The House on Adams Drive

Finally ... Trick-Or-Treaters!!!

2011-11-04T15:06:00.001-06:00

Happy belated Halloween everyone! Sorry for being MIA, but the we haven't done anything of "real" interest the last few weekends. I guess that isn't true because Nikki and I have been working our tails off creating perhaps the best Halloween costumes ever!!!

Coon and Friends - Mosquito, Mint Berry Crunch, The Coon, and Mysterion!!!

We worked our butts off making these costumes, unfortunately they weren't as well received as you might imagine. Being from,and in Colorado, we figured everyone would know who we were, but sadly no! Either way, we were thrilled with our hard work. For Mosquito (my husband Mike) I crocheted his hat, used freezer paper to make a mosquito stencil for his hoodie, and Nikki sewed his sash while I hot glued the ketchup packets for his blood reserve. For Mint Berry Crunch I cut the leaves from felt, dyed 1/2 my white leggings green, and Nikki sewed my hat, berries, and collar. Nikki made her and Matt's costumes, which you can see in more detail at www.theambitiousprocrastinator.blogspot.com. And thanks to Nikki for making all of our masks!

Before I reveal more pics of our fabulous costumes, I want to show you how artistic myself and my friends are. Yes I know, you see how artistic we are every week, but last Friday we were exceptionally artistic :)

Last year the Savidge's hosted our first ever pumpkin carving get together. It was a hit, and since they just added a little one to their household I hosted this year. In preparation Mike and I made 1 of our 2 a year trips to Walmart. For those who don't know, I HATE WALMART, but unfortunately I find myself there every year at Halloween and Christmas. Anyway, we headed to Walmart to pick up some pumpkins ... 6 to be exact.

Yes, you can use the boring run-of-the-mill stencils that come with the carving kits, but we had something else in mind ...

Here is a sample of the stencils we used

To make some room, Nikki and I carved out all of our pumpkins (2 for her, and 6 for me). I carved while she scraped out the the seeds for a tasty snack. We made plain, cinnamon and sugar, curry, and spicy pumpkin seeds.

I need to add that my pumpkins from Walmart were mutant pumpkins. Instead of the typical gooey pumpkin innards, they were more like a spaghetti squash inside! Weird!

Right as we finished pumpkin number 6, our guests arrived. After a couple hours of meticulous carving we had these masterpieces:

Here are some shots of everyone at work ... some people took it more serious than others!

And here are some individual shots of the ones that Mike and I did:

And here they all are in action on Halloween! This was the first time that Mike and I have ever had trick-or-treaters! We've lived in apartments up till now, which I always thought would be the place to go as a trick-or-treater, but this year we had about 20!

Fun was had by all! The next day was spent in prep for our evening out. Instead of the normal downtown scene we opted to go to the Colfax Block Party. Just so everyone is clear, this is the definition of a block party according to Wikipedia:

A block party is a large public party in which many members of a single neighbourhood congregate, either to observe an event of some importance or simply for mutual enjoyment. The name comes from the form of the party, which often involves closing an entire city block to vehicle traffic. Many times, there will be a celebration in the form of playing music and dance and activities like pony rides, inflatable slides, pop corn machines and BBQs.

We pre-partied for a bit, and then headed out to the block party ... THERE WAS NO BLOCK PARTY!!! Just normal bars, that were packed to the brim. Are we getting old? Cause we decided to head somewhere with a few less people. We ended up back at the Tavern (where I work), and were home before 1am, how sad. To make things even worse, hardly anyone recognized our costumes! We got a couple of shout-outs on Colfax, and some kids recognized us at the Tavern, but overall it was a major bummer! Oh well, we knew we looked AWESOME!!!

Coon and Friends

The Coon in action!

Mint Berry Crunch and Mysterion

The Cupid Shuffle ala Mysterion

The Coon must know when to defend itself!

Mosquito!!!

Keep an eye out in the next couple weeks for my post about my Vintage Ornament Wreath tutorial!!!

Crocheting Frenzie!!!

