Lots happening......

So - once again it has been months since I posted.  And I haven't done any fun house projects.  That being said - we have been busy!  Here is how it goes:

First: HammHamm gets a job!!!!!  Which means

Second: I get my beautiful new kitchen!!!!!  Before

Third: Baby HammHamm arrives in September.....


So stay tuned for everything from nursery decorations to new kitchens to flower gardens.  Just after tax season.

A little elbow grease, big result

So - there aren't a whole lot of things that just get under Hamm's skin and annoy him to no end.  Shockingly, one of the things that would fall into this category would be the light fixture in our basement when we bought the house.  I'm not sure if it was the fact that when you turned the fan on the four lights would start swirling in time with the fan and bang against each other making a metallic sound or whether it was the fact that any standard sized lightbulb hangs below the edge of the fixture....not really sure.  

The other left over item was the fact that the doors themselves were painted blue.  The previous owners had a "beach shack" design decor down here that didn't exactly jive with our style, but we hadn't gotten around to the doors.  So without further ado (please ignore all the dog toys, as soon as I put them away Maisie takes them all back out) the before:

And the after:

Sigh....we like this so much better.  We also spray painted the door hardware so that it would no longer be the lovely cheap brass.  Now its lovely cheap brass covered in brushed nickel spray paint....totally different.

Weekend Makeover

WHAT??? Two posts in one night? I know, its getting out of hand :-)

Here it is, my first MOSTLY complete room that I am proud of. I started at 1:30pm on Friday and as I sit here typing about my great feat it is 9:45 on Sunday night.

So what was the project? On the second floor of our 1983 (a very excellent year, BTW) townhouse we have a full bathroom that has not been touched since 1983. As you will see the vanity is perfect for a child or small person, but is quite short for anyone of normal stature. The walls were builder's white which matched the tile and the tub perfectly. Without further ado, I give you the before:

Here is the vanity. Notice how the wood toilet paper holder doesn't match the wood vanity? Love it.

Here we have the view from the hallway into the bathroom. The walls, tile and tub all match. I love a good matchy matchy, but this was too much for me:

Another view from the hallway in, this time noting how the wall also seems to match the toilet....

AND FOR THE BIG REVEAL.................

This is from the hallway looking in, the walls are now a tan (its hard to tell because they look the same with the light.) The vanity has been painted a greenish blue color to go with the shower curtain in the next picture. The vanity top is a work in progress, we need to check out the local restore to see what kind of options we have. We also have some hardware to attach to the vanity doors, but apparently none of the drill bits we own are in the house.

It is easier to see the wall color in this picture against the floor and tub which are white. This shower curtain is one we already had.

Finally - my favorite part of the whole project, my DIY art. I started with some yard sale pictures frames:

And painted them the same color as the vanity. We then went to the fabric store where Neil found a stack of similarly colored fabric swatches being sold 10 for $1.99, which went into my picture frames like so:

And I had six frames, so here is my little art collection!

There are a few more things to do before it is totally complete. I would like to create a frame for the mirror so that it looks a little more custom. I am also going to replace the shower head which is original to the house and a lot like showering under a fire hose. Other than that we only need to attach the hardware and we have a totally updated bathroom in roughly 48 hours!

The only bummer is that as I sat on the floor painting my picture frames, I look casually to my right and saw this:

And then I looked farther down the hallway and realized ALL of the trim on the second floor looks like this. I guess we will be adding trim painting to the list.......

Since when did July happen?

So. Last post was January it would seem. Well - the only real excuse I have is tax season, but that ended months ago so really I am at a loss.

I did compete (and by "compete" i mean "survived") an Olympic distance triathlon, seen here (please ignore the spandex nature of my tri suit, also affectionately referred to as my "supa suit"):

I did go on vacation, seen here (PS, Cass you look RIPPED in this picture...nicely done!:)

I have also been doing monster research on my house projects, getting super excited about tackling each one and yes - I will do a better job chronicling my projects than I have been about anything else. I actually completed an entire project this weekend, coming soon!

Design Dilemma

And when I say "dilemma" what I really mean is that I don't have a clue. Half my house is decorated, half is not (meaning half of many rooms, no one room complete.) One bedroom door is permanently closed because it has boxes in it that I can't stand looking at. So when my super home savvy BFF came up for the weekend and told me about the Young House Love blog I became an instant addict. I haven't decided what our first project is going to be, but stay tuned. Enjoy!!

Young House Love

I really only meant to return something to Target, I swear.

Say hello to Maisie, the newest member of the family :-)

And for those of us (myself included) who never thought Tony would stand for it:

PS: If you EVER think you want to have a baby, try having a puppy first.....

Summer Summer Summer

It wouldn't be summer without a wedding (or five) and intense heat. So after spending 9 hours in the car, multiple wedding parties, a sunburn, here is what makes it all worth it: