Homestory

hOO'S ready?

2011-10-07T19:35:00.001-05:00

The mini pumpkins from our garden are all harvested and either used in decorating around the house or sold to friends for similar purposes. The girls (who did not experience the owl phase of the 1970's Home Interiors decorating line) think they are so cute. I have managed to find a few to put around this fall.

So, hoo's ready for fall????

OwL let you know....

Stay tuned later in the week for my upcoming feature...

naked house.

Got your attention now, don't I?

Petite Ferme En Ville

2011-09-25T20:54:00.001-05:00

Cooler weather is here, reminding me to get some projects done in the yard before the snow flies in a few short months. Ross has been on a staycation from work for 2 weeks and has been working on scraping and touching up paint on the house that bubbled or peeled. Today, I put on my rubber boots and worked out in the yard for three hours. My girls make fun of my "farm boots" but hey- I grew up on a farm and am a farmgirl at heart. So, I'll just create my own petite ferme right here in this yard
en ville.

Sturdy boots- bring on the mud!

First up this afternoon was welcoming home 2 bunny rabbits from my friend Jim's farm. He sold all the other ones for meat last week, but thought the girls would enjoy having two to make them smile. He even threw in the cage! There is the white one you can see in the picture and also a black one that is hiding in the box. My trusty 4-H skills (did I mention I won Grand Champion in Rabbit Showmanship- big purple ribbon!) tell me that we will soon have more bunnies because silly Jim kept all the bunnies in the same cage and in feeling white bunny's tummy, yup. I better get some straw in there....and another cage.

Bunnies still waiting to be named...

I put their cage in the garden- instant fertilizer! I will move it this Spring and till all those poop bb's into the soil... The neighborboy has already brought over some veggies and apple peelings for the rabbits. Add him to their fan club!

Since I was already in the garden, I decided to pick some cherry and pear tomatoes. We have had bushels of them. The girls love them and I had enought share with a friend and her family.

Then, I harvested my crop of mini pumpkins. Just a few plants soon took over my garden! I have 2 bushel baskets full for decorating and also some to sell in our Iowa Junk Gypsies booth at the Kane County Flea Market!

I also plan to harvest the seed pods off this gorgeous annual Purple Hyacinth bean vine and next Spring, we will have starts of the vine for sale in our booth. It is so fast growing and the flowers are pretty.

The purple flowers turn into seed pods, so it reseeded itself this year from 2 plants I got from Kroul's Farm last year. I traded some old enamelware buckets and wire plant containers for the two plants when I cleaned out the garden shed!

Finally, I planted two trees in the side lot. We get so much south sun on the house, we need some natural shade to keep the utility bill low. It will be a few years until these get big enough to be of much help, but we''re on our way!

This is an Autumn Blaze maple. The leaves turn red in the fall (hence the name).
It is in the middle 1/3 of the yard.

This is a flowering crabapple tree that bears no fruit- just flowers in the Spring.
It's in the front 1/3 of the yard.

So now it's time for a shower, pjs and reading the Sunday paper.

Generating ideas...

2011-09-13T13:22:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I am slowly getting back into home decor mode. It's a place I love to be actually, but with a busy summer and getting kids pieced back together, I had bigger fish to fry. On my mind currently- redoing the upstairs living room- which was sort of a "catch all" room for random furniture pieces when we moved in.

I want to make it:

comfortable,

somewhat teenager and black Lab friendly

(bye bye dream of white slipcovered sofas)

a mix of industrial and antique,

a fun old architectural piece (door, shutters,?)

with new furniture (sleeper sofa, maybe table, chairs)

but keep it uncluttered

so not lots of little stuff around to dust

and also have a family photo wall.

I am thinking black, greige, cream and white...

And I have been gathering ideas lots of different places, especially from my new, THICK IKEA catalog...

like this sofa bed

or maybe in this fun green color...

Today, I'm looking here:

http://www.myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com/

Feel free to comment with any ideas you have for me as well...

Pray and Work

2011-08-12T10:36:00.000-05:00

I know I have been absent for awhile. I was taking a blogging break and getting some things done around this house, which I will share later.

And now, in typical Anita fashion of doing things backwards, I will be on my knees praying. Praying for a man who stole my heart and gave me back the best of his, in my beautiful girls. And that God has him wrapped tightly and that he is happy again.

And then, I'll be working.

Thanks to my friend, Mary at Urban Farmgirl for the quote.

Aura Bath and Spa Paint...my tentative review

2011-07-13T21:33:00.002-05:00

The downstairs bathroom is finally REPAINTED in a similar color to the last paint job but hoepfully in a more bathroom friendly paint. The procrastinating has ended. I've gotta say...it has sure come a long way from the very scary beginning...

I bit the bullet after my frustrating experience with Aura paint in the kitchen (love it now that it is on the wall, but getting it there...not so much.) and I cracked open the gallon of Aura Bath and Spa I bought the same day I bought the regular Aura paint. I cut in everywhere (and that takes a long tyime in a small bathroom) and kept waiting for it to run and be awful like it was in the kitchen...and it wasn't. It was great. Just like regular Bejamin Moore paint. Except no smell and quicker drying time. And, it's earth friendlier...

You might remember that I picked this paint because it has a MATTE finish and is designed specifically for bathrooms. It went on in one coat ( though I did a second one because I only used 1/3 of the can the first time - what the heck, right?)

Super bright lighting because I cleaned all the glass shades with ammonia and also the chandelier...

Lights off...all that's left is to put up the curved chrome shower rod I removed from the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cedar Rapids last week during their big renovation sale ($20 and I used my own screw driver) and also the chrome towel rack ...(looks hotel ish, but came from Tuesday Morning) to replace the clothes basket for towel storage...

Worked like a charm....Hoping no run marks long-term like some of the online reviews I read ( but I have an exhaust fan that vents directly outdoors, so hopeully not a problem).

The rest of this week, I'll be finishing up those two installations and polishing the wood on the front staircase...ahhh, summer!

Man at Work

2011-07-10T15:37:00.001-05:00

Bye Bye Bright Baby Blue...hello...Linen.

Last fall, I had patched the plaster in the entryway and then got busy with school and the 2nd job and the patched blue and white entryway sat there all winter. Ross did some sanding a few weeks ago and here he is, hard at work, priming two coats of Kilz over the blue.

Getting all this done required bringing the extension ladder inside and propping it in some precarious positions...but he got it all done and it is gorgeous! So much more light in there than before...and the wood will look beautiful, once it is all cleaned up. That's my project for next week. I'll be sharing photos...and now, I'm off, to FINALLY paint the bathroom....

Gardening...how I justify getting dirty

2011-07-07T22:12:00.002-05:00

With summer flying by, I have put 2 house projects on my To-Do list each week. This week's projects included mulching in the back garden and painting the bathroom. (Yep, I'm still dragging my feet there.) While I could probably buy plants all summer long if my budget were much larger, I admit it...I am a plant clearance shopper. I add to my garden each summer with 75% off half-dead perennials that I fertilize and talk to and pray they come back in the Spring. Today, I even scored some at a garage sale....

These wave petunias came from Culver's Greenhouse a few weeks ago when they had them on sale for $2 each. I nestled 2 into my frog planter ( a gift from Ross and the girls a few years ago) and he greets you with his bouquet as you pull in the driveway....

FOUR, yes I said 4 truckloads of free mulch (courtesy of the city) later, the garden shed and phase 1 of my border garden are good to go. If you are wondering about the free mulch, it's what the city grinds when it picks up limbs and sticks people put out for collection once a month. It does have some leaves in it that will dry up and compost...it's not a "pure" look like the kind I put in the front gardens from Culver's...but it was FREE, people, AND it will amend my soil as it settles in. A win-win!

This shot shows you the vegetable garden (fenced due to Mr. Cottontail's love of my lettuce and peas....) I have pulled about 100 volunteer tomato plants. Now I have decided any survivors deserve to grow and I can just donate their offerings to the food pantry. God works mysteriously, they say.

This bee balm I planted last year is thriving...and thankfully, the bees did not pay any attention to me as I was mulching...they were too busy gathering...

Peas, beans, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers...

Here's the back of the house as of today...we are reseeding the big brown dead grass circle by the hot tub...We took our pool down as it developed a leak.

The front of the house as of today....

Superbelles in the windowboxes of the garden shed...

The mini hosta I got today at a garage sale for $1. I got a garden tour from the nicest lady and she shared some other flowers I added to the back full sun border garden....