2011-10-10T16:12:00.002-06:00

Mike and I decided to have a lazy weekend, after the jam-packed one we had last week. I was off Friday and decided to do some estate saleing. I picked 4 that looked promising, but they were all pretty much a bust. I did find a few ornaments for my vintage ornament wreath that I hope to complete by Christmas, but it was slim pickins'! Hopefully, once I find enough ornaments I will be able to make something that looks as AWESOME as this

http://retrorenovation.com/2011/09/25/vintage-christmas-ornament-wreaths-the-first-wave-of-georgia-peachez-2011-designs/

I also found a jar of marbles. Marbles? Yes, marbles. Thanks once again to Pinterest, I have found a great project. Unfortunately, this one will have to wait until next year, but I am all ready to make it happen now!

http://gardendrama.wordpress.com/2011/09/17/garden-art-on-the-cheap-diy-glass-marbles-in-your-fence/

Jar-O-Marbles

Saturday we planned to do NOTHING, we watched a bunch of movies, and I did manage to work in some crocheting. I decided to pull from my unfinished project box. Now, lets be clear, this box is not huge, but I definitely need to finish some things in it! Including my Christmas table runner. I have been working on this for about 2 1/2 years, and each year Christmas comes and goes, and the runner goes back into the unfinished box without ever seeing the table. This year though, I am determined to finish it!

I had seen different examples of Filet Crochet online, and I tried a couple of little things, and I decided that I wanted to try something bigger, but I couldn't find a pattern that I loved, so I decided to make my own. The nice thing about filet crochet is that you can basically use any cross-stitch pattern to achieve the look you want, but once again I couldn't find anything I really liked. It was Christmas time, and I decided that I wanted to make a runner. I wanted something that felt vintage, but with a modern twist. Finally, I found this website http://www.myphotostitch.com/ where you can take a picture and convert it to a pattern. BINGO! Now I just had to find a picture I liked. I played around with a few different Santa's, but finally I found this awesome clipart

http://grainedit.com/the-ghost-of-christmas-clip-art/

Next up was to decide on crochet thread, I went with a silver with a metallic thread. FYI - you need a lot of thread to make this runner. I have gone through 8 balls thus far, and will probably need 2 more.

I've found Hobby Lobby has the best selection of crochet thread

You will have to play with your pattern a little to get it the size that you want, but when you're done you will end up with something like this

As you can see, my pattern has been through the ringer!

I've found that it is easy to just cross off each row as you complete it

So I guess you might be asking "What is filet crochet?" Filet crochet gives a much more delicate look, kind of like lace. Essentially, an empty box is a post, 2 chains, and a post. An X is a post, 2 double crochets, and a post. (i.e. post = double crochet). My recommendation is to jump online and get a feel for it, but it REALLY is easy!!!

So here is what I have so far

I used the safety pins to count every 10 boxes in the beginning

I don't know when it will be done, but, doing my best Scarlett, "AS GOD AS MY WITNESS" it will be done before Christmas this year!!!

Sunday, Mike worked all day putting another tap in for our kegorator. So now our nameless bar has both domestic and import drafts ... great. Speaking of our nameless bar, anyone have any suggestions for a name? We thought Camp Ladefoged, Fort Ladefoged ... We want to keep it camp-kitchy!

While Mike was working on the taps, I decided to continue my lazy weekend. I spent the morning looking for patterns, and then I spent the afternoon making this hat for Miss Maddy

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/rose-beanie

Madeline Marie Savidge 10/06/11

I couldn't make one for Maddy without making one for Nixie ...

2 yr old vs. Newborn

Even when I think I'm going to have a lazy weekend someone goes and has a baby, causing me to go into a crocheting frenzie!!!

So how did you spend the weekend? Any unfinished projects you're working on now? And what should we name our bar?!

An Only In Denver Kind Of Weekend

2011-10-03T12:08:00.017-06:00

Thursday afternoon one of my girlfriends at work, asked me to go out with her on Friday night. I told her I felt like I had something planned, but couldn't remember what. Mike and I had planned on heading up to the mountains on Saturday, but I swear I had something planned for Friday night ...

http://www.canvasandcocktails.com/

Oh that's right ... Nikki and I were going to Canvas and Cocktails!!!

C&C is this great Denver based business that combines ... you guessed it ... cocktails and canvas! Each night a different painting is taught. You may be thinking, there is no way I could do that, but the way the class is taught, it makes it so that anyone can achieve greatness! Once you decide on a painting that you want to do, reserve a seat (they go quick!). Arrive early, if you don't you have to sit at cafeteria style tables, with little elbow room, but if like Nikki and I, you arrive early, you can snag one of the few hightop tables for 2 or 3 people. Then, pick out your apron, grab a drink (or a bottle of wine), and get your colors.

Most of the aprons are just covered in old paint, but if you search hard enough you can find one that really suits your personality ...

Here is the painting that we were going to do that evening.

Nikki and I agreed that we would like to change it up some to fit our particular decor. I have decided to go with a Paris theme in the guest bedroom, and I decided on a purple palette to match my new bedding.

We lucked out because it turned out our instructor, Brittney, was the owner. The class is a combination of instruction, dancing, singing, ... and painting. After 2 bottles of wine, and Nikki winning a free class by shaking her boot-ee, we ended up with some pretty sweet pictures! I wish my Eiffel Tower was better, but we had such a good time, who cares!

In case you think there is no way you can drink and paint at the same time, here is the proof that even drunk, art can be achieved!

More pictures can be seen at www.theambitiousprocrastinator.blogspot.com

My weekend was off to a good start, and on Saturday Mike and I set out for a trip to the mountains. One luxury of living in Colorado is the fall foliage. Take an hour drive out of the city, and you can see some of the most beautiful fall landscapes in the country! We decided to take our normal route, Denver to Grand Lake, through Rocky Mountain National Park, and down through Estes Park. Here are some of the highlights:

In Grand Lake

Beyonce in Grand Lake!

One of the best parts of driving through Rocky Mountain National Park, is the chance to see wildlife, particularly the elk at this time of year. We saw a few here and there on our drive, but not as many as usual. We began our trek home, leaving through Estes Park, when we got stuck in traffic, it had to be a horrific accident right? Nope, turns out some of the local elk had decided to spend the day at the park!

We spent some time watching as a juvenile bull tried to creep his way into the herd of cows. However, his attempts were thwarted by this massive specimen

But I was able to snag some great shots of Mike before we had to run for our lives to get out of the way of the fighting bulls!

You might be thinking that there is nothing that could make this weekend better ... WRONG!!!

If you want fun then listen to this, Denver's hottest hangout is the Justice League of Street Food Party! Food Truck promoter Fat Damon is back, and this time he has gone crazy! You'll see food trucks, hipsters, fire dancers, beef tongue tacos, bacon cupcakes, and slilts ... You know it's that thing when slutty girls stand on stilts!!!

http://vodpod.com/watch/3625166-snl-stefan#

Fun was had by all!

Phew!!! What a crazy, fun weekend. On top of all of that I was able to sneak in a little estate saleing (see http://thehouseonadamsdrive.blogspot.com/p/weekend-treasures.html), work on my craft room a bit, and scrape this weird blackout film off the glass slider! I know not every weekend can be as jam-packed as this one was, but I love when I am able to get out and see the great parts of Colorado while having a great time with friends!

What did you do this weekend? Does your city do any fun, unique events?

Kitchy Kitchen Art

2011-09-23T23:37:00.000-06:00

I wanted to post a little something about the newest addition to my kitchen. I found this idea on Pinterest of course!

My kitchen has an aqua and red color scheme, but you could do this with just about ANY color. This is a cheap craft to begin with, but I think I've come up with some ways to make it even cheaper!

Supply List

2 8x10 frames
Set of plastic silver
2 sheets of scrapbook paper (the pattern is up to you!)
Craft paint
Paint brush/sponge
Hot glue gun and glue
Scotch tape

Steps

Pop the glass out of you frames
Remove the cardboard backing from the frame
Cut your scrapbook paper to the size of backing (if necessary)
Use your scotch tape (or whatever adhesive you choose) to adhere the paper to the backing
Reinsert the cardboard backing into the frame
Paint your silverware (this may take several coats), be sure to allow drying time between each coat
Once your silverware is thoroughly painted, and dried, use your hot glue gun to adhere the silverware to the covered backing
Hang your Kitchy Kitchen Art!

I know my silverware looks pink, but it's just the lighting ... promise!

Estimated Cost

I purchased all my supplies at Michaels, but I'm pretty sure you could find everything you need at the Dollar Store, which would reduce the cost significantly!

Frames (on sale): $4.99 each
Scrapbook paper: $1.29 per sheet
Paint: $.99
Silverware: $1.00
Paint sponge: $.39

I had the hot glue gun, glue, and scotch tape; but if you don't, add another $10 to $15 to the overall cost!

What project ideas have you completed on the cheap?

Kitties and Kegorators

2011-09-18T13:59:00.004-06:00

Everything came together this weekend for our Housewarming party. We had great food, beer, and great friends! A lot of preparation was made for this weekend, and the last thing on our TODO list was to install our kegorator in the basement bar.

