House Tour Update

I've been home from graduate school housing for two weeks now for winter break. I didn't snap any photos of my holiday decor (Why?!? I have no idea! It looked cute too!), but today, I took down the tree and put away the yuletide decorations and set the house back to normalcy. Since everything was neat and in its place, I figured it was a good opportunity to post an update!

I have a small ranch house and the front door opens up into a nice open space. It's small, but it's more than enough for just me and my pets!

The green pillows were a set from Home Goods for $29.99, the patterned and cream ruffled pillow are about a year old and from Pier 1 Imports. (Other items--rug: Target; coffee table & tv stand: Pottery Barn;  curtains: Target; wood blinds: Lowes)

I scored the great new tablecloth ($19.99) and runner ($12.99) from Home Goods; rug: Target.

OMG, its been awhile!

I haven't had too much to update on the housing front!! Life at my humble abode has been pretty business-as-usual.

Here are some pics I snapped of my holiday decor. I bought 2 things: Pier 1's holiday decor was so cute this year and I grabbed a garland for the shelf and some pretty red sparky vase filler stick things. Then, I noticed my apothecary jars needed a connection to the garland, so I bought some classic green ornaments from the Target dollar spot and mixed them in some spots in the jars (never took a pic though!!).

The holidays came and went so fast!!! I think working right until 3 pm on Friday, the 23rd and having 24 hrs to pull all of my presents together and visit family and friends made the time fly and before I knew it, it was Dec 27!!

As always, Wilson loved the tree!

Hope your holidays were joyful!!

Ta-Da, they are done!

Whewwwwwwww! I feel like I just went down the hill on a rollercoaster!!!

Just over one week later, the stripes are done! This project didn't take me one solid week, but I gave myself plenty of time to do it because I just knew it would be extremely tedious. Actually, Wed-Sat this past week were gorgeous summer days here and I didn't pick up my paintbrush once. Ultimately, I worked Sun, Mon, Tues, Sun, Mon on it.

I was excited to get the room back in working order today after finishing the second coat on the last wall, so here is a pic I captured just a short while ago. The accessorizing is basic, nothing too overblown or with anything new. From the start, I intended to keep the existing white bedding and bubble shades (both from Target), but I switched out the curtain rods (to ones I already owned, but never put up in this house, so no cost there).

Again, a look at the before w/ the seller's blue walls:

And, NOW!

Details:
Colors: Behr's Chocolate Froth (lighter color) & Wheat Bread (darker color)
Supply: Used about 2/3 of one gallon of Chocolate Froth (2 coats); Almost 2 full quarts of Wheat Bread (2 coats); 2.5 rolls of 1-inch Frog tape

Thoughts:
What did I learn from this project?

• My ceiling isn't quite level. This was challenging for measuring the first set of stripes from the top of the wall. The eye wants to see them the same distance from the top of the ceiling the whole way around this room AND intersect window frames from the same point on each side--uh, tough to do.
• Frog tape rocks to make clean tape lines. It's very tough, though, to maneuver in high humidity and loses its adhesiveness quickly if you mess with it a lot, causing it to buckle and peel a little. So, you've got to press the tape down tightly just before rolling the paint on.
• Patience and taking breaks made this possible. My only goal was to finish it before I went back to school on August 23. Accomplished! This is not a weekend job--at least not for me!
• I don't know if I would do this again.
• I'd have to have a pretty darned good reason to EVER paint this room again!
• I love the final product---a lot!!!
• I really love Home Depot, but I strongly dislike Behr paint. For the base color, I used their new "Ultra" paint, which boasts about its built-in primer. This paint did not offer any higher quality coverage than paint I had used before. In fact, basic Benjamin Moore paint has better coverage than this paint. Then, when I painted the darker stripes, I used the regular Behr paint. It was very thin. Two coats were a must. I had a store credit for Home Depot and that is mainly why I used Behr paint. In the future, I'll definitely go back to Benjamin Moore and save my store credit for other things.

This is what I've been up to...

....and I'm super exhausted already and it's not even close to being completed yet!

I have always been drawn to striped walls like these:

Now, all I needed was tape, paint, and patience. The kicker in never embarking on this process was the patience factor...

