New Storage in the Kitchen

Hello everyone!

Well, if you're wondering if we were able to get the metal trim pieces painted from our shower enclosure, I'll tell you.  NO!  The weather has just been too cold and will continue to be for at least another week (according to the forecast).  What were we thinking trying to do this in January?????  So, we will continue to use the hall bathroom shower and work on other parts of the bathroom until we get the right weather to finish the job.  

I bought the paint for the bathroom, so guess what we'll be doing today?  

In the meantime, I thought I would show you what happened to the bookcase that we used in our bathroom.  We moved it down into our kitchen.  I added some bins for storage and it's getting a lot of use already.

I had these canvas bags and thought they would make good bins on the bottom.  I stenciled numbers on the front for interest.

On top, I added some decorative items that add some warmth to the mostly white piece.

And on the side, I hung this tea towel with black graphics for interest.

There used to be a grey cabinet in place of  this.  It ended up going in my youngest son's room.  We plan on working on his room after we complete our bathroom.  I plan on repainting his room and some of his furniture as well as replacing his over head light.

So, once the weather warms up, let the spray painting begin!

Hope you all have a nice weekend planned.  Will you be watching the Superbowl? 

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Kelly ~

Bathroom Remodel Day Two

Hello everyone!

Well, we are tackling the most difficult part of our bathroom remodel.........

the shower enclosure

So, if you ever want to know what's involved with this process, then read ahead.  Otherwise, I'll just see ya later.  This is the nitty gritty part that isn't pretty or fun.  But, the after will be very worth it (if all goes well).  

In order to paint the brass trim around the shower enclosure, it is best to remove the entire enclosure first.  There are many reasons for this, mainly because of the necessary cleaning process to prep the metal and the fumes and mess from the paint.  So, let the disassembling begin!

First you must score the seam where the silicone holds the metal to the tile.

Then, remove any screws holding it together.

Remove the shower door.

Pull off the metal trim from the glass.  Clean the glass and prop up to dry somewhere out of the way where it won't get broken.

You'll basically do that with all of the glass panels.

After everything has been removed, you will notice a lot of gunk left behind.  A lot of it is silicone residue with dirt.  Go ahead and clean all of that up.

Then, take your metal trim pieces and sand them with a sanding block to rough them up a bit.  We did ours in the garage.

Finally, you'll need to clean the metal trim pieces outside with a good cleaner like this one.  

Let them dry so that the next step is painting.

We will begin that step today (if the temperature is warm enough).  It is very important to follow the guidelines on your paint for best results.

I will share that process with you next time!

So, now you know what a chore this is!  It took us all day to get the enclosure removed and cleaned up.  We are also cleaning the tiles and re caulking the shower now.  Thank goodness we can use our other bathroom right now since this one is out of commission!

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Kelly ~

Bathroom Remodel Day One

Hello everyone!

When I left you on Friday, we were having terrible weather.  But, on Saturday and Sunday, that all changed and we finally had some nice sunshine.  Today, we're back to terrible weather.  Oh well!  At least it was nice during the weekend, right?

By the way, we saw the movie American Sniper (as planned) and I just have to say that I loved it!  By saying that, it doesn't mean that I'm "pro war" or anything.  It was a movie that showed the human side of  war and what it does to our soldiers when they come back home.  It will leave you proud of  our soldiers and the sacrifice that they make for all of us here.  

Ok, moving on..............

We have begun the first steps of remodeling our bathroom.  I use the word "remodel" loosely though.  We are not moving any walls or anything.  My husband brought home the light fixtures I chose.

We bought them from Home Depot and they were SO affordable!

Here is a pic of the old ones we had.

They weren't bad, but I was tired of them and didn't like that I could see the light bulbs so much.

Here is the new one.

See the light yellow paint color?  Ugh!  Can't wait for that to be gone.  We will be painting over it soon!

Tomorrow, we're going to be removing our shower enclosure and painting the brass trim with an oil rubbed bronze color spray paint. (We'll have to do this in our garage due to the weather.)  My husband found a tutorial on You Tube that shows how to do this.  I will share the procedure with you as well.  Keeping fingers crossed that it turns out well.  Otherwise, it will cost us over $1000 for a new shower enclosure!  

