Time for a little "spring sprucing"...

A few years ago (okay so SEVEN years ago) I shared a little makeover on my storage/garden shed….

This is the perfect time of the year to complete this kind of project...too early in most places to plant flowers but warm enough most days to paint! Even though we are past our “freeze date” and temps were in the 80s last week, we actually had snow this week. I have learned to wait a few extra weeks to plant tender annuals…they just seem to fair better long term.

Let's be honest...storage sheds can be a real eye sore. But with a tiny bit of imagination and a little "oops" paint from your local home improvement store, they can easily be transformed. They have paint for every type of material...plastic, metal, wood! Hose it down first, then use a good exterior primer and GET CREATIVE!!!!

Is your storage shed one of those ugly "barn" shaped things? Paint it to look like a REAL barn. (Barn red with white trim! Google it!)

No windows in your shed? Paint fake ones...seriously, just paint a fake window. Maybe some shutters...real or painted! Attach a little flower box and put some flowers in it!

Same with the door...paint it to look like mine! Or a pretty atrium door. Hang a grapevine wreath on it...anything to doll it up a bit!

Attach fake light fixtures or hang lanterns! (Mine are real light fixtures, but they don''t work!)

Again, google "garden sheds" or "storage buildings" and find something you think is cute and "fake" it! Pinterest has some awesome pictures of dolled up storage and garden sheds!

Anything to make it look like something other than a boring old storage shed.

This is a great weekend project for the entire family. Who cares if you drip paint all over the yard...PERFECT project for the kids! (Kids always think they want to help paint...always!)

Turn your ugly old storage shed into something other than an "eye sore!" You won't regret it!

AND YOU CAN DO IT!!!!

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Bedroom step repair with gel stain...

About six years ago I installed laminate flooring in my master bedroom. I haven’t regretted it for a second.

One thing I did to save a little money was use gel stain on the oak thresholds and tread rather than buy new that matched the laminate. As I mentioned, laminate thresholds can be VERY expensive!

I sanded the finish a tad on each piece and then applied three coats of General Finishes gel stain and a coat or two of poly.

Usually gel stain holds up a tad better. I can only assume it has not on this step because I didn’t put enough top coat on it to protect if from constant foot traffic.

I decided the only way to fix this issue was to strip ALL the finish off the step…down to bare wood.

This entailed using my 1/2 mixture (1/2 acetone, 1/2 lacquer thinner). I didn’t want to get the stripper on the painted trim so I made sure to tape it all off with 3 layers of tape and put plastic down to catch any drips.

After stripping all the finish off, I lightly sanded it, wiped it down with a tack cloth then applied stain. I had to apply three coats to get a deep color that matched the floors. I let the stain dry well. This time I used hard-core poly specifically for flooring…three coats( lightly sanding and tacking between each coat)!

Niiiice….

A tiny boo-boo…seems some of the stripper managed to sneak through the tape and muck up the paint…oh well, another “honey do” on my list..

I used the same gel stain process on my bedside table tops when I painted them a few years ago. Brian’s has held up fairly well but mine has not…to many glasses of water and cups of coffee without a coaster!

My plan is to strip all the finish and gel stain off the tops of those as well and refinish them…someday soon!

I ordered new black door knobs for all the downstair doors. I painted the door knobs years ago, then painted the doors black…still LOVE! I used a good metal primer and paint on them and they have held up fairly well but I found relatively inexpensive knobs on Amazon so I decided to order them.

I have installed passage knobs and I am still waiting on the privacy knobs!

Just a few little projects to kill time during my home quarantine…projects I have been avoiding. Maybe I’ll clean out a few closets upstairs. Who knows…I do have a pile of good books I could work through as well!!

I’m kind of a homebody so I am use to being home…but when someone tells me I CAN’T leave, the 5 year old in me comes out!

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Guest bath makeover....

I’m trying to complete a few small projects…a few weeks ago it was my laundry room.

This past week it was my guest bath.

The guest bath is right across the hall from the laundry room…since I painted the laundry room a pretty “sagey green” I decided to tone down the blue in the guest bath. While I was at it, I decided to change out the counter top and backsplash.

