We work hard on making sure our home is nicely decorated and comfortable. We paint, hang pictures and artwork, pick out our furniture, fixtures, etc., and find rugs to suit our look. We want people to come into our home, look around, and comment on how nice it is. What we often don't think about, though, is what they're stepping on. If everything is beautiful around them, but they're walking on a noticeably uncomfortable floor, it changes the mood of a room, whether it's something we realize or ... Read More
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New Zealand Musings
This past weekend we went to the USA Eagles v New Zealand All Blacks rugby game. Scott introduced me to rugby early in our relationship and I fell in love with the game instantly. I'm lucky to have had my first experiences of the game with the All Blacks and they've been my team ever since. Scott rarely misses a game, even if it means he's getting up at 2am to watch them play. There's something really special about watching them play. As you know, Scott's a Kiwi. The girls all have dual ... Read More
Home Exterior Upgrades on Hometalk
I was recently asked to curate a clipboard for Hometalk on Home Exterior Upgrades. I jumped at the chance because we are in the process of doing many ourselves. The amazing and inspirational projects I found on Hometalk were unreal and I'm so excited to share some of them with you! Just click on the picture to see everything! You know that we recently updated our front door. I chose some other awesome front door makeovers. We're in the middle of getting the house stained and have other ... Read More
Small Bathroom Update
Our poor small bathroom went on pause while we worked on other projects around the house. We finally finished a few of the in-progress pieces in there. The wallpaper is hung. It may be my current favorite thing in the whole house. I painted the cabinet. I decided to go dark because the wallpaper is so bright. I didn't want the room to be overbearing or cartoony. I think it balances well. I used DecoArt's Chalky Finish Paint in Relic and Creme Wax in Clear. We replaced the ... Read More
Dining Room Update and How to Remove Wallpaper
Once we made the decision to take down the painted wallpaper in the dining room, we got to work. This is what we started with: It's not pretty. We decided to us this chance to make the room everything we wanted, even if it takes longer. We decided on this as our new baseboard. It's wider and we feel it's a better fit for the room. The first thing we did was remove the existing baseboard and chair rail. It's pretty simple if you have the right tools. This moulding puller is ... Read More
Dining Room Fail
When we left off, our intrepid painters were pulling away the tape to reveal the finished stripes on the dining room wall and it was time to get to work on the trim. And so we did. It's such a glamorous job. We used a three step process. We cleaned it with TSP, primed it with Zinsser Primecoat, and finally painted it with Behr semi-gloss enamel. Two coats of primer and three coats of paint. After the third coat of paint, we still weren't happy with how it was looking, but ... Read More