Ooops

So, my waffling on paint colors has been very well documented here. We've gone from this:



to this:



with about a million choices in between. And we thought we were done, with the caveat that we might move up and down on the same swatch for the living room/dining room/hallway (all one big space) and the powder room.

But the I found Revere Pewter.



I. WANT. THAT.

And its slightly lighter friend, Edgecomb Gray.



Can you hear me swooning? You're swooning too, aren't you?

And for the powder room? I just keep going back to dark colors. And I mean DARK.

Like Ralph Lauren Mercer.



And Benjamin Moore Dragon's Breath.



And then I found something else. My tile guys also sell paint. They also sell Pratt & Lambert paint, which I've always dismissed assuming I couldn't get it here.

And now I have a list of 37 paint colors between Sherwin Williams, Benjamin Moore, Ralph Lauren, and Pratt and Lambert that are all options for either the living room, the powder room, or both.

And I haven't even looked at Martha Stewart's new line yet.

Brett is going to KILL me.

Master Bathroom Mini Makeover

For the past two days, I feel like I haven't left the bathroom. My back is aching, my butt hurts, and I have paint in my hair and under my fingernails. I can't remember the last time we worked so hard, and mostly, so fast.

But it was 100% worth it.

Our bathroom used to be dark pinkish tan, with a mish mash of stuff all in tones of brown and tan. Throw in towels we've collected since college (from navy blue to hot pink) and you've got one ugly bathroom.



Saturday we had plans to wash the cars, and then planned to paint that afternoon. We woke up to a rainy day, and decided to go ahead and start on the bathroom. After running some errands and prepping the room, we got started around noon. We were able to get the ceiling painted, the walls painted, and I was even able to squeeze in the vanity and cabinet doors before making a quick run to Target for the last of my supplies. I'm glad I remembered they would be closed today!

Last night, the situation was much improved (and oh so much brighter!), but there was still a ton of work ahead.




This morning, Brett went in to work at 3:30, and I woke up when he was getting ready. I tried to go back to sleep, but my mind was racing. I finally got out of bed at 5 and got to work painting the trim. After a quick break for a bowl of cereal, I got back to it. I did some quick touching up in the bathroom(luckily not much was needed) and started on the art work. I did one big piece and two smaller pieces. The aim was to mix the greener gray of the vanity with the bluer gray in our bedroom and in the fabric for the room. I think I did pretty good!




My little sewing table was the perfect spot for a large painting to dry!

Then I decided to brave threading the bobbin again and got to work on the sewing.

I had scored a greenish blue stripe fabric on sale at Hobby Lobby Saturday morning. It was regular $29.99 a yard, on sale for $7. Plus they gave me the 30% off, even though I think they weren't supposed to. I also got the canvases for 50% off, a tube of black paint for the art, and some knobs for the vanity for 40% off. I love Hobby Lobby so much!

For the window, I just did a small topper with a bead trim. I don't love toppers, but for a window behind a toilet, I really didn't have many options. I wanted to be able to filter light with the blinds, but I did want a decorative touch. The topper's just the thing!

I also wanted to tie this fabric into a shower curtain, but didn't want to go for the whole curtain. I got a white shower curtain at Target for $9.99 and added a huge cuff on the bottom in the stripe.

A custom extra long shower curtain and a window treatment for under $20? Not too shabby! Plus I have enough extra fabric to make some throw pillows for the bedroom!

With the sewing done, it was time to clean up and put the room back together. We were very happy to put the toilet tank back on. We're so spoiled now, but one night without a toilet in our bathroom was enough for us. Hard to believe we lived in a 1 bathroom apartment for two years!

Tonight at roughly our normal bedtime, we finally finished! As usual, there is still a little work to do. I need to hunt down a 96" shower curtain liner, and switch out the outlets and switches for white ones. But other than that, we are DONE. And it looks fantastic!

We painted the walls a light gray, the same color as our kitchen. The trim went white (it was white, but just dingy and gross), along with the ceiling. We painted the vanity a dark gray with a touch of green, Sherwin Williams Hardware. Actually, thanks to using what we had leftover from other projects, that was the only paint we bought! We also decided to paint the weird strip of wood that runs around the room the same color as the vanity. I was doubtful last night but I LOVE it now.

The color alone made a huge difference. The room is so much brighter and calmer now. It looks bigger and is just so much more relaxed. From there, with art, linens, and accessories, we layered various tones of blue, green, and gray for a gorgeous tonal look that's 100% us. See the header colors in my blog? Yeah, that's pretty much the color scheme of our bathroom (and let's be honest, pretty much our house).