Bartender Not Included

When we started looking for a house, we knew that a basement bar was something that we both wanted, but it wasn't on our MUST list. But when we found the house on Adams Drive, we knew we lucked out! Half the basement is finished, and there is an unfinished bedroom that backs up to the built in bar, the perfect spot to put a kegorator! We purchased the previous owner's fridge with the intent to use it in the basement.

Mike once again used his Googling powers and found a company called Beverage Factory, which specializes in home beverage systems, http://www.beveragefactory.com/. We got everything we needed from them to install our kegorator for $160. Now all we needed was Mike's dad, Jeff, to come up from Colorado Springs to help Mike install everything.

Jeff was able to come up last weekend, and while they worked to install the kegorator I made myself scarce and set off to do some estate saleing! More on that later ... 1st up, READ THE DIRECTIONS (always important), empty the shelves out of the fridge, and build a shelf to support the keg ...

Next step, following the directions of course, Mike drilled a hole for the tube that goes from the keg to the tap ...

Ok, so at this point you are ready to install the wall tap. In our bar, the tap was being installed into the wood paneling, so to give it more support Mike and Jeff attached it to a 2x4 on one side.

The final step is to tap your keg, and get to drinkin'! But there was one small oddity about our bar that we needed to rectify ... In order to get in the bar, you must open the half door, and crawl under the shelf that runs along the bar! No one can figure out why this door was installed without some sort of hinge allowing easier access. So before Mike and Jeff were done, they wanted to add a hinged door to the bar. To do so they had to remove the molding from the shelf, cut where the hinge should go, install the hinge, and reapply the molding ... Voila!!!

This is about the time when I returned with my acquisitions. I managed to hit 3 sales, and the antique mall, all in about 4 hours! Here are my finds

Copper napkin dispenser, flower cookie cutters, vintage kitchen clock, copper measuring spoons, about 50 plastic coasters, and a handmade lantern

My favorite find of the day was the lantern. When I'm out estate saleing I have a list of sales that I plan to hit, and I use http://www.estatesales.net/ to find them. If I see a sign for an estate sale, I'll drive by to check it out, but can I just point out to everyone that an estate sale is different than a garage sale or moving sale!!! An estate sale implies that the owner has passed away or is willing to part with everything in their home, and it does not take place on a lawn. I can't stand when I drive off my route only to find some housewife calling her garage sale, an estate sale!

Anyway, back to the lantern, I found it by following a sign, and it actually was an estate sale. The owner was there, and she was in the process of downsizing into assisted living. She had the lantern priced at $25, and I offered her $20. She told me she would give it to me for $20, but only if I really loved it because her husband's great-aunt had made it for them! I told her, not to worry, that I loved it, and that I had the perfect place for it!

Special thanks to Jeff for all his help!

I can officially say that our TODO list is done! However, that only means that now I can focus on all the small little projects that I want to do including painting the foosball men on our vintage foosball table (U.S.A. vs. The Netherlands), and stenciling the vinyl window shades throughout the house.

Kitten Intermission!!!

I would like to introduce everyone to the 4 most amazing cats in Denver, CO (heck maybe the world), Mr. Bojangles, Lucky Boots, Barbara, and Detective Ricardo Tubbs ...

Mr. Bojangles

Lucky Boots (and Mike)

Barbara (and Matt)

And now for your viewing pleasure, a video featuring Detective Ricardo Tubbs, brought to you by The Ambitious Procrastinator herself, http://theambitiousprocrastinator.blogspot.com/

Remarkable Recycled Rag Rugs

2011-09-14T22:15:00.000-06:00

As some of you may know I am an estate sale junkie, as well as an avid crocheter. A few months ago I found a way to combine the two ... rag rugs!

Every estate sale I go to has a bed with stacks, and stacks of old sheets. I'm not interested in putting someone's old sheets on my bed, but on the floor is another story. Vintage sheets have amazing patterns, especially, if like me, you are going for a retro look. So I began looking for sheets that would work in my new house. I new I wanted something pink for my pink master bathroom, but before I found sheets for that, I found a great set for practicing. On one of our random weekends of estate saleing Nikki, Matt, Mike, and I went to a sale in Highlands Ranch. For those who don't know, Highlands Ranch is not an old neighborhood, in fact it's typically pretty "cookie cutter", but we found a gem! 1st up we walk up the driveway and find a free pile! In that pile were some cute sheets that I knew I had to have, but I knew that no one else would want them, so we kept walking. Next up, inside we found some great stuff too. In fact, this was the sale where I found my hutch and kitchen table. Matt and Nikki also picked up some good stuff, including a box of old National Geographic slides, and a couple of classic books (I will add pictures as soon as I receive them!)

