before and after

the only 2 things getting me through this monday morning?

the fact that it's a 4 day work week

and coffee

specifically



this coconut mocha - target seems to always have the best deals on k-cups, and i'm clearly not the only one who noticed.  my favorite donut shop brew was sold out, but not wanting to miss out on the bargain (they are marked down an extra $.50 this week) i picked up this flavor. 

and it is delicious! 

too bad i'm not enjoying my cup while on my couch watching it...SNOW!

that is not an excited exclamation point.

it's a furious one.

this ill weather did make my weekend home projects a little easier to get done, though

like going from this

to this!

ta-da!  i managed to hang these all by myself.  i'm still thinking they might be hung too high

or i may add a 3rd lower shelf...

the thought of ripping them out and having to fill the anchor holes is saddening, so i'm going with the idea that once we have the shelves filled it will just help bring the eye up more and utilize all of the empty wall space

yeah...

i tried to add a bit of what i already had to see how it looks...and to make sure they wouldn't come tumbling down.

it's a work in progress :)

my other decorative task this weekend was to make curtains

the good news

i found the fabric at a local shop!

the bad news

they don't have any bolts of it in - and it would cost me $40(!!!!) a yard to order it through them.

they were so helpful and friendly though, and definitely told me to order online (which i've found for $15 a yd - i only need 5)

they also let me check out the swatch book so i could see the fabric in the room

and i love it - definitely placing an order this week- after i measure one more time

i also fell in love with this coordinating fabric from the same line.  i may order this as well and try my hand at a shower curtain

how cute is that little bird?

so no curtains made, BUT

the living room and kitchen are officially PAINTED!!

before...

and after:

before:

and after:

so much better!

i love sherwin williams paint - and have never bought anything different. 

we used "jogging path" in the HGTV HOME brand sherwin williams carries (it's the cheapest option, but it's high quality paint) with a satin finish.

it's so nice to have our kitchen semi back in order :)

did you have a fruitful weekend?

so close

happy first day of spring!

i can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

this painting project - which originally i wasn't planning on doing until next month - has consumed me!

i haven't made time for running because i've either been painting or too sore from painting

but hopefully after this weekend i can get back on it!

bill had done the trim and rolled these walls by the time i got home

i came in and re-rolled them with a second coat and touched up some spots.

all we have left for these 2 rooms is the space above the cabinets which you can see above

which comes around and connects to the space around the fridge and left of the laundry door (i should perhaps get out a springier wreath?)

to the right of the door - DONE! 

and for a moment let's not notice the dishes - we were having dinner in the midst of painting - and also- check out all those water marks!  ugh...flat paint is the devil!

i'm trying to decide on a backsplash

we aren't painting behind the sink or stove since we will be adding a backsplash in a couple of weeks

right now i'm really digging the penny tile


from here

i think it looks interesting - and i really like the depth that's added when a darker grout is added with the white tile



i also think it adds a bit of kitschy appeal

i just need to figure out if i want white, a blue or green, or a mosaic....hmm...

my other project this week -




i ordered 2 of these ~4' ledges for over the couch which should be delivered today (i love amazon prime - free 2 day shipping!)

i plan on staggering them a bit to fill up the massive space above my couch

and finally getting rid of my rose pictures - back in my bachelorette days i had a pretty nice shabby chic thing going

i have a few odds and ends i want to add to the ledges -

including my bourbon print i can finally display (top left)

but i've spent some time on etsy looking for a couple of other prints - not only for the ledge

but some sort of grouping of prints to fill our medal wall - which will be moved for the time being.

something kitchen/food related would be perfect!

ok, i have a ton of other plans, but i'll save that for another time!

painting fool

i was quite ambitious this weekend

it all started friday night

when we painted a chalk wall

which turned out to be a lot of fun

and bill and i illustrated our team spirit

 before illustrating woodford's thoughts

painting one wall had inspired me to finish the rest of the room - a task we were saving for a week we had taken off together in april.

so i was motivated to finally choose a color

which i've struggled with in the past

we stopped in sherwin williams and picked out probably 10 different paint chips to sit and think on.

sunday morning we had volunteered to help bill's brother and his wife - who are pregnant with TWINS! - paint their nursery.

i called upon the starbucks gods with a venti skinny caramel macchiato

with espresso coursing through my veins, and 5 of us painting, we knocked out the nursery in no time.

but i as still pumped up to do some more painting

actually i was on a caffeine high

it took just a bit of convincing

but bill got on board with coming home to paint.

out of all our samples, there was a clear winner of what would look best

sherwin williams "jogging path" 

holding the chip up alone, it cast a more beigey tone

but up next to our "peacock plume" wall it looked more grey

and searching the internet for rooms painted in this color - it looked like the shade of grey we were hoping for


it was perfect - so i went ahead and bought 2 gallons of paint

sherwin williams is running an excellent sale through the end of this week - 30% off your total purchase, plus, if you search the internet you can find a $10 off $50 purchase coupon

we came home and moved the furniture out of the way and started instantly.

ok, actually we popped a couple of beers and i threw together a pot of chili...but "instantly" after that

i always get nervous with the first few brush strokes

but after i painted a large area i knew i loved it.  our previous color was starting to look really orangey/yellow and i was over it.

it was hard to get a true picture of the color since it was dark and rainy out and all of our lights were on in the house - it kind of mutes the color

but you can get more of a feel for it in the corner - especially butted up next to the peacock color

the "jogging path" is a very calming color, and i'm thinking of doing the bathroom in the same color

you can see our stopping point above - we were getting tired, and the dining room/kitchen had lots of things that needed pulled out.  we also are saving the edging on the ceiling for next time since it will require a ladder.

this morning i kind of just stared at the walls for a minute - it feels so much brighter and calming now.

we haven't even finished painting this project (hopefully it will get done this weekend) and i'm already planning our next!  (backsplash, bathroom, and office re-do)

maybe i'll get my camera out and try and take better pictures of our new wall color - until then i'm going to browse some bathroom ideas