Painting
A Back Door Upgrade
March 4, 2015
With all of the recent snow and sleet, I’ve been stuck in the house a lot. I’ve been looking around and I’m really starting to notice all the projects I’ve started and haven’t finished. There are a lot. An embarrassing amount, really. The mirror was one of them. At least that’s done. We have a wine rack that’s still unfinished, pantry doors that are still half painted in the garage and a guest room that was supposed to be painted two years ago.
A New Nightstand For Under $16
August 5, 2013
A few weeks ago, I hit up a tag sale in my hometown while I was visiting my family. My dad told me a colleague of his was downsizing, and she decided to hold the tag sale to sell a bunch of her things. I knew I wanted to swing by to check it out, but I didn’t think I’d buy anything, because I didn’t really need anything. The only thing I was possibly “in need of” was a nightstand.
A Nursery Lamp Update
January 2, 2014
I wrote a little bit about my ideas for the nursery here, but it can really be summed up in the mood board I created below. See the red lamp with the linen-y drum shade on the board above? I have those now! Well, my version, at least. I had yellow lamps that I spray painted back in the day to use in the guest room, but yellow lamps would drive me crazy in a room that was mostly whites, creams, blues, browns and reds!
A Shelf With Personality Issues
March 6, 2014
Over the summer, my mother-in-law brought over a bright red shelf she had found at a cute antique shop up in Litchfield. Litchfield County sits to the North of us and it’s an absolute haven for antique lovers. (Source) She picked it up for $15 and decided that she couldn’t really use it in her home. She offered it to me, and I thought it would look nice painted a softer color, hanging in our living room or perhaps one of the bedrooms.
Bagel Office, Part 1
March 31, 2012
In the fall of this year, we will celebrate 3 years of home ownership. Our little baby is coming along slowly but splendidly. However, we noticed a trend along the way: we never finish one room… we tackle bits and pieces of each room and do so on a rotating basis. When we first moved in, we painted all of the rooms hastily and did the necessary upgrades that were essential to living.
Bagel Office, Part 2
April 7, 2012
I was so happy with how the office was turning out that when it came time to tackle the daunting task of putting 4 coats of paint on the bookcase Matt built for me, I grabbed it by the horns. I was giddy from how great the white trim looked against the bagel and couldn’t wait to get that bad boy done and curing. For a week straight I would come home after work and prime and paint to my heart’s content.
Beaming Up
November 7, 2013
This is my first post since our baby announcement, so let me first say thank you for all the love! All of the comments totally made my day. We’re nearly halfway there and we are so stinkin’ excited! With the arrival of the baby come early Spring, I decided to revisit the old “2013 Goals List,” to see how we’re doing. You know, because I have sooooo much time left to get it all done in 2013.
Beaming Up: Part 2
November 19, 2013
Now that the beam in the stairway is complete, I set my sights on the dark beam in the kitchen and dining area. Don’t mind Griff sticking out his tongue. It’s a big one, so I decided to break it into thirds and tackle it that way. I’m happy to report that the first third is done. Phew. Of course, I saved the overhead part for last. Oh well. I normally don’t have pictures of the actual process, because I do a lot of my “schoolhouse rehabbing” in the morning after Matt leaves for work.
Fresh heat
April 30, 2012
Did you get a chance to read this post about the start to our kitchen re-do? DO IT. On our to-do list for the kitchen was to find a solution for the heat registers that sit under the big back window on the back of the house. They were rusty and gross, half gray and half ivory. We looked into replacing them but found it would be well over a hundred bucks to do so.
Harrison's Rocker (The Reveal!)
March 28, 2014
I know I normally post on Tuesdays and Thursdays but I couldn’t wait to share this before and after! Since Harrison came a bit early, I didn’t have the rocker at the house when we brought him home from the hospital. If you’re new to the site, here’s a one-liner to catch you up: Matt and I decided to refinish an heirloom antique rocker from his Great Aunt instead of popping on an upholstered glider for the nursery.
Mirror, Mirror...
January 30, 2015
…on the wall. Yes, the mirror that we found in our garage from the previous owners. It was neglected and beat up but I liked its curves so it avoided the dumpster. I cleaned it up a bit with an old rag and some vinegar and Matt made a fancy French cleat on which to hang it. Voila! We had a functional, pretty-ish piece for our large dining room wall that didn’t cost us a dime.
