May Reflection

Wow, who could believe that May went by that fast?!
I had SO MUCH stuff planned for this month, but I've barely done any of it!


1. Fix up the playhouse.
I need to get it painted, install carpet, and add curtains this month!

The only thing I have done was buy the remaining trim.


2. Buy new outdoor lights.
I like these ones from Lowes, but I can't make up my mind on which ones would look best on the house!

Priced at $49.00

Priced at $49.98

Priced at $24.98

Priced at $19.98











Which one would you put on this house?
Please help me decide!

I was thinking maybe the $24.98 one. I like that it's a bit bigger. Since the light wires are on the tops of the doors, I think I need something to cast a downward light. And since I only can have one fixture per door, I think it should be the bigger one.
What do you think?

After enough reader responses, I decided to go with the $24.98 ones. I haven't even thought of purchasing them yet. But at least they are picked out, right?

3. Get A's in my two Psych classes.
I dipped down to a B in one of them, but I'm determined to get it up!
Score! I got this one done! Straight A's for this past semester! I'm overwhelmingly proud of myself.

4. Paint the entryway.
Here's what the green should have been will be!

This is what I got.

Wow! Seriously?! Quite the difference, right? That's okay, we'll just redo it. No problem!
Nope, didn't even buy the paint.


5. Install my new flooring!
My carpet gets shampood at least once a week, and it still looks like this.

I'm soooo sick of it! This carpet just attracts dirt, even if I scotch guard it after shampooing it. So it's getting the same laminate flooring that's in my kitchen. I was coveting the bamboo, but it's more than double the price, and I have a huge living room. That wasn't in my budget!
It's sitting in the back of my vehicle, just waiting to be put in!
Done, done, done! This is the main reason that I didn't get much else done this month. This project snowballed into something epic.
It started out by replacing the flooring.
But with new flooring, and everything out of the room, might as well paint the walls.
But with new wall paint, I might as well add the board and batten trim I've been dying for!
But since I was adding wall trim, I should do my built-ins right away.

It turned into a full-on remodel!
The bookcases will be done by tonight!

6. Begin erecting our fence!
I'm ridiculously excited about this one! We've been wanting to build a fence since we bought our house, and it's finally going to happen! I just sent in the money for a land survery, then I'm off to get my permit!
It's going to be 6' planks around the backyard, but the front yard is going to get a low picket fence with a gate. I can't wait to start the flower beds around my picket fence!
We at least got the survey done. It's been done for a while. I haven't had much time to get the permit though. I just hate going to City Hall....lol

7. Begin getting my craft room ready.
We are getting rid of all of our basement furniture during our city's spring cleanup!
I REALLY wanted to clean out my basement room, but it ended up being the temporary dump place while I get my built-in bookshelves done. So it can't be done until I get these shelves done.

8. Trim out the rest of the kitchen cabinets.
I have all the trim already, I just need to force myself to get it done!

Ugh, no! However, I did buy the trim for it. Now if I can just get them cut...

9. Transplant as many lilac bushes as possible!
My neighbor gave me free reign to split and take all of his overgrown lilac bushes! It's a big mass, but I know that once I split them, they will flourish! I'm literally going to have 20 lilac bushes in my yard...lol! It's my favorite flower! I couldn't be happier!
This is all overgrown lilacs:

Haha, nope. See what I was saying about barely getting anything done?
I'm hoping to get some planted soon, though. They are done flowering, so this is a great time to transplant.

10. Build my circle bench.
The lumber shouldn't cost me that much. I'll definately show you when it's done!

Shoot, I forgot this one was even on my list. And honestly, it would only take me 2-ish hours to build. No excuse...

11. Buy some supplies to get my island transformation done.
Lol, yeah...like this is acutally going to happen...It's just wishful thinking!

Nope, didn't even buy supplies. Okay, ya know what? This one probably won't be done this year. I'm trying to be honest with myself. The painting has to be done in the summer. I'm building a fence this summer. There's no way that I will have the time/funding to get this done.
But it's on my "eventually" list.
Come back tomorrow for my June To-Do!

Beaten and Battered

Do you ever have those days when bad things happen over and over again?

Last night, I found out that my cordless drill has some killer torque. Instead of twisting the screw, it twisted my wrist.

My elbow felt like Jell-O.

My wrist made a terrible crunching noise.

It took me a moment to realize that, no, I did not break my wrist.

I shaved off a good deal of skin off my thumb.

I've hammered my thumb more times than need be.

My daughter clogged the bathroom sink with makeup wedges and flooded 3 rooms. I'm crossing my fingers that mold doesn't appear in my now soggy basement.

At one point I almost threw a hammer at my bookcases.

Count.

1....2....3...

Calm down...

My commitment has paid off, though.

The brute work of the bookcases is done.

I'm still installing the face trim, but that's easy-peasy.

My husband was a little worried about this project.

