Splendid Minta Annual Report: House Projects

It's that time again.

Time to revel in 2010's accomplishments and I think it's safe to say, our house has come a long way baby.
without further ado, 2010's DIY projects:
a) installed a medicine cabinet in the master bath; b) the front yard got a haircut; c) painted the paneling and trim in the den; d) up-cycled 5 thrift store lamps

a) refurbished a set of vintage bouncy patio chairs; b) removed the pergola-thingy blocking the den windows; c) painted our wrought-iron fence; d) built our spindle-leg farm table

a) removed lovely floral wallpaper in our master bath and installed a new light; b) ripped out the old closet and installed a more efficient system in our master closet; c) painted the front door glossy black; d) turned the ugly 80's brass chandy into a showstopper

a) painted our found (in the attic!!) twin bed frames; b) painted the hallway a moody smokey grey; c) gave our kitchen a major face-lift with paint; d) pressure washed all our sidewalks, siding and patios - MAJOR GROSS!

a) built our own hutch/sideboard; b) chopped down the monster Lady Banks Rose bush; c) built a raised bed garden and had a bumper crop last summer; d) painted the dining room 3 times, yes, 3 times - this shows color #2 and color #3 is the cut in color - much better.

WOW.

We did a lot. In total we probably spent about $600 on all the projects above - most of the cost being for lumber and paint. Lots and lots of paint. I cannot even begin to tell you the amount of man hours spent. I am overwhelmed thinking about it all.

Looking forward to 2011 - the house projects will be scaled back a bit while I am in school but I do want to accomplish the following:
- painting the moulding in the ENTIRE HOUSE, all the same color of course
- giving the pink bathroom a free (or mostly free facelift)
- possibly moving the laundry facilities from the kitchen to the soon-to-be mudroom/laundry/craft room.
- stripping and re-caulking & painting the windows on the outside of the house.

cracked crack

Remember the one about the Peppermint Crack?

Here is what it looks like cracked.
I packaged it all up for our co-workers, mailman and sweet friends.
and batch #2, to be made on Christmas Eve will be enjoyed by friends on Christmas Day.
This crack is so not whack.

Inspiration Dumping Ground: Kitchen Ideas

Seems I've gotten a little flak from you-know-who about how many photos I save for "inspiration". He's really right, my desktop is riddled with photos like if only I had a kitchen like this, or our next house HAS to have a dining room with a fireplace ... hey a girl can dream!

In an effort to condense my desktop folder, I've decided to dump 'em here. Hopefully they'll inspire you too. Up first, the Kitchen Collection

Now that they are all in one spot, you can see the common threads that I'm drawn to: simple, white based - yet colorful, a touch whimsical or retro, charming spaces that invite you in for a cup of coffee or canning party with your girlfriends.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Eric and I just woke up from our post Thanksgiving feast nap. I bet you are doing the same thing right about now.Since this Thanksgiving it's just Eric and I, we planned on just making a special pot roast and maybe some mashed potatoes but I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to really COOK. So I ended up making a pot roast with carrots and onions, sweet potato fries, baked mac & cheese, deviled eggs, and to top it all off, a walnut pumpkin pie. Let's just say we have some leftovers.

Today I am thankful for so much but I think the quote of the day goes to Eric, "I am thankful for things we have but also for all the things we don't." AMEN.

excuse me, I'm off for round 1 of the leftover party that is in my fridge.

The Betty Draper Kitchen - After

You remember what it looked like before right?....
Well, no more. We promptly (as in less than a month after closing on this puppy - which was about a year ago now. Man I am late in sharing these pics) painted them.

Lets just say that this little guy and I are BFFs now.
We primed with Kilz and primed and primed... and my hand almost fell off. All the doors lived in our sunroom for a few days.
And our kitchen looked straight out of an episode of Hoarders for awhile.
We decided we were going to replace the hardware since it was a nice dated "copper" hammered look. BUT... the problem was the doors have this little beveled edge and there is not a hinge out there that would sit right. Without either trimming all sides of the doors or changing the doors so the hinges would sit inside the cabinets and re-drilling everything, we were SOL. So we kept the hardware BUT we did give it a coat of gloss black spray paint and updated the drawer pulls to the half circle looking kind. Not a major improvement but it when you pair it with the new paint job it looked cute and modern and still a little bit cottage/country. Finally... the after shot - the color is "Coastal Jeddy" which is an old Sherwin Williams color - but we had it mixed in Valspar.
The counter tops were here when we moved in as well as the black dishwasher but they work so much better now... eventually I would love to put Carerra (sp?) marble in but for now the gleaming white Formica is just fine. We also upgraded the faucet when my brother-in-law...you're never going to believe this...decided to stab our old one while washing knives. Literally he cut our old faucet right at the place where the water comes out so whenever you turned the water on you got sprayed right in the face. Hilarity ensued and my father-in-law and brother-in-law wrestled with the old one for about an our before this beauty finally went into place. I've always loved the scalloped detail but I really love it in grey. swoon. They just don't make that kind of detail anymore. Suck it new construction.