My funny mom....

Let me preface this post with "I love my Mom"! She can be funny, sensitive, opinionated, and tough as nails. She follows my blog and I aways get an honest opinion of what she thinks.... so I was on the phone with her this evening lamenting of my decorating woes, and asking her if she would go look at my pictures and tell me her opinion.

So this is how the conversation went....

Me: So what do you think of the mirror?
Mom: Well, I like the blue on the mirror!.....
Me: Mom.... that's the painter's tape.
Mom: Oh. (chuckle)Well I think it brings out the blue in the shower curtain.
Me: Mom, the blue painter's tape is not staying.
Mom: Well, you asked me my opinion and I gave it to you...I like the blue and on the counter too.

She was chuckling with me when she realized it was painter's tape.... lol!

Anyway, the mirror is painted again. It is on the first stage of 2 more stages that need to happen. I painted it creamy white and will antique it with a chocolate glaze. It will give it an aged look and I know it will dull the white and make the whole thing less bright. Dh said he liked it, but he said he's liked everything so far. LOL! But he did say, of the three colors the mirror has been, this one is the best...

I am waiting for a decision about the cabinet base, until the mirror is done. I'm thinking it needs to go back to creamy. Hopefully the mirror will be done tomorrow, and I'll be able to finish the entire bathroom this weekend. That is my goal. On an positive note, I did find all the cabinet hardware for the doors and drawers at Lowes. It's a great match to all the other fixtures.

Time to finish my last coat of paint and call it a night!

Cabinet Colors....

Oh the saga continues. Really....I think I have some issues. lol! I mentioned to dh that there is a program called photoshop, where you can take a picture of the room, and then change things and paint colors etc to see how it would look, before you actually begin to remodel. I said, it may actually save us some money. He said that wouldn't be a bad idea.....

This is the deal. In my last post I mentioned that I couldn't wait to see what the cabinets would look like painted a creamy white color. So this weekend, that's what I did, I painted all the cabinets and the base as well. I really liked them! But my biggest concern was that, with the mirror and this other rack I have, everything would be too light, and a bit too feminine. Several people made the suggestion to paint the cabinets red, to bring out the red in the shower curtain. I really liked that idea, but I just couldn't picture it, and me liking it, for long. I don't know.... probably brings back images of my cutesy country phase 10 years ago. I know the red wouldn't be cutesy country, but I can't seem to get past that in my mind.

Anyway, I also want the bathroom to be soothing. So.... here is what I did now. (I should have taken pictures of the creamy cabinets, as you may not believe me on this one). In my mind I have an image of what I am thinking about. My friend Michelle will know what I am talking about, as she does this also. But finding what I am looking for is another matter all together. So, in my mind is a paint color for the cabinets. It's a very muted khaki with a hint of green in it. Very muted. Unfortunately, I bought a sample one that is a darker color. It's actually called desert storm....so I guess it's like army khaki. (I know, you may be saying about now...."What is she thinking!?!?") Heaven only knows.... I can just sort of picture in my mind what I was thinking.... but it isn't coming out that way. I painted only 2 cabinet drawers, and I'll check them out tomorrow in the light. I think it's a little too dark.

So.... As I'm painting them, dh is watching TV. He loves the color and says it's very soothing. This is not a word dh uses very often, so I'm encouraged by it. Maybe I selected a pretty good color. The test will be when I put them next to that counter top. So, when the paint is dry, dh takes the cabinet drawer upstairs to put back in place. Afraid to look myself, I see him standing in the doorway just looking at the color. "Is it bad?", I ask. "No, the color is great!", dh responds enthusiastically. I step around and check it out. "I don't like it.", were the words out of my mouth. To which dh replied, "Get the program, no matter what the cost, get the program". lol! I busted out laughing. When he headed to bed, you could hear him muttering slowly under his breath, "Get the program, get the program", with a big grin on his face. LOL! Funny man.

So, I think I'm next going to work on the mirror. Let's see how many times I can paint that! :-)

Dh and I decided that we will be painting the cabinets a creamy color to see how it looks.... we may also paint and antique the mirror as well....but we started with the cabinets. I was not going to even attempt this until Monday, but curiosity got the better of me, and so I did. The cabinets now have the first coat of creamy white on them. I'm going to finish them tomorrow morning. Then we wait and see what we think.....