Also, this bookcase in our bathroom is moving out!  I have exciting plans for it elsewhere in my house though.

I used it to hold towels, but they will go back in the linen closet.  I've ordered a black metal hook rack  to hang on this wall instead. 

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I will hang white towels on it.

I've already selected the rest of the fixtures for this room.  So, it's only a matter of installing everything at this point.

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kelly ~

My Week

Hello everyone!

TGIF!  Are you glad that it's Friday?  It doesn't feel like it was a 4 day week to me (since Monday was a holiday).  This week felt long for some reason.  I guess because of what has been going on around me.  

Today, the weather is, in one word..........Yucky!  It is a do nothing, wear your comfy clothes, stay inside kind of day.  It's cold, windy and rainy.  Did you know that I avoid going out during bad weather?  I mean..........at all costs!  I hate driving in it and just being out in it in general.  I guess I wouldn't do well in states that have a lot of bad storms all the time huh?  So, I'm hunkered down inside today, all day!  

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My dog has been having problems too.  Nothing life threatening, thank goodness!  Just having....................

OK!  IF YOU'RE EATING RIGHT NOW, "PUT DOWN THE COOKIE!"  

He is having a problem with clogged anal ducts.  Ew!  Gross!  I said it.  Soooooooo, I had to take him to the doctor to get them "expressed".  Ah yes, so lovely huh?  I found out that he needs more fiber in his diet (possibly).  So, they suggested canned pumpkin for that.  Also, one of his ducts weren't able to be fully expressed.  Oh goody!  So I have to have him soak in warm water and epsom salt for 10 min every day for a week and then take him back to have the procedure done again.  Do you know how to get a dog to SIT in the water?!  They obviously don't know mine too well.  He won't sit  but rather stands as if he's being punished for something.  Then, I have to scoop up some of the water and hold it on his "back side"!  He keeps looking at me like "when will this be over?"  I won't even tell you what led me to know that he had a problem with this either.  But, let's just say that I have towels on my furniture now.  

Here he is all sweet (sleeping on a towel).  You should see me stalking him after he has laid down.  This is where my OCD really comes out!  

I discovered this problem is very common.  Have you ever had this happen to your dog?  What did you do about it?  

Since tomorrow is going to be bad weather too, I think we will go see this movie.

We haven't seen it yet and of course it's breaking box office records right now.  So, we're looking forward to seeing it.  My husband has already read the book.  Have you seen it yet?

Hope you all have a great weekend and are having better weather than me.

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Kelly ~

Planning my Master Bath Redo

Hello everyone!

Before I start a project, I like to take inventory of the things I will need to purchase in order to complete it.

Right now, my master bath is very dated.  The walls will need to be painted.  I plan to use Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore on the walls.  

This is a picture of a bathroom with it already on the walls.

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The cabinets and tile are bright white, so they will be left alone.  However, the cabinet hardware is currently brass so I plan on changing those out to an oil rubbed bronze finish.  I have my eye on these.

Cup pulls for the drawers.

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Knobs for the cabinet doors.

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(Note:  The fixtures that I have pictured are just ideas of what I want.  Not actual items that I will be using.)

The lighting above the mirrors will get replaced.  Currently, the lighting would match, but I don't like the style, so I'm thinking of something like this. (2 of these)

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The sink faucets are currently brass, so they will get changed out too. (2 of these)

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And, I can't forget the tub faucet!

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The shower sprayer will be replaced with a hand held shower (not shown) and a new handle like this.

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Our shower enclosure will either be replaced or painted.  Not sure yet.  It is brass too.  Can you tell that I'm desperate to move away from all the brass?!

I will also need towel rings. (2 of these)

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And toilet paper holder.

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For the middle of the floor, I'm thinking about a rug similar to this.

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All in all, this will not be my dream bathroom, but be an updated one to flow with the rest of my house better.  

Here is a bathroom with grey walls, white tile, and bronze fixtures.

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 I'm hoping to get "the feeling" of this room basically.  It is light and airy, but also classic with some farmhouse charm.

If it was my dream bathroom, then I would be doing a lot more.  So, this will have to be my  extreme budget version.  LOL!

We will begin working on this bathroom as time permits as we will be doing most of it ourselves.

I will take you along on the journey too!