Now, time to sit and relax on the porch...for a minute. I cut up an old matelasse bedspread and wrapped the porch cushions and also reupholstered the seat on the child's rocker. That rocker always sat in my room as a little girl. I LOVE it. The bathroom paint job will start tomorrow.

My schoolhouse Lights...the real deal!

2011-06-16T15:38:00.003-05:00

I know I have mentioned before that there are lots of little details that I need to finish up around the house...and with week 2 of summer break upon us, I thought I better start crossing them off my list.

First up, changing out the kitchen light fixtures...I repainted the ceiling (and then the entire kitchen) after I pulled down these beauties (sarcasm) and found out that the ceiling under the lovely 1970's octagon base had not been painted under and would not be covered by the new light fixture...

The string hanging down was how I measured the hanging length of the new light fixture...because I needed to shorten it's chain. I walked under it, carried stuff above my head, to see if I would run into it.
Hey- you have your method, I have mine!

Another beauty in the kitchen...original 1970"s decals stuck on the light... no, I did not save it.

This little light is new, from Lowe's, and hangs above my sink.

This sticker was on the lights when I bought them at an auction about 3 years ago....
Central Junior High was on Market Street and is now a Mercy Hospital parking ramp. I remember going to ball games there to see my friend, Angie....Anyways...

The shades were in great shape, but the fixture parts needed help...

I rewired them, beat the dents out, shortened the chain and repainted to match the new light....

This Krylon spray was the perfect match. It dries to the color on the cap...darker than it appears on the wet lamp canopy...

And voila....

Though they all 3 have different mounting bases, the colors are the same and I think they work great together. You can see in the picture with the hanging light that the ceiling bumps up just a titch higher in that part of the kitchen, so that's how I decided to put it there.

The cost: I paid $20 for both vintage lights at the auction. I spent $8.76 on wiring parts at our awesome Ace Hardware here in Mount Vernon.. I rewired them myself and I hung them myself (no small feat on this 4th day of my Extreme Body Shaping Program...escpecially since today was upper body resistance training...my poor triceps....).

Next up, the foyer gets painted....

shared with Jen Rizzo's link party on 11/16/2011 at http://www.jenniferrizzo.com/

Unsolicited Product Review: Aura Paint by Benjamin Moore

2011-05-31T11:42:00.001-05:00

This weekend, I finished up repainting our kitchen. It started out, I was going to repaint the ceiling because I took down the ugliest lights in the world. The new light canopies for the vintage school house lights we are putting up are much smaller than the 70"s octagon bases of the ugliest lights. I tried to touch up the paint, but it was obvious. I repainted the ceiling and then, on a whim, decided I would repaint the kitchen to coordinate with the bathroom.

These lights from http://www.schoolhouseelectric.com/ are similar to the style of the lights we are using in the kitchen (especially the one with the chain).
My lights are vintage, salvaged from the old Central Junior High in Iowa City (now a Mercy Hospital parking ramp). I'll post on them next week.

Lured by the matte finish available in the Aura Bath & Spa line (I personally dislike semi-gloss paint in small bathrooms) and an "as long as I am here getting bathroom paint, I might as well get the kitchen paint too" attitude, I SPLURGED on the $65/gallon price and got the Aura in the color Harmony for the kitchen.

Positives:

I love the creamy color.
No VOCs mean no "new paint" smell.
It dries quickly
A "green" paint- water based, with water based colorants. Cause this entire house project is based on reusing/saving/upcycling...

Dislikes

Finding a store that sells it is difficult. I went to 3 different paint stores and even attempted to order it before I found a place in Cedar Rapids, Iowa that sells it ( Ace Hardware on Center Point Road). Apparently, the sytem is appx $15K for the store.
Getting it mixed correctly in the store can be a challenge because the water based colorants dry out in the machine. As the paint store guy said "With oil based colorants, we can have a can of colorant in the machine 10 years and it is fine. We have to check the nozzles every time with this because you don't want "Oops" color problems at this price per gallon."
It dries too quickly. If you try to go back over a spot that is still wet, the color smears off. You have to let it dry completely and add another coat.
It runs a lot. It seems like it goes on the wall fine at first, but I had to go back and fix drips way more than I ever do with Behr or Sherwin Williams and then the color would smear off and I would have to wait for it to dry and recoat. This turned a 1 day paint job into a 2 day ordeal. I had to sand off drips I did not catch. I was not happy.

Would I buy it again?

