The Garage part 1

I've intentionally not posted any photos of the garage, mainly because the only thing to see was how messy it is.

Well, it's still pretty messy, but making progress on organizing it.

I've built bin storage in the corner, hung the kayak from the ceiling, have a rack to store most of the bikes and got the first part of the workbech completed.

The cupboards are still mostly empty, so that's good. I have hooked up a stereo system my parents gave me for Christmas, so now I sweat away on the bike trainer with at least some music.

Front room updated

We went to IKEA over the weekend, and got a couch (You'll see that later) as well as new curtains for multiple rooms and a pair of wicker chairs for the front room.

The front room had this wood valance? above the curtains that just wasnt our style. And we wanted to update the curtains as well, which werent our style.

Before:

Took the wood valance down (it kind of came crashing down and Rachel had to rush to my rescue):

New curtains on new curtain rod, see the valance out on the porch?

They let a lot more light in, plus you can see the matching wicker chairs:

The Grey Bathroom

Well, we've finally made some good progress on the grey bathroom, enough to post some photos. All we really did was repaint it, but with all of the cabinetry it was a little tougher than most rooms.

Rachel bought the fish prints at HomeGoods and she's planning on filling the sink shelves with blue and clear glass stuff.

Were still planning on getting a new sink and new chrome faucet, but this is pretty good for now:

 

We have a real bedroom

So not only were we able to get our kitchen table completed this weekend, but also the Master Bedroom! This has been a major project from tearing up the carpet and refinishing the floors to replacing the old window with a non-cracked energy efficient one. As well as some modifications to the closet door, a new light and repainting everything.

It is finally livable! though it still doesnt have a door (that needs to be primed and painted). I was nice to be able to not have to decorate as we still had everything from our bedroom in Boston. 

 

Kitchen table is done!

Remember that kitchen table we bought awhile back? Mentioned here and here.

We got it for $75, but it was just too short. I raised it three inches as mentioned in the above link before being painted.

My dad painted it for Rachel and I using Kelly Moore Dura-Poxy which is a pretty durable paint for high traffic items. Dura Poxy needs a week or so to cure/harden, so we just moved it back into the kitchen this weekend! If such a thing existed at Crate and Barrel it'd probably be five times the amount we paid.

Before:

 

After:

Installing a new window

The side window in our master bedroom had a rotten wood frame and a crack in the glass, and it was painted shut. So, I ordered a custom sized window from Home Depot which took two weeks to arrive and Rachel's Dad and I installed on Saturday.

All went fairly smoothly, and I was able to "finish" it last night. I still need to prime the inside frame and cut the molding on the outside (decorative).

It came out to be $160 for the window and about another $100 in other supplies. But now, it opens! and is dual paned glass for energy effiency. 

Photos:

Making progress

Here's a pic from our bedroom this morning. I got the light installed last night. Also the new side window is waiting at home depot to be picked up and installed. Not done yet, but getting closer.

Towel Rack is done

When we removed the previous towel rack there were 6 dime sized holes in the walls. Our new towel rack wouldn't fit those holes so I decided to cover them up. I really wish I had snapped the before picture (or Rachel hyperventilating looking at 6 large holes in the wall) but I didn't.

I bought a 1 x 4 of maple? at Home Depot and routed the edges to make it more decorative. Then I primed it and attached it to the walls using toggle bolts, patched the mounting holes, painted it twice and attached the towel rack.

Who knew one little towel rack could have hours of work behind it?

Board just attached:

Holes plugged:

Primed (also notice new knobs previously mentioned installed):

Final:

Planning the French drain

Also, I think that's a cherry tree.

Above the fireplace?

 

Saw this at Bed Bath last night. Hmm...

Front room progress

 

Rachel insisted we buy this gold geometric mirror from Home Goods a week ago, I was less sure at first, but she was right it looks really cool.

Unfortunately, they only had one gold one and one silver one. We bought the gold and thought we'd pick up another gold one at one of their other stores. Well, we tried their Roseville store, no luck. Rachel's dad looked at the Stockton one, nothing. We looked at a few Ross', nothing. Eventually, we gave up, bought the other silver one and I painted it 2 nights ago.

I was thinking that I'd have to paint both to get them to match well enough, but turns out I did a good enough job that I only have to paint the one.

The biggest pain was masking it all off. This took maybe 45-60 minutes. Then I sprayed it with grey primer, then glass black and then the final gold.

I had tested base colors prior and found that by putting the gold over black, the color came out a little golder, a little richer.

The left mirror looks a little crooked, but it's not: the fireplace is! The print above the mantle is too small we'll replace it with something more fitting in the future. Also, we have plans of painting the coffee table and recovering the chairs.

Still painting...

 

Just finished up priming the cabinets last night.

Glass knobs in the bathroom

We haven't posted much about our gray bathroom, but it is almost done. We just bought a set of 10 glass knobs off of eBay for $2.50 shipped each. They sell anywhere from $4 - $5 in the store.

Simple As a Can of $#!&ing Paint

How many times have you read in your favorite decorating magazine or blog that a room make-over “may be a simple as a can of paint”? Well, as it turns out, this is nothing but a lie. Apparently you can’t just buy paint and then paint – it is SO much more involved. It includes:
Sanding
Washing
Drying
Priming
Drying
Fixing the primer
Painting
Drying
Hoping you don’t mess up the paint, and then
Deciding if what you’ve messed up is noticeable/livable or not,
and then….either starting over from scratch or deciding you are done.

This is the lesson that I’ve learned from the never-ending sage of painting the bathroom. We finally have a handle on the situation, but it’s taken almost a month, and it is still not freaking done! On Friday, my day off, I spent the good part of the day sanding…I sanded all the paint/primer/paint – whatever off of the bathroom drawers and by Sunday night, they had been cleaned, primed, painted, etc and put BACK IN THE BATHROOM WHERE THEY BELONG! The next step is to finish up the shelves, which should not be as involved. In addition there will be some touch-ups to make and then the fun part begins – decorating!!

I have been scared off a bit from paint, but just the other day, another magazine lured me in to the idea that a can of paint really does have transformative powers:

• A can of paint can change everything. These days they have little sample pints. Try two or three on your wall and see what you think. You’ll know after a week if you can live with it or not.

• The ceiling is the forgotten surface. Paint it a color, or cover it with wallpaper in a small pattern. A pale-blue ceiling brings in the sky; a yellow ceiling adds sunshine.

• If a room has bad bones, paint them out. Doors, window frames, and moldings will disappear if you paint them the same color as the walls. It will hide a million mistakes.

http://www.elledecor.com/decorating/articles/mario-buatta-s-color-secrets

I really want to paint the front room, but I think Jeremy is more scared than I am. He now says only one paint job a quarter. The bathroom is Q1, Bedroom is Q2, and the front room is Q3. I can live with that!

Bathroom upgrades

Here's what else we did this weekend:

 

Added a few items to the bathroom. Were not a fan of the maroon and yellow tile, but it's going to stay for now.

In the meantime, we added the following:

-bathroom vanity and sink
-bronze faucet
-mirror
-no slam toilet seat
-shower curtain and rug

Who knew that that bronze hardware is twice as expensive as chrome? But chrome just didn't look right. Hard to tell in the photo but the cabinet is a dark brown (not black). We have plans to replace the light fixture also.