This summer there have been a lot of changes going on around here and I'm just about done with my summer "house overhaul!" I am hoping to update the House Tour page very soon with new updated pictures but until then, I'll share a few before and afters to show just how much better things are starting to look at my house!
Awhile back I posted a picture of the office, which sort of became the catch all while we were painting because it is the only room we weren't painting this summer. Here is what it looked like in the middle of our painting marathon:
And here it is after several hours of cleaning! (Same room, I promise!) :
It is very excited to be able to walk into the office again! Another before picture was posted recently after my parents surprised me by painting my bathroom for my while I was gone. Although the paint job was great, some major organization was needed:
And after a few hours and several little plastic storage totes with labels:
Now I can actually find things! And these are just a few of the highlights to my updated house - can't wait to share the new House Tour pictures soon, so stay tuned!
I headed out to the annual 127 Corridor (aka The World's Longest Yard Sale ever!) hoping to find two things. One - a bench for the foot of the bed in the guest room (to be my first "reupholster job"!). Two - a small desk/table to use as a vanity in the guest room (hoping for 25'' length or less - hard to find!).
The first stop was at a friend's house. I was there mostly for the quick visit, but did score this cute frame for 25 cents!
The frame is probably going to get some spray paint, but I'm still deciding what color. I originally thinking ORB-ing the frame and finding a neat little black & white picture to hang in the guest room. I was also thinking of spraying it silver and using it as a mini tray in the guest room. I'll have to think about it.
Before leaving this stop, I'd already spotted the next stop across the street. They had giant glass paneled doors for only $5! I really wanted one, but I have a little too much on my plate right now to commit to fixing up an old door. I've seen such cute ideas for those types of old doors, though, that one is definitely in my future!
Next, we headed off and after a few miles in both directions, we still hadn't found anything we couldn't live without. So we kept driving and ended up at a antique store running a 20% discount for the yard sale-ers. This is where my luck kicked in. I found both of the items I was looking for! I spotted the bench first and knew it was coming home with me right away.
I played it cool though, looked around some more, then came back ready to bargain down the price a little more. (Note: I left the actually bargaining to my Mom - she's much better than I am. I play my part well though, by staring at the item in question, shaking my head, then making several "thinking" sounds. Team work.) We got her down to 25% off and with my new bench in hand, we started heading out of the store. I was already thinking of what color fabric and paint I was going to use updating this bench when I saw the desk! It's an old writing desk and seemed like it was the perfect size for the vanity desk. I put the bench down and measured it with a borrowed tape measure - it was 26'' - almost perfect. I decided to take my bench for now and go home to re-measure the space in the guest room and possibly come back for the desk.
Once we unloaded the bench at my house, I headed straight for the guest room with measuring tape.
The exact length of the wall (the one the mirror is laying on) is 26''! I realized that the desk would stick out a little, though, because of the baseboards, but not only was this desk adorable, it was probably one of the few desks that will fit here! So we headed back for our second purchase of the day and ready to do some more bargaining (or in my case, head-shaking and thoughtful-sound-making). We got her to come down 30% on the writing desk, and once again, I was heading out of the store with my arms full! After a good dusting, I hauled the desk up stairs to see how perfectly the new "vanity" fit in the space.
Perfect! I already have a few update ideas for this piece too, however it'll probably be a little while before I get a chance to work on it. For now, the pieces will be sitting as-is in their intended places and we'll all just have to use our imaginations until I get around to the "after" part!
I shared my first Pinterest Challenge project this morning on Young House Love thinking that a few other readers might be interested and I would get a few more hits than normal, maybe a few comments. Within the the first hour I was already nearing the 100 views mark! At this point I've had over 450 people stop by my little blog to check out my first project - some half way across the globe!
And the overwhelming number of views is not all I'm nerding out about! I was just browsing (and procrastinating - yikes!) on Pinterest looking for new DIY ideas to try for the next challenge having been inspired by so many interesting ideas shared this morning when I cam across... my own project! Yep, thats right. My projects and blog have officially by pinterest-ized!
Eek! To quote Sherry @ YHL, "Geeked out and excited doesn’t even begin to describe it." :)
Last week I was in Cleveland on a mini vacation. You may be asking, "Cleveland? Really?" Yes. Cleveland. Who could resist after this inspiring "hastily made Cleveland tourism video"?
We did see the "art" and tried not to die! :) Fun was had, though, believe it our not. We went to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, of course.
We also made it to the zoo and rain forest.
We got faked a little culture at the art museum.
We found something more on our level with a children's money tour at the Federal Reserve Bank.
After learning (and practicing as seen in the middle picture!) how to pick out counterfeit money, learning a ton of slang terms for currency, and making our own money (in crayon...) we decided to head for one more adventure - a haunted mansion!
Franklin Castle is so haunted, that it is closed to the public. You are supposed to be able to hear people screaming from inside still...so we stayed in the car! (You can see the review mirror in the bottom left...evidence of my cowardice!)
After several hours of driving on the most dull interstate ever, we made it back home and headed straight for the bathroom thanks to our large cokes at lunch. I soon noticed that not one, but both bathrooms had been freshly painted! Apparently Mom and Dad had secretly been working on my house the whole time I was gone! (Yeah, they are pretty great like that!) Not only was this an awesome surprise, but it finished up our painting marathon!! No more paint fumes and drop clothes all over the house and no more super dark bathrooms! So, although I can't take credit for the bathroom make-overs (Mom&Dad also helped with the pictures for this too!), I will share the progress as part of the collective summer overhaul. So, let's start with the smaller downstairs bathroom.
Here is a before picture of the downstairs bathroom. You can see the awful, dark greenish-brown color and the beginning of primer work.
All primed (it took two coats) and no more ugly, darkness!
And now freshly painted in Fairytale Pink. It looks so much lighter now!
The same ugly, dark greenish-brown was also used in the upstairs bathroom, so I decided to continue with the light pink. Before I left and before the painting started we did make a few help modifications. First, we added hooks to the wall right outside of the shower -a much more convenient location.
Next, I moved the toilet paper holder, which was quite a reach, from here (white patches under the towel was the original location)....
...To here. Another much more convenient switch and I updated the holder to one more my style.
Once these basic switches were made pre-Cleveland trip, Mom and Dad jumped right into priming the upstairs.
All primed, after a couple of coats. The dark ugly color is completely gone from the house -hooray!
And the whole room is now much much lighter in pink!
Now I just need to get the shelves organized - yikes! (Working on this now - stay tuned!)
