Befores and Afters

Hey dudes!

So, I am just now realizing that I haven't posted a photo of the house since we (I'm sorry ... Jeff ) has painted it.  I suck. 

 

This is a before photo.  I can't believe how gross the siding looked.
I'm so glad that crap is in the dumpster. 

 This shot is probably the closest thing I have to a photo of the front of the house.  Oops!
Btw: This is me, my lil' sis, and my cousin Andy.  We're pretty cute.  Just sayin'.

Anyway, here is what's been going on at our house.

Like Woah

Before you click this link.. Remember I am no where near done.

Lessons I've Learned From Being a "Professional" DIYer

The Money Pit 1986

This list needs no introduction.

1.  The Money Pit is for realz:  I walked into my house and thought.. "This won't be too bad, maybe 10 grand tops".  HA! If I could kick my former self in the butt, I would.  Rotten floors, saggy dry wall, bad electrical, a hole in the roof and a foundation that tilts??? Ten grand my butt.

2.  You'll know you married the right guy when you do a home reno:  Seriously, I think my marriage could withstand a nuclear holocaust.  

2.  Don't take anything at face value:  Do yourself a favor, look behind that bathroom vanity before you think the bathroom redo will be super easy.  

3. Tarps are your friend: You'll figure that out quickly when you spill an entire gallon of white latex paint on your hardwood floors.

4.  There are only two types of real motivation:  The weather and your parents coming to town.  Funny how things get finished when you don't have any choice.

5. You'll absolutely detest the former home owners:  Yes.  Whoever decided to paint all the register covers without taking them off the wall.  I'll find you.

6.  No matter how much space you think you have, you'll fill it up:  Can anyone say yard sale?

7. Good friends grout:  Thanks Joe.

8.  Listening to Marvin Gaye on Pandora helps you paint faster:  No joke.

9. Dogs live to break your antiques:  Thanks Shadow.  Momma loves you.

10.  No matter how much you pre-plan, you'll always want to change something:   The new white desk in my room isn't white enough.  I wish I hadn't used so much blue and I already redid my master bedroom.  Just sayin'.

One Month Later

Yeah, I'm still working on this project.  I think it just took me awhile to A) Get some inspiration / motivation and B) Get the right color scheme.

So this is what I've chosen for my office.  The walls are going to be Martha Stewart's Eggplant.  My woodwork is all Behr's Ultra Bright White.  The back panel of my bookshelf is Behr's Retro Avocado.  The blue is Martha Stewart's Plumage, which is going to be integrated somehow.  The silvery tone, Martha Stewart's Tin, will most likely be put on a piece of furniture.  The fabrics (from Hancock Fabrics) will be integrated either as new chair padding on my desk chair, curtains, or throw pillows.  I'm honestly leaning towards the hounds tooth for the chair, and the gray and white for curtains.  

We'll see!  I better get to it.  I'll never finish at this rate.  Be on the look out for before and after photos.  

My Purple Problems

I guess you have it pretty good when your biggest issue is picking the perfect shade of purple.  Hum.

Anyway.  I am picking out a purple color for my office.  It's a small room with three windows and a big built in book shelf.  I kind of want the room to feel cozy, grown up, and clean.  So far the plan is to paint all the woodwork semi-gloss bright white, the book case bright white, and then continue to use my white desk.  I have also thought about bringing in some ochre, and a neutral gray (possibly).

So help me pick one out!  Let me name them starting from the top left swatch and going clockwise:

1) Blueberry Pie (Martha Stewart)

2) Eggplant (Martha Stewart)

3)Purple Basil (Martha Stewart)

4) Purple Rain (Benjamin Moore)

I do have two favorites, but I'd rather not divulge that information.   Leave a comment with your vote.

Disclaimer:  The swatches on the wall were taken mid-afternoon.  Blueberry pie is more intense in other parts of the day, and purple basil is more of a red-violet.  Googling Martha Stewart Paints may give you a better idea of what they look like in real life.

Three Weeks Later

I can't believe it's been about three weeks since I've last updated.  Then again, I can.  Home improvement things seem to come to a screeching halt during the cold winters months.  Jeff is also now a full time student and the work is all on me.  Of course, we know how effective that is.......  

So in the last month or so I've painted the bedroom, which you've already seen, and done a little bit of antiquing.  (Thus the photo of my little $10 food scale)  See!  I'm good for something!  Even if it is shopping.  

I also recently started a small food blog called Scratch That: Eating the way Memaw Intended.  So far, it's not much, but I hope to be able to put more time into it.  I will admit that my real interests have been in cooking.  I think it's because you can create something beautiful and the satisfaction of the effort and final product is so addicting.  So please, head on over there and join, comment, or hate on it.. whatever you so choose.

I hope you all are doing well, and that the promise of spring is as exciting to you as it is to me.  Here's to an exciting, project-full March!  

Spring Fever Already??

Source: tumblr.com via Lauren on Pinterest

Maybe it's because I spent five days in sunny California, or maybe it's because Kansas has yet to have any sort of snow storm, but I already have spring fever.  (How was that for an extra long sentence??)
I can't help but think about landscaping ideas, and gardening ideas even though it's usually around 30 degrees F here.  Total wishful thinking.

