Is it Spring?

I am becoming a little concerned about what my flowers are going to look like come March, April, and May.  With the unseasonably warm weather we have been having all during December and January, coupled with the rainfall, my flowers think it is Spring!  The Daffodil shoots are at least 5 inches tall.  When we finally do get winter weather, will my flowers have enough time to rebound and come up again for Spring?  I have never had them this big, this late in the winter.  Any thoughts?

I am thankful, however, that the storms that came through last night were not as violent as had been predicted.  Prayers going out for those in Arkansas and West Tennessee that seemed harder hit than our area.

Let me know what your Spring bulbs are doing and if you have had any experience with the coming up this late in the winter.

Ottoman Slipcover

This was a project I did one afternoon while the boys were out fishing or some other boy activity.  I can't quite remember.  I just know that I was home alone.  Thanks to Jennifer's tutorial over at Dear Lillie I was able to cover the heavy looking ottoman with a fresh slipcover.  The original ottoman is dark brown leather with wooden feet.  I think this one was purchased at Target and has great storage.  The top lifts up and we have a lot of our games inside.  The slipcover allows for quick retrieval of these items, but is a bit more stylish.  The room is dark and really benefited from the lighter colors in both the slipcover as well as the new rug you see in the most recent picture.  If I ever get the nerve, I would love to try to slipcover the dark leather sofa as well.

Sorry It Took Me So Long!

Several months ago I posted about the issues I was having with the wall in the boys' bathroom.  I have finished that room and am very pleased with the results.  Sorry for the long delay in posting pictures.  The Holidays came and I found myself enjoying family and friends.  BTW, the short-term solution for the wall was to just put up what I wanted and ignore the roughness.  Since I am not the one in there every day, it doesn't bother me and I know it doesn't bother 2 adolescent boys!

  This is the only "Before" picture I have.  It was taken before we moved in.

So without further ado, check out what we did.

The walls were yellow as well as the floors.  Since we didn't want to change the floors, I decided to "man" up the room by painting the walls grey.  We chose Embarcadero by Valspar and it is a great color.  We already had the Brooklyn Bridge Shower curtain and that gave me the idea for a sort of travel theme in the room.  The yellow suitcase over the commode is now the medicine cabinet and stores lots of deodorant and Axe Body Spray.  I painted the vanity black using the Rustoleum Cabinet Transformation Kit. (I love this product and will be using this again.)  The cabinet was done several months ago and is holding up great in a room with lots of moisture and boys handling it how they want!

We hung the mirror and light fixture to replace the lost mirror and lights when we removed the old medicine cabinet.  Eventually we will have to go with a larger mirror as the boys grow, but this worked well with the current budget and fits the current users.  Sorry to any guests that might stay with us that need a taller mirror.


We did update the hardware on the existing vanity as well.  I also chose to distress the edges of the doors and drawers before I put on the protective coat.  I am so pleased with how this turned out. It really made the yellow floors pop!  Even the boys like the floors now.  At least more than the did before.  Above the vanity, I hung an old yellow frame I already had with a great "You Are MY Sunshine" print I purchased from a shop on Etsy.

I wanted it to be a fun bathroom, but not childish so we went with some pretty unexpected items to help with storing and corralling all those needed bathroom items.  The suitcase turned vanity was a ton of fun to make and the boys love it.  I removed the interior fabric and replaced it with a yellow and grey plaid shirt from Goodwill.  You can kinda see the buttons and pocket on the door portion.  Looking at this picture, I realize I still need to paint those shelves.  BTW, the suitcase was originally green and I painted it to match the yellow floor with sample jar of matching paint color.  Again we used Valspar, Santa Monica Blvd. The small hooks that were originally on the back of the door were inadequate to catch the bath towels as the boys tossed them for hanging.  We re-purposed two wooden hangers to act as the new hooks and they catch the towels quite well.



 It was a ton of fun to redo this bathroom and it was fairly inexpensive.  We did replace the toilet, but that needed to be done anyway.  I hope you have enjoyed this little tour.  I have resolved to show you the many other projects we squeezed in to those busy holiday months. It is amazing what you can accomplish when you know you are going to have a house full of people.

Lastly,  I couldn't do any of these projects without the help of my patient husband.  He is always there to assist when a project gets bigger than I thought. He is my biggest encourager and my 2 boys are right there with him.  Thanks for cheering me on when I tackle these jobs.  Love ya!

Why does the simple always become involved?

All I wanted to do was update the look in the bathroom that my 2 boys share; new wall color, paint the existing vanity with the Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations Kit, replace the medicine chest/mirror with a fun and funky surprise, new light, fun & funky towel holders, and an inspiring quote or two.

DH helped me remove the old medicine cabinet and light combo that will be upcycled to my MIL.  Boys emptied said cabinet as well as vanity.  I began removing old bathroom fixtures (towel bar, toothbrush holder) and mentioned to DH this bathroom once had wallpaper.  I found a small piece behind the toothbrush holder.  I never gave it another thought until i began to sand the painted square left behind when we removed the medicine chest.  I had assumed the "edge" was a result of too much paint build up due to not removing the cabinet when the previous owners painted.  It slowly began to dawn on me that yes there was some paint build up, but the edge was also a result of the wallpaper that had been painted over.  The wallpaper never went behind the cabinet and now I have a big square that no amount of sanding will get rid of.