I'd say we'd have it all done by Sunday, but we have the craziest, busiest weekend ahead of us. And very little of it involves working on the house. We attended a birthday party this evening, then football and a sea or orange and white, for a very rowdy conference game on Saturday night. Finally, church and friends over all day Sunday. Whew! I hope I'm up for it!

Remodeling the bathroom will have to wait until Monday....and so will our blog.....

Have a great weekend!

Picture Update.....

Okay, I'm going to post some pictures of my current disaster now. I guess I'll first post the items I like, and then go on to the stuff I messed up.

These are the light fixtures. I love the brushed nickel and the white globes. I also love the shape of the metal. I'm happy with that. (you can just see in this picture the top of the mirror frame, and how the bronze in no way matches the satin nickel.)

This the the satin nickel faucet from SE Salvage. It does have a hint of yellow undertones, that is for sure.... but the mirror behind it is bronze and so a lot of that is reflected in the metal. It does not look this brassy in real life. I figured they are far enough away from the light fixtures that, while not an exact match, are close enough.

Here is a shot of the three of them and the shower curtain. The bronze does however warm up the space and brings out the colors of the shower curtain nicely. But you can also see the white cabinets and they are too white in my opinion.

Finally a photo of the mirror re-done in a silver finish. Please remember that I didn't put the antiquing glaze on this to tone it down, so it does look very silvery..... If you notice this picture vs the one above.... the colors in the shower curtain, are just blah.... (this photo). I think the silver doesn't go with anything in the room.... It isn't the direction I wanted to go, but somehow I found myself there.

Basically, my opinion as I look at the room, is that it needs warmth...in natural wood tones. I know I said, light and airy, but it isn't yurning out so well.... :-) So, those are the photos so far. I was talking to dh this evening...and he was so surprised that I didn't like the bathroom. He isn't upset, actually he recognized that I'm more upset by my mistake than he was. He is totally willing to re-do the bathroom cabinets. That means stripping them, and then staining them a mahogany color. I think the plan is to attempt a mahogany faux finish on the mirror. I think that will help and with the mahogany base, I can use brushed nickel hardware.

I had one other idea as I look at these pictures, to possibly salvage all the work. I suppose I could paint the cabinets more of a cream color and paint the mirror the same. It's a bit more feminine than I would like, but it is cottage airy. The thought I have as I look at this, is the shower curtain is cottage like and the mirror is not. But how do you marry the two?

If anyone has any other thoughts...or links on faux finishing to look like mahogany, please pass them along. I did find a link recently on houseblogs on how to strip paint. It was a great little tutorial that someone showed on stripping an old door using a heat gun. So, I'm going to try to find that one in the multitude of blogs.

I guess I feel better. On one blog I read recently, someone talked about using photoshop to see how your room would look before you do anything. That's obviously a tool I need. Even now to see how it would look with dark cabinets and mirror vs light. I'm so thankful for my dh. No matter what happens in my design faux pas.... he is totally willing to go back and get it the way I want it. Why I always have to learn lessons the hard way, I'll never know.....

Frustrated.....!!!

Good grief, I am so frustrated today! It is just not coming together....and I know I haven't posted a picture yet, but it looks awful. Here is the deal. Yes, the faucets and light fixtures are up, and they look quite good. Yes, I have mentioned that before. I do like the satin nickel finish. I think the oil rubbed bronze would look better, but I am not willing to change out everything all over the house. I'm just not really willing to do that, or put out that expense. We have a lot of light fixtures that are the brushed nickel, and I just don't want to swap it all out. Having said that here are the problems I have.... and I may get brave enough to post a picture.

1. The cabinets are too white. The vanity top is some bisque color and it would be set off the best with oil rubbed bronze. But as I mentioned before I'm not willing to do that across the whole house. Sooo.... the problem is that the cabinets seem to be just suspended in air. Nothing is grounding anything or complementing the warmth of the shower curtain. What exactly does that mean for me? Well it could mean that I have to stain the cabinets mahogony, or try to faux replicate that with paint. I'm not too thrilled with doing that, based on my reason #2 below.