I installed a glass vessel sink, a super awesome faucet and new lighting when I gave the room a little makeover a few years ago (probably a decade ago!) and I still love them so I didn’t need new ones.

(My dismal attempt to photograph dark cabinets with no natural light!)

The wall decor over the toilet had yellowed a tad because I sealed it with poly. (Yes, poly yellows…to avoid, use polycrylic or a clear coat sealant)

My “plan” was to paint the walls and trim, change out the top and backsplash, strip the cabinet and mirror frame for a “lighter” wood stain and repaint the wall decor.

After painting the room a lighter color and installing a lighter top (white quartz) and white backsplash and lightening the wall decor with a fresh coat of white chalk paint, I decided to stick with the vanity cabinet and mirror “as is” for the time being. I had stained the vanity “java” with gel stain years ago and I think it looks fine (but impossible to photograph!)…the mirror has a “java” stain finish, so it coordinates well with the vanity.

Just these few easy changes made a huge difference…the paint really lightened and brightened it.

Still love the Devoe prints I added two years ago!

One of my favorite little projects…a TP cubby! Super simple!

Fresh white chalk paint with a tiny bit of distressing…this time I sealed it with a clear coat so hopefully it won’t yellow again!

I would like to mention my trim paint…I painted it the same color as ALL the trim in my house. White would have been great but I decided to stick with the color of the trim throughout the house…just my personal preference.

Paint.

A must when you want to change a room! Whether you paint the walls or furniture, JUST DO IT! Paint is relatively cheap (only took 1/2 a gallon for this room) and if you don’t like it, you can always change it!

I love this little makeover. I have been coveting white quartz for my kitchen tops and this tiny bit has REALLY stoked the fire.

Who knows….

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The Twix Birthday Cake!

I still love doing DIY projects and rehabbing furniture but as you may know I am on a bit of a hiatus from any major projects. One, I have a lot of work to do at the apartments 2) I think I have an ulcer (at least that’s what we are treating right now!) and 3) I’m just kind of tired!

So….

For now I want to share one of my latest creations.

A Twix Cake…check it out here!

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ANOTHER laundry room makeover!

One nice thing about blogging is I can go back and know exactly when I did something…case in point, the laundry room.

Here I shared how the laundry room went from this….

…to this….

…in 2014.

I raised the cabinets to the ceiling and painted them. I painted the walls, stenciled the little birdie murals, installed a new light fixture, purged and added a little storage cart. Nothing earth shattering but enough to dress it up a tad.

The most dramatic thing I did to the laundry room was installing reed glass in the door. Here I share a tutorial on how I turned a plain ole’ hollow core door into a really awesome feature!

One thing I debated and am now glad I did not do…put a solid “top” across both the washer and dryer. I worried some day I might go back to a top load washer. Sure enough I did! The shelf is perfect and it is an element I kept!

The only other changes over the last few years was a little kitchen cabinet I removed in one of my kitchen makeovers and put in the laundry room and I moved the sewing machine to a little portable table.

When I painted the walls I was a tad frugal and used some paint I had on hand. I decided to go for broke and actually buy an entire gallon of custom color paint this time. Gasp! I wanted a soft “sagey/greenish” color so I did what I always do…headed to my favorite DIY store, picked up about 15 paint samples and brought them home. Took me all of 2 minutes to pick the perfect shade! Seriously, I think this is the perfect “sagey/green” color…I wish the photos did it justice!

THIS is the process I use for any “makeover”…whether a room or a piece of furniture. Find your inspiration, make a plan and execute the plan.

Inspiration came from cruising Pinterest. As I said in the first makeover, I don’t have the laundry room of my dreams but I have a space I want to be pretty and organized. I knew exactly what I wanted (the plan)…paint, storage, lighting and tile!

First step….PURGE! Empty out the entire space.

Yes, you are going to make a mess…there is just no way around it!!!

My goal is to NOT put back most of the stuff I take out. Now in my case, I am a pretty good “habitual purger” so I have very little “stuff”….but there are always things lurking that have been untouched for years and can go!!!

