basement redo

in case you didn't know...my husband rocks my socks. he's pretty much the best thing ever.
he left town....again....and i planned my revenge via home improvement....again.
i had planned on doing it while he was gone, but it became obvious the more i read that i should probably involve him. little did i realize he would do the entire thing. again....see opening statement.

here's our basement pre-business trip

(look behind the cute little girl, and you can see some wall) :)

(sorry about the small size)and that furniture is not ours :)
i don't have any good pictures of the basement. probably because it's been an abused and neglected spot that i was not happy to everyone walk into.
my girlfriend inspired me to do a deep color, so i jumped on in. literally as you can see...

i did a first for me. i bought a paint and did not sample it at all...shocking i know. we have this tv alcove that's awkward and needed something. benjamin moore's grizzly bear brown fit the bill

then came in the hubsters aka handy manny and voila

(the wall color is bleeker beige. the color looks bizarre in photos.)


beadboard is semi-painful. a nail gun is required for sure. luckily i had previously bribed the hubby to do crown moulding with a gun and compressor. i'm nice that way. cutting is way tedious and hard. even more tedious is the caulking, wood filling and subsequent sanding.
we apparently need to buy construction people levels and measuring tapes. frustration galore trying to work with walls that are crooked.
pictures do not do it justice. it lightened up the room so much!
new (to us) furniture will happen this summer/fall which will complete the room nicely.
until then pat the hubsters on the back and tell him how cool he is.
rockstar!

more adventures in renovating

when the hubsters was out of town my girlfriend came over and helped me with this:

i know some people like having "desks" in their kitchen, but mine ended up being a catch-all junk area. The classy blue recycling bin lived in the chair opening and the top was always covered with one thing or another. Organization aside I hated this area.
So we did it.....with a small pink hammer and a teeny tiny screwdriver. Manly tool wielders we were not.
The original plan was to build out my super tiny pantry, but after the demo I realized that the main water line runs straight down through the wall, so another plan needed to be made.

It was a mess. The amount of pilot holes the builders drilled was ridiculous, but the lovely green flooring was intact ( the reason it all got demo'd)

So it all got repaired in time for the hubsters to come home......and NOT notice it. Well he sort of noticed it, but not at first

It had sat like this with various configurations. That darling basket got returned because it would not suit our purpose.

What was our purpose now?

I had removed storage and had a large place where my lovely recycling was now showcased. After much debating I made plans. I kidnapped hubsters from work and we went to Ikea. we found a bench that pulled out and then found three black bins that fit perfectly inside. It was kismet!
Hubst put it together and worked his manly magic and voila

Part I was completed. Part II and III were a little more girly, but required some manly tools of an air compressor and a rotozip to get us

HERE!!!!


Love the hubsters and

we added beadboard and a bookshelf made out of a pine stair tread. I'm beyond thrilled. I don't care that it's not perfect. It's done, and it works for what we need. A place to hide recycling and hang jackets, and put out some cook books ( which have been in my living room).

Woohoo!
Now on to the next project.....

home improvement

my poor hubby. we knew when we bought this house that updates would need to be made. i just don't think he realized truly what that meant.
for me it means midnight painting parties.....alone
i like oak, but do not like the look of oak. does that make sense? so my job is over the next year to eradicate it from my house. here is one start.

our master bathroom is sort of a long hallway that runs the length of our bedroom. it's small but it works. it has 18 foot ceiling like the master bedroom, making it sort of awkward, but open feeling. i would love to put in a skylight one day....somewhere the hubsters head is exploding.
this is the start of my bathroom makeover.


the problem:

oak cabinets

the solution? Ripping them apart and sanding, and priming and sanding again,:

so they could be painted:

and bejewled:

next up.....taking down that giant mirror and replacing it with two framed mirrors, and replacing the light fixture, and replacing the faucets, and tiling the floor, and replacing towel rods, and changing out the shower fixture, and that skylight.
see why the hubsters just rolls his eyes at me and let's me paint by myself at midnight. :)

i'm neglectful

poor bloggy hasn't been written in for a while. the holiday's and all it as definetly taken a back seat.