2. I applied my faux finish to the mirror last evening. I knew it was too shiny and knew I would need to antique it with a black antiquing glaze. But even so, dh took it up to the bathroom, so I could get an idea of how much to do. It looks awful! Really, I do mean awful! (Dh thought it looked great, bless his heart.) It is such a cool color ( as in not warm), that once again, it look completely out of place in the bathroom. It's like the only thing with warm tones in there is the shower curtain. I have no idea what I was thinking....
Editing to add: I just pulled photos of the mirror off my camera so I could look at it on the larger computer monitor. It really is not a good paint job. At all.....

So, I have a few options: One will definitely be painting the mirror to a different color. If nothing else is done that will be done! I think it would have been easy to change or remodel a bathroom if I could just pick a vanity, and pick a vanity top, change the shower, and re-do the floor etc. Pick exactly what I need, cost not really being an issue. But this is what we try to do, mainly based on necessity.... we remodel on a shoestring budget. We will re-use pieces of furniture, or cabinets or whatever, but trying to make it look good can be really frustrating. (Which is where I am now). So, I have no idea what I'm going to do. This is when I wish I had a friend who could come over and tell me.... oh you definitely need to go this way with it...or that way.... sigh sigh sigh. I am so feeling the time crunch on this one.....

Another Progress report....

Tonight, I continued painting some of the cabinet drawers and doors. Then dh put them back onto the vanity base to see how I would like it. The faucets look really great...and they make our tired old 1980 something vanity top look new again. It shines up really well! The light fixtures fit the space well. So, I had dh also rest the mirror on top of the vanity top against the wall. UGH. It's throwing me off completely. It's almost a oil rubbed bronze finish... but not that dark. So, the one way I was considering taking the bathroom, the mirror is reminding me of that design idea. I have satin nickel and oil rubbed bronze together...and it's throwing off the cabinets base completely. I'm sooo not liking the white. I think it's the cabinet doors, they just look old and 80's and the paint isn't helping because of the shape of the doors. (Kind of a cathedral panel). Maybe it's the white paint, being too white.... but I think I need a little rich color in there....

Next step to pull the room together, is to get the paint tomorrow and begin painting the huge mirror frame. I'm planning on getting a silver base, with a pewter glaze and some black glaze to give it an aged look. (But not too aged). I'm just going to wing it and see what happens..... but I have to get started on it ASAP, as I can't tell what direction to go with the cabinet base until I figure that out. Oh.... and that base, I am so tempted to strip all the paint I just did and stain it. Yikes! Sssshhhh..... Don't tell dh.... I don't think he'll like it very much! And to be truthful, neither will I! Who knew re-doing a bathroom would be so difficult!

Progress Update...

Well, the light fixtures are up and I like them a lot.... They aren't pottery barn, as far as price goes, but they are updated and they didn't cost us an arm and a leg. We did buy the faucets at SE Salvage. They were 1/2 the price of the faucets elsewhere....so we couldn't justify spending more. So, dh is installing those as I type. We found a mirror as well at Southeastern Salvage. It is 76" long by 36" wide. A huge mirror! Unfortunately it is not in the right finish that I need, so I will be getting some paint and glaze out to begin to make it look different.

The cabinets.... um... yes, the cabinets.... hmmmm. Well, I haven't exactly gotten to those yet. Sigh. Soon I hope. I think I did realize that the white color is too white on the cabinets, now that I have everything else going on in there. So, I'm going to hold off a little bit more and see what I think. :-)

I'll try to post a picture of the mirror sitting on top of the vanity, leaning against the wall. Just so you get a picture of the finish it is, and how it just doesn't work with brushed nickel. But one thing dh and I noticed immediately is that it opened up the whole space... making it feel so much bigger. That bathroom is narrow, so the mirror did the trick.

Okay, back to work, cleaning the kitchen......um I mean painting the cabinets....

Weekend Plans...

It's hard to believe the weekend is here already! Seems like I was just posting last weekend's house plans to my blog.... or even the weekend before. Time moves so quickly...