No. And I am not looking forward to painting the bathroom next week, but I can't afford to waste a $65 can of paint...

My pretty girl

2011-05-08T17:11:00.000-05:00

Last night, Haleigh went to Prom with her friend, Micah.

They had a beautiful day for Prom-probably the BEST one so far this Spring!

Both juniors, they share a love of soccer.

We found her dress during a shopping trip to Chicago over Spring Break.
We got it at Nordstrom Rack downtown.

Seeing your children so happy is one of the best blessings you can ask for as a mother...

Summer Cleaning

2011-05-05T11:57:00.002-05:00

Spring Cleaning...as in, I need to do it. And, it might take awhile.

But, I think I'll call it summer cleaning because Spring seems to have forgotten to show up.

It became pretty obvious to me on Sunday night that I needed to start the cleaning. You see, Sunday I bought a great dresser for Keighley's room from my friend, Mary, at the Kane County Flea Market. It replaced Kee's turquoise painted $45 p.o.s. with mirror that she had been using until a drawer broke. It was bound to happen. The slides on the bottom of the drawers needed rebuilt and so it was one of those - "put your foot on the dresser and pull on the other drawer" kind of deals.

This is not the actual dresser I bought.
The one I got has 5 full size drawers...no little drawers.
But same color. Similar period. Same awesomeness...

I had been looking at dressers most of the winter, turning down all "not real wood" options - which is a huge portion of dressers available in retail. I knew, in the back of my mind, Mary would be back at Kane in May (she takes winter off since she sets up outside) and would have something. And she did.

But back to the cleaning. So we broke the old dresser down into salvage pieces for other projects and carried the new behemoth of a 5 drawer chest upstairs. But first, I thought I should vacuum. Then I needed to wash the woodwork. Then the new dresser holds so much more than the old one that I can remove a bookshelf (formerly storing t-shirts) so a room re-arrange might need to happen.

It's like the "If you give a Moose a Muffin" book the girls used to read when they were little. One thing leads to another.

So, this weekend, in between all our Prom prepping, I'll be cleaning. Then arranging . Likely dusting, organizing, sorting, bagging for Goodwill, changing sheets, hopefully hanging stuff on the line, getting my house ready for summer.

Fellow blogger, awesome artist and flea market customer Jen Rizzo is also in cleaning mode and is reviewing a mop on her website and doing a giveaway. Check it out. I clean our wood floors with vinegar sometimes too and I am curious about one of the tips someone left in the comments- to add a grapefruit to the vinegar for the smell? Anyone ever tried it?

from Jen Rizzo's Reviews

A little hooking...

2011-03-27T14:53:00.017-05:00

This weekend, I vowed to complete some small projects. I admit it, Ace Hardware is having a scratch off percentage sale and so I thought if I needed things to finish the project (which happens almost every time) I might be able to save a little money.

First up, I hung up a crown hook in Haleigh's room for her robe. It was a horrid gold and black mess when I found it, but I sprayed it all black and after a trip to Ace (told ya) for a 7 cent screw (why am I laughing? inappropriate.) it is up and done. She loves it.

Next up, was a hook for Keighley's robe. Keighley wants her room to be more modern. I found this drawer pull at Hobby Lobby last month for $1.98 ( $3.99 regularly, but they are 1/2 price about every 3 weeks) and decided to see if it would work.

It was about 1/4" too long so Ross used the grinder wheel to make it shorter and more pointy. I pre-drilled the hole in the door and VOILA! Another project done.

I like the crispness of the K and the simplicity of the font.

This image is from Style Me Pretty

It reminded me of the lettering on these mugs from Anthropologie, which I have seen on several blogs, as well as in the store.

I am now working on rewiring some awesome vintage milk glass schoolhouse light fixtures for the kitchen. Hopefully, I will have a mid-week update!

What projects are YOU finishing up this week?

Shades in the Library

2011-03-18T16:02:00.002-05:00

It's Spring Break for me and the girls. We went shopping in Chicago for Haleigh's prom dress and I got ONE total hour in IKEA. BLISS! I bought a whole cart full of fun things we needed for the house: dish towels, apple slicer, measuring cups, candles, curtains, and this great linen-type fabric for $5.99/yard! Linen at Jo-Ann fabrics here is $14.99/yard. Faux linen at Jo-Ann's is $7.99/yard and is not even close to this.

