Sep 26, 2010

Long Time No Post

It's been several weeks since I've posted something new.  I like to write about projects I've completed.

My husband told me last week that I have too many "projects" going on at once.  He said, "You need to finish one thing before starting another."  And you know what?  He couldn't be more right.

See, the thing with me is that I get so exicted over DIY projects and as soon as I get a good idea in my head I want to execute it immediately.  To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, the projects I'm currently working on include painting curtains for my guest bedroom, refinishing a credenza, creating a picture collage in my living room, designing our office (which is a hundred little projects in itself) and giving all of the doors in our town house a fresh coat of paint.  Phew!  I know...it's a bit ambitious.  So, since my husband's eye-opening comment, I've prioritized my projects and promised my hubby to finish one thing before starting another.

In the meantime, here's a few pictures of what I've been up to.

I purchased this votive and red candle at a thrift store- all for $1.50.  The red berries are from the tree in my front yard.  This adorable little decoration is so cute on our dining room table.

Rob took this picture of me on Friday.  I was in the midst of organizing my picture collage for our living room wall.  [can you see my blue credenza-gone-wrong on the right?  I know...yuck!]
 
This is one of the curtain panels that I'm painting for the guest bedroom. 
 
I've decided to spray the credenza with a white HI-GLOSS Laminate spray by Valspar.  I painted the first coat this morning.  Just two more coats to go....


Rob and I hung the mirror and picture yesterday. I've had this mirror since I was 14 and it's one of my favorite things that we have. The mirror has been leaning against a wall in our bedroom since we moved in because I wasn't sure where I wanted to hang it. I decided yesterday, with Rob's help, that it would look fabulous in the dining room. I snagged the picture on the wall at HomeGoods yesterday.
 

I also snagged these lovely little shevles at HomeGoods yesterday. I need to decide on something AWESOME to put on the shelves.


This is a picture of our office, which we've since finished painting.  [I normally don't use painters tape but Rob was painting that section so the tape was absolutely necessary.] 


Sep 7, 2010

Happy Tuesday!

Hello.  I hope you had a lovely holiday weekend and enjoyed nice weather, good food, great company and a bit of relaxation.  I had a great weekend!  Just one small complaint...my credenza DIY project went seriously wrong on Saturday and it bummed me out. 

I was hoping to share before and after pictures with you today but I'm sorry to say that I cannot.  It turned out that the paint color I chose, it was one of five different samples I purchased and one that I stared at for days and even studied in different lighting, was disgustingly yucky.  It reminded me of some sort of robin's egg blue gone bad.  Ugh. 

Once my depression passed from the DIY project gone wrong I headed to the beach for the day on Sunday with some friends (it was the first time my toes hit the sand all summer) and managed to take fun pictures that I may include in a picture collage.  Yesterday, I focused my bulit-up DIY energy on my office makeover.  So, even though my credenza project took a back seat for the time being, I'm happy that I worked on the office and captured some awesome pictures. 

Here are some of the pictures I took.  Have a great night!






Sep 2, 2010

This is What Blogging is All About

Realizing I had a knack for creativity came at an early age.  Realizing my passion for making things look nice happened when I got my first apartment at 18.  Realizing my addiction to interior designing happened last year when my husband and I bought our very first home.   Realizing how much I love blogging about my stories and First Home Makeover progress...well, that happened tonight!  I love my home and I'm fixated on making it fabulous.  But now, I'm not sure if I like blogging about it more...

So, to my new found followers, and to the ones who will hopefully follow one day, thank you for taking time to read my blog and getting on board, through all the obstacles and fun schnanagins that we'll encounter, as I turn a once cheerless town house into an interesting and eye catching abode for my husband and I (and someday future off spring) to enjoy. 

You're the reason I decided to start this blog! I want to inspire, be inspired, capture the moments, and spill all the DIY beans about what's going on in this house. 

This is me.  I thought I'd capture my super cheez grin moment for followers and readers to witness.  Why you ask?  Because I realized tonight just how much I really enjoy taking you on my journey.  Being featured on Lindsey's super inspiring blog, Better After, had nothing to do with it, swear!  :)

Have a wonderful night and a great holiday weekend.  Good night.

Sep 1, 2010

Kitchen Makeover

Yikes!  It's hard to believe that this was our kitchen one year ago.  When we bought our town house this is exactly what it looked like- the horrible border, two layers of caked-on wallpaper (hard to see in pics), 21 year-old blinds, stale cabinets, and oh yeah, the gi-NORMOUS light fixture.  How can you miss that thing?

Our kitchen was the second project we tackled once we moved in.  The first room that we worked on was our living room





The knobs were actually pretty decent so we kept them



Just your standard maple cabinets...


And here's how the kitchen looks today!  This project was a BIG one for us...our biggest yet.  All said and done, I'd say we worked on this extreme makeover for about a month- maybe a little longer.  But hey, well worth it in my book. 


I LOVE, love, LoVe, lOvE how it turned out.  We get so much sunlight in here and the feeling is super airy and open. 

The two corner glass front cabinets and light fixture is new. 


I'm happy with the way the knobs look against the Valspar Swiss Coffee paint. 
 

New Blinds!!!  What a DIFFERENCE blinds make people.



We peeled and ripped wallpaper and argued and sweat and peeled wallpaper and almost gave up and ripped more wallpaper.  The wallpaper just kept appearing. 

We've mastered the art of sanding, smoothing, priming, painting and drying.  

Today, Rob has quite an extensive handyman list of accomplishments- but a year ago, installing a new dishwasher was a pretty impressive task (for a city boy) to do himself, to say the least.  Thank goodness for handy hubbies! Muah.