The men in my family went camping last evening, so I am without a car. Dh's car broke down on Thursday evening and is in the shop. We are not sure when it will be back to us, so I will most likely be without a vehicle for part of next week.... or I'll be getting up at O' dark thirty, to take him into work. UGH! Anyway, enough about car troubles.... when the gentlemen return today, we will be heading to Southeastern Salvage to get a mirror. I found a mirror that I like, it's certainly large enough to fit the space and is decorative. However, the finish is not quite what I was looking for. I could search out what I want, but I'll have to pay dearly for it, as most large mirrors are really expensive. I found this one for $89. When you see the size you will be amazed. So, now I have to work on painting the frame of the mirror to look more like a satin nickel finish. I found some silver metallic glaze at Lowe's and some pewter as well for the darker spots on the mirror. Its going to a difficult process, as I have never done something like this before, and I can't find the instructions I need online. I've antiqued our furniture before and gave it a new life....but this is totally different! I'll have to see the mirror up on the wall first. Maybe I'll paint it a mahogany color. I have decided to go with the brushed nickel fixtures, as I agree with Michelle, that they will have more longevity.

I found a brushed nickel faucet at Southeastern Salvage, but it had yellow undertones, and no matter how I looked at it, or in what light....it still showed. So, I'll also be hitting Lowes, Home depot, and a lighting store to find the faucets, and to look for some lighting. Who knows though the price was the best at SE Salvage....so I may just get the faucets (yellow tinted and all), if I can't afford anything else.

The cabinets are still not finished! Yikes! That's my job and I am dropping the ball! This weekend, I really plan on finishing them.... .....really, I do....... :-) Dh will be changing out the baseboard in the bathroom, to match the boys bedroom. (The wide stuff) He still needs to fix the window trim, but I can live with that for awhile. We just really want to make that bathroom usable once again......

That's the plan for the weekend. It's going to be a busy one again!

Bathroom in Progress.

Here are some photos of the remodeling progress so far:

This is the paint color , next to the shower curtain. There is only one light in the bathroom at the moment, and so the picture is dark and not very good. The color is actually, more of a beige yellow.

This is cabinet central... where I paint the cabinets in the evenings. So obviously we entertain no one since it's set up in our living room.

Here are some almost finished cabinet drawers. One more coat of paint and then the clear enamel sealer. We use Krylon's clear satin spray seal on our cabinets. We did this in our home in PA, and the cabinet never chipped, and wiped down beautifully.

Here is the cabinet base with two drawers painted as well. I really have to see everything in to see if the color is going to work or not.

Finally, I had to take a picture of just a sink, so I had a before picture for when we change out the faucets.

Speaking of faucets, and then going on to light fixtures and cabinet hardware. I am at a crossroads as far as design, and I'm not sure which way to go. I really like the look of the oil rubbed bronze that is more or an antique look. I think it would set off the bathroom beautifully. It's very rich in color. But if I did it in the bathroom, then we are talking door handles, hinges and then wanting to have continuity in the whole house. So, I am really debating between the polished nickel and the oil rubbed bronze. Here are two pictures of each so you can see what I'm talking about. Part of me wonders if the darker color will have as much longevity as the brushed nickel..... anyway, it's definitely going to take some thinking on my part. Especially with the mirror (which I haven't found yet).

Drum Roll Please.....

I found a color! Woohoo! It's on the walls and so far I love it. It's called Sand 2 by Laura Ashley. Lighter than the shower curtain, so it should stand out nicely.... and I think it is dark enough to set off the white cabinets. Funny story.... as dh was heading out to pick up the paint, he drove by and stopped to chat with our neighbor.

Neighbor: Where ya headed?
DH: To pick up some paint.
Neighbor: Didn't you just get some?
DH: Oh yeah, we have a plethora of paint samples in the garage and on the wall right now. But this is "the" color....so I'm headed out to get "the" can of paint.
Neighbor: I have a label maker.

LOL! I don't know whether he wanted to offer to label all our paint cans, or if he was suggesting to my dh to put "the" color label on one of the cans we owned. But I cracked up when I heard it.

As far as the cabinets... I painted the first coat this evening, and will look to see if the color is okay. I may need to go with a slightly darker shade of white. I'll try to post progress pictures tomorrow.

Paint Central....

I finished priming the cabinets with the help of dh last evening. Boy I am glad that's done! I found a whole gallon of delicate white paint that we bought for another project, but the color wasn't right. So, I'm going to try it here and see if I like the color on the cabinets. But that is for later today. Last evening dh also put two other colors on the wall. (Two that we own.... our bedroom/bathroom color and Belle Grove Buff, which we used to paint our living room). I am leaning toward Bell Grove, as it is more of a taupe with tints of yellow in it....and it is very neutral and lighter than the shower curtain. I told dh this morning that I am "almost positive" that the color will be Belle Grove Buff....and then he said, "Yeah, but with you that's "absolutely uncertain."" LOL! I complimented him on his use of an oxymoron to match my own.... :-)

I'm off to hunt for many things today. A mirror would be almost first on the list....as well as cabinet fixtures and scouting out faucets and lighting. I'm also on the lookout for some nice shelves..

Update: Well, I don't think I like the Belle Grove Color after all... I'm not sure what it is, but I don't think it works. Go figure. So, a stop at Lowe's today to look for some more paint colors. This time with the shower curtain, and my entire list with me....measuring tape and all!

Sometimes I wish I had the easy button! I got this one for dh for his birthday to take to work. It's still here...so I'm thinking I need to use it....

Why would I be displaying the easy button??? One word, and most of you know it.... PAINT. Yes, I went to check on the paint color samples dh put on the walls. I don't like any of them. (Naturally). Back to the drawing board....

An update....pre-weekend....

Just a quick update before the weekend..... I am almost done priming the cabinets, but it is taking a long time! I really do not know how I had the patience for 22 of them previously. Just 3 drawers and 4 doors are killing me as it is...

Dh has put the final high hide primer on the walls. It definitely helped with a lot of the blue/gray under color. Now he has the auditions samples on the wall and as soon as they are dry I'll go up and try to select a color. (Oh please let it be easy!)

Goals for the weekend:

1. Finish priming and begin painting all the cabinets.
2. Pick and paint color that will look good, and paint it on the wall.
3. Stick with said paint color! LOL!
4. Try to locate a mirror that will work for the room.

Those are our remodeling goals, but I'm sure we have some regular house stuff to attend to as well! We did really well last weekend. A lot depends on me and the cabinets, so I hope I get with it!

I'll update with photos tomorrow....

Parking in the garage....

Remember I mentioned that we cleared out some stuff this past weekend? I am now able to park inside my garage for the first time since we moved here, a year and a half ago. What a nice feeling! I did end up getting the car washed at a car wash. The inside is still quite a mess, but I'll get to that eventually. (Maybe this weekend). My mom and dad have a golf ball hanging above their respective sides of the garage, so they know how far to pull in so they can close the garage doors, and not hit the wall in front of them. Well, I had my dh make me one with a tennis ball. Now I too know exactly how far to pull into our garage. I love it!

Anyway, here are some photos of the parking side of the garage and my tennis ball device.

It's the little things that make me happy.... :-)

Sometimes you win...sometimes you lose....

Tonight was one of those losing nights.... when you are all excited to go shopping, you have been anticipating it, you know what your looking for, or at least have a plan.... and then nothing goes your way. You forget your list, or you forget *something* you need, or you end up finding nothing that works. Perhaps it's the very outfit you want, but the store is out of every size but 2. Or it's a weekend anticipating yard sales, only to find nothing. Or a trip to the grocery store, and your list and coupons are sitting on the kitchen counter.

Well this evening I went out by myself to begin shopping for the bathroom. (Scouting, pricing and getting paint samples). So, 1/2 way to Hobby Lobby to look at the mirrors (which are 50% off by the way), I realize that I forgot the shower curtain at home. So, now I don't have it to pull colors out for the walls. Bummer. It's so much easier when you remember the fabric. I found a mirror that I actually liked at Hobby Lobby, but it was a little too small for our bathroom. Ugh. The vanity is really long, and so if I'm going to put one large mirror, it's going to have to be really long. The one at HL was not long enough. How do I know? Well, unfortunately the small tape measure that I carry in my purse for shopping trips like this, was also left at home. I called dh to get the measurements and I had just measured our dining room mirror, so I could eyeball it and see it wasn't long enough. Bummer. So, then I got to thinking about 2 rectangular mirrors, or two oval mirrors instead of one mirror.