What is a girl to do?  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated?

Finally, A Project Marked Off The List!

I have wanted to remodel our 1st floor half bath for a long time. I've had the image in my head for almost as long. About a month and a half ago I decided to start pulling out the quarter round and base boards to see if my idea was even in the cards. These came off easily. I was able todoall of this on my own!!! The plan was to get rid ofthe drab tan and update this little room with some Board and Batten as well as some fresh paint colors. As the project has come to completion this evening I couldn't be happier. It really did turn out the way I saw it in my head. This isn't always the case for me. I was surprised at the relative ease that the Board and Batten went up. We used Lattice forthe vertical pieces. This way there was a small recess from the Board. I love my nailer and mitersaw. They definitely made this project doable. Here are some lousy before (actually during pictures)and some fresh after pictures. Hope you like it!
This shows the small pedestal sink. It is cream and that wasn't going to work with the new colors. Luckily, we still had a lovely white pedestal sink in storage that we had removed from a project years ago. That bathroom had needed more under sink storage for the main bathroom of two growing boys. Glad we hung onto it.
This is a picture that really gives you an idea of the tan. Nothing wrong with it, but nothing exciting either. We did have a picture above the toilet on this wall, but I had already taken it down when I thought to take pictures.

This is a close up of the Board and Batten. The room is already looking better even though the painting is only half done. You can see the great new color going on above the Board and Batten. It is Martha Stewart's Aegean Blue. Yes, that is the same blue as my laundry room. I love the color and I had enough to finish this project as well.

Now to the good stuff. The room is complete as well as another project I have been working on for months. All those frames have been painted, painted again, sanded, arranged, and hung. Love the red accents as well!


We put in a smaller mirror and even though you can't really see it in the picture, the light fixture has been updated. Painted the brass and chrome with the Bronze spray paint I have used everywhere else in the house. It looks a ton better. The mirror is one I have had for years and finally found the perfect spot for it. Painted the stool with the same blue as the walls, sanded it, and it looks fantastic. The wire basket is for tp rolls and it looks like I need to get a few in there.

Another fun addition, were these old doctor's office canisters. The blue wasn't exact, but thought they were a great splash of color and fun way to store the items we do need to have in this bathroom. These came from my uncle's surgical supply business years ago. The two bottles you see have red and blue labels and hold mouthwash for each of my ds's. This is our launching pad in the mornings before school so toothbrush, toothpaste, and mouthwash are must haves. This was such an easy way to have them get their mouthwash and no messy spills.

I have had fun sharing this makeover with you. Hope you have enjoyed it too.

Summer Projects

If I want to get a few projects completed around here I believe that I am going to have to enlist the help of my boodling buddies. Hope you both are up for the job. I'm thinking that if I let you guys in on my to do list you will keep on me, no, encourage me to get some things done. I have compiled a list of some of the projects I want to work on so here goes. Some are big and some are not very big at all, they just require that I stop reading all these blogs and get going.

1. Fan

I have had an old fan for awhile now and I really just need to clean it up and find a home for it. I think that it will eventually end up in the family room but you never know.

2. Shutters

These shutters were picked up on our junk/trash day. They are not in bad shape so I

am just going to attack with a little soap and water. I am not even planning on painting them because I like the blue color even if it is peeling

off in places. I would like to hang them on the wall going down to the basement. We'll see if we can reach that spot with a ladder or not.

3. and 4. Master Bathroom

I have a couple of projects for the master bathroom. First, I want to replace the over-the-toilet cabinet with some shelves. This project,

http://go.tipjunkie.com/dc/652/w

ww.beneathmyheart.net/2009/08/cafe-shelf-tutorial-and-giveaway/, seems like it would be great to try, only with white shelves. Also, I want to paint the room and ceiling, probably the blue that I used in the bedroom. Small room so it shouldn't take long, right?

5. Hallie's Chair

My step-dad finished with the repairs needed

on this chair for Hallie's room now all that is needed is to paint and upholster. Of course, first I have to get it off the top of the camper!

6. Table for TV Room

This little table needs a little repair. The bottom shelf is broken so I plan on taking it out and patching up any damage I do. I will most likely spray paint Heirloom White and distress a little. It will go beside one of the red chairs in the family room.

I have a few more projects that I thought about adding but I have made myself tired typing up these just these six so I am going to stop for now. I am hoping that you will inquire frequently about my progress to keep my working hard.

What have you guys got planned for the summer months? Anything I can help with?

AAAHHH Sunshine!

Well, we have finally strung together two days in a row of sunshine. It is quite encouraging. I have been able to snap a few photos of the flowers that are blooming in my yard. Thought I might share them in order to spread a little sunshine in cyber-space. The Clematis I planted last summer has 3 blooms on it. I was pretty excited to know that it made it through the drought we had. Some of the other flowers in the garden are lookingquite sweet as well; Solomon Seal, Lily of the Valley, and Siberian Iris. Enjoy!