North Carolina, we have been busy here. Really busy. Exhausting busy. My career job has been nuts. The economy has kicked warehousing upfits in the big box butt. I know, because I am there.at work. all the time. It's a good thing, but enough about that. Hubby was supposed to go home this week to visit our family in NY, but my physical (and slow) state and Gil's new teeth kept him close this week.  Nate has done some work! Take a look...

BEFORE

AFTER

By luck, the ill fitting rug in our master bath fits perfectly in this hall bath, and happens to match the walls. I couldn't believe it, but I guess you just gravitate toward the styles and colors that you just simply like.

I had spray painted the traditional medicine cabinet (not the coolest one in town, admittedly). I took it to another level by splashing a metallic on it. (okay, "another level" is a bit hyperbolic. It is) At the time, I didn't know what color the walls would be, but it actually works because it blends into the background.

I don't like the light. I really didn't like it before we painted. It was out of place. Guess what? It's staying. I am the "electrician" (Read: the one not afraid to fry), and I am not climbing up on a sink to change it out.
#1. for the obvious reason. The baby.


#2. With a house like we have, there are ALWAYS surprises behind the walls, especially in the bathrooms. I don't know what that is. It just is. I guess since the house was most likely built in 30 minutes or less could be a good reason. This is why I just cannot change the towel racks. I am afraid. I did in the old house, and wow. It was a mess in that wall.


#3. Somehow, in some way the dark hardware now looks like we tried to do it because we have some other dark highlights and accents. hmmm... I'll deal with it. It works, right? (P.S. I'd never select this light, so I didn't "try" at all.)


#4. We have a baby to pay for. Priorities.


Okay enough of the light. The art I have had, and I love the koi.

We now just need:

A Window treatment

New cover plates

A little more decor including

Towels to match

I think we're off to a good start here...

From the Lens...

I finally got batteries for my camera, so it was exciting to go through my memory card and snap a few more at lunch today. It was a simple pleasure, and it meant the world to me. I have my memory keeper back.

Turning the Corner (in an endless maze of work)

"Hey babe, I think we're turning the corner" 
That's what I hear from dear ol' hubby every month or so. In our lives, there are a lot of corners, but as long as we keep turning them, we're good. We are almost to the point in the house where the work will get fun, and creative, and probably expensive. Nate finished the painting in the stair well this past weekend. To any mortal man, this is just more than a hassle. To Nate, he is afraid of heights and a perfectionist, and hates the huge off-center chandelier in sed stairwell. It was a challenge, but I tell you, it looks fantastic, and I was sure to tell him so. 

Remember, you don't have to buy different paint containers - use food containers! 

Trim complete. Light is in the way. Yes.

Nate changed the light bulbs while he was up there. There was no way he was going to put the  B*$*% ladder on his newly painted walls again! 

Now, he just needs to (he alone, because he won't let me help):


1. Paint the upstairs hallway (the paint is out and walls are ready) 

Blank, boring, builder looking canvas. 

2. Paint the hall bathroom. (It'll be easy. It's small and I have had the color picked for months. This is strictly a paint job. No change outs, no tricks, but maybe a new rug and a picture.) 
3. Paint the Master Bath. This is, in no way, a remodel. However, we are replacing the giant sized mirror with (2) smaller ones, hopefully getting shelving  in the view window and purchasing some furniture. This is the biggest hurdle we have left, but the goal is to finish before Mr. Baby comes home.  


Oh, and for you budget conscious readers, the paint and supplies were about $40.00 total, which should carry Nate through the remainder of the hallway. Not bad, eh? 


After these items are checked off the list, the baby is born, the company is gone, I get back to work, Fall arrives and the rental house is content, we'll be on to the "design phase." No sweat, right? 

We get by with a little help from our friends...

If we were playing the game of Mother May I, we'd have been granted five giant steps forward this weekend. Holy Moses, we got a lot accomplished, with a little help from our friends. I must take one whole post to show you our 'Before and After' of the house washing that our friend did for us this weekend. It looks and feels truly like we have new siding, new windows and a new look to the house. Now, to try to catch up on some sleep...

Before

After

Before  - How disgusting is this? 

After - Same corner of chimney

Before

After

Before

After

Hopefully...