Next, remove the old light fixture, paint the ceiling (with a flashlight) and install a new fixture. It wasn’t that i disliked the old fixture, but it had fluorescent bulbs that got really hot and one of the three sockets evidently had a short or something because I could never get it to work right. I tried to change out the sockets in the fixture to accommodate LED bulbs, but the wiring was too short and I finally said “FORGET IT” and bought a new fixture.

Remove switch plates, shelving, and stuff on the walls.

Wipe everything down with a damp cloth….don’t paint over dirt!!!

Build storage shelving. I have lived here long enough to know what I need and how I want a space to function.

Caulk the new shelving.

Paint the trim, then walls.

A new shelf…I went with poplar sealed with a clear finish…no stain. I may or may not stain it or paint it in the future…for now, I like this look!

Then a debate. Do I or don’t I stick with my original “plan.”

So my original “plan” called for tile on the wall behind the washer and dryer. I really gravitate towards that look and every time I see a picture of it on Pinterest, I really love it. Yes, that would mean losing the birdies…

HOWEVER, as I have mentioned many times before, NOTHING is “timeless.” And I know me well enough to know that in 5-6-7 years I will not like whatever tile I pick out today…which means that sometime in the future I will have to remove the tile, repair sheetrock and do something else.

NOT something I look forward to. A huge reason why I didn’t put wallpaper in this house 20 years ago, even though it was still a “thing.” I had removed enough wallpaper in my years to know I never wanted to do it again.

So…no tile…for now! I painted the wall and added a little “farmhouse” mirror. The light fixture and the mirror add a touch of “farmhouse fad” without breaking the bank. This is a small room so the mirror is a huge plus!

The storage shelving is THE BOMB!

Love it…it is something I have wanted to do for years! And again, since I have lived in this house for 20 years, I knew exactly what I need. A place for doggy towels, some simple baskets for light bulbs and dust rags and plenty of room for my detergent stockpile! I designed the shelving so I would have the perfect spot for my sewing cart (See how I “upcycled” an old typewriter cart to make a portable sewing table HERE!) At the last minute I added a shelf above the sewing cart so I would have space for a sewing machine if I ever did away with the cart in the future…right now it holds my little coupon box.

Keep in mind that the cart between the washer and dryer I built on the last makeover holds a ton of stuff…dryer sheets, MORE detergent, the iron, spray starch, etc.

The back of the cubby is perfect for storing paints…remember, STORE YOUR TOUCH UP PAINT IN THE HOUSE!!!! Not in the garage or storage building!

Since I now only do laundry for two, my laundry room isn’t near as chaotic as it was when I was raising kids. But whether you do 8 loads a week or 30, there is NO reason to have a disorganized and blah laundry room. Get it organized. Make it a space that is beautiful…it won’t take the sting out of doing laundry but maybe it will make the experience a little more enjoyable.

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Today I muse...about health and wellness.

Brian was down with a bronchial virus last week so he was struggling to do anything active. I even had to do his vacuuming chore.

This past Saturday was a relatively nice day so I decided to take Cleo for a brisk walk.

I got to thinking.

In my 20s, 30s and really even into my 40s I really took my health and physical well-being for granted. Yes, I had my aches and pains…I’ve always had a crappy back and this thing with my fingers and toes when it is cold. I wasn’t the least bit thrilled when I had to start wearing reading glasses in my 40s. But for the most part I have been relatively healthy and able bodied most of my life.

I took it for granted. I griped about small aches and pains and didn’t cherish the fact that I could pretty much do and eat what I wanted without care or concern. I never really had an issue with excessive weight or having to really watch what I ate. I could work all day on a project or in the yard, and other than being “worn out” at the end of the day, I didn’t suffer too much. I remember a time when I could rake all the flower beds, compost and til, mulch and plant all in one weekend.

Now it takes me MONTHS to get my yard dressed for summer! Now I look at a cookie and gain 5 pounds. Now I project til noon and feel like I have been run over by a truck.

“Taking advantage” meant I didn’t really focus at all on eating healthy and getting REAL exercise. Let’s be honest, running crazy to ball practices, band performances, choir concerts and school functions isn’t really exercise and picking up a Sonic wrap verses eating a ballpark hotdog isn’t really eating healthy.

