The Help

Okay so this is unrelated to any renos we have going on but I just had to share this gem. The Help by Kathryn Stockett was amazing. The characters were so captivating and well developed. The story line kept me turning pages. It was thought provoking and intense at times. If you are looking for a good read, I would suggest this!

It generated tons of great reviews all over blogland and I figured I would give it a chance. Now I understand what all the fuss was about! Have any of you read this book? What are your thoughts? Do you have any great books to recommend?

Living Room Design Ideas..

Here is Design Idea Numero Uno..




We have already purchased the big items like the couch and chairs.. so if your all "Ew those are ugly" dont comment that because I might burst into tears. That furniture was our first big people purchase together. How exciting!

The style? Well.. I love the beachy cottage look but usually those are more white on white and I'm going to be honest.. I live in my house.. I eat popcorn on my couch with cream soda. Accidents happen thats why we purchased the extra STAIN PROTECTION WARRANTY. So now that we have agreed I'm sloppy, the style has to accommodate. That is to say, hide accidents that may or may not occur. I like modern lines, but I feel sometimes TOO MANY modern lines lead to a house not feeling comfy and cozy. So you will see modern in the coffee table chosen above and the ikea bookshelf between the chairs but they are complemented by the oversized couch/chair cushions.

We also like to think of ourselves as environmentally conscious. At least, thats what we strive for. Thomas loves bamboo and I do too! So the blinds are bamboo and the rug is jute. I think it gives the room a little nature vibe? And talking about nature.. check out that starburst mirror made of wood. I think it rocks. The picture collage above the couch would be a collection of personal photos and possibly some art prints.

Another consideration is storage. I added those wicker baskets for lack of a better solution. There wouldn't be much of it with this furniture so thats something I need to work on.

Anyways.. This is a work in progress.. I will rearrange the board and share more when the time comes. But for now this is a sneak peek at whats going on inside my brain!

Ideas? Love it? Hate it? Too neutral? Let me know! I'm a big girl I can take it, unless its about my already-purchased-too-late-to-return furniture... Then I'm a baby.

And you thought we were going to stick with the retro lino..

First of all, you'll notice a diffrent color on the walls..



My friend here is a painter! I am lucky to have her because I am a terrible painter. There aren't many things Thomas isn't good at.. but.. lets just say lightly.. painting is not his forte. We were so thankful for the extra help and to have an expert around!

We chose the Aurora brand from Benjamin Moore. This is an amazing paint + primer in one. Personally I haven't used other brands like Behr, but based on the research and reviews I've read its not very good. BM's Aurora was expensive but we didn't have to prime so that made it okay. Its also low VOC and thats really important to us. The BLUE kitchen of mine had me a little worried but this paint got the job done in ONE COAT.

In the kitchen we painted Benjamin Moore's Baffin Island..



And the living room got a facelift with Benjamin Moore's Seaspray..



Okay so after we painted the walls we had to wait for the ceiling to finish up (sand,sand,paint,stamp)so that slowed us down a little but as soon as it was finished production sped up 10fold!




The flooring we bought is a Costco special. It was a great deal and THICK at 14mm. It's laminate so installation wasnt as difficult as a hardwood. Thomas installed all 500ish SqFT himself and made it look easy breezy. We decided to leave the bedrooms carpet for now and just install the laminate in the kitchen, living room, and hallway.




Hey Wendee.. this wasn't planned you know.. but I'm glad your gift got in the picture! I love them! :)

Please disregard my messy closet! I've warned you.. now onto the hallway ch-ch-changes..

Before



After



Alrighty. That concludes the floor update. Next we have to finish installing baseboards..



Do you know how hard it is to chose a baseboard style? Which one do you like best here?

Back!

I'm Sorry!! I've been a terrible blogger!!

Actually, we've just been crazy busy. We had to get the house ready for our House Warming. We were up some pretty late nights but we did it! The party was a success.. even if it was all a blur to me. We had a great time with family and friends and can't wait for the next BBQ. We left for Vegas the next day (who does the PLANNING around here??) and we are back... alive!


Vegas 2010 - Red Rock Canyon

We finished up a couple major house projects and a few minor ones that I can't wait to post. I want to add some more detail but they should be up tonight or tomorrow. Hope to see you all around and commenting! :)



By the way.. this guilty summer pleasure starts in 1 more sleep.. !!!!

I think I'm having too much fun..

I'm really sorry for the jumping around room to room posting but.. thats actually how we do things. We get home from work and start fixing up whatever we feel like.

Today.. I had a feeling..

This little baby cost me 40 big ones at Home Depot. Its not your traditional wallpaper though.. I didn't want someone to go through what I went through to remove the wallpaper in this room. This wallpaper just peels right off when you dont want it on your wall anymore..









A little before action..







A little after shot..





Yay! I dunno about you, but I'm diggin it!


I have a lot of ideas for this room. Thomas said I could do whatever I want! ... He has created a monster..

I always enjoy popcorn..

Except when its on our ceiling.

Thats right everyone. Our very 60's ceiling is gone and heres how it went down in picture form..

This was the best BEFORE shot I could find.. Okay its a little dramatic.. this is what was underneath our lovely room divider and the whole ceiling is not like this.. but you can see the old texture really well around the brown scrungy looking stuff.. :)



Cue dexter.. I mean Thomas.. We taped up the area floor to ceiling in poly to decrease the amount of dust that would travel through the rest of the house. I'm not sure what it would have been like withOUT the poly but I dont want to know.. because I'm still finding ceiling dust where ceiling dust should not be. And the smell was awful. Not a garbage-io smell but like thick heavy dust smell that you dont want to enter your lungs..



A little messy..



Slightly better..





After much discussion we ended up hiring someone to do the rest. Somethings are best left to the pros.







A close look at the overall finished product. We are really happy with our new knock down ceiling and it makes SUCH a big diffrence!

Goodbye Lino, Goodbye carpet

Remember when I gave a small subtle hint about our floors? Well heres a bit of detail!


The start of a very messy situation..



The plywood and lino were pried up. Why? The floors are now even throughout the living room and hallway for the NEW floors to go in..



What we discovered under it all.. Why would you ever want to replace this beautiful even OLDER lino.. I just can't even imagine...







And here is the ritual known to all men.. Stand back, look, and enjoy the work you have just done.





The carpet really didn't seem all that bad.. until we ripped them up and discovered the grung. Yuck! Adios!







From floor to ceiling, this house is getting a makeova! *hinthinthint*