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Kelly ~

Stylish Message Centers

Hello everyone!

This time of year, we're all organizing our calendars and organizing our lives basically.  So, chalkboards and other forms of message centers are a big part of that

I have this little chalkboard hanging in the hallway right outside my kitchen.  It is cute, all by itself, with it's wooden frame and metal basket to hold chalk etc.  However, I wanted to jazz it up just a little bit more.  My hallway is white and could use a little extra style and interest.  

This is how it started out (minus the writing).

But, I decided to add these little bitty garden pots, that I had, to the basket.  Then I filled them with some greenery.

Such an easy way to dress this little chalkboard up.

I love the rustic charm it has.

Another stylish way to keep organized is having a place to hold reminders and notes etc.  I don't like a bunch of magnets all over the refrigerator etc.  So, this metal message center solves that problem.  This hangs on the side of our refrigerator.  It's easy to clip a note to  whenever it is needed.

Do you have any innovative and stylish ways to stay organized in your home?

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kelly ~

Master Bedroom Mini Makeover

Hello everyone!

There is a great big smile on my face today! Do you know why?  Because the veil of clouds has lifted and given way to beautiful sunshine here in GA!  Not only that, but it will be sticking around all week long.  I'm looking forward to getting some things done in my basement and garage this weekend and getting my car washed finally.  

Since the weather, this past week, was SO awful, I decided to give my bedroom a mini makeover.  Remember when I hung the large old gate above my bed?  Well, that sort of started a domino effect and decided to make a few more changes.  We officially hung the gate up now, so no one has to worry about the gate falling on our heads anymore.

The first thing that changed was my bedding.  I bought this cute ruffled quilt from Target from Simply Shabby Chic.  It was on sale, so I grabbed it!  It will now allow me to have a spare now when the other comforter is being washed.  Having white bedding can cause lots of extra washing.

I also hung my cotton wreath back on the gate too.

The next thing I did was to use drop cloths as draperies in here (just as I've done in other areas of my house).  I like the lighter color and it allows me to be free to use whatever color or pattern I want in here compared to the checked panels that were in here before.

I added the grey bench to the foot of my bed.

Then, I changed up my bedside tables.  One of them included a new lampshade from Target too.  I just love how it looks when the light is on.

Here is the other side.  

I changed up the pillows in my chair too.

I'm bringing in more grey in here than the beige I had before.  

So, that's it for my mini makeover.  I'm getting anxious to work on the master bathroom in the near future so I can get it to match this room better now.  However, it won't be a mini makeover.  So, it will take some time and money.  We will do it in stages, I think.

Hope you have fun plans for the weekend and are getting some sunshine as well.

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Kelly ~

Decorating with Wooden Crates

Hello everyone!

How is your week going so far?  I don't know about you, but I am SO ready for some good old fashioned sunshine.  It has been rainy, cold, and foggy here for the last several days.  I don't know how you people in Seattle do it!  

So, since the weather is so dreary here, many of my photos show the lights turned on.  Hopefully, the photo police won't arrest me! (You know who you are!)  LOL!

I have a very strong affinity for old wooden crates.  Well, actually, any wooden crate, for that matter.  And if it has wording on it..........even better!  

I used this one on my kitchen table with some topiaries in it.  I love using plants to fill my crates.

I know I've shared this one before.  This is a very  old crate in my dining room.

I've also shared this one with you before.  It is an old crate with German writing.  It is used in my foyer.

I found this one recently and decided to place it under my old scale.  It's actually a wooden tray.

I love wooden trays too.  I have this extra large one on my coffee table.

This crate is one of my favorite newer ones because of the wood mixed with metal and the rope handles.  It sits on top of the refrigerator holding more plants.

One of my all time favorite combinations is an old bottle in a wooden crate.  I found this one at an antique mall last year.  It now sits on top of our computer cabinet in the kitchen.

And finally, I have this old milk crate in my family room.  

I think I know why I love old crates so much.  Since my home is mostly painted furniture and white walls, the warmth of the wood from the crates gives it a nice contrast.  I don't think I would like them so much if I had a lot of wood everywhere else in my home.  These pieces become interesting accents that also provide storage (if I should ever use them for that).  

Do you have something that you're drawn to that makes a difference in your home?

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kelly ~