As broken washing machines, tree pruning requests and gutter repairs have wreaked havoc on our financial respite, we will hopefully soon get more projects accomplished at the house. This weekend was huge for us, although not really photo worthy or really even a good read. I'll keep it brief. My nesting has kicked in and I continue to hang little pint size shirts and pants in preparation that little pudgy legs and arms will find them soon, hopefully. I have two little nursery projects coming and they make me sick with excitement. Hopefully I will show you soon.
We hung pictures, cleared cabinets and purged away. The piles of boxes are diminishing, and the brick a brack is filed away, or sitting nicely in place now.  I can't fail to tell you too, that we straightened the garage and shed. woo.hoo., right? It was big. It was hopefully a stepping stone to bigger, better things. I'd like to have done wonderful design projects over the long weekend, but alas, we did not.
If I could take snapshots of my mind and show you our future finished living room, I would. I would also tour you through Gil's new room too, so you could see the "bomb pop" curtains and bright colors we adorn it with. For now, however, those images are safe in my mind. They are unrealized, but that's okay. Hopefully soon.

Gutter corrected, back of house saved!

Bought some flowers for the foot of the evergreens

Straightened and organized

Cleaned out and organized the shed (and garage)

Oh my gosh and I almost forgot to tell you. We are getting our house cleaned. I mean scrubbed. The outside. It will be clean at last! Before and after shots are certainly on the way. I am mentioning this because as you are deep in the throes of home ownership, these things matter. These things eventually lift from your shoulders and somehow give you an extra large sense of accomplishment, even if you are only there to decide it's happening. I love seeing the outside of the house come together. It's almost as if the brick coursing bends a little upward to smile. The structure stands a little taller and may even exhale with pride slightly. Maybe. Hopefully.


One more thing...
" Hopefully" is now an accepted adverb, according to the AP Stylebook. Apparently, there was a big debate and hatred of the word as an adverb, or rather hatred for the use of it. For instance, "Hopefully, I can get some sleep one day." It was too vague. The accepted substitute was (until this week) "One would hope that I can get some sleep one day." It says the same thing. I happen to like the word hope, in whatever form it must appear. In some of my darkest hours, I can repeat in my head "hope", and I'd search for it in some alternative or a simple option of fate. HOPE. I would hate to live without it in any way, used in the proper format or not.  I am certainly not a wordsmith. I speak and write as if every sentence has a little nerve ending, and my thoughts walk gently across the words. I try to, at least. As I age, I realize this is important to do. My foot only finds my mouth every few months or so these days. Hopefully that's the case...

"Dishing" on my bathroom drawers

My second home lately has been Pinterest. As much as I resisted taking my dear friend up on my invitation, I succumbed eventually. If you have ever seen Salem's Lot, it was like the scene where Danny Glick came to the window and gently scratched until his little friend came out so he can turn him into the undead. Similar. Different outcome, I suppose, but that email invitation was my Danny Glick for awhile. 

Anyway, I have been finding little projects and unpacking and discovering little trinkets and accessories (which seems like a major excavation at this point). I pinned this:

Source: Uploaded by user via Beth on Pinterest

And came up with this:

I started with this...ewww

Measured twice, cut once...

Lined the cabinet floor with vinyl (awesome) wallcovering. Cleanable folks.

Added my sushi plates...

Had a nostalgic moment over my "Fun Fruits" sharpener. It's from the 80's. I love you, Nicki.

To this! Organized!

Look below the ceramics. Oh my. That, my friends, is sparkly vinyl (cleanable) wall covering. I had a rep from Eyekon (WWW.EYEKON.NET) come visit me at work today two months ago, and I immediately fell in love. I wasted no time ordering a sample for this very project (and have had it way too long). Again, I took a little spray glue to the back. Commercial wall covering adhesive is no joke, and the power and strength (and aggravation of installation) is not necessary in a drawer. Now, I may feel a little more glamorous while "putting on my face".

I have future plans for more this wall covering in gold. Two words: Closet ceiling. 


Yes, I know the intent was for jewelry storage, but I have a tough time digging through a pile pf plastic boxes, containers and creams to find what I need in the morning. These dishes are also washable, so that helps too. I didn't realize how many of these little sushi servers I had, but I'd say it worked out well. 


An aside: I would have loved different patterns, teacups and bright colorful inspirations just like the Pinterest post. However, I am working on a plate project, and it is not easy to collect and  assemble a grouping of plates for a yellow wall. On this one, I used what I had, if nothing else to get it done, 100% free of charge.