Chairs not included

Anyway, enough drooling over my hutch. After arranging to come back for the hutch and table later, I grabbed my free sheets, and we headed out. I had seen several examples of rag rugs, like this one, http://pinterest.com/pin/45312132/, on Pinterest, so when I got home, I Google'd "rag rug crochet pattern", and found a couple patterns that seemed easy enough.

http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2008/02/rag-rug-tutorial.html

http://www.myrecycledbags.com/2008/09/27/recycled-round-plarn-rug/

I don't write patterns, so instead here are some tips I've come up with:

Wash your sheets (duh!)

Most rag rug instructions say to cut the fabric (sheet, tshirt, whatever) into strips, and then to knot them. I found that it was much easier, and weirdly relaxing, to spend the evening cutting the sheets into one continuous strip, and winding it into a ball. Even when you run out of one sheet, there is no need to knot it to the next one, since the ends are frayed, the ends blend in!

I would recommend trying to find a queen/king sheet set. Once you're done cutting, you are going to have a GIANT sheet ball, but trust me it takes a lot to make one of these rugs.

OK, so you're all set, so get crocheting! Keep in mind that your rugs are going to have frayed edges, but I think it adds to the whole vintage look. I have thrown both of my rugs in the wash since finishing them, and neither have fallen apart, or overly frayed. Also, as we crocheters know, a lot of times a round pattern does not lay flat, however, I have found that once you put the rug on the ground and start using it, it will flatten out.

I eventually did find the perfect pink sheets for my bathroom, and here are the rugs that I have made thus far:

I was able to make both of these with a queen sheet set, and the matching pillowcases (estate sale find)

This is the practice rug, aren't the flower colors great?! This one is also a queen sheet set, but it is bigger than the round rug above.

Taylor, hope this helps, and thanks for this post's inspiration! :)

P.S. Some of you may be aware, but I left my camera at Nikki's house this weekend, and I have a ton to blog about! So I hope to have another post up this weekend. Spoiler alert!!! The tentative title is "Kitties and Kegorators"

Save Your Relationship With These Easy Picture-Hanging Tips!

2011-09-05T18:02:00.005-06:00

Happy Labor Day weekend everyone! Hope everyone is taking the weekend to be "labor-free"!

Manhattan Poster by Jim Datz

We set the date for our housewarming party for September 17th, and to get ready there are a few things left on our To Do list.

1st up we need to hang pictures. In the past, hanging pictures has tested our relationship. There isn't much else that will bring us both to the edge like hanging pictures, and Friday afternoon I prepared myself for gritted teeth, clenched fists, and angry storm-outs. In addition to the art that we already had, we had ordered several posters from allposters.com, and 2 awesome prints from threepotatofourshop.com. In the past we had ordered the posters we wanted, and then made a trip to Michaels to pick out frames, but this time Mike found vendor on amazon.com called arttoframes.com.

For all the frames we needed, we easily would have spent over $300, but thanks to arttoframes.com, we only spent $130, including S&H! Each of the frames came with the necessary tools to hang them with.

Once Mike had attached all the wires we were ready to hang, so I braced myself ... but guess what??? These frames were the easiest frames to hang I've ever used! Pick your spot on the wall where you want your picture, hammer in the nail, and hang your picture! SO SIMPLE! Here are just some of the pictures we hung using the frames from arttoframes.com

Unfortunately, not all of the pictures we hung were so easy. So once again we had to employ the old adage "Measure twice, cut once", or in our case "Measure twice, hammer once". There was some disagreement as to placement, but overall it was a the best time we have had while hanging pictures (the beer, and comic relief ala Justin Savidge helped).

Since I've been plugging arttoframes.com this whole time I guess it's only fair to talk about one other product that we picked up this weekend, the Come With Me Kitty leash and harness. When we lived in our old apartment we let the cats out onto the balcony, but now they are not allowed outside, and are devastated. We decided the harness would be a great idea, and picked it up while we were at Target. Let the hilarity ensue ...

We thought if we put the leash on the clothes line, Boots could walk up and down the grass, but needless to say she never figured that part out ...

... So Mike decided he would try and walk her, that also did not work out because she kept eating the grass instead. So we ended up looping the leash through one of the patio chairs ...

... Meanwhille in the house, poor Mr. Bojangles was left only to watch his arch enemy have the time of her life outside ...

