Recent home improvements

BFF Laura was here a few weeks ago, and totally shocked by our new-ish front door, new paint in the guest room, new paint in the family room, etc. 

"When did you do all this?" she asked.
"Oh, a while ago," I said.
"How come I didn't know about this?" she asked.
"I don't know..." I said.  Then it occurred to me:  LAURA DIDN'T KNOW BECAUSE I FORGOT TO BLOG ABOUT IT.  And mention it in phone conversations.  GASP!

And if I didn't blog about it, did it actually happen?

Of course it did!  Here are some home improvements that were made in the last half of 2011.

In September, the guest room was painted peach which was a huge improvement from the puke olive green color that had been in there.  Soon after we added artwork (I'm a Wizard of Oz fan, can you tell?) and floating shelves to the walls. 

We also had the master bedroom painted in September. I love, love, love the blue color on the walls.  In November, we got this amazing picture from Uncle Rich (Hi, Uncle Rich!).  Growing up, it was displayed above the couch in my grandmother's house, and I am excited to be its latest owner. The sea painting goes great with my beach-inspired bed- and bathroom.

In November, we had the family room painted by Ron Miller.  He and his daughter did a great job, and had the whole thing done in two days.  The Big Guy choose a lighter color for the room (Benjamin Moore's Hazelnut Cream) and it has really brightened up the whole room.

Also in November, Handy Freddy installed a storm door for us.  We got a really fancy one that when the glass on the upon portion slides down, a screen takes its place.  Nice!

And once the storm door was installed, we decided to take that opportunity to paint the front door.  It