So I MADE A CHOICE to start taking better care of the most precious commodity God has given me…my body. I have started eating better. We have started biking and we make a real effort to stay active even in the cold months!

More importantly, I am GRATEFUL for what I CAN do right now!

As I have become less comfortable with slinging 80 pound bags of cement around I am more willing to ask for help. Rather than load heavy sheets of plywood myself, I ask for a loader. Rather than wrangling large privacy fence panels into place, I call my son and ask for a few hours of his time! Rather than feeling like I have to get my entire yard done in one weekend, I have learned to enjoy getting out and doing a little at a time. Rather than eating a huge bowl of ice cream or plate of cookies, I grab a handful of nuts or a piece of cheese.

I have come to terms with my limitations.

So I make adjustments to what I can do and eat, and DO NOT FOCUS ON WHAT I CAN’T!!!

No matter what your physical limitations or health issues, there are always CHOICES you can make to do better and eat better.

I remember one time talking to someone (no names) about what they could do to be more active…can’t ride a bike cuz my back hurts, can’t walk cuz my feet hurt, can’t swim cuz the cold water hurts.

I gave up…it was apparent that no matter what suggestion I made, they were going to focus on what they COULD NOT do verses finding something they COULD do!

Focusing on the negative verses finding a positive. NEVER a good thing!

Rather than focusing on the unhealthy things I CAN NOT eat, I focus on all the great things I CAN eat.

Rather than focusing on the things I CAN NOT do, I focus on all the great things I CAN do.

Because, sadly, we can’t go back and change the bad decisions we made in our youth that resulted in the wrinkles (thank GOD they don’t hurt!), the extra pounds and the aching joints!

Brian and I started zip-lining…IN OUR 50s! It is sooooo much fun. I have a horrible back and I was really concerned it would not be something I could do…but I did it and love it.

We fish….we bike…we walk…we work in the yard.

We get out and enjoy the things we CAN do rather than focus on the limitations of our age and a life time of “body abuse.”

Recently I have had a few opportunities to sell my apartments.

Sweeeet! That was the plan…build them up and sell them.

But here is the problem…as much as I really dislike having to paint and repair and mow and haul and blah,blah,blah,…what am I going to do with myself? Those apartments have not only afforded me the ability to make a comfortable life for my family, they have kept me active! Yes, the years of throwing around bags of grout and sheets of plywood, hauling abandoned furniture and scrubbing floors has taken a bit of a toll on me, but I have accepted my limitations and now know when to call in help.

No matter what your physical limitations are, there is always something you CAN DO to stay active. And keep in mind “active” is a subjective term. For some walking to the mailbox and back may be all the activity you can muster…but BE PROUD OF YOURSELF!!

When Brian and I first started riding bikes we were lucky to ride 5 miles and we often had to walk small “inclines.” Now, we can regularly bike 15-20-25 miles and while we still grumble at the “inclines,” nothing feels better than making it to the top!!!

We didn’t focus on what we COULD NOT do when we first started.

Do NOT be discouraged about what you can’t do or what you can’t eat. Give yourself a break!

Focus ON THE POSITIVES…what you CAN do…what you CAN eat. No, it’s not what “it use to be”…but that really is all a part of “life’s journey.”

Hey, here’s a positive. Not only can I no longer eat what I want or do what I want, but I am also not making the same stupid decisions and choices I made 20 years ago!

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New vinyl windows and a little window seat makeover...

This is one of those “needs” with a little “want” thrown in.

Any time I think about buying something or doing something I ask myself “Is this a need or a want.” Wants are okay…as long as you don’t go into debt for them or harm another person in pursuit of your “want.”

The “need” was new living windows. The old arch window was cracked and had condensation between the panes.

I have managed to ignore it for some time because in the hot months I have a temporary shade in it and in the fall and Christmas seasons I have cute little vignettes that block it…but this time of year it just consumes this room and it is near impossible to ignore!

The lower window was the original aluminum window and that thing might as well have been wide open on a cold blustery day. It leaked cold air like crazy!

So…a need.

As you will notice I changed up the “configuration” of the window…I went with a fixed window in the middle with two crank-outs (technically called “casement” windows) on each side. I have a crank out in my bathroom and I LOVE it…super easy to open and close!

