hold on to your banisters!

Once upon a time, I thought my camera was doomed for death. An unprompted burst of hope had me trying to turn on the device one last time... MIRACLES OF MIRACLES IT WORKED! So now, let the home updates, with corresponding visuals, resume.


BEFORE:

There is a metal railing at the base of the steps. Needless to say, it was not in the best shape.


And this is the first thing you see upon walking through the front door; screams "Welcome!", doesn't it? The paint was old, yellowed, and chipping.


... so, we scraped it off! Then, using an oil-based paint in basic white, I repainted that sucker. Took quite a few coats over a few days (allowing for it to dry completely, before more coats).



AFTER:


Ta da! It really came out well, and the white ties to the base molding and the stair molding very well. I am not ruling out replacing this with something more modern later down the line, but for the now this is MUCH better!

the cursed room

BEFORE:



Very blue. And the trim? Painted. Blue. See the window in the corner? The window trim is blue. Very blue. The doors are like that too. Trust me. This room gave me the biggest headache, as it REFUSED to look good. The wall color just didn't work. For months.


DURING:

Now, the idea was to paint this room a light, soft green..... what I got was a very bright, almost neon candy apple. I don't have a picture of it. You'll just have to trust me.

So, then I had the lasts 1/2 of the gallon lightened, and ended with this:

Now, this may not look all that bad. But it was not, how do you say, "good." It was lime sherbet. Minty. Still too much. And the curse continued. On the upside, the trim returned to white!


AFTER:

Sweet salvation!


Alittle softer, alittle more blue, and a lot more perfect! And the best part of this color? The way it flows with the rest of the house so perfectly. The blue-green from the rec room is a darker and dustier color that compliments this perfectly. And the grey and silver from the other bedroom and bathroom? Couldn't be better.


Now, the room still needs to have quarter-round installed, but other than that it's pretty much done! I plan on renting this room, with the grey (gray?) room out, so not too worried about decorating.



**Uhh, my camera is broken. Much to my surprise, it did NOT want to go for a swim. So pictures may be hard to come by until I get a new one/mine restored**

living large

BEFORE:

Let me clarify, these walls are an attempt at khaki/light beige. But, there's too much of a green tint to it to be a good color. What I am trying to say is it was bad. Ugly. And dingy. Sooooo.....

... I had to paint!


DURING:

This was my most difficult color decision- I went from something neutral to orange to green, and back again. Agonizing, I tell you, agonizing. But, in the end (as, um, you can see,) I went with neutral. Or, rather, "neutral" for me. But I love it! Warm & rich.

The couch and arm chair were a Craigslist steal and the ottoman/coffee table is from T.J. Maxx... and they match! Shag rug from Home Goods, (which is an amazing place to get an 8x10 rug for under $300!!)



AFTER:


It's curtains for me, CURTAINS! .... it's shocking how long I went without curtains. They are a beautiful invention, let me tell you. Anyways, my world is better now that I have these curtains. I picked up the last 2 packs from the Potomac Mills Ikea, (College Park didn't have any in stock), but now I want MORE! Master plan is to hang a matching set in the dining room. ...easier said than done, as the closest Ikea with these curtains is in freakin' Narnia.

This is one of my favorite things. Solid wood carving. And, just to make you jealous, it was $25. Total. That's it. I have a hard time finding jeans for that price, let alone a huge 4ft x 4ft piece of art!
It seems I do not have any pictures of my entertainment stand... huh. Should get on that.


Don't forsythias make you happy? They do me.

weekend update

Craigslist is my favorite. Without it, I think I'd currently be sitting on the floor typing instead of on a plush leather couch. And that would be bad on the back. Anyways, was pointed to a set of chairs for my rec room. My vision was to have four chairs, conversation style. My vision came true:

They rock and swivel (my mom "you had me at 'swivel'!") Interestingly, the blue-green in the chairs, which are wickedly comfortable, matches my walls very nicely. It's a shame, really, that they are a hideous pattern. Real shame. I hope to cover or reupholster these, but for now they're fine. And at only $250 for all four, that is FINE!!

On another note, please never let your window wells go too long without cleaning out.


You see, this well had a good half a foot of leaves accumulated. It's maybe 5ft deep. And not wide enough! Not nearly. In the end, I bested the situation- leaves removed. In the process? Sure scratched up my shoulders. Thank you genetics & swimming.

I'm floored

First thing in the morning, my uncle shows up and disturbs me from my slumber. So, I put him to work cutting molding. And wouldn't you know, this was the result:


Pretty, huh? It's weird. When we were first laying out the molding along the walls, it took a second to get used to the room looking finished. That is how much I have gotten accustomed to my half-finished house..... I don't think a single room has quarter-round.*

Once my dad and his fiance showed up, we got to work on laying the floor in the front downstairs bedroom. This goes fairly quickly- lay barrier then start locking and clicking. It gets time consuming when you have to cut pieces to fit around doorways (especially abnormal on-a-slant doorways,) closets, and the base of stairs.

See? Took 3 brothers working together.. er.... well, maybe not "together," but it took 3 brothers working.



*Anymore. There was some crappy quarter-round that was removed during demo.









Cooper helps by walking through our work area.











Finished! We got the hallway and front bedroom done, so all that remains is the back bedroom. Oh, and nailing in the molding for the bedrooms. And installing the thresholds across the doorways. But other than that, it's practically finished!

See? Awesomeness!!! And there's a peek at the transformation this bedroom underwent.

promise of things to come

Guess what I'll be doing this weekend......

stoned

Look at my boot tray! My house doesn't have an entry-way, but instead opens straight into the family room. Therefore, I wanted to have a boot tray for ... um... boots. And shoes. You should see the amount of dirt the tray collects! Actually, you shouldn't. Too dirty. Anyways, I saw this idea on a blog & ran with it. Got cheap bags of decorative stone from Ikea to fill the tray- really helps it blend into the room instead of standing out like a sore thumb AND adds a nice natural element. I'm planning on looking into painting the tray, itself, as black doesn't really fit in.....