I am working in the future library. Once upon a time, we called it our future office. You can see the horrid wallpaper from the early days here. Ross had primed the walls with Kilz 2. I painted 3 walls Stone by Laura Ashley and left 1 Dover White, because that way I don't have to paint it through the bookshelves when they are built in ( lesson learned from last house!). Then I worked on these shades ( inspired by ones I saw at Tapestries of Nature in St. Charles, Illinois- owned by my friend, Judy Walsberg.)

The top is an outdoor fabric from Jo-Ann's, which I washed several times to soften it. It is navy blue with cream and brown. The bottom part of the shade is the IKEA fabric- called Aria, I believe. It is hanging on a $3 tension rod from Dollar General.

The shades can be tied higher or let all the way down very easily. Since this room is at the front of the house, just a little privacy from the road is enough for us.

One down, the big window to go!

My uniform...

2011-01-29T15:57:00.000-06:00

I always wear the same thing when I am working around the house. And I often run to the store to get paint or caulk or Diet Coke or assorted stuff while wearing it. And it NEVER fails.

Someone will ask...Are you painting?

Oh, I don't know. You think?

If I die soon, bury me in these pants. They are so comfortable.

Do YOU have a uniform you wear for projects?

So exciting...

2010-11-19T15:05:00.001-06:00

You may remember a few weeks ago, I mentioned that we are doing some "non-glamorous" things at the house. This current project is actually super exciting for me, because it has been holding up the creation of my office/laundry room spectaculaire.

Ok, prepare yourself for disgusting...especially if you are a "new house person"

I know what you are thinking. The same thing my adorable 7 year old niece was thinking when she saw the house the first time- "Why do you buy these crappy old houses, Aunt Nita?" Well, Annie, I like to fix them up so they are just like I want them to be. Which is, obviously, not this. This is, however, progress from before when this was a small doorway to a pantry some "clever" person built onto the porch roof. Knebel Windows ( my brother's company) restored the doorway to a window opening and rebuilt the window ledge.

This hole is from when they drilled to check on pulling electricity through this spot. It was a no.

The exciting news is that Dennis and Vern, the plaster/drywall repair guys, have some time in their schedule to come and fix these 2 areas that are just a little out of my comfort zone. I mean, I am all about patching holes, but the first one, well, it's gonna require some minor demo and then fitting a piece of drywall into the hole and I know when I am lacking in a few skills...

As evidenced by this attempt to patch another LARGE hole over the staircase. (They're just gonna help me out with this one too.)

And then, hopefully then, I can back to the original plan for the office.

(All that stuff in the laundry/office? gone. Boxed. Donated. Sold. Gone. Not gonna clean the drywall dust off of it. Yeah me!)

Snug as a Bug...

2010-11-01T22:45:00.001-05:00

Another non-glamorous task that I did was to add some insulation in the basement of our house, around the foundation, at the floor joists. This project, while easy enough, was on hold until the limestone was tuckpointed. But now that is done and the winds last week reminded me to get moving. (Besides, I saw this roll of insulation still patiently waiting in the rafters of the garage when I was painting a frame in there.)

I remembered to wear my long-sleeved shirt and gloves (to protect from itching) and I used a snake light to help me see a little better (and besides, I never get to use that for anything and I like winding it around stuff :) What I didn't remember was that Ross had set some mouse traps on the ledge last year when we had a mouse and when one snapped off (not on my finger, luckily), I almost fell off the ladder.

This exciting picture shows you just where I stuffed it.

I know this will not make a huge difference, and truly, with our geo-thermal system, our heat bill is not awful, but every little bit helps.

Did I mention I needed 3 rolls? Project completed for around $60.

(Plus, our utility company gives us a rebate of 70% of the cost, so really, it will be under $20 after that. Sweeeet!)

Random or Destiny?

2010-10-27T14:52:00.001-05:00

Background info: Michele and Mark ( her boyfriend) came home this weekend and as I was straightening up for their arrival, I remembered that I REALLY need to order a custom blind for the upstairs living room window. Actually, I need to decorate that whole room, but I will need a blind.

It's the top large window in the middle...this is a before picture from 2008!

And then, the blogland fairy told me that there was this awesome giveaway at Funky Junk Interiors for a CUSTOM blind that does not require hardware- you know, those annoying brackets with tiny screws?

