Preparing for Company....

Before I post about our prepping for company, I have to just comment on my last post about our cabinets. I took pictures, but this is the deal... I like them in person, but in the pictures I don't. Isn't that weird? My sister is coming into town next week, so I will ask her what she thinks. I emailed her a photo that I took, and I explained to her that they really didn't look that white to the naked eye. She said it might be the camera. Hmmmm....I'm not sure. So, the jury is still out about the bathroom. But it's as done as it can be for now, since company is coming in two days.

Now onto the company....I have been cleaning up a storm. The entire upstairs is ready for guests....all except the steam cleaning of the carpets. Downstairs we just have to mop and steam clean as well....and then we are close to done. Dh painted the guest bedroom this evening a very neutral color. He actually mixed two colors together that we had left. I loved the color surprisingly! It's going to look beautiful with the simple blankets I have and the antique steamer trunk and the rocking chair. I think I'm going to want to stay in that room, it's so soothing. :-) I've got to remember the two paint colors in case we want to use that color again. So 3 of 22 paint cans are now empty in the garage. (Primer, and the two mixed colors). yeah! A few are old colors from the previous owners. As we repaint each room, I am going to get rid of those too.

I would post pictures of the bathroom, but I'm not ready to do so yet, until it's all complete. Tomorrow I'll pull the guest room together and post before and after photos of the room. I'm off to clean a bit more and wrap a few presents for my son's birthday tomorrow. What a busy week it's been!!

Cabinets are finished!

The cabinets are finished and I absolutely love them. Such a good thing! The creamy color paint has definitely softened the look, and the hardware looks quite good. I even like the mirror painted a creamy color, although I am still debating on antiquing it. I won't decide that until after the flooring goes in. All in all, I'm very pleased!

I also cleaned out the guest bedroom somewhat and moved one piece of furniture. Goodness what a difference that made! I have an old antique trunk, with the wood slats on the sides. It's really cool looking, and I had it at the end of the guest bed. I moved it next to an antique mission rocker and it changed the whole feel of the room. Amazing what moving one simple piece of furniture will do..... it instantly opened up the room, and made it feel much larger. Plus moving the trunk, made that furniture item a cool focal point in the room. So, dh will prime the bbright green walls tomorrow evening, and a nice neutral color will go on the walls. Yeah!

I have done a thorough cleaning on two rooms so far, and have 2 more to do upstairs tomorrow. Ceiling fans, and plantation blinds are being cleaned of lots of dust. I already changed the air filter, so hopefully everyone will be breathing better in the house soon! :-) I used to kid about dust being a protectant for my furniture.... but after today....ewww... I'm setting up a weekly dusting schedule!

Finally, tonight I tried out a meatball recipe. Just regular old homemade meatballs that you can add to spaghetti. They were delicious, so I'll be making them for when my family comes into town. As Rachel Ray would say... "Yummo"! We had the meatballs this evening on sub rolls...and the rolls weren't so good, (kind of dry). So I told the boys and dh that next time I will try to make my own sub rolls in my new (to me) breadmaker. They have got to be better than what we had from the grocery store! (And no I have not used my breadmaker as of yet..... but maybe after Thanksgiving!)

I'll try to update with some cabinet pictures soon, as well as before shots of our bright green guest room ......

I can't even think of a title to this post....I'm just updating to say we are holding off on the flooring until after Christmas. We could not find anything we loved at Home Depot or Lowes, and we aren't willing to settle. So I was talking to dh this evening that perhaps after Christmas we could find what we want at a certain flooring company....and then get hardwood put it in our homeschool room. Our dining room and foyer have a beautiful wide plank cherry hardwood floor, and the homeschool room is directly across from it. The carpet in there has seen better days, and is stained in several areas. I eventually would like to put hardwood in the entire downstairs, kitchen and all. But we can't afford it now, and if I want to remodel the kitchen, (which I desperately do one day!), then laying hardwood now would be a waste of money. So, dh actually agreed to look into getting hardwood in that room and a vinyl in the bathroom. But all after Christmas. Yeah!

Onto those cabinets, well they didn't get painted today. But I did purchase all the hardware for them, and the clear matte acrylic that goes on top as a protectant. Once the cabinets are finally back up there, I'm going to focus completely on preparing for company next week. There is just too much to do, and not a lot of time left to do it! Add one child's birthday into the mix this weekend...and my schedule and my hands are full! Ack! I'll let you know how it all turns out....

Still working on the bathroom....

It's hard to believe it's been 10 days since I posted anything. I'm almost over the cold, but it's going around our family again. I gave it to one of my children, so I'm really hoping it doesn't get passed to the next and on to us again. I need to stay healthy for Thanksgiving!

As for the bathroom renovations. Well..... they are still going, and I'm as picky as ever. I did decide that the bathroom vanity will stay creamy white. I like the color the best, and I find it very soothing with the countertop and new sink fixtures. Very soothing. I put the final coat of paint on tomorrow, and then we seal it with clear matte acrylic spray. They should be back on the cabinet with the new cabinet fixtures on Monday evening. Yeah!

The mirror... well, I changed the black detailing to a mahogany color, and that has softened the look. I also painted it a creamy white. I am not sure yet if I will antique it or not. I'm waiting until all the rest of the pieces fall into place.

Flooring. What? Flooring? I was just talking out loud about the flooring, and how it needs to be warmed up in the room. Dh said to go get some peel and stick vinyl tiles to put in the bathroom. So, I picked what I liked and brought them home. It's a bit darker and I felt like it grounded the whole room so much better.... however the peel and stick is just not gonna do it for me. I know he says it's easier for him to lay, but in my research this evening, I've found that it is not the best thing to lay in bathrooms because of the moisture. Plus this just looks somewhat cheap without any grout lines or anything. I'm really not loving it, so it will go back to Home depot and I'll look to order a sheet of the linoleum that I want. It won't get done in time for Thanksgiving, but that's okay.... it can wait until after. Luckily what we have is in good shape, so people can use the bathroom. I guess this gives him time to prime and paint the guest room. Then I'll be thinking of lot's of warm, cozy accesories to add to the rooms. All from my own closets....(I hope!)

Not much going on here...

Sad to say, not muchis going on here. Both dh and I came down with big old colds...that we caught from the kids. Actually, the kids had it first, and then I got it about a week later, and now I gave it to dh. I've had it for several days, but dh will probably be over it quicker than me. He always seems to kick those colds faster than me! Anyway, I've gone through a whole box of Puffs tissues, and while they are thr ones with lotion in them, my poor nose is as red as Rudolph. :( Hopefully, I'll feel better in a few days.

I do plan on finishing the mirror this weekend, and hopefully if dh is better, we can finish the bathroom. We have to at least try to paint one more room before Thanksgiving. (Guest room, bright lime green...not a very soothing color for our guests to stay in!). Hopefully, we'll be done with the bathroom, and then onto the guest room. Whatever neutral color we have (and we have a lot!) will go on that wall. You know...I think I need to count paint cans we havein the garage..... seriously. I'll update this weekend!