After Hobby Lobby is was about 7:20, so I decided to head down to Southeastern Salvage to look at their mirrors and see if I could doctor one up. Plus I wanted to price lighting fixtures and faucets and see if I liked any of them. Well I get there and there are a ton of people (employees in the parking lot). I'm not sure what is going on, but they are milling around by the entrance. (My first thought is strike line, but then I didn't think it looked that bad, and I saw no signs). :-) So, I park and get out only to be informed that they are closed and are actually having a store meeting. Sigh. It was 7:30 and apparently they close everyday during the week at 7pm. *sigh*

So, after that I went to Home Goods, to look at their mirrors... (nothing I liked). And then headed to Lowes to look at paint samples. I picked a ton to take home and hold up to the curtain and the wall. My Belle Grove Buff that I painted the living room, was a close contender, just a little light. Dh liked Churchill Hotel Wheat, and I am almost positive that we still have a Lowe's audition of that one, as it was also in the running for the living room walls. Shoot we have a ton of paint samples I bet. I think I even have the white color that we'll do the cabinets and trim in. But I digress...

So, I check out the paint, go and look at (of all things), garage doors. (Like that is even a reality). And then on to check out the lighting and faucets. To which I decided that I need to finish painting everything first and then go look for all three (mirror, lighting, faucets), when I know more of what I am looking for. (Finish, size, shape etc) So, that was my evening. Came home late to watch the Biggest Loser. And now I'm wiped out, so I'm going to bed. Perhaps I'll dream about the bathroom, and some ideas will come to me!

Painting, Parking and other things....

****If anyone can tell me why my typing starts out spaced one way and after I load pictures ends up getting crammed to single space, please let me know.... I am a perfectionist in regards to layout, and that frustrated me!*****

I am very excited.... I can now officially park in the garage! Yeah!! It has been cleared out of things and dh moved lots of stuff around. I'm so thrilled to finally park there, that I feel like going to the car wash and getting my car cleaned, just for the occasion! I never go through the car wash... we just don't bother because it just gets dirty anyway. But I think tomorrow I just may clean out the inside of the car and then head out to the car wash and get the whole thing sparkling clean!

Dh has the primer done on the walls and I have 1/2 the cabinets primed. So, I'll have lots more to do with that as the week progresses. I have been thinking about what direction I am going in the bathroom. It's funny, but today I had a thought that I'm not exactly the type that pre plans every aspect of a room, and then goes and finds all the stuff.... nope, it kind of develops naturally as a sort of process...kind of like an artist painting a canvas. That is how I design the rooms in my house.

Anyway, I had an idea, and then I sat down and started second guessing that idea. (Not good when you have already painted!). I am second guessing whether I should have painted those cabinets, or instead should I have stained them a dark walnut. I think the dark walnut would certainly be richer, but in that small and narrow bathroom, I think it would make it appear smaller. So, I think I'm okay with the creamy white cabinets. I'm probably going to pull a pale buttery yellow out of the shower curtain and then use some sage accents and even a few red accents. There are so many colors to chose from in that curtain, but the feel I'd like to give the bathroom is airy casual cottage feel.

Here is the sink faucet that I like from pottery barn that is $349. Not happening! (I like the color in that photo, but maybe a little darker). As to the faucet....I'll try to find one to mimic this as best as I can. I'm still stuck on mirrors and lighting too. The mirrors that are up there now, are too small for the space. (Or I might update and re-use them). I really like this long mirror from pottery barn with the sconces. Just don't like the finish on the sconces. Well let me clarify, I love the look, but it isn't what I'm going for in an airy cottage feel.... lol! Anyway, here are the photos. The sink faucets I will look for in a satin finish.... and perhaps same for the light fixtures. I may also do two larger oval mirrors with a double sconce on top of each one, or a single sconce on each side. So many decisions!

Love this faucet!









Like this mirror, but the wall color is too yellow for me.

Saturday's Accomplishments....

This is my final post for the day.... I am tired! This getting up at 7am is something I am so not used to!