I have a habit of not writing up a detailed plan before I start.

My "blueprints" don't usually have any drawings on them. Just a ton of numbers/measurements for me to remember.

The drawings are in my head.

However, since a tutorial was requested by a reader, I did a few drawings and labeled some pieces.

I'll scan and post them on the final reveal!

A Bookcase Update

I realized that I haven't posted anything since Monday!

I've been super-busy, (okay, yesterday I went to the beach, but whatever!), but I was able to build at least one bookcase.

It's white behind the bookcase because the backing is painted beadboard.

It was cheaper than the unfinished beadboard, and it was going to get painted anyways.

So now I just have to build another on the other side, add all the face trim, prime and paint!

I have an entire Saturday off (that never happens!), so I'm cranking out as much as I can.

So, when you build bookcases, they should be properly anchored to a wall.

Portable bookcases will sometimes have a strap.

Built-ins should be anchored straight to a wall.

You can't anchor it through the backing. Backing is generally 1/8th of an inch.

That won't hold!

You have to anchor it through the main frame.

I knew that I needed a pocket-hole jig.

Kreg is definitely the way to go.

But at $149.99 for this master set?!

Wow...

I'm not a master wood crafter.

I just wanted two slanted holes!

So I found this Kreg Jig Mini.

The Kreg Tool site sells them for $21.99

I bought mine at Menards for $10.50.

It was perfect for what I needed!

It may turn out to be my new favorite tool.

;)

Anyways, I followed the instructions (different placement of the Jig and the bit stopper for different sized woods), and now my bookcase is securely attached to the wall studs.

Thank you, Kreg jig!

Beachy Cottage Bungalow (living room remodel)

I'm finally showing you the living room!

To date, this is my favorite remodel. Getting that stinky carpet out was a blessing!

I'm going to show you a series of "before" photos. These were taken before I even got my current entertainment center.

Don't mind the huge general mess. I didn't want to clean for some "before" pictures.

Yes, this is usually what it looks like.

I won't lie.

;)

So

Much

Stuff....

Ugh.

So we purged boxes and boxes of stuff.

Once the floor was done, I started on the board and batten.

Only the boards needed to be primed.

I used 1x4 boards for the baseboard and chair-rail, then 1x3 for the verticle boards.

I spaced them 18" on center.

The furniture was squished in the middle of the room for a while.

The screens had to be taken out of the windows because the windows were going to be painted.

(gasp)

I painted real wood!

;)

Sooooo....

Do you finally want to see how it turned out, my patient friends?

Much more airy!

Besides the formal furniture (which will be replaced next year!), it feels so much more open and clean!

I love that area rug!

We replaced our bookcase (that my father-in-law made!) with a toybench (that my father-in-law made!)

You'll see why it's gone in a second (don't worry, we didn't toss it, just moved it to a different room!)

And my vintage "Rubbers" box came in. It's even better than I had hoped! It perfectly fits "his" and "hers" magazines, and the other slot is perfect for a throw blanket!

And what a nice conversation starter.

;)

The patio door got a white makeover as well.

I rearranged some decor for the entertainment center.

Don't you like how it pops off the white wall?

Here's a closer look at my new vases.

They were given to me by a good friend, Alicia, before she moved two states over.

=(

This is what they started out from.

She tried making them candles by just melting a ton of candles.

And it didn't turn out.

So I had to fix it.

I put a sheet of wax paper on a cookie sheet, placed the vases upside-down, then turned the oven to it's lowest setting (170 degrees).

Don't worry, it won't bust the glass!

After a while, the wax melts to the bottom.

Just keep changing out the wax paper, and before you know it, they will be clean!

Then it got a few coats of white spray paint.

Much better!

A big bag of building blocks for my daughter

<3

And the topiaries got a makeover.

We needed to replace the ceiling fan, so I went with this tropical-looking one.

It's so fun!

(P.S. Beer-induced Wii Tennis near a ceiling fan is NOT a good idea!)

You can kind of see the old fan there.

Ugly.

Here's a better view of the new bamboo roll-up shades.

These are the best (and cheap!) option if you want a beachy cottage bungalow look!

And of course, there's always a catch!

I'm not actually done....

See this wall?

I didn't even bother painting it because we (as in I) will be making built-in bookcases surrounding the door.

This is what it will look like.

Don't laugh at my Photoshop skills....

lol.

This is my husband's face after learning that it could take me another 2 weeks just to make the bookcases.

Haha!

Anyways, the end of the month is coming here quickly. I'm just telling ya now, I've barely covered May's To Do List!

This room took more time than I thought, mostly because I decided to do a major overhaul of my living room, not just installing new flooring, lol!

I hope everyone likes it, and I will "see" you soon!

Tomorrow!

The wait is almost over!

I have everything done in the living room, but unfortunately, I will be working all day today, and by the time I get home, the lighting won't be good enough for pictures.

So expect the grand reveal tomorrow!