Bath Remodel and Sewing

So another before and after. Been here now almost two years and it never ends.

Always something to do, which is fine that's the point of having your own home, right?

I've been home for a week, sick, so sick I couldn't lift my head up. I thought I may have actually gone through a winter and not catch a cold.

WELL, this cold has made up for that. Coughing and sounding as if there is a dog barking inside of me. UGH!!

Anyway,

I was going through some pictures of projects and realized I haven't post any of them.

First one is of the half bath.

Oh that was a scary room. Very 70's with the gold and black.

Gold wallpaper, thankfully this was the only room in the house that had wallpaper.

Black vanity and mirror, and wait for it

Black toilet seat with that nasty cushion on it!!

Oh it was awful. Absolutely gross. And like everywhere else in this place,

it smelled.

So after removing the wallpaper, and the toilet and the strange toilet paper holder

Martha Stewart Moss green paint, new fixtures and new light.

Same vanity just painted white and painted the frame around mirror white as well.

 

And of course a new toilet. Painting above is from a friend who's dad is a very talented artist, I love his stuff and it went great in here with the colors.

Then later I bought some fabric to cover the vanity with. It's the only original thing in this house, other than the hot tub downstairs.

We plan on replacing the vanity, but in the meantime, I wanted to hide it, even though I painted the cabinet I still didn't like the way it looked.

Colors in there are moss green with eggplant color. Love those combinations.

Still have to finish some trim in here as well as throughout the house.

Also did some skirting in the laundry room.

Sink Before

Sink After

Well, that's it for now. There will be more, especially with the warm weather coming I hope to have a lot done with our back yard.

 

 



A New Year

(vibrantraze.blogspot.com)

So here we are, it is September.

Summer is almost over, kids are back to school.

This time of year always feels like a new year is starting.

Not January, but September, I guess it's because we

start to do yard clean up, getting things that have overgrown dug up,

new plantings going in for next Spring, we're putting away our summer clothes to bring out those warm ones,

washing linens and bringing out the warm blankets.

I love this time of year, I don't know about where you're at but here

the nights are cooling down.

I know we'll have an occasional warm day, but it won't be stifling.

We've had so much rain that I hope we have a beautiful Fall season.

(livescience.com)

Although we live a half hour from D.C., we just have to drive the opposite direction and in 15 minutes we're driving back country roads that I can't wait to do when the leaves change.

It's been a busy summer, a nice summer, some real hot days, but also some not so bad days, so I'm not complaining, but I'm ready for Fall and then Winter when we can put logs into our fireplace and cozy up.

Start cooking those yummy comfort stews and soups, baking new recipes, and maybe getting some crafting done.

We have finished our kitchen remodel, I just need to take pictures now. We'd like to add tile to our wall, but it's such a commitment that we can't decide what we want, so when the time is right we'll get right on that, but for now, everything is finally done.

Still have some other around the house projects that we need to finish up, hopefully it'll get done before this year is over.

But tomorrow, I will go paint shopping and get some fresh new plants to replace the overgrown ones in our pots.

Also get some ideas for a Fall Centerpiece that I can leave on our table when not in use and that my furry creatures can't break if they get curious.

I like this one

(bhg.com)

Or maybe this one

(momsbyheart.net)

I may have a long and narrow plate like this, not sure, but this is simple and pretty, I'd add a candle in the middle for height.

I like this one the most

(sophisticatedyellow.com)

So many ideas out there in Google world plus craft stores have been Fall ready since end of July, which was insane, I don't get why they keep on pushing these seasons earlier and earlier each year. Do people start buying stuff that early?

It's July and it's 90 degrees out, the last thing on my mind is Fall décor.

But now, I'm ready! I have to control myself and not put out the Fall wreathes on our front door and gate side yard entrance. The day it's officially Fall, I'll have them ready to be put up.



Gluten Free Blackberry Cake

Over the weekend, after the Hurricane scare was over,

which was after the earthquake scare was over as well around here.

(tornado a mile from our house in May, so scary, then the earthquake that made my sofa literally bounce, now the hurricane, we finally got our emergency back packs ready for the "just in case we have to run" situation!)

I was ready to make a new recipe, gluten free. I received an email

with this delicious looking cake and I had to try it.

It is absolutely delicious and moist and if you served it to your non-gluten free friends, they'd never know the difference.

The recipe is from

Bella Gluten Free

and it is so easy to make and so delicious, the only thing is that the recipe doesn't call for any salt so I added a 1/2 teaspoon and it came out delicious.

Great with coffee or tea.

Next time I will make it with blueberries, because I LOVE blueberries!

On another subject, I added a curtain to my kitchen window which I left bare because the views from there are just beautiful and I didn't want anything to cover that up, plus we only get the morning sun there so I wanted to keep from putting anything up that blocked any natural light.

Going through my moms linens a week ago and we came across these pretty lacy table top runners and I took one to turn into a valance

It lets all the light in and the color goes perfectly, it's a cream color. I didn't even bother making holes in our walls I just hung the rod over on top of our cabinets and added cafe rings.

Can you see the pretty lace detail? Mom had a bunch of these in different sizes so I think I may be picking out some more when I see them again in New York.

Hope your day is as beautiful as mine!



Gluten Free Yumminess and Redecorating

I made some wonderful, peanut butter filled chocolate cupcakes

by using Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Choc cake mix then found a

recipe from Taste of Home website

PB filled Chocolate Cupcakes

and they turned out so good, the only thing I would do differently

is add more PB in the cupcakes, the recipe says a "scant"

whatever that means, but I'll add more,

either way they turned out moist and yummy.

DH is a peanut butter freak, and I say that in a very loving way,

so when he came home I surprised him with these.

They need to be refrigerated, so before you eat one, let it sit

out for a half hour and they're perfect.

Very tempted to have one right now for breakfast, hmmm!

I also made salmon, one of our favorite meals,

salmon has been so expensive lately so when it

FINALLY went on sale, I bought some and made

Salmon Dill

You salt and pepper your salmon, then add chopped garlic

and chopped dill and sprinkle over it.

Next you slice lemons and place over the chopped herbs

and sprinkle with chopped green onions.

Cover it like a gift

Lay it on a sheet of aluminum foil before seasoning,

after seasoning then lay another sheet over it

and close in the edges tightly.

Bake it at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or till it flakes

easily

Then you have this wonderful, fresh goodness.

We had it with a BLT salad that I got from Allrecipes

website.

We were very happy!

I also decided to do a little furniture arranging.

Since I was a kid I was

ALWAYS

rearranging my bedroom, I get bored easily with the same

look,

so I rearranged our sitting area off the kitchen, one of my

favorite spots in the house.

So it went from this

To this

I feel by moving the folded table over closer to the fridge it

allowed more light to come in.

I like angling furniture, not sure what it is but I like the look

of it and I feel that sometimes, not always, it opens

up the room a bit.

So I'll live with this for a while, or if the house sells,

we have two more months from today before the contract is up

then we'll decide what to do.

Hope you enjoyed my recipe ideas and decorating ideas.



Sick and Tired

Since November I have been sick

FOUR times this year.

This last virus, which Doctors don't

seem to know what it is,

has kicked my butt big time!

It took me 15 days to get well,

but to end the virus I

got

PINK EYE!

I thought I was Six years old

all over again!

Today is a good day, it has taken

another week to

feel myself again.

But before I got so sick,

DH and I had another home project.

We went to IKEA,

LOVE LOVE LOVE that place

and we picked out storage.

(one up three more to go)

(you can see what we painted before on the walls, a bright yellow, ugh) 

(finally up now we need to screw into the wall and together)

(this outlet was behind the cabinets and DH did a good job of

exposing it)

(all we have to do now is add the doors, but wait, they were the

wrong size, so another week later we put on the right doors but had

to remove the drawers and redo them, frustrating. Nowhere in the

directions does it say to put on doors FIRST before adding

interior pieces, UGH!)

(while we waited to get the new doors I added all my stuff,

couldn't wait...:) I still have room)

(as you can see one door is missing, we have it but we didn't

realize that these doors needed four hinges, so we ran out, again

NOWHERE in the directions does it tell you how many

hinges you need for these doors....UGH!)

(so we moved our sideboard in front of the window, do you

see my sweet Latte there?)

(you don't realize how tall they are in the store

until you bring them home!)

So hopefully by next week we'll

have our door added

to the pantry.

Our home is lacking in closets.

Love the older homes

but wish they had better storage,

so we added our own.

Two coat closets, a broom closet

and a pantry.

We love it, it has certainly added

something to our home.

Love IKEA but they certainly don't

have the best directions

on their stuff.

But it won't discourage me from

shopping there!

How Peaceful

Hello, hope you're all well

out there

in blog world!

I've seened over and over

again

so many of you are taking

a break,

time for either working

in the yard,

time for family and vacations

or time

for

just

you!

That's what I've been doing.

Taking a break,

from

sewing,

blogging

and those

not so

important

things.

We've been busy

working

around the house,

gardening,

I'll post those later.

But I was

browsing online

and

came across

this lovely

living room on the

Better Homes & Gardens

website,

isn't it beautiful,

peaceful,

serene,

lovely,

fresh,

It makes me want to

redo my

living room.

Don't tell hubby

though....!

I'm ready for

fresh

and new.

I'd love to

recover my

furniture

and repaint.

We'll see.

Well, on another note,

how many

of you are on

Facebook?

I'm sure a ton of you

are.

I was on there yesterday

and found

something

EXTREMELY

disturbing.

Did you know there's Porn

on FB?!!

I found it by accident.

A friend

became a "Fan" of a page

for "Curvy Women"

and when I clicked

on that,

I couldn't believe

the pictures

posted.

They weren't Porn

but they were

borderline.

So I thought,

"could FB actually have Porn

on their site?"

"No way, they couldn't,

there are kids

on this site!"

Well, I checked and to my

SURPRISE

they sure do!

So, I had to shut my

account down.

Not comfortable being part of a

site that makes

this too

easily available.

And, you DO NOT have to

be a "Friend" or a

"Fan" to

view these pages,

they make it very EASY

to view

their "Wall Page".

So if you

have

kids

and their

a part of

these

Social Networks,

BEWARE!

Only you can

protect them!

Hope you have a lovely

day today!

Daydreaming

As I sit here relaxing on my loveseat with my DH and my kitties looking lazy watching old movies, I'm daydreaming. I'm on the laptop looking at pictures online of different decorating ideas. Either on Better Homes and Gardens site or Country Living. And I found some pictures of rooms that are calling out my name:

To wake up in the lovely room

Waking up under those soft, warm sheets on

a beautiful bed.

Don't you just love how cozy and feminine it looks?

Now its time to freshen up:

Do I take a warm bath or shower?

Maybe not this morning but

tonight, definitely,

with candles,

Michael Buble in the background

glass of wine

and a

good book.

Sounds wonderful.

Now I need coffee:

Who wouldn't want to make a cup of coffee

or tea

in this beautiful space?

Don't you just love the colors?

HMMM, ideas!!

I can picture myself rolling

out dough

for a warm apple pie

on that beautiful

marble island.

Or making a delicious

stew

on that gorgeous stove.

Can you smell it?

Now time to relax:

Need my book,

a cup of tea,

maybe a scone as well.

Curl up on the loveseat

with a warm

blanket

with nothing but quiet

and probably a cat or two,

can't forget them.

MMMMM!

It all sounds lovely.

One can daydream.

But I have to say, I do have a cozy home,

comfortable loveseat where

I curl up with a good

book or magazine

or

put on a good old movie.

My bed is wonderfully comfortable,

Can't get up in the mornings,

I enjoy making coffee

in my semi-new

kitchen.

But, every once in awhile, its ok to dream..............

My Humble Oasis

I'm not sure what the exact fascination is with viewing into other peoples homes. Is it curiosity? Looking for ideas? Seeing how the other lives? Or just plain nosey..lol..? Whatever it is, it's certainly something I enjoy. I've joined other blog sites and so many of them post pictures of their homes and it's like looking at a magazine online. It's so much fun for me. Get to see how they decorate and how they live in their homes. The pride they take in their homes shows in the pictures. So I thought, why not? I'll post some pictures of my home that my dh and I share together along with our "children", my kitties.

We bought this home in 2000. Our first home, it was so exciting. It's a simple home. One story ranch style. It needed quite a bit of updating since everything was original and just didn't fit us. On the inside, we put in a new kitchen, after seven years of living here. Then we added the french doors between the dining room and family room. We finally fixed up our bedroom two years after all the other renovations. But we knew when we bought the home that it would take time to fix it up and make it ours. That it did, it took alot of time. But after living in the home for awhile you get a feel of what you really want to do with it. The most exciting renovation was the kitchen. My hubby let me pick out everything!!! This room is my domain. I love to bake and cook. So he told me as long as we can keep in our budget, I could pick whatever I'd like. HOW EXCITING!!!

My next joy is our bedroom. I did not like our bedroom, but like all projects, that is usually the last to get fixed. And we finally did it, last year. Now, I just love going in there, and when the sun shines through the sheer curtains, it takes on a romantic flair. It looks like I'm in the clouds.

So after all the hard work, time, energy, tears and sweat, we got the humble oasis we wanted.