I did not get to priming the cabinets today with a good bonding primer. Unfortunately I forgot how long and tedious it is to sand those things! (How could I forget)... and yet it's been 3 years since I painted my kitchen cabinets back in PA. I guess just like childbirth, time dulls the memory of the pain. lol!

So, all the cabinet fronts and drawer fronts are sanded well, and wiped down. They are just waiting on the primer, which I will try to do this coming week. Dh is finishing the first coat of grey primer on the bathroom walls. I'm sure it looks different! He'll put a coat of white primer on the walls Monday evening. Then I guess it will be time for me to pick another paint color. Oh joy... .

I was looking at a beautiful faucet fixture at Potterybarn.com. Beautiful, but expensive. As in $349, and we would need two for a double sink. So, I'm on a hunt to try to find one as similar as I can for much less money. I won't be getting the faucets or light fixtures until we can afford it. Maybe a few more weeks......

Oh and the stuff will be out of the garage tomorrow! Someone is coming to pick it up, so I may be able to park in there on Monday! yeah! That's my weekend....

Photos.....

Okay, the cable has been upgraded, so that is out of the way.... saved actually $20/month and now we have a ton of channels coming to us....my beloved HGTV and the Food Network included. I can't wait! Yeah! I'll have to tell my dad tonight that he inspired me to get that done.

Here are some before photos of the bathroom. I am planning on starting to prime those cabinets in a little bit.... notice the bright blue! the last photo is of the shower curtain I picked a year and 1/2 ago. I am planning on pulling colors from that. Oh yes... light fixtures.....!!!

Accomplishments so far.....

I was up at 7:00am this morning....the boys woke me upand I could not fall back asleep. So, I thought I might as well get started on cleaning out our homeschool room, filing lots of paperwork, and then updating and balancing the checkbook. It took me all morning to go through magazines to pitch, all the school work so far this year (2 months worth) and all the mail (bills/junk etc). I even wiped the entire desk and computer down! I have a full garbage bag that I used for filing junk as well! I still have a little paperwork to go through, but I am much more organized.

On a side note, we are thinking of going totally digital here through our cable company. My mom and dad just did this in Florida, and if they can do it, I guess we can too. It does save us about $17.00 a month to get cable/internet and phone all together....not a huge amount, but every little bit helps. So, I may add that to the list of calling about this weekend.

As to the bathroom and garage. Well, we have to wait on the garage as the stuff that someone was going to pick up and take out, is still there. So, we can't move things around until that happens. But the bathroom is ready to be taped and primed. As soon as I'm done with the paperowrk for today, I'm going to prime the cabinets... yeah! I can't wait. I did take before pictures, as soon as I upload them you can see the bright blue color that has been the bathroom! I'm glad it's going!

I hope to post another update this evening with photos!

Weekend Plans...

Oh I've got big ol' weekend plans for our house... lol! My parents were supposed to come in this weekend on their way down south. Their trip was delayed for several reasons, and so instead of driving 8 hours out of their way from my sister's house, they will head directly to Florida. I'm not bummed, as I know I'll see them again in a month for Thanksgiving.

What does this mean for this weekend? Well, since I won't be entertaining guests...it means house projects. Also, it just hit me that I have a month and a half until everyone descends upon my house for Thanksgiving. I'm soooo not ready! There were so many things I envisioned having done before this event... but time and monetary resources have kept us from it.

So here are the grand plans for the weekend:

Clean out the garage- We'll be moving things around a lot to create space so at least I can park in the garage! That would be nice...and then maybe my car would stay clean!

Prime the bathroom walls- The bright blue color on the walls has got to go! (I have to remember to take before pictures of that bathroom!)

Begin priming the bathroom cabinets- I am going to update my kids bathroom cabinets with paint. Creamy white to be exact. This should do wonders for making the space look bigger... (and the wall color will help a lot too).

I will have to wait on the sink fixtures, light fixtures bathroom accessories, and mirrors. Those will cost money, and we are trying to get out of debt completely...so those will have to wait. But those are also simple to install and when the time comes will really make the bathroom look great. I have a shower curtain that I bought when we first moved in. It has all the colors that I want to draw into the bathroom. I'll take a picture of it as well so you can see the general direction I am going.

That's the weekend plan! Pretty ambitious isn't it? Yep.....We'll see how we do!