So, how did I score?

Hi there Friends!  Gung Hay Fat Choy!

With it being the Chinese New Year and all, I figured it would be a good time to revisit my House Goals from 2011 and see how I scored. And then, of course, set some new house goals for 2012!  Ok, ok, give me a break…I guess I’m a month late on this whole goal setting thing, but it’s really never too late, is it?  Ok, good.

So last year for the first time I set some house goals for the year. Here’s a quick summary of what they were:

1. Fix the large hole/ install lights in my kitchen ceiling

2. Build a kitchen island

3. Paint the fireplace

4. Finish the master bath remodel

5. Paint my son’s room

6. Install board and batten in the family room

7. Paint the main living space

8. Paint the interior doors

9. Paint the exterior of the house

10. Paint the mailbox

11. Do something with the broken shutters in the master bedroom

So….how did I do? 

Score: 8/11= 73%…hummm, C-. Well, ok, could have been a little better, but I had a few ambitious goals!

Let’s review, shall we?

1. Fix the hole in the kitchen ceiling/ install a light so I don’t have to cook in the dark: Big fat FAIL!

Here’s how my kitchen ceiling looked one year two-and-a-half years ago and here’s how it still looks today:

But that’s not to say we haven’t thought about it! We’ve actually had a few contractors out to bid a huge skylight that will cover approximately a 4ft by 6ft space on the ceiling! And then we’ll hang a chandelier down and add a few can lights on the right. So we’re getting there!

2. Build a kitchen island: COMPLETED!

I fell in love with the Restoration Hardware reclaimed wood kitchen island and just had to have it. Since it was too large for my space, the only thing that made sense was to build one myself! So that’s just what I did. I found some reclaimed barn wood, purchased a slab of Carrera marble and started sanding. See all the details here and here.

3. Paint the fireplace: COMPLETED!

My husband was away on business for a couple of days, so I took that opportunity to surprise him with a newly painted fireplace AND I built a mantel to go with it

(I think I deserve extra credit for that one!)

See the painting here and mantel building here.

4. Finish the master bathroom remodel: COMPLETED!

The whole reason I started this blog: to chronicle the remodel of our master bathroom for my family to see. You see, as a child, my parents built the two houses I grew up in. See, this isn’t my fault, it’s in my genes! I wanted an easy way for them to follow our first remodeling project in our “new” house. And so the blog was born. See the  progress here and here.

 

5. Paint my son’s bedroom: COMPLETED!

After 250 paint chips on his walls, I finally narrowed it down to a small handful of colors and let my son chose the final color.  His choice: Benjamin Moore Quiet Moments…and a great choice that was. My little prodigy. So proud.

6. Install Board and Batten in the family room: COMPLETED!

We were so thrilled with how the board and batten looked in the family room, that we decided to install it in our master bedroom, too! 

I think that deserves some extra credit as well!

See the progress here and the finished product here. And then the follow up to my finished product (the insanity post) here. And the she-is-seriously-crazy post here.

7. Pick a paint color for the family room: COMPLETED!

Actually, that should read: completed TWICE!!!  Again, some extra credit please? 

I painted the family room once in Benjamin Moore Nimbus Gray, and then again in a 50% formula of Nimbus Gray (after trying a 25% formula). See the contemplation here and here.

Now, I shouldn’t even mention the next part of this story, but we’re friends, so I’m gonna anyways…I’m in the process right NOW of painting it AGAIN. But you know what I say to my husband, I’m not really crazy, I just love this stuff!  Changing the paint color in your home is one of the biggest bangs for the buck you can get. I remind him to be happy that I’m just buying a $50 can of paint and not a $3000 sofa every time I want to change up the look. See, it could be a lot worse!

8. Paint the interior doors: FAIL!

I really really want new interior doors, actually. So I probably won’t waste the time painting our current doors. Here’s what I am drooling over:

Source: The Pleated Poppy

9. Paint the exterior of the house: FAIL!

Ok, I got a few bids for this (I think it may be too big of a project for me to tackle by myself: paint chipping, dry rot, lead paint…um, yeah) but I had no idea painting the exterior would be so expensive.  Here in N. California, my bids are around $7000.  Ouch!