After making sure that Boots was safely secured to the patio chair, I ran inside to get a drink. When I returned, (inside of 3 minutes at the most!), this is what I found ...

... My cat is an escape artist! Don't worry, she didn't go far, but thus ended Lucky Boots' outdoor adventures!

I should mention that Lucky Boots is THE Lucky Boots from theambitiousprocrastinator.blogspot.com! I also received these awesome pink pillows from Nikki, made using her tutorial!

We found this fabric at Ikea

Baby Showers bring Leather Flowers

2011-08-28T21:16:00.000-06:00

I am so happy to have followers already! It really means a lot to me to know that other people are interested in the same stuff I am! So here I go ...

This weekend started off with a baby shower for our friends Kala and Justin They are expecting their first baby, Maddy, at the end of this month. A few things set this shower apart in my mind ...

1. The shower was not just for the ladies, all the guys were invited, and they were absolutely thrilled to be part of the festivities (trust me)

2. NO stupid shower games!!! Kelly, our host opted for a Make-A-Onesie Station. It worked out great, and if I may so myself, mine turned out pretty awesome!

3. Apparently, no one knows what to buy for expecting mothers. Don't get me wrong, I have never seen so many adorable outfits in my life, but I think babies need more than clothes.

Baby shower behind us, we headed to my folk's house to have dinner with them, my sister Kate, her husband Chris, and my favorite (only) niece Nixie!

Sunday, we headed to the Denver Modernism Show, http://www.denvermodernism.com/, with Matt and Nikki, oh no wait they "forgot" about it ... but we made the best of it and struggled through without them. The Modernism show housed a bunch of vendors (local and nationwide) selling their goods, and an awesome vintage car show! Being that we were there on the last day it was somewhat picked over, but I managed to snag this gorgeous saddle bag with cute white/yellow/red flowers, a scarf, and some cute pillows for the living room chairs. I will definitely be back next year, but definitely on the first 2 days!

On the way home we stopped by our new favorite mid-century shop, The Garage http://www.facebook.com/pages/Garage-Vintage/187681787911488?sk=info, on a whim, thinking they might have some new stuff. They probably did, but rather than looking at anything new, I was drawn back to a set of chairs that I had been eyeing for my kitchen table. And now they are mine!

I think this weekend proves that the best weekends are spent with friends, family, and by treating yourself! How do you treat yourself? Anyone have any other ideas of fun, non-traditional baby shower games?

Be gentle, it's my first time

2011-08-25T13:43:00.000-06:00

So this is my first-ever blog post! I hope to be able to write something every week, but bare with me through the beginning.

So here it is, our first house

We moved in on August 12th and have been working our fingers to the bone since! The house was built in 1963, and we bought it from Irene Guanella, the original owner! The house is in immaculate condition, as Irene and her husband never smoked, had kids, or pets!

Is one of your favorite TV shows "Mad Men"? If so you're going to die when you see the inside of my house! Here are some the highlights:

The real-wood paneling continues into the
dining room

Custom cabinets, and check out the pull-down
chandelier over the kitchen table!

The basement has the same gorgeous paneling,
and this amazing wallpaper mural of the Tetons!

We closed on August 5th, and took possession on the 8th. We purchased new living room furniture, and a new stainless steel fridge.

Next up, we had the neon green shag carpet in the basement replaced with a neutral frieze carpet. RIP green shag, you are in a better place.The only major rennovation we planned to undertake was some painting and some wallpaper removal. Easy Peasy!

I should start by saying that I have never removed wallpaper before, and was convinced that it would not be as difficult as everyone claimed ... HA!!!

Here are the steps we followed:

Step 1: Score the wall, then peel the 1st layer of the wallpaper off, leaving the paper backing

Step 2: Soak said backing with fabric softener (the brand doesn't matter, we used the cheapest we could find)

Step 3: Steam each section for at least 20 seconds. Remove steamer, and scrape like hell! We found a steamer at Home Depot for $50, and they also had ergonomic scrapers (very important)

Step 4: Once all the wallpaper has been scraped off, scrub the wall with soapy water and scrap off any remaining stragglers

No one should ever put up wallpaper ... EVER! Anyway, once all the wallpaper was down we painted, and painted, and painted ...

Here are the before and afters I put together, what do you think? What kind of simple home rennovations have you done?

Special thanks to Nikki Kelly for her help, and telling me I could and should start a blog! Check hers out at theambitiousprocrastinator.blogspot.com