When I measured for the new window I measured the outside opening…that is because the new window was going to be installed from the outside and I had to make sure it would slip between the brick.

While it fit snug between the brick…

… it had 1/2 “gaps” on the inside…

Usually the new window would slip in right behind the sheetrock that butted up to the old window…not the case here. I suspect it is because whoever bricked this house did not brick over the old window properly.

No biggy…it gave me ample room to put in A LOT of insulation! Silicone caulk around the outside…a must for ANY window! There is NO air coming in around this puppy!

It did mean I had to trim out around the new window. Again, no biggy. I used 1x4 pre treated boards and flat molding…good as new!

One issue I had was the existing seat cushions…they were not going to work because of the window crank….

The cushions are really not an issue for several reasons

I only added the cushions to help block some of the air leaking in around the old window. Second, the fabric has faded over the years and I needed to recover them! And lastly, nobody but the cats sit in this space so comfort is really not an issue.

So the cushions can go…but then I am left with the stark white of the faux marble…ick. Again so 90s!

Sooooo….I decided to remove the faux marble and add stained wood “bench” type seating before I put up the new trim!

Course I wanted walnut…but finding walnut boards proved to be impossible. I ended up using oak boards…NOT my favorite wood, but it was either that or poplar (too “green”) or pine (too ick).

The marble was super easy to pop off….heavy as crud but simple to remove. It was just siliconed in.

I bought 1x6 and 1x4 oak boards. I like the “plank” look so I used the router to add a VERY small groove on the top edge of each board. On the board that would be on the outside edge , I used the router to round the edge.

Again, I did not take pictures of the “process” or make a tutorial…I am a HORRIBLE teacher/blogger! Just sharing what I did!

After cutting each board to the proper width and routing the edges, I stained them with brown mahogany stain and sealed them well with poly BEFORE installing them.

Once the finish was dry, I finally got to use the biscuit joiner Matt got me for Christmas two years ago! I love this little tool. Because of the layout of this bookshelves, I couldn’t make the entire seat in one piece. I had to lay in each board one at a time. The biscuit joints allowed me to get a tight, even fit without having to nail into the top of the seat! Love!!! I just glued the “biscuits” and edges, and slipped them together!

After the new wood seats were done, I trimmed around the new window.

I removed the blind from the side window…after 20 years of neglect that thing was pretty nasty.

I will eventually replace this window as well since it is one of the original aluminum windows.

I haven’t decided what to do about window dressings. I have lived without a blind in the big window for years…we live at the end of a cul-de-sac and I don’t roam around in this room “indecent” and this window faces south so it doesn’t get a ton of sun in the summer months. The side window faces the fence and there is little view to the inside of the house so for the time being, I think I’m fine without a window covering!

I love the new look…again, I think stained wood always adds a little warmth to an area and this big sucker could use some “warmth.” And the new windows are AMAZING!!!! We have winter weather this week and not a drop of cold air can be felt around the window…and I CAN NOT WAIT to crank these babies open on a warm day!!!!

This photo of the outside reminds me of how “blah” the house looks in the winter compared to a summer view…

This one reminds me that we desperately need to power wash the brick this spring!!!!

I haven’t painted the trim just yet…truthfully this entire built in needs to be painted. I haven’t painted it in 20 years and I know it was originally painted with alkyd (oil-based) paint.

When we painted Matt’s bedroom a few weeks ago, he found a new “hybrid” paint…an acrylic alkyd paint they SAY will go over oil based OR enamel paints. I know the paint went on like an alkyd…leveled beautifully….and cleaned up like an enamel (with soap and water!)

While the paint went on well and cured well, my biggest concern is durability. This area gets a lot of wear and tear and I don’t want a paint that dings easily. Oil based paints are outstanding for furniture and wood pieces…super durable!

So I am going to wait a bit and see how Matt’s holds up…in other words, let him be the test monkey…lol! If his trim holds up well, then I will use the hybrid paint. Or I might just bite the bullet and use an oil-based. I know me well enough to know that a bug can bite me at any moment!

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Making the prefect photo frame....

