Tonight, we order appliances! Woo Hoo!
Have a great weekend Everyone!
Cheers!
M J
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It has been 15 days since we settled on the new house and much has been accomplished. With some help from Friends and Family, we made quick work of most of the demo in a week. The dumpster was taken away on Monday! The HVAC was replaced this week as well, AAAHHH, the sweet joys of central AC! :-) We have one working toilet and one working sink in the laundry room. Hubby even managed to install the new water heater! Isn't it fabulous? It's the little things that make a girl happy, like having hot, running water... As you can see, we have been painting, A LOT. Along with all the demo of the ridiculous amount of shelving, we have managed to get the hot water heater closet and the laundry room painted. Here is a before and after of the laundry room so far: Please excuse the mess. ;-) It is simply amazing the difference a fresh, bright coat of paint makes! Oh, and the replacement of that horrid light fixture. Yuck! This will be a hard working room. It will house the laundry area, all pet needs, cleaning supplies, additional kitchen storage and the pantry. The hot water heater closet is at the end of the laundry room and we have already put together one of the shelving units that we will be filling with all of our stuff... This closet will have a homemade curtain that will allow Raven to access his litter box. We are looking forward to his convenience station being so far away from our bedroom so he won't wake us up in the middle of the night when he is digging to China... :-)
Tonight, we order appliances! Woo Hoo! Have a great weekend Everyone! Cheers! M J
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While we have been impatiently waiting to get started on our new house, I have been diligently working away completing projects that I can before we are saddled with renovation projects. The vision I have for the new guest bedroom is more colorful and eclectic than our quick, no-cost decorating in this current house. We will be purchasing new bedding from Ikea when we do our big shopping trip for renovations, but I knew I wanted a colorful, custom throw for the daybed. Sooooo, I made one: The fabric is Waverly Mexicali Desert Flower and I just fell in love with it. It is whimsical, colorful and fun! I also picked up an inexpensive, cuddly, fleece throw in a dark, charcoal grey to give the fabric some weight and warmth. I just pinned the fabric over the edges of the throw and sewed a straight line all the way around. Easy Peasy! After I finished sewing the throw, I knew it needed something more. Just a bit more OOMPH, if you will! I raided my yarn stash and found the perfect dark pink for some flashy tassels for each corner. And Voila! A custom throw for the new guest bedroom! I think it turned out just lovely! It's also really cushy and warm, which will be nice for our guests when winter rolls around. I can't wait to show you that room when we're done! All in good time though, lots of renovation basics to handle until I get to the pretty stuff...
Well, If you don't hear from me for a week or so, we will be working hard on the new house! Settlement is tomorrow and everything seems to be going smoothly (knock on wood!). Have a great weekend Everyone! Cheers! M J We are down to 3 days until settlement ya'll! The only photos I've been able to get are from the ad for the house. They are NOT great photos, but it will give you the idea of how much work we are heading into... Here is the front of the house: The siding and roof are in OK shape. Not thrilled with the dark green front door and shutters, but we will not have time or money to update all of it for some time. The plan is to paint the front door a pale turquoise and put up some window flower boxes in a coral color that will play nicely with the dark green until we get around to the rest. Since the house has been vacant for about a year, the yard is completely overgrown, there are dead bushes, ivy has taken over, there are 3 trees that HAVE to come down just for safety reasons and it is way too much for us to tackle on our own. We will be hiring that work out just to get us started. Here is the back of the house with the screened in porch: See what I mean? Crazy bushes everywhere... And what is with the white railings in the yard to the right? They are also everywhere. Lots to tear out and clean up, so happy we are hiring help! Here is a photo of the living room with the fireplace and built-ins: We love the built-ins, but that brick is just awful. It has had holes drilled all over the place and I am over the multi-colored brick look. It will be painted white along with the shelving. The back wall of the shelving units will be painted the wall color which will be a very pale blue. We will be leaving the mantel the original wood since it is in good shape. Hubby has deemed the space above the mantel to be the TV mounting area which is fine with me since the built-ins give me plenty of space to add some style! For now, the ugly brass fire screen will be taped off and painted with high-heat black paint... OK, I hope you are sitting down, cause now I'm gonna show you the horrible kitchen... Isn't it GLORIOUS?? LOL! Seriously, it is the original