You should go check it out. I am so hoping to win, but if I don't, I am sooo happy to learn about this company. I mean, it must be destiny that I get one, right? I tried explaining this happy coincidence to Ross and his response was: If you want one, order it. HOORAY!
I'm gonna wait til after the contest, just in case :)

Some jobs just aren't sexy...

2010-10-10T18:22:00.004-05:00

Ok, I'll admit it. My favorite part of renovating a house is the beginning- when you can see the big changes. Well, now that that's over, we're onto the smaller jobs. Necessary jobs. But not so sexy. No one is gonna drive by and say "Hey- that looks AWESOME!" But, every little job brings us closer to being done. ( Stop laughing. We'll never be done...)

Ross had a couple weeks extra vacation time to burn, and he lucked out with great weather. He painted all the outside stairs in white to match the house trim. So much better than boring brown wood. Here is the north side....

Ross also hired a local mason to come and tuckpoint our limestone foundation. Bye bye holes you could stick a pencil through to the inside...or a mouse...Or a Chilean miner...ok, not that big! Here is the north side.

South side foundation tuckpointed...

More of the south side foundation...remember those awful scrub trees everywhere?

South side steps ( this was an interior doorway to the addition we tore off, if you have been following along).

West side steps...remember the before? No steps, no patio door -just 2 rotten windows and a crumbling wall.

Currently, we are enjoying a wonderful Indian summer- record temps in the 80's- and so I was up early this morning to paint the sun-dried tomato skirt trim board all around the house...and to reminisce on how far we've come.

Pretty in Pink = The Girls' Bathroom

2010-08-17T14:58:00.008-05:00

Finally the update I promised you awhile ago on the girls' upstairs bathroom. You may remember how this very small bathroom looked before.

Here it is painted, cleaned and ready to be fought over...because this bathroom must be shared amongst teenage girls.

We kept the clawfoot tub and added a shower, using a new faucet with a shower conversion kit for the plumbing. We added a chrome oval shower curtain and ordered the double wide shower curtain on-line from Bed Bath and Beyond

Here is the Victorian mirror I picked up at the Elkhorn Antique Market. I gave it a fresh coat of Dover White and sanded it down to bring out the details.

Joe the Electrician hung up this creamy white, 3 armed chandelier with pink glass crystals, which I picked up at Lowe's.

We had already replaced this window 2 years ago, when we did most of the major window replacement. I like having the window because it makes it seem less small, since you can actually see outside. Since this is a second floor bathroom and the window is only 12 inches wide, not much chance of anyone seeing in.

I replaced an old board with 3 rusty hooks with this long one with shiny chrome hooks. I made it all by myself.

I told you it was very small. This door adjoins Haleigh's bedroom. The other door goes into the laundry room, from which this space was carved out years ago.

With my new job starting tomorrow, I have started to finish up the small projects on my list, as you may have noticed :) This week-end, I will show you some drywall repairs I did all by myself.

Subway Tile progress

2010-08-14T17:34:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was kind of a long day because I installed the rest of the tile (except behind the microwave. Maybe next week.) Today I grouted it all and somehow that has now morphed into me cleaning my oven?!? As if it were not scary enough pulling out the stove and seeing what had accumulated behind there in 2 years! Obviously a mouse had moved into this cozy warm spot. But, I cleaned up his mess and stuck a bit of steel wool into his access hole. Sorry, pal.

Can I just tell you when I painted these cabinets white, I was thinking "OOOh, what an awesome clean look!" Now I am wondering if I was crazy. Black lab dog hair, every chocolate fingerprint, peanut butter smear, etc. You can see it ALL when you are up close. I could go crazy in here. So, if I ever have a cleaning lady, I will have her focus on the kitchen.

Other than that, I love it :) What do YOU think?

Subway tile in the kitchen

2010-08-12T21:12:00.004-05:00

So, I have been working on the subway tile backsplash in the kitchen...in stages. I work on it for awhile and then when I get tired or frustrated, I stop. That way, I don't screw it up. Honestly. I have learned this about myself over the years. So, today was the 2nd day. I focused on this section.

I'll start with how it looked at the end of today...when I ran out of tile.

Here is how it looked when I started after lunch.

Here is the first stage..this space is right inside the back door.

Here is the first before...

2 more stages to go...behind the stove and behind the microwave.

I'll keep you updated. ;)

Tree Trimming...

