Sunday, December 8, 2013

Christmas Lights

We're ready for Christmas!

I think I might've been the only one looking for the old-fashioned ceramic lights at the store because they were pretty hard to find amongst the rows of LEDs.  I like the light they give off so much better though.

Powder Room

This is how the powder room looked when we first  bought the house - green tile and carpet that smelled like pee,

It looks and smells much better now with hardwood floors, paint and a new vanity.



Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Fall and Almost Winter

Winter Projects

We just replaced the old microwave above the oven with a pretty new hood vent.
 
(Before)
(After)
 
I think it will look even prettier once we get a backsplash in.  Now the only appliance we have left to replace is the oven, which actually isn't that bad except that I scrubbed it with Easy-Off when we first moved in and it took off a lot of the white finish (see behind the knobs).  I guess it takes EVERYTHING off easily.
 
 

Fall Projects

This was our mantel in the fall.  The pumpkins didn't last too long - probably because our fireplace is always on.

 
In case you forgot what it used to look like...
 

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Outside and a Little Inside

We haven't done much to the inside of our house lately because it's been nice out and we've been concentrating on the yard (which needs a lot of help).
 Raised vegetable beds are in
 Bird feeders and bird bath are in and they've been quite a hit.  We can't get any hummingbirds to come to our hummingbird feeder though...
 We sprayed the brass fixtures black and it actually makes a big difference (to me at least)
 This will be my next project - making drapes.  My sister showed me how a few weeks ago and I think I might try it this weekend.
And we added a flag...just in time for Flag Day and 4th of July!  It made me realize that our house is red, white and blue...and our cars out front are red and white.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Spray Painting the Kitchen Cabinet Knobs

We had brass knobs on our kitchen cabinets that really needed to go.  Besides looking really 90's, they looked even worse once we put in our stainless steel appliances.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to replace them with dark knobs or polished nickel knobs, but then realized I didn't want to replace them at all after I saw that each knob costs about $3 at the hardware store.  So, on to more painting!  I sprayed them using Rustoleum fine textured black spray paint and they turned out really well.


Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Painting the Stair Rails and Kitchen Trim

We decided to paint our stairwell railings dark so that they matched the floor stain better (they were previously stained an orange-y color).  I used the same black paint that I used on the fireplace tile, and it looks much better.  I really would've preferred an espresso brown paint I think, but we had the black paint already so I just used it.


I also painted the wood "backsplash" in our kitchen.  Luckily the builder actually used wood in here instead of MDF like everywhere else in the house where there's moisture (i.e. every bathroom). Now we just need to get rid of the brass knobs!  I also want to eventually replace the microwave with a pretty stainless hood.
BEFORE

AFTER 
(I've also cleaned the microwave vent since this picture was taken - yuck!)


It really bothers me that the kitchen cabinets don't go all the way up to the ceiling, but at least someone enjoys it!

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Next step in the transformation was painting the ugly beige tile around the fireplace.  I would eventually like to put pretty stone here instead, but this will have to do temporarily.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

New House

We've almost finished painting every room in the house, and the final coat of finish is going on the hardwoods today (hope we don't come home to asphyxiated cats!)  Once the new carpets are installed next week, it's finally time to move in!



Thursday, January 31, 2013