kitchen with a few personal "tweaks" by the previous owners. Yes, that is a shelf above the cabinets with the ridiculously tiny railing around it. They even put that railing around the peninsula countertop. I don't know what these people had about shelving and railings, but they are EVERYWHERE! I would cry if it wasn't so damn funny! :-) The plan is to remove a few upper cabinets above the refrigerator and stove, paint the upper cabinets white and the lower cabinets black, and all new stainless steel appliances. Think lots of cleaning, filling holes, sanding and painting. Fun! But it will be worth it when we install the white subway tile backsplash and the butcher block countertops. I have the vision in my head and I cannot wait to get it out of there. It is taking up WAY too much space up there... The living room, kitchen and dining room are all open to each other. We knew when we walked into the front door that this was the house. No walls to move! Here is the dining room: We are both so excited to actually have SPACE in a dining room again. It looks out to the screened in porch and back yard which is at least three times the size of our current yard. Here is a photo of, what I have to say is my absolute favorite room in this house, the laundry room!! You already know I'm weird... This room is a total bonus for me! An entire room off the kitchen to hold a pantry, storage, laundry AND I get a utility sink too?? Awesome! The plan for this room is loads of chrome shelving units, white paint and some cool fabric to soften some edges. There will be a place for Raven's food and water station, a place for Raven's litter box, and a place for the stupid goldfish that REFUSE to die. (Really, we won them at the carnival over 4 years ago and they are still going. I guess we take care of them too well!) ;-)
Oh, and that hideous ceiling light fixture peeking into the frame from above? Happy to say they are delivering a dumpster the day of closing so it can go straight into it... Along with the rest of the lighting in this house! As for the rest of the house, the bathrooms are a mess and the walls are as wavy as the Atlantic Ocean during a Nor'easter... But we can handle it. This house is in MUCH better shape than our first house. Of course, we were also MUCH younger then! LOL! Thanks for hanging in there through this post! I'll have better photos as we move forward after settlement on Friday! Wish us luck! Have a great week! Cheers! M J As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I was in Pennsylvania visiting my Aunt and Uncle for a few days and we went to some great vintage/thrift outlets. We spent HOURS strolling through floor after floor of collections of antique, vintage and crafted goodness. So long, in fact, that our feet were killing us after just the first outlet! Of course, it did have 5 floors to peruse. Here are the items I found at that first place: That milking stool had me at Hello! So adorable and versatile. I'll be able to use it as a low side table, a foot stool, a plant stand, you name it. The knitting caddy caught my eye due to the vintage print fabric, but the wood frame is in perfect condition. It will make a great magazine rack. And the milk glass piece... My friends, I have been collecting milk glass since WAY before it became popular blog fodder. It is an addiction I still fight to this day... ;-) The blue and white pottery above was so cheap and lovely, I couldn't pass it up! It now sits below the dreaded half-round table and serves as an umbrella receptacle. Who could say no to those koi fish on the inside?? Not me apparently... LOL! If you've been reading my blog for a while, you already know I had to buy this little weaving... The next few places we visited were overpriced and didn't quite have what we were seeking. Then we happened upon a few shops that were more fun and reasonable. One even had a winery with wine tastings! Yes, Please! :-) Here are the few items I found there: Vintage Pyrex dishes and the cutest wooden Japanese figurine. I've already cooked veggies in the Pyrex and my little girl may get a makeover, I'm still deciding on her colors... ;-) If you've noticed, I have a turquoise theme going on here. I think it may be my accent color in the new kitchen/dining room. Besides, I do have a weakness for vintage turquoise Ball jars. Lucky for me, my Uncle has a collection of these same jars and was kind enough to part with a few! With original glass-lined zinc lids and all... If all that wasn't enough, my sweet Brother and his Fiance picked up a few finds for me as well! (It was a good week of thrifting and gifting!) A GREAT piece of milk glass (yes, my family is well aware of my addiction), hand painted glasses and the kitty plaque I showed you earlier in the week: Well, after going through all of these finds, I now realize it is time for some serious purging when we move. As we grow and change, so do some of our tastes. We are inexplicably drawn toward certain things that make us smile. Decorating is simply the act of surrounding ourselves with those items that make us most comfortable and happy in our living spaces. Why hang on to those items that no longer give us joy? Besides, those items you no longer love, may just find their way into someone else's heart and home to make them smile!
