House Projects in Life

In my last post I made a promise to myself and all of you that I was going to start posting more often and stop using this blog as a once a month update.  It seems the last 3-4 months have turned in that direction and I'm wanting to steer it back.  Writing is comforting to me.  I have always been able to express myself better in writing than in any other way and that's what this blog is really all about, right?  I started it as a creative outlet for my emotional self to unload on in a semi private way.  What is it about exposing personal things about yourself and your life online for potentially the whole world to see??!!  I'm not really sure but it's fun.  I keep private journals so I have the ability to vent things that are a little too personal for my blog, which combined gives me the means for total expression of my emotional self depending on however I'm feeling on a particular day.  That probably doesn't mean much to the average person, but it does to me.  I think everyone should find that "thing" that allows them to fully and completely express who they are.  Most people during their normal day don't really get to do that.  Because of society and manners we all stifle who we really are in order to please others and be presentable human beings in life.  Every now and then we need to let out our pent up thoughts and feelings in a healthy way.  Writing is mine!  Find yours!

We are down to 74 days until my sister's wedding.  It's getting so incredibly close and the pressure is really being put on us to finish all the littlest details.  There is hundreds of these I feel like!!  It will all be beautiful in the end but getting there is tedious.  One thing that is finally booked and in the plans is our bachelorette weekend spa getaway in Dallas, TX!  Yipeeee, I'm so excited about this.  We are going to get to stay in a suite in the Hotel Zaza, a luxury boutique hotel.  Just looking at the pictures online get me to giggling.  I am very excited about this and how much fun we are going to have just us three girls, Bridesmaid, Maid of Honor, and Bride!  Lots of work to be done before and after though.

My house has come along quite nicely.  And as promised here are a few pics to show everyone some of the work we put into it.  Please, please do not hold my decorating skills, or lack thereof, against me.  I have not made that a priority yet because my money is still saved to complete my master bath and the kitchen.  Hopefully by Christmas I can have these two things accomplished.

Kitchen before

Kitchen after: We stripped all wallpaper, textured and painted the walls, sanded and refinished the cabinets to look a little rustic, replaced all cabinet hardware to a rubbed bronze finished knob, and bought a new fridge.  I still want to replace the counter top and back splash so there is some contrast, and get a new sink and faucet. 

    

Before dining nook

After: This was a chore!!!  We stripped wallpaper, which was 3 layers deep, textured the walls, painted the walls, below the chair rail we decided with bead board because the walls were just too banged up after the wallpaper stripping.  Plus I liked the change in texture.  We painted the bead board a contrasting color and replaced the light fixture. 

Living room before

After: repainted all walls and all trim and doors.  The entire house was white on white before and it was awful!  Very scuffed up, very dirty, very chipped.  Just the new paint everywhere made the house look about 10 years younger.

We are shopping for a big entertainment center to take up that big wall and house the new TV.

Hallway before

After: again, new paint on every wall and all trim.  I fully intend to put a floating floor down on top of these stick tiles but money and time has postponed that until later.

Lil Man's bathroom before

After:  All wallpaper stripped, texture applied to walls, walls painted, trim painted, new hardware everywhere (toilet, faucet, mirror, light fixture, paper holders, towel holders)

Lil Man's bedroom before

After: new paint on all walls and trim

L shaped hallway leading to third bedroom which is my office right now and a big mess.  It's been the "catch all" room since we moved in.  We painted all walls and trim in there also.  I chose to do all the same color throughout the entire house so it's neutral and clean looking.

My bedroom before

After: Again, the same new paint on all walls and trim. 

The view from the front.  I haven't done anything to the exterior.  My plan is to paint the shutters and posts and darker more contrasting color that matches the brick and new landscaping.  Unfortunately we are going through a bit of a drought right now so I'm waiting until fall comes and some rain to redo the bushes and flower bed.  Everything is dieing right now and I'm using water to keep the trees alive but not the grass.  It's just too hot and dry; it would cost me a fortune.

So, overall, it's a work in progress but it's home now.  It feels comfortable and finally smells like I like it to when I walk in the door.  I couldn't be happier for the time being and look forward to everything I'm going to do in the future.