Last week, my inspiration was sparked by a friend's room that she just completed featuring gorgeous striped walls. She made it look so easy and gorgeous, I was set on biting the bullet and copying her look!

I decided the guest bedroom was the place to try this experiment. Here is a recent photo of the guest bedroom with its original seller's blue walls:

Here is where I am at so far...I painted the walls "Chocolate Froth" by Behr (2 coats):

Then, I taped the wall (ONE wall so far) ....I marked the wall in 8 inch intervals 4x across the width of the wall. Then, tried to line of the tape so it was level. THIS was the most frustrating part of the project (as I expected it would be and ultimately, the reason why I've never tried this project before!) I marked with a random piece of tape the areas that would be painted so I would remember to put the tape either below or above the 8 inch mark points. The main problem is that your eye starts to play optical illusions with the tape lines and they start to move and....needless to say, I kept obsessing with my level and measuring tape (and a few curse words here and there!)

Then, I rolled the color "Wheat Bread" (the next color down on the Behr paint chip). The frog tape kept peeling up because it's humid out today, so I had to press it down firmly again just before rolling. I used a brush to do the sides around the edges. The first coat is drying as we speak and I will apply the second coat later tonight (as I have to leave soon to go to a meeting at work and then teach a spin class!).

Hopefully, tonight after I do the second coat & peel the tape, I will love it so much, the remaining walls will be taped and follow in suit....but, I can't make any guarantees! That is why I only did one wall right now. If I hate it and deem myself "unfit to tape stripes properly" I will just paint over the wall again in Chocolate Froth...

We shall see what the future brings!

House paint is done, just waiting on those shutters....

Hey everybody! The painters finished my house this week and I'm just waiting on my new black shutters to arrive from architecturaldepot.com!

To remind you, the BEFORE (and this is w/ the old rusty colored roof)

And now, the AFTER with a new roof with architectural shingles in "Driftwood" and exterior paint in "Brown Teepee" by Behr. Black shutters, a new mailbox, and lighting to come soon--but I wanted to post an update now! Let's not talk about how i opted for no impatiens this year and my flower beds lack major color...ugh. The zinnias are doing great, but they are hard to see from far away!

 

Here's a before and after of the back of the house:

Before:

After:

 

Hmmm, next I need to do something about those unsightly (and seemingly functionless) cinder blocks under the deck. I'm thinking a wood lattice panel.

New lights for the front door...

I purchased two of these lights for the front door area of the house to finish off the look of the new paint job! I wanted a traditional misson style lamp and I think for the price, these do the job quite nicely--I definitely didn't want to spend more than $50 per lamp. Man, these lamps are expensive out there! I also picked up a motion detector flood light for the back deck.

I also purchased some oil-rubbed bronze spray paint to do the mailbox and the door handle on the door......we'll see how that goes later!

They were $39.97 each from Home Depot. They are formally known as  the "Hampton Bay Wall-Mount 1-Light Outdoor Oil Rubbed Chestnut Lantern" (here's a link if you want to check them out on the Home Depot page: Link

Not sure if I'm going to install these myself or have someone come do it...

Lights worth a look!

Overstock.com has some really cool lights! (That site has everything, man! I mean, where else could you find a watch, a light, a tent, a jumperoo for your toddler, and a new sheet for your bed!)


I thought these chandeliers under $160 were inventive ways to add some flair to one's home without going too overboard on price or style. (click on the pics to a link to its page on Overstock.com)

1. Five light rectangular glass for $139.99:

2. "Rose" design metalwork pendant for $129.99:

 

3. Nickle chandelier for $149.99



4. Copper & Glass pendant for $159.99:





















5. Antique Copper Lantern-Style pendant for $139.99:

Why I Love My Kitchen....

When I was cruising for new homes, I was in a very surreal and fragile state. It was about 3 weeks after the breakup of my marriage and I was just in a state of utter and absolute shock. However, after it was determined that neither me or my ex would stay in our old home and we would put it on the market to sell, I needed to explore my options.