I don’t consider myself a “crafty person” but I do know how to use a hot glue gun!

I have the coolest photos of Matt and me when we went to New York, and of Katie and me when we went to New York…all taken at the Top of the Rock in Rockefeller Center. Seriously cool pictures that I want displayed. But I could not find a frame that worked for all four photos!

I bought four 5x7 frames, trimmed the photos to fit and then hot glued the frames together to make one big frame for all four pictures.

The frames I used are actually desk top frames so I just popped the little “stands” off.

Super simple and a great way to make one frame out of four different frames. You could do this with different colors of frames, different sizes, just about any combo of frame you can imagine!

Simple and inexpensive.

A TIP: I like these little sawtooth picture hangers but the tiny little nails always give me grief…I just can not hold them and hammer them in at the same time. My trick is to use needle nose pliers to hold the little nails.

You are welcome!

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Another family heirloom...a desk makeover.

As I have mentioned a bazillion times I am all about family heirlooms.

So when my mother offered me “dad’s desk” I didn’t hesitate…even though I have absolutely no use or room for it.

If I remember the story right my dad built this desk when he was 12…he would have been 79 this year…that makes the desk 67 years old…something my dad made when he was a boy….yes, I want it!

Fortunately my son Matt loves family heirlooms as well and since he just moved into a larger home, he has the space and need.

The desk was sporting green. I THINK it is green because at some point I did have it and I painted it green for Matt’s room. When the boys were younger everything in Mitchell’s room was blue and everything in Matt’s was green!

I guess at some point I gave it back to Mom.

Originally the desk would probably have been stained. I remember a time in the 70s when it was red. Then there was the “mauve” phase in the 80s. In other words, I knew there were at LEAST four layers of finish on it!

My original plan was to strip it down to bare wood and stain it.

What is the old saying about “best laid plans….” Yeah…that wasn’t happening.

There was the green…then the mauve…something white I suspect is a primer that was painted over the red…the red was painted over the original finish…whatever that may have been

I used every trick in my arsenal and still could NOT get all the paint off. Industrial stripper, my 1/2 and 1/2 mixture and even sanding.

One thing I will say about both my dad and I…when we do something, we do it to last!

After a few days of stripping and sanding I was able to get all the paint off the top but finally gave up on the rest of it…it wasn’t happening without doing serious damage to the wood itself.

I decided to stain the top and paint the base.

I sanded everything as smoothly as possible, primed it, sanded again, rubbed it down with tack cloth then painted it with a white enamel.

I stained the top with a java stain and sealed it with poly.

It is not exactly what I wanted but Matt and I both love the way it turned out. Right now he is using it as a tv stand in his den.

I was only able to snap a quick picture with my phone but as you can see, it turned out pretty cute.

We are in the process of making some major changes in his new house…new flooring, paint, shelving, etc.

Our plan is to eventually makes some major changes to his kitchen and den and when we do, hopefully I can get some good, staged pictures!

Until then I just wanted to share what one can do with older pieces…and also show that even we “old pros” get stumped occasionally…and when we do, we just drop back and punt!

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Another new living room rug and my thoughts on board and batten... →

Over the years I have been able to remove all the wall-to-wall carpeting and install hardwoods. I learned the hard way (after raising 4 kids and several puppies) that I never want to spend a lot of money on area rugs.

Unfortunately they are a necessity on hardwood and tile. What isn’t a necessity is spending A LOT of money on something that gets tons of wear and tear and may go out of style on a whim. So several years ago I started experimenting with indoor/outdoor rugs…and honestly., I have found that I get serious bang for the buck!

It started with this rug…

….an indoor/outdoor rug I picked up at a big box store for less than $100. I just needed something simple to pull the room together. Since this room only gets used a few times a year, I wasn’t too terribly concerned with having “super comfy” under foot!

I was so impressed with the quality and look of the rug I decided to give the “indoor/outdoor” thing a shot in the den! Let’s be honest…the den is really just a big romper room for the dogs! One reason we don’t even have a coffee table in the room!

I picked up this indoor/outdoor rug at my favorite home improvement store!

Not super comfy but it is neutral and has held up well. If I want “comfy underfoot” I wear my Ugg slippers.