2010-08-06T22:00:00.003-05:00

As I was painting the dressing table in the garage yesterday, the city crew pulled up in response to my request to have the tree trimmed back off our roof (request filed May 2009;) Hey- better late than never!

First they trimmed back the honey locust off the roof- which gives my shady perennials a bit more sun. We'll see how they like it.
They also trimmed the 2 maples up a little higher. Not that it happens to me, but taller people have said the limbs graze their head when they walk down the sidewalk...

We have seen paint marks and have read city council minutes alluding to our street being completely dug out and redone- to which we say BRING IT ON! The potholes are horrid and messing up the alignment on my van. So, I am guessing this big trim up will allow them to bring in some equipment too...

But in the meantime, they were some nice guys, who cleaned up after themselves, chopped up the branches and mulched it all up.

Thanks guys...

Guest Bedroom Update

2010-07-30T18:44:00.002-05:00

I cut the tops off some tan linens drapes I had purchased at Houseworks in Iowa City a few months ago. Houseworks is a resale shop and I got three HUGE panels for $15 total. I think they were for a patio door. HUGE. I already have plans to use some of the leftover to make a dressing table skirt for this room next week. I added the cream/red Laura Ashley fabric and used a green floral for the ties. Put up some white pole rods from Lowe's and voila.

Here's the room tonight.I want to get some matchstick shades for texture (and so I can pull the drapes back- this room faces the street!)

I'll post more next week as I accessorize and finish this one up :)

Creating my Custom Colors

2010-07-28T17:12:00.004-05:00

It all starts with an idea- an inspiration photo. In this case, it is a page I pulled out of a catalog and saved. In fact, I taped it to the wall in the guest bedroom. If you come over, you might find these sheets on the walls of rooms I am still working on. In case you wondered about my decorating skills. (ahem.)

So, since I am on a small break from flea marketing (you can read about that on my other blog ) AND Michelle is coming home for the weekend, I should work on finishing this room up ( for now.)

TO DO LIST:

White woodwork: Check

Pale biscuit walls: Check

White bed: (mine is a newer iron one found secondhand for $50): Check

Berry red/biscuit reversible comforter (auction find $10!): Check

Green accent wall? RRRRRRt. (Stopping noise.) Need to do that.

Here is where I am now...I know on those decorating shows they show people emptying the whole room, but really? Not for one wall. Ok, I admit, I NEVER do that. I just shove stuff around and cover it with sheets.

The plan is to paint this wall with the big window green. The green I want needs to coordinate with some fabric I am going to use for the curtains and also with a wool rug I brought in from the library.

That would mean a custom color. Mixed by yours truly. Remember when I told you about the Paint Room? Well, I gathered some different greens. All interior. All satin or flat.

I have a couple green guides- the Edamame in the pan (from the dining room) and the paint sample that was a little off. So I am shooting for somewhere in between.

So, I dump them in, mix it up and see. Then I added some deep purple to darken it up but did not take a picture of that step. (It was kind of something I did on the fly.)

And voila. I have my color. So, I will head upstairs, paint 2 coats and work on the drapes. Update on Thursday. Seriously.

Great Grandma turns 96 and Haleigh is 16!

2010-07-14T16:27:00.002-05:00

Today is a pretty special day around here. Haleigh Ehmsen (the younger of the 2 Haleigh/Haleys we have) turns 16. So for lunch, she and her sister went to visit their Great-Grandma Doris at her fabulous apartment in a posh assisted living center. I could sooo move in there. I mean, you hang a little post-it on the door and they pick up your trash at 2 pm, there are activities every couple hours, they have their own movie theatre with popcorn machine, someone plays the grand piano in the lobby with chandeliers and fluted columns...see? Anyway, Grandma turned 96 on Monday, so the girls came to eat some lunch at her place. And why not? White tablecloth service, sitting in wing back chairs and having someone else serve whatever you order from their menu and then clean it up. So, the girls ordered....pancakes. Yup.

Anyway, they had a great time and Haleigh drove us home, since we picked up her license this morning. And now she took my van off to the mall to meet friends. 25 miles away.

The rest of us are driving down to meet her for dinner at 6:30 at her choice, The Olive Garden.

And then, tomorrow, we are back to the regularly scheduled program. Unless it is 98 degrees AGAIN in which case we are going to City Park pool in Iowa City.