More Nightstand Love
October 4, 2013
There are four nightstands in this house, and I’ve refinished two of them. Two were already beautifully refinished by Matt’s dad. The first nightstand that I refinished was done all alone. Yep, I tackled it solo, sans hubby. It was a $12 tag sale find that spruced up really nicely with a quick sanding, chalk paint, and new hardware. The second nightstand was actually purchased before the first - a couple of years ago at Target, on clearance for $40.
New Kitchen Paint! Finally!
November 25, 2012
Remember back in April, when I painted the trim in the kitchen white and said that new paint for the walls was next on the list? Well, if you don’t remember, that’s what happened. The trim was painted white 7 months ago and it has taken us 7 months to get a color we love on the walls. 7 months, but it’s done. The kitchen is now a color I adore.
Put a frame (or ten) on it!
September 3, 2012
Happy Labor Day, everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend and were able to enjoy some time with friends and family. For us, this past weekend was mostly about getting things done around the house, and nothing makes me happier than that! It’s been a while since we tackled anything DIY in our office. We took it from 0-60 back in the spring with new trim and fresh paint, but it hasn’t really been touched since then.
School House Road Trip: Sandy Edition
November 14, 2012
As you may or may not know, we were relatively unharmed by superstorm Sandy as she ripped through the region a few weeks ago. We miraculously kept our power on throughout, and were able to use the house as a warm spot for friends and family to gather if needed. My mother-in-law, however, was not so fortunate, as she lost power for about a week and had this happen to her home:
Serious Bathroom Neglect
September 4, 2012
I can count the number of upgrades we’ve done to our bathroom on one hand. Okay, okay… full disclosure: I can count the number of upgrades we’ve done to our bathroom on one FINGER. Eeek. We are such neglectful homeowners. We replaced the baseboard heater cover a while back. It was so rusted out and so gross that even painting it like we did here wouldn’t work. I think it cost about $40, because we had to buy the whole piece with the heating components included.
Shoot Painting What You Have
November 29, 2012
When it came time to shop around for lamps for the guest room, I was rearing to go. I was fresh off a successful Target shopping spree (where I grabbed a new comforter, pillows, vase, pouf…) and I was itching for more. I hopped around Homegoods, Pier 1, Pottery Barn by day and trolled the internet at night. Okay, that sounds sooo creepy, but I was trolling for lamps, people. Lamps.
Since I Wasn't Doing Anything Else...
January 28, 2013
Matt and I had a rare, treasured, “do nothing Saturday” this past weekend and I used it the best way I know how: fixing up a few things around the house. Shocker, I know. “Do nothing weekends” are weekends free of obligations or agendas. They’re amazing, and they only happen a few times a year. This past “do nothing Saturday,” I ripped apart our bedroom, scouring it clean (I even vacuumed the box spring and mattress).
Sore wrist Sunday
April 30, 2012
Holy cow, it’s Monday night already! Why yes, I had quite the productive weekend, thank you for asking. Matt and I had one of our beloved “do nothing weekends” this past weekend, and all of last week we discussed what house project we wanted to tackle while we had the sched wide open. It was a battle between tackling an upstairs bedroom with new baseboard trim, fresh paint on walls/trim or some much needed garden projects in the backyard/sideyard.
The power of ______!
August 21, 2012
First and foremost, let’s get you some music to listen to while you peruse this post… Okay… that’s better. The power of love paint is incredible. Incredible! So is Huey Lewis, while we’re on the subject. But where was I? Paint. Right. For a small put out, you can transform absolutely _anything _with paint. In this case, I transformed my the gray, dreary baseboard radiators in my living room (that I’ve been living with for nearly 3 years, mind you) into crisp, white heaven.
White Kitchen Trim and Chatterblocks
December 29, 2014
Do you remember when Matt and I ripped off the old, dinky kitchen trim and replaced it? You probably don’t, because it was in March. Then the whole having-a-baby thing happened and that poor trim sat untouched for too long. A couple of months ago, I finally filled the nail holes with wood putty, sanded it down and slapped on a few coats of Behr’s Ultra Pure White. I may add one more coat but for now, it’s looking much better.