One of the things I didn't want was a COMPLETE fixer-upper because in the spring of 2009, the housing market sure was a buyer's market, and I knew if I explored enough, I'd find something modest, but yet had minor updates to make it "livable" for me. Let's face it, I didn't have the financial or DIY resources to do a major kitchen renovation! (Nor do I have the handy dad who can whittle a kitchen out of a single piece of wood!)

The MLS photos for my home showed these two pictures of the kitchen and I immediately booked an appointment to see this house! I went once with just my realtor, then that afternoon, begged my mom to come back with me and the realtor for a second viewing. By the end of the next day, the offer was in and on my 29th birthday, I had a Purchase & Sale for a new home!

MLS Photos:




































I couldn't believe it! I had 2 more months in my "old" married home, a home that had meant so much to me, with a kitchen that we bought all new professional grade appliances for, installed new lighting, and redid the countertops with quartz! I looooooved my old kitchen and now I had to leave....but now, I had a new place that everyday, I walk in to my kitchen in yet another home that means so much to me, and I think, "I love my kitchen!"

So, here's the tour...

The cabinets are creamy white with a light almond glaze over them. They are solid wood and the drawers have the soft touch closure. Ah!! This trumps old kitchen for sure! I love white kitchens! Also, the countertops sort of look like they are granite! It's actually a shiny laminate countertop that looks like stone. Fooled me in the MLS pics, but in real life, it actually looks very nice. I think granite would actually be "over improving" for my neighborhood of modest ranches and cape style homes.


















I love the corner cabinet with a window. I added little touches of yellow and white dishes, salt & pepper shakers, and vases to coordinate with the yellow walls. Sometimes, some red dishes peak out too, but apparently, not today when I shot this photo! I keep the kitties' fresh water fountain over here in the corner alongside of my Kitchen Aid mixer (which I must confess, I've only used 3 times in 2 years.....I don't bake too much!) Um, also, do you notice the uber storage!!! I use the top two sets of cabinet to the right of the window unit for utilities. The one of the left contains tools and other household tools. The set on the right are office supplies.
























Next to the fridge is a sliding built-in spice cabinet! LOOOOOVE this!! This trumps old kitchen bigtime!






















To the left of the fridge is another slim cabinet for cookie sheets, pans, drying racks, and other large size cooking items.























The angled cabinet is where I keep the animals' food. In fact, you can see Wilson is pointing out his food for me, "feed me, please, mom...." My kitty cat can open this cabinet. He opens it and meows at me as if to say, "mom, here's the food, I'll get it started, you do the rest. MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

























I also love the sliding drawers inside the bottom cabinets:







































Last but not least, I love this corner unit that leads into the rest of the house. I store medicine here. It makes Advil, cold meds, and more very accessible! This also TRUMPS old kitchen!
























While I loved my old kitchen, I think I love this one more! Hmmm, maybe I'll feel that way about a man someday too! I loved my ex-husband, but I think I may love someone new more someday!

PS, whenever I entertain or have people over, they always compliment my kitchen! They love it too!!! Ah, the love!

-TEM

Dreaming....

Just was wandering the web and found these lovely little biddies that would look even more lovely if I had them in my living room!!!! ha ha!

For right now, they look great on-paper!

Guest Bedroom Switcheroo

So, it pains me to say this, but after 2 years with my lovely gorgeous guest bedroom duvet from Pottery Barn (which was something I registered for and a lovely wedding gift!) was peed on twice by one of my cats.........I've washed it in the enzyme Nature's Miracle laundry booster and stored it in a bin in my basement.......I'm nervous that if I put it back on, it will be peed on again for a third time! I don't want to throw it out, but........I had house guests around Thanksgiving and just couldn't put it on the bed for them.

Before:


















I ran into Target and decided I wanted something extremely simple that came with shams and could work with my current wall color and accent pillows....so, I grabbed this "West Elm-ish" bed-in-a-bag set by Target's Home Collection for $69.99 for my full guest bed. The lighting is bad because I took this photo in bright daylight sun and I guess my crappy $100 camera just doesn't work with this light!?!?!

After:

Living Room Changes....subtle, but there!

So, a year after moving in, my living room has evolved over time....

May 2009:


















June 2010: (oh, and the kitty is also new!!! He joined the family late last summer!)