Have a great weekend Everyone! Cheers! M J Well, I got through another furniture renovation last week and let me tell you, it was painful! This half-round console table and I had a knock down, drag out fight. It was not pretty. I cleaned, I primed, I painted, I swore, I sanded, I used acetone, I swore some more, I gave in and just let the table win in the end... This is another piece of the brown set we've had since 1997. Again, I was sick of it. Also, I really DO NOT like the Valspar spray paint. It sucks. Period. Besides the table being a complete b*tch, the paint decided to team up with it and ruin my day. Not sure if you can tell in the pictures below, but the right, front leg is. a. complete. mess. I gave up trying to get a smooth finish with sandpaper, wiped it down with acetone, sprayed it again then dry brushed all the pieces with pale gray acrylic paint to make it all look intentional and a tad beachy: I won't say I'm completely thrilled with it, but I am satisfied that I finally beat that table into submission in the end! @!#%$^!!#@&*@!#!! Ok, I'm fine now... Really, just fiiiiine... Do you ever wanna kick a piece of furniture just because? ;-) We will be using all of these pieces in the new house and I have a vision in my mind of how bright and open I want that space to be. There will be A LOT of projects in that renovation journey. I am SOOO looking forward to sharing them with you!!
Have a wonderful weekend Everyone! Cheers! M J Happy Monday Everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! We were busy little bees around our house, getting it ready to go on the market soon. Hubby and I are lucky that we both enjoy DIY projects and work well together. I usually have a vision of what I would like to see and he goes through the steps to get to my vision. For big projects like our next kitchen, it is essential that he has all of the technical aspects in mind as I am trying to figure out how everything will look and function for the everyday. Somehow, it just works! I did get to work on a large piece of art while visiting my Aunt and Uncle last week. I have never worked on such a huge canvas, but Uncle insisted! Let me tell you, there is nothing more intimidating than a large, blank canvas... He helped me through the creative process and I wound up with an abstract piece that is kinda fun: My Dad said I should call it "Avatar" since the trees reminded him of that movie. :-) I was playing around with acrylics and water - spraying water over wet paint and letting it drip at will. It's no Picasso or Matisse, but I think it's pretty cool!
You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have. - Maya Angelou I hope you all have a great, creative week! Cheers! M J As I mentioned in my last post, I did get around to renovating another piece of furniture last week. We have had this small chest on a metal stand since 1997. While it has served its purpose dutifully, it was time for a makeover... After my experience with the spray paint on the nesting tables, I decided to prime this piece. I used regular old grey auto primer then two coats of this pale turquoise. It is La Fonda Mirage by Valspar. While the paint was drying, I got to work on some handles with my leather tooling kit: Luckily, I had just enough blank leather pieces to create two handles and a small loop for the front of the chest. I did some decorative stamping around the screw holes and treated the leather with some mineral oil. I found some decent looking wood screws in the shed, drilled holes, screwed them in and voila! Leather handles: I think the paint and leather handles gave it a whole new life! It definitely brightened up the space. I am pretty happy with the results, although the finish of this paint was flat. I may go back and seal it with some clear satin spray, but for now, I'm calling it good enough!
Have a wonderful weekend Everyone! Cheers! M J I am currently on a little solo break visiting my Aunt and Uncle in Pennsylvania. I took the long, winding route so I could enjoy some of the beautiful scenery on my drive. Unfortunately, there were no opportunities to snap any photos while driving (although, I have seen some people doing that - Um, hello! Dangerous!). I arrived yesterday before dinner and we were able to relax, have some wine and enjoy a delicious dinner by my Auntie on the deck watching the sun set. My Uncle is an incredible artist, as I have mentioned before, and we will be working on some art projects while I am here this week. So excited! In other news, I did finish up another of my furniture renovations last week. Here is a sneak peek of a little part of that reno: Have I piqued your interest?? Didn't know I could do leather working? ;-) I'll post about that reno later this week. Until then, I'm off to spend some quality time with Auntie and Uncle! Have a great week Everyone!