I spent a little more and went a little more “fancy” on the dining room…

…this rug doesn’t get a lot of wear and tear so I was okay spending a tad more. Still love this rug!

When it was time to change out the rug in the living room I found a really pretty and simple indoor/outdoor rug at a local home decor store.

I knew the minute I unrolled it I had a problem.

It was stiff and not at all pliable. It had some serious “crease marks” from being rolled up and the edges curled up. I went ahead and put it down and hoped and prayed the creases and rolled edges would eventually go away.

Nope.

Honestly, I think they got worse and I’m lucky I didn’t break a dang hip on the thing.

I tried steaming the edges and curling them the opposite way…nothing worked.

The rug just plain sucks.

If a rug looks like crud when you lay it out, good chance it isn’t going to get much better. I should have rolled it up and taken it back but noooooo….I just crossed my fingers and hoped it would get better.

So now that the holidays have passed and everything is back in order I decided it was time to find a new rug that wasn’t a tripping hazard.

Again, I just wanted something inexpensive that would pull the space together. We have moved the big (ick) brown leather couch back into the living room so I really wanted something relatively neutral. (Why do I still have the big (ick) brown leather couch…because it is Brian’s and he spent a ton of money on it so I can’t bring myself to get a different one)

I try to keep the furniture and rugs in this room relatively neutral so I can add splashes of color with pillows and throws…right now I am enjoying a “pink phase.”

Two major changes coming in this space…first, I have FINALLY ordered new windows for the front…the old ones are the 20 year old original aluminum windows that are terrible…can’t hardly open them and they leak some serious air! And as you can see they dominate this space!!

I would love to change the 1990s arched window to a simple transom but unfortunately I can’t get my brick anymore and changing out the shape of the window would require additional brick…curses!

Regardless, the window seal has broken in the arch window and there is condensation between the panes…nothing you can do about it but replace the window.

I COULD just buy a new window insert but since I am replacing the bottom aluminum window with vinyl I decided to change out the arch window as well.

I changed things up a bit on the style and design and I can’t wait to share! Hopefully those will be here in the next week or so and we will have a decent day to install them!

The second change is the entry. I shared it here….

I’m looking at the date of the original post…3 1/2 years ago….and sadly, little has changed.

But last fall I bought a nifty antique mirror at a local market…at Christmas I put a wreath on it, and honestly, I kinda like the look. So when I took Christmas down, I hot glued a hook onto the mirror and hung an olive branch wreath on it…

Hum…kinda like that look too.

So it looked funny to have a mirror on that side of the entry AND still have the blue “moroccanish” mirror behind the door, so I took that mirror down and gave it to my daughter!

So now I have a blank wall.

So change is coming…maybe…I think…some day. It only took me 3 1/2 years to get this far so what’s a few more years.

Truthfully I am kicking around the idea of extending the board and batten to this wall…from the door to the stairs. And then maybe put some little hooks on it to hang purses and such. I can’t do anything too bulky because the door swings into that wall.

My ONLY issue with board and batten is that I know it will go out of style in the coming years…and while I have the energy and time to install it today….what if I don’t have the time, energy or money to remove it in 5-7-10 years?

I know, I know….”Board and batten is timeless…it will never go out of style.”

Bull…hardwoods are timeless…but yet 40 years ago people covered them with wall to wall carpet. Subway tile is timeless…yet decades ago people ripped it out and put up olive green and harvest gold 4x4 tile.

My point, just because something was popular 100 years ago and came back around, doesn’t mean it is “timeless.” Trust me, something different will come back around and all those painted white cabinets and rooms full of board and batten will be the bane of our existence.

I’m not saying you should live with a dated carpet, tile or wall treatment if it makes you crazy. I’m just saying think carefully and spend wisely when “updating” your home decor!

And if you are like me and procrastinate long enough, you may miss the current bandwagon…but trust me, another will come along!

The upside is I save myself a lot of work AND money by being somewhat indecisive…lol!

UPDATE!!! I WROTE THIS POST WHILE I WAS ALL COMFY IN BED. I got up, put on my grubby paint clothes and had time on my hands.

Something is going down!!!!

Or rather UP!