Hello 2010!

House projects have been on hiatus since the holiday season and now we've entered a new year with lots more bigger and scarier improvements to tackle. There is the deck and driveway for starters and the many settlement issues that need to be fixed under our house warranty. The builders told us of all the little cracks and nail pops that will occur but it's annoying to look up and notice the walls are coming apart or that suddenly a door doesn't close right.

In addition to blogging about home tasks I'm adding my own self-improvement project to the mix...restarting the Couch 2 5k program. It was very successful the first time and I'm frustrated that I somehow get back to zero. Hopefully documenting the progress will keep me accountable and motivated.

Looking forward to it all....

New Moon Premiere Party Sneak Peek!

Yes, it's NEXT Friday but I have to utilize the time I have to experiment and get ready. I had a few brilliant ideas today and I'm glad I got to see how they work best well ahead of time. So this is all I'm revealing for now.

Twinke lights...lots and lots of twinkle lights...

More twinkle lights with framed quotes and things that go with the black, white and red theme.

The Cullen crest...

Table covers from the dollar store taped to the ceiling. I attempted to do it all the way across but the ceiling was too high to the right. I was using a swiffer and a light saber in attempt to get them up there but alas, it was not doable. And now I have pieces of tape lining the ceiling. Awesome.

And finally, one of the bottles of wine we'll be enjoying.

Dresser Before and After

Erik's mom gave us an old dresser that was much needed by us. One dresser and one walk-in closet still somehow does not contain the living organism that is my wardrobe and poor Erik is forced to place his underwear and socks on a small bookshelf we placed inside the closet. And for some unknown reason, the cats have a special love for Erik's socks. They often bring us a sock or two, leaving some strewn about the staircase or any other place they feel like. Well no longer! Although after this makeover, I think I might have to switch dressers cause this one is just so purty.

After sanding it enough to rough up the old finish, I applied Behr paint and primer in one in the color of Mountain Ridge which also happened to look much more brown in Home Depot. It has a bit of purple hue to it but I really don't mind. It gives the room a hint of girlie. It needed two coats. I replaced the old hardware with some pretty new knobs. Erik was pleased that they also happened to be the one of the cheapest I could get my hands on. Home Depot price is just $1.19/ea.
Here is the after. I admit to not giving the decoration much thought. I am waiting to score another sweet mirror on Craigslist so in the meantime, I placed this interesting Pier 1 item on top and rested the stem against the door frame.

The framed pieces on the left are pictures I've taken. Some of my favorite to look at...their simplicty makes me feel very peaceful. The pillars are resting on two wine glassses turned upside down. A little trick I learned of a few years ago for when you need an impromptu candle holder. Everything is sitting on a few pieces of scrapbook paper to protect the still new paint job.

Edward pops in to give his opinion. He's speechless.

And here is my favorite person playing in my "castle" as he calls it. He loves to watch me take pictures for the blog.

Before and After the Chandelier

My favorite part of the house is the space titled the "morning room." I'm guessing it's labeled as such because it doesn't come with any light fixtures so it's best to hang out in there in the morning and not when you are trying to eat dinner in November when night has fallen by 4:30pm. As early Christmas gifts, the 'rents bought us a chandelier to put up and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! It's perfect in every way and I can't stop looking at it.

As is customary with Erik and I, we had to hire someone to install it for us. Our DIY instructions for a chandelier instructions looks something like this.

1) Pick up the phone and dial an electrician
2) Visit an ATM and withdraw a lot of money
3) Pay electrician
3) Enjoy the light fixture

Anyway...here is the before, in the glory of the morning light.
And the after:

Dental Floss Chandelier

I needed a distraction and I needed something to give my headboardless bed a kick. I found a DIY faux chandelier tutorial and had at it during Henry's nap. The materials are literally dental floss and stickers. Anything round can be the holder. I picked up a wreath ring at Jo Ann Fabrics, very similar to the one this blogger used. I would have preferred it in white but it only came in Christmas green so I sprayed it with the oil-rubbed bronze paint that I featured in this post. Apply stickers to floss and hang. I made the inner ring strands longer and alternated with circle and square stickers for a geometric look. The result is surprisingly elegant for just $5 and I just love the way it catches the light.

Henry also enjoyed the chandelier and kept saying "your castle is beautiful, Mama!"

Mirror, Mirror On The Wall...

Yesterday I had what I'll consider a karma moment. After a very long and hard couple days I sat at my laptop and thought to myself that I should look on Craigslist for a mirror that I could paint and hang in my foyer. (see previous post) I opened the local furniture and link and, I kid you not, the first listing was for a 10 mirror. It was perfect. I emailed right away and the mirror was mine as soon Mr. H woke up from his nap! Thank you, universe! It just needed a little paint spray taken off the glass with a razor blade and I had to re-wire the back. And here it is, in all its glory.

While my mind was on mirrors, I was sick of looking in one mirror in particular and that's the hideously simple mirror that came with the powder room. The builders really spared some expense with this thing.




It's actually an adorable little powder room. I love the pedestal sink and layout but the oval mirror had no personality. Luckily, I had a mirror just laying around. I didn't even have to paint it since it matched the stainless fixtures. It was set to hang horizontal so I had to change the screws around and rewire it but it didn't take too long. And here it is:

It's amazing what a simple frame can do for a mirror! The picture comes out a bit yellow so you can't see how well it matches. Next year I will work on painting it since I can already see where house settlement has popped a few nails in the drywall. Thankfully the builders come and repair any wall stuff. That would certainly NOT be something we could do ourselves!

Making the most of the tiny foyer

We have an eeny weensie tiny wall to work with in our foyer. Since we have an entrance from the garage into the kitchen, we mainly store things like shoes and coats in that area but when guests come to the front door there is nothing to welcome them. Today I totally got a steal on a storage ottoman at Target. I thought for sure it would work well against the wall with a mirror above it but it was awkward and not at all what I expected. Then I had the light bulb moment. These little white side tables shown below! I bought them years ago at West Elm on clearance and while they went pretty well with my furniture at the time, they were totally overpowered by the new couch. Not knowing what to do with them, I forced them in time out on either side of the TV until further notice. The little cubbies have been storing stray DVDs and diapers until today, when I finally called on them.
And here they stand, proudly fulfilling a much greater purpose! They need a decent paint job and maybe something to put underneath so they are perfectly flush but even as is... it isn't half bad. Erik might be a little upset I used his beer jug to stick some branches in to give the display some length but he'll have to deal. It can always be washed!


But what will become of the $15 storage ottoman, you ask? It too found a purpose. Where there was once a lonely wall with just a picture...

Now has a little otto for a friend. The random throw pillow happens to match perfectly and cozies it up a bit! Whew, all in a days work. I will note that I excel at DIY shopping.