Cheers! M J We have about a month until settlement on the new house, so I decided to tackle some small furniture renovation projects before we are completely bogged down with the house renovations. Remember my post about remote storage in the living room here? As a reminder, here are the nesting coffee tables from Ikea that we've had for years: To be honest, I'm a bit over the super dark wood pieces now-a-days. These tables are still serviceable, so some spray paint, adhesive vinyl and Rub & Buff brought them up with the times: I picked up some Rustoleum spray paint in bright gold for the legs and some Valspar spray paint in Azure Snow for the veneer tops. Unfortunately, I didn't notice that the Valspar was gloss. Duh. No problem. Luckily, I had some clear satin spray paint in the shed and it knocked the glossy mess right down to a nice satin sheen. The corner pieces are white adhesive vinyl that I cut with my Silhouette machine and then turned gold with some Rub & Buff. Have you ever shopped for brass corner hardware for furniture? Um, yeah, not spending that kinda money on cheap Ikea tables. We have an entire house to renovate my Peeps... However, I was happy to see that the wood grain of the veneer still shows through the paint a bit and gives the tops some much needed texture: The paint didn't want to stick to the veneer in a few places, so I just let the first coat dry and did another. They aren't perfect, but they'll work until we can afford a new coffee table! :-) Let's just hope they survive the move two blocks over to the other house... Good thing we have a lot of coasters. I have a feeling this finish isn't gonna last too long! LOL! I have four more pieces of furniture to refinish in the next month. Let's hope the next piece takes the paint better than these darn tables... It may be time to invest in a bottle of deglosser!
Have a great weekend Everyone! Cheers! M J If you didn't know, I used to sell Mary Kay products. What happens when you sell a product you love, create an inventory, then STOP selling said product? You become a makeup hoarder, of course! I did well over the last few years, giving items to friends & family and using up product instead of buying new. However, yesterday, I got sick of all of the STUFF. We will be moving shortly and I don't want to move anything we don't absolutely need. So, after cleaning out my closet for the 3rd time this year, I decided to tackle my makeup hoard. My vanity has been neglected for far too long, look at this mess: Dusty, stuff thrown wherever, and my previously organized drawer was disgusting. I emptied everything out of the vanity, top and drawer, and discarded anything that was expired or just didn't work for me. I vacuumed out the drawer, then I cleaned it out with a damp towel. I also cleaned my makeup containers, bins and boxes with a damp towel to remove any grime. I then used furniture polish to dust and shine up the exterior of the vanity. Here is the mercifully clean drawer: Then I got to work organizing what I had left of my makeup stash. Confession: I also had MORE makeup in the storage footstool at the foot of the bed. AAhhhh, it feels good to come clean! LOL... Here is the clean, organized drawer, which, I am happy to say, holds all the makeup I have left: And the now clean and shiny vanity: A place for everything and everything in its place. It feels good to pare down to just what I will actually use. Besides, having backups sitting around for ages for things like mascara and eyeliner probably isn't a great idea health-wise anyway. It's not like I live out in the boon-docks and can't get to a drugstore when I need something! I've actually been wearing a lot less makeup this year for some reason. Maybe it's the 7am yoga class four times a week that has changed my routine. Who needs makeup when you're just gonna sweat it off anyway... I can already feel the healing aura of letting go... ;-) Happy Weekend Everyone!! Have a great one! Cheers! M J P.S. Sorry for the crappy cell phone pics! I didn't have it in me to drag out the good camera... I know, soooo lazy... LOL...
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AuthorHi There! I'm MJ, a 40-something professional woman with a love for art, crafting and decorating. Here I hope to share my experiments and inspire others as they have inspired me... Archives
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