So without further ado, here it is. The work-with-what-you-have, lovely, now totally a Master Bathroom.












The best part was adding up the costs at the end. Thanks to using supplies we already had, and scoring everything else on sale (or buying with a coupon), we managed to pull of the entire thing for just $96. Not too shabby, huh?

Let's get it started!

After some errands this morning, and prep work just before lunch, our bathroom is torn apart.





Yes, this quick makeover will include organizing the vanity. It's totally out of hand.

Here's the plan:

Today, I'll paint the ceiling, paint the walls, and hopefully paint the vanity, which is going dark gray.

Then tomorrow I'll put the room back together and make some artwork for the room. If I can thread the bobbin on my sewing machine (oh please!), I'll whip up a little window treatment. We've also got new hardware for the vanity, which I can't wait to see!

Out with the old!

We celebrated the three day weekend by starting out with some long overdue yardwork. And I remembered something from last year. I really, really like mowing the lawn.

side from mowing, we also did some edging and pulled a TON of weeds. Our big trashcan was empty when we started, and now it's totally full. I hope we don't need to take out the garbage before Monday!

We also took care of some much needed bigger jobs. The banana tree is now gone!



Pro tip: If you have a half dead banana tree, you may want a mask or a bandana or something. It smells kind of like a rotten banana, but much much worse.

We also took out the beautiful hibiscus we lost this winter.





RIP Hibiscus Friend.



Someone was very interested in our progress.



Then we made a quick trip to the nursery for something to fill the hole. For under $50 we came out with a new plant for that spot, plus enough to fill some pots for the front porch.

For the front, we went with white petunias and some orangey-ping begonias. I love the way they cheer up the front porch. Someday, we'll have some seating out here and we'll actually be able to enjoy it, like we enjoy the back porch.







Check out that flowering hawthorne. Love!

In the back, we went with a deep pink azalea. We got an Encore azalea, which blooms longer and more often. They also get a little bigger, around 4.5-5 feet. Perfect for this space!




I'm inspired now. I want to edge the flower beds and redo the back yard beds and get some potted plants for the back porch. Too bad those projects aren't on the radar anytime soon.

Tomorrow, hopefully I'll be painting. I still have some decisions to make, but I think I can get away with supplies I already have.

The Bath

Oh, the master bath. It's possibly the worst room in the house. That distinction was likely bestowed on it when we redid the other, also terrible bathroom upstairs.

It's dark, tan, has terrible lighting, ugly window treatments, the vanity top is scratched and discolored, the tub and surround is also discolored. Not the mention the piece of wood randomly running around the room. And like the kitchen and laundry room, somebody fancied themselves a tile layer and effed the floor right on up.

It needs help. And we'd like to give it that help, someday. Unfortunately, that day is not today. And it's not next weekend either. But while the bathroom is waiting on her insurance to approve the major surgery she needs to be beautiful, we can take her out shopping for some pretty dresses and shoes.

So if we're not ready to tile this weekend, instead, we'll be painting the bathroom!

We're using leftover paint from the kitchen, which is by far our favorite color in the house. We can't wait to use it again.

We've also been itching to switch out our bedding for something lighter for the summer, so I'll be on the lookout for some cheap, white bedding to bring in some light.

In fact, light is the name of the game in this mini makeover. Here's the plan:



Phase 1 is to cover up the currently ugly tan on the walls and hopefully brighten the space. That phase will commence this weekend, unless we're ready to tile this weekend. I'm also hoping to paint an art piece to bring in the bedroom color.

Then we want to bring in lots and lots of white, with some accents of blue gray to brighten up the space. I would love to paint the (currently white) vanity a dove gray to spice it up a little. Then we'll bring in lots of glass accessories and maybe some new lighting to finish the look.

Boo

A few weeks ago, we went through that once yearly ritual that millions of Americans do every year. Taxes.

Now, let me get something out. I actually like doing our taxes. I'm a math nerd, so I don't mind doing the relatively simple math by hand in a way that actually affects our lives. I usually do them twice by hand (jointly and separate) and then check it with Turbo Tax. Unfortunately this year we had virtually no refund. As in, I can answer the question "What are you going to buy with your refund?" with "A couple of Diet Dr. Peppers out of the vending machine." But I know this is the best strategy for us.