10. Paint the mailbox: COMPLETED!

I spray painted my ugly gold mail box almost a year ago and I’m very happy to report, it’s holding up beautifully! No need to repaint any time soon.  See how I did it here.

11. Fix the shutters in the master bedroom: COMPLETED!

A while back my sweet doggie panicked and torn apart the shutters in our master bedroom. You can read about it here. So finally a year later I took them down and replaced them with my new favorite drapes from World Market. See the details here.

Let’s rescore this now…I completed 8 of 11 projects, but earned extra credit on 3 of them…so that brings my score to, well what do you know: 11/11= 100% Yay me! Smile!

Stay tuned for my House Goals of 2012 coming up shortly. I bet you can make some strong predictions!

Hugs, Celeste

 

 

 

Picture of the Day {bet you’ve never seen THIS!}

Need an explanation?

I am dusting the cobwebs off the ceiling of my master bedroom, getting it ready to be painted.

Wanna see more craziness?

This is my “bedroom”, aka the playroom.  Do you like the window coverings?  My attempt to block the street light from spotlighting us all night.  Sheesh!  My kids think it’s the coolest fort mommy has ever built. 

Here’s the playroom from another angle…you’ll see my headboard/footboard, all the clothes from both of our closets and several dressers:

Someone else snuck in that pic!

I’ve been getting dressed in the living room:

Oh and the living room is also multi-tasking: storing the new oak floor boards as they acclimate and also the baseboards hiding on the left.

Got more time?

Two years ago we replaced {almost} all of the carpet in our house with hardwood floor.  Well, that’s not really true, the whole house already HAD hardwood floor…upon ripping up the old carpet, we discovered that virtually the entire house was covered in solid oak wood planks.  We had to add some new boards to the kitchen and then had the whole thing sanded and stained {you think I have trouble picking paint…you have no idea the pain it caused me picking out a stain that would cover ALL the floors in my house for the next 20 years…oh the pressure!}  I ended up making a custom blend of 4 parts ebony and 1 part mahogany…but that’s yet another post {I know you don’t have time for that story today!} 

At any rate, the entry, hallway, great room, dining room, kitchen and kids’ bedrooms all were refinished at the same time and I couldn’t be happier!  I wouldn’t have picked oak if I were starting from scratch, but I have to admit, I LOVE it and I can’t imagine anything else. 

But as the budget would have it, we didn’t have enough to finish our master bedroom {why is it that we always prioritize the master bedroom dead last??}  Our master bedroom underwent an addition years before I was born moved in and therefore only about 1/4 of the floor had the original hard wood…the rest was just plywood under carpet. 

You can see above where the hardwood stops and the plywood starts.  And there’s my two-timing husband {he works a full time day job and comes home to hours of work on the house after the kids are in bed…the sweet guy}

So we got the floor all ripped up last night and then it dawned on me…if we’re ever gonna paint the ceiling {right now it’s a sad dingy old white beige} right now is the time.  The hardwood floor guys come on Wednesday morning, we have exactly 24 hours left to paint the ceiling or forever stare at yellow every morning for the next 30 years.  Of course, the choice is obvious…there I was at the paint store this morning.  And that brings us back to Doe!

Just prepping the ceiling.  Where do all those spiders hide in the day?  They sure had an extensive highway system mapped out.   Ewwwww!

After bedtime tonight, you’ll find me with my favorite guys: Benny, Purdy and my dear Hubby….And tomorrow morning, bring on the dust!  Smile!

House Goal #3: Paint Fireplace

Welcome to part two of “While the cat’s away the mice will play” aka:

 “Husband is out of town- quick, re-decorate!”

Today I decided to tackle item #3 on my House Goals for 2011: Paint the flagstone fireplace.

If you recall from Part One of “While the Cat’s Away,” I installed drapery rods and panels in the dining room, which was not on my goal sheet…so today I’m back on track. Whew.