i'll just do a quick recap :)


i ate way too many of these, if that's possible:

got some time with this guy, but not nearly enough:

put up and took down displays like this:

watched some of my favorite people perform:

and hung out with some local crazies:

it was a fun holiday. weather was warm, parties were fun, food was delish and presents and family were awesome. there is no better way to spend the end of a year!

christmas carol

i can't wait to show you what i made this for!!!

garage

when the hubsters came home during lunch on friday we ended up cleaning out the car a bit. (i'ts amazing what two boys who spend very little time in a car can do). while he was wiping out the cup holders and windexing everything in the back seat i was wandering aimlessly in the garage.
me wandering is a bad thing.
i spotted a can of spray paint.....a very bad thing.
you should know by now i need an spray paint intervention. even the 10 year old neighbor asks me what i am going to paint today.
because i started this project on a whim i did not get a before picture, but here is what i did:

this door was some bizarre, maybe not even primed pinkish greige color. i used real paint for the door. i see a greige? door and i want it painted black. i finally have A door painted black. the front door color is mandated by the HOA. it's purple.....i can live with that :)

the spray paint was used to spray the risers white. i did 2-3 coats of satin white. i then used my black outdoor satin paint that i used for the door to paint the treads. i then sprayed the treads after they dried with a sealant. i loved the stairs. the white is too white, but i like it. now this is a garage done at the last minute, so i did not even sand, fill or take time. it's for fun.
the white was a bit too much so i painted return with honor on the risers.

you likey?
i'm not quite ready to do all the stairs in the house yet, but it's a great trial run!
(oh and really the door is in horrible, horrible shape. let's just say there's duct tape on the door as well as massive dents, and the previous owner painted a ten foot span of the garage blue. i'ts weird, but that project is WAAAAAAYYYY low on the list)

honey do list - check!

sometimes it's the simple things in life. like changing out a ceiling fan. i am not a fan of ceiling fans, but hubsters likes his air circulated, not stale :)
this weekend he kindly took down one ceiling fan and took it apart piece by piece so i could paint it.
spray painting has become sort of a joke in our house. even the pumpkins on our front porch are spray painted. what? it's a fun, easy way to change things up!

here's how the 6 blade fan started out. not ugly, but sort of blah.

here's after it was taken apart, spray painted oil rubbed bronze by krylon, and put back together again

a suggestion from the hubsters: take pictures of the fan as you take it apart. you WILL forget something. take snack size baggies and put the screw and such from each section in a separate baggie.

a simple fix that makes me happy!

ingenius

this kitchen is under construction. sort of. meaning my brain is reconstructing this kitchen while my wallet fights it. we have some big plans on the honey do list, but i have other projects to complete, like painting the foyer, bedroom and hallway before the kitchen even gets touched.

paper towels are like gold in our house. we love them, use them and abuse them to no end. we get the good kind, because you can use them repeatedly. what i hate is the paper towel holders. they are an eyesore, and typically placed where it's highly visible, yet not reachable for little hands. i tried mounting a holder in a cabinet to no avail. the roll was either too thick to store inside a cabinet, or it was just too high up.

enter hubsters genius brain and a late night trial and error, and here's what he came up with.

did you spot it?

underneath that super akward, and attractive green, island is mounted a super sleuth paper towel holder.

a whole blog post about a paper towel holder? really? i know......we all have our vices...dont we :)
and any suggestions about the super awkward green island is welcome. i'm thinking black beadboard, with black counters. but....that's a whole other post

family rules

i'm on pinterest, and i tell you it's like craft crack.....totally addicting. the hubsters honey-do list has tripled in 3 weeks, conveniently while he was gone. after finding so many cute ideas, i found one that i liked. family rules, subway style. so i made my own.
clearly, everyone's "rules" are different ;)

room 4?

i painted the kids bathroom a couple of weeks ago. definitely getting braver as i go along. i think i'm the only one who likes it :)

how i live

pretty much how all my uncompleted rooms look right now.  paint samples painted on each wall.
that's classy, right?

oh baby..

as if he needed to solidify "stud status" in my eyes, the hubsters has done it again.

about 4-5 months ago, my car had a serious issue. ya see, my car is pretty dang awesome and has electronic everything, including electric folding backseats. they fold into the floor, sit up, recline or sit backwards all with the touch of a button. well, shortly before the move when we would need the seats stowed the back seat electronic seat stopped functioning. a rod bent inside the seat rendering the entire right side seat useless.
stuck like this.....

it was annoying and "VERY expensive to replace". i have procrastinated getting it fixed, because i knew it would be "VERY expensive to replace". well, handy hubsters googled the schematics for our exact minivan and spent 3 hours taking apart the back seat.

...HE DID IT!!

he fixed it after reading a schematic drawing...(remember i told you about that whole nuclear fusion thing).
i think i'll keep him cause he would be "VERY expensive to replace"

project table fix

i've had this pair of end tables for several years. i bought the pair at a "antique" shop that has since been torn down. it's hard to say if it was truly an antique store or a hoarders home who had to sell all their stuff before they had their house torn down. i got a pair for $25. they have functioned for what i needed, a place to put my drink and the remotes. after the move they did not a place anymore, and honestly they are not attractive.

i was going to freecycle them, but decided to just make them over. they could function once again. i only have space right now to display one, but here's what i did.

my hubby thought i had bought a new table. he didn't even remember what they looked like before. i don't blame him, i'd want to forget too.

next project to find a darling blue, green and red striped fabric to do curtains for kitchen and pillows for living room.

laundry room

if you're friends with me on facebook, you may have seen these already.
now.....i've expressed that i got over my fear of color right. well i have to say there are a few colors i actually do not count as colors. white, taupe, and grey. they all seem to be just soothing tones versus colors. (i've never claimed to be design or art savvy)
after going crazy in the living room i painted my laundry closet. i totally forgot a before picture (because honestly who takes pictures of their laundry room.....well ok, not me)but here are a series of photos after.

i painted the walls flagstone and it turned out beautifully.
i then found some beautiful scrapbook paper and decoupaged some frames and printed out the words to the happiest song i know "you are my sunshine".
i then found a bin and painted it sunflower

the best part is the chandelier. i bought a brass light at the thrift store for $5 and spray painted it white. it's all too cute, almost too cute, but i tell you every time i open the doors it makes me smile a little. and to say that about a laundry closet that's impressive..

living room

fyi -
i am afraid of color. no really i am. i would have all white couches and taupe walls. maybe it's not fear of the color, maybe it's of messing up. nonetheless, in all the years we have been painting our houses, every one has been a shade of taupe.
well i decided to get over the fear and use color.
here's the living room when we bought the house.

and here is the living room, mostly completed...

it's blue. like REALLY blue. granted the entire rest of the house is now beige for my comfort and sanity, but i did it. i painted a room labrador blue. i love it. it's not perfect, and may not be exactly style perfect, but i used color.

i'm proud of me.

my favorite christmas letter

we all get lovely heartwarming christmas cards from friends and loved ones, dont we? well my favorite one happens to be from a fabulous seven year old boy to santa on christmas eve night.
it reads:

dear santa.
i beleave in you. please dont wake jack he will ruin your suit. please give us good presents!
signiture_____________


santa did oblige and initialed his note and stayed away from jack, the dog, to avoid any doggy drool on his expensive suit.
btw - did you know santa prefers silk?

psycho was right

you were right "psycho". look for a post all about you in the coming days when i can scan, hopefully an embarrassing, picture of you. i will also explain why i call my girlfriend "psycho" :)



when the hubsters and i started dating over 15 years ago i brought back this piece from the department 54 heritage collection "a christmas story". for years he got one piece of the collection until he completed it. we dont always get it put up for the holidays because of sticky fingered children, but this year we seemed to have passed that phase of our lives and we have it displayed within arms reach.
i love how he carefully sets it up in a specific way and gets so excited to have it out. it's a great piece of family history for us. a display of our "christmas history".

their tree

i'm sort of a mean mom. my kids are not allowed to decorate my christmas tree. so in order to create harmony in our home they have their own tree. i do think that this is the last year we will be able to have a small tree.

every year the kids get to pick out a new ornament from the store. we have an ornament for every child for each year of their life. it's a fun tradition, started by accident. don't you love those kinds of traditions! i will post pictures of this years picks later.