Anyway, here's my gardening wish list:

Hard-scape 
(is that how you spell that??)
New lighting in the front yard
Fix the edging around the raised beds in the front yard
Rip out the remaining ground cover in the front yard


Plants
Herb garden with tarragon, basil, sage, rosemary, oregano, mint and whatever else I can find
Tomatoes (3 varieties)
Peppers
Greens of all sorts
Grape vines near the coop
 Gourds possibly
Sunflowers


I really want mostly herbs and greens.  We really don't have a large garden area and I'd love to change that, but we'll see what time and life permits.

Anyone else have spring fever yet?

He's So Fly

Say hello to Mr. B, my oldest furbaby.  I had two days of vacation to kill so I decided to knit him a little sweater out of some yarn in my stash.  I have to admit, the yarn is gross.  It's like this faux suede junk.  The texture was awful to work with and I'm pretty sure I'm going to give the other skein and a half away.  The pattern I used also did not work out.  My boy is pretty husky in the shoulders and upper rib cage, so this sweater ended up being one big experiment.  Oh well, he's a dog and he doesn't have a say in what clothes I put on him.  Oh the joy of being a dog mother.

Here is the pattern it is based off of.  I used Lion Brand Lion Suede.  I'll never use it again.  Ugh! 

A Coop Without A Name

It's November 6th and I just finished my chicken coop.  Don't judge!  I am a well honed procrastinator.  Then again, I think this thing came out kinda awesomely so I really don't care how long it took.   I took some photos for you.  Take a look after the link.

Workin' On It

I know.. I know.. Long time no see.  I really don't understand what my problem is 'cus blogging ain't that hard. (Woah, I sound like a Kansan).  Well, let me fill you in.  Jeff and I have decided to reside our entire house.  Yes, we have taken the plunge.  A found farewell to our Lil' Tykes house (aka vinyl) and hello to our new lap siding (woodish).  Jeff took a few photos of the before and the in between.  Take a look!

Just In Case You Were Wondering...

Or maybe you weren't wondering...... 

This is how far I've come on the chicken run.  It has taken me awhile and it's a bit gollywonkle but HEY don't judge!  A lot of the wood is reclaimed and warped, I've had to be creative with repurposing things and, well, I'm a novice.  I'm still working on stretching the wire over the whole thing and all I can say is.... it sucks.

Progress, Kinda

Remember "the girls"?  I've been slowly working on their new coop.

(Sorry about the fuzzy photo, I promise they get better after the cut.)

Oh You Know...

We've been super busy doing this.....

and this.....

more to come!

Tada!

It's FINISHED!!! My lovely husband completed our banister last saturday. We spent last night reorganizing and sweeping the deck. Isn't it purdy?

Here's a shot of our beautiful backyard. It's taken us a LONG time and a lot of moola to get it this green. I'd like to point out the lack of dandelions as well. Feel free to compliment and say nice things.

Here's my man of the hour with his hard work!

Mr. B is hiding, can you find him?

The next step is to do some minor landscaping and container gardening. We are incredibly happy to have the hard part of this project done! It helps to marry a handy guy. (Remember that all you single girls!)

Happy Tuesday Night!

Update: The Banister

Today I was thinking: this blog is officially over a year old and I'm not sure I ever introduced you to my DH Jeff.

So here he is... Blog meet Jeff, Jeff meet blog.

I made him take a photo standing with his newest project, our banister. He doesn't like having his photo taken, but he didn't have a choice. Neener neener.

This is the part where I brag. My husband designed and is currently building this beautiful banister! I'm really really proud and honestly, I think I'm the luckiest girl in the world. (Oh, he also built me that little rolling garden box.)

Mr. B and Shadow are pretty excited too. They're now allowed to spend more time outside since we can trust them to not jump off the side of the deck. See how proud they are of their Papa?

Have a lovely Monday!

Sneak Peek

Bathroom Renovation: Let the Planning Begin

I have to preface this post by saying this: I am from a VERY transit family. Personally, I have moved 13 times in my 26 years of life. So, when my husband and I started looking for a house I knew that I wanted something that I could make my very own, a fixer upper if you will. Boy, did we ever get a fixer upper. We have had everything from rotten floor boards to a hole in the roof. Meh.. You get what you paid for!

Now that our kitchen is 99.5% finished I've started thinking about the projects we still have ahead. This summer is all about landscaping and the deck, but I want to think about something else, the guest bathroom. It is a tiny little thing which has a cast-iron bathtub, a very pathetic toilet, and the biggest vanity you've ever seen. I have decided to keep the tub, but everything else has to go. Here are some inspiration photos I've pulled. I'm stumped on the walls but there is plenty of time to think about it. What do you think?

Here

Here

The Container Store

Here

The Home Depot

Friday Night Lights

Last night Jeff and I had a few friends over for delicious dinner. I took a few moments beforehand to take photos of the kitchen, the dining table and a few of the appetizers. Unfortunately I didn't take any of the main dish, but let me tell you, it was awesome. Anyway, enjoy the photos and more importantly, enjoy your weekend!

Our New Backsplash

The other day I gave a little peak into our current project. Well, I am happy to announce that it is done. The last BIG project for the kitchen is over! (I still have some painting to do. Ew). Here are some photos from the last few days.

Our friend Joe, cheesing for the camera.

Jeff was COVERED in tile dust. When I say covered, I mean covered.

Before the grout

After the grout

A close up of the tile. We are going to get new faceplates for the switches. I promise they won't stay hanging like that.

We are both extremely happy with how it turned out. It really brought everything together and adds a nice classic touch. Now to finish painting and adding finishing touches and accessories, my favorite.

Happy Friday!

Teaser!