Tax time is also a great time to look back at the year and see how we're doing financially. We were happy with a couple of areas. Retirement savings and investments are doing great, and our income is coming back up after a major pay cut last year thanks to the recession (we're back to pre-recession levels!). But there's one area that is NOT doing so hot at all.

Our general savings has dwindled. Even with our huge tax refund in 2008, our savings are much lower than they were after we bought the house in March. Of course, buying the house took out a sizeable chunk, but owning the house has taken up just as much. So here it is: the moment of truth:

Our house reno/deco budget has majorly shrunk for 2010. We thought our bonuses would carry us through with the projects we wanted to do. But within days of receiving those, we found out that we needed to some non-fun structural work on the house, and that I needed oral surgery, which would cost me a pretty penny out of pocket. So for now, the plan is to take care of that major work, have the outside trim painted (another thing that desperately needs to be done), and then slow waaaaaaaay down.

So my goal of "finishing" the house this year? Not going to happen. But luckily, we still have plenty of projects that we've planned and bought for, just waiting for some sweat equity.

1. Kitchen backsplash. The tile should arrive sometime this week. Maybe with the long Easter weekend, we can knock this one out soon!

2. Master Bath. No, we're not doing the mini-reno we have our hearts set on just yet. But a quick facelift with some paint we already have will take it from dreary to bright.

3. Sewing. I've got plenty of fabric and materials for various DIY projects. I've already got plans for a roman shade in the kitchen and an orange themed laundry room pick-me-up.

4. The yard. Well, we don't actually have the materials for this one, but it's a priority for us this year. We may not actually be able to get to the prettier stuff, but we'll be fighting the never ending battle with weeds and vines in a poorly maintained back yard. And hopefully prettying up the front yard and porch on the cheap.

We're going back to a strict high savings budget (eerily similar to the one we were on when saving for the house), so there's little room for wiggling in big projects. But you can bet I'll be saving my pennies for additional projects, and asking for paint and hardware gift cards for any and all present related holidays. Maybe we'll end up rid of the pukey tan living room after all.

Are you ready?

Because I know I am!

For what? SPRING!

Today is the first official day of spring, and I'm so thrilled that it's finally here. Even though the high today was 51 (weird!), I'm going to willfully ignore the freaky weather and worship the fact that sunny days are on the horizon. Even if stepping outside was a reminder that it's not quite flip flop weather, I have a reminder that's doing juuuuust fine.



Brett brought me these gorgeous beauties after my surgery on Thursday, and they've been cheering up our kitchen ever since. He did a not so shabby job arranging them in my favorite pitcher, right?



They're just serving as a gorgeous reminder of one of my favorite parts of spring. The flowers! I love flowers so, so much. Too bad I have the blackest thumb on the planet, right? Regardless of my terrible gardening skills, I'm ridiculously excited for gardening season to start back up.

We've already started with some weed killer for the cool season weeds that are killer around here. And one of our neighbors actually cut their grass last week, so I'm sure it won't be long before I'm pulling out the mower (one chore I surprisingly don't loathe!).

But thanks to the wacky weather we had around here this yer, we'll also have a couple of bigger jobs round here. Our normal weather allows us to have some plants that are normally reserved for tropical locales, like palms, citrus trees, and hibiscus. One of our favorite plants in the yard was the big, beautiful bi-colored hibiscus on the back of our house.



Gorgeous, isn't she? It was blooming well into November, and looking great in December and early January. But then we had three days of hard freezing weather, where the temp never rose above thirty. Which hadn't happened in something like 50 years. And the poor old girl didn't make it. Along with a ton of other hibiscus in our neighborhood. I imagine there will be a shortage in nurseries this spring!

We also lost a banana tree (which we didn't love anyway), but were relatively lucky. But on the docket for this spring?

1. Replace the hibiscus (we haven't decided if we're doing another hibiscus or something different. We definitely want something with color. An azalea maybe, or a hydrangea. No idea if those work with our climate, though)

2. Redo the edging on the front beds. We're tired of the plain green strips of metal, and we're planning on doing red stone.

3. Redo back beds. This will involve getting rid of A LOT of cast iron plants (Seriously, we have SO MUCH it's insane), mulching, edging, and maybe some stone? Maybe? I also want to highlight the gardenia more than it is now. Mmmmmmmmmm, gardenia.

I also would love to do something with the patch of grass between the house and the carport. I'd really love to start a garden, but I think there's not enough light there. I'm also aching for a citrus tree, but have no idea where to put it.

Are you excited for spring? Or would you rather hide under the covers, far away from the lawn mowers and weeds?