Here is a BEFORE the before picture…taken a week before we bought the house:

And here is a before, as in last week it looked like this:

Painting Jars with chalkboard paint

 Last week I showed you how to paint mason jars that mimic the old vintage blue/aqua jars from years past…today I want to share one other way I’ve painted mason jars and that’s with chalkboard paint.  I just love chalkboard paint and am so excited when I discover another way to use it.  {Have you seen the chalkboard walls in my kitchen and dining rooms? Click here!} I wanted to create a place to write my kids’ names on these jars. So I taped off an area with blue painter’s tape.  I just eye-balled it.

Then I painted the small area with chalkboard paint.
I love this chalkboard paint from Rust-oleum!  Did you know it comes in a rainbow of colors?  But the scariest most exciting thing is that it also comes in a tint-able white!  Oh, help me!  I’d be at the paint counter for days trying to get just the right color.  So for now I’m sticking with black!
 
                        One coat                                                Two coats
 
                     Three coats                                                  Four coats

After 5 coats I peeled back the tape and Voila!  A cute spot to label your jars.

I use mine for our family’s positive discipline incentive program.  We fill them with wooden balls to be redeemed for a special treat. 

You can read all about our ball jars here!

Also, I think they’re cute in the bathroom…

I’m sure you can think of dozens of ways to use them!

Spray Painting Picture Frames {a tutorial}

I have a huge wall of pictures that are all framed in wooden cherry frames

and since we’re recently added board and batten and repainted this room {again and again} the frames no longer go with the new look

{Napa style reds/mustards/browns meet fresh 2011 beachy look…NAH!}

{I tested a few black fames, too.}

So I have decided I need to paint the frames…and most likely they will be white.  But that’s another story for another day.

Before attacking these over-priced Restoration Hardware Gallery Frames with a can of spray paint, I figured I’d better practice on some less expensive frames first. {I only have one other spray paint experience…my mailbox!}

Enter: my son’s Ikea frames which are baby blue and don’t go with his new-found 7 year old style.

It was actually quite easy and I am confident in my abilities now to spray paint my photo wall frames! 

Here’s the how to:

Step 1:

Lightly sand your frames with 220 grit sand paper.  Don’t worry you sanding-haters, this is FAST! Just a few seconds per frame will do it. 

{No! That’s not my cell phone right next to me as I work…that’s a newspaper ad. I still have the ol’ flip phone and love it.}

Step 2:

Using a damp rag, clean off the sanding residue.

{Oh my word, are those age spots on my hands?}

Moving right along.

Step 3:

Lay your frames on something you don’t care about and make sure to do this outside…the fumes from spray paint are awfully toxic.  Also, best to do this on a perfectly calm day, no wind.

Unfortunately, I had one afternoon to complete this project while my son was away that I HAD to work under slightly breezy conditions…if that’s your situation, be sure to firmly secure your paper down so it doesn’t blow up over the wet paint.

Step 4:

Start a sprain’.

I used Rust-Oleum’s Painter’s Touch Semi-gloss in black.

After 3 coats {4 in a few places} about 15 minutes apart, I was happy with the coverage.  I didn’t want any blue peeking through…not for these boy frames. Not when you see what is about to go in them!  And I find the semi-gloss a great finish for these frames.  It’s not super shiny at all, but has a nice sheen to it. Also, since these are not going to get much wear and tear {knock on wood, they are going in a 7 year old boy’s room} I don’t feel they need a clear coat on top. The sheen is perfect as is.

Step 5:

Dry the full 24 hours…just like a manicure, you’re bound to nick them if you break this rule.

Step 6:

Insert your photo and smile…now that was easy peasy!

I told you any blue peeking through wouldn’t work for this ‘lil project. 

But…when I paint my wall O frames to go above my board and batten, a little blue peeking through the white painted frames is gonna look so key-ute!

However, today it’s all about my darling son…he’s gonna love them!

And in retrospect, a few nicks here and there probably wouldn’t have hurt a thing!

linking up to this fun spray paint party!!

Painting Mason Jars

Hey there! A couple of weeks ago I was delighted to be featured on the amazing blog: Tatertots and Jello!

In case you missed my post over there, I wanted to be sure to share it with you here, as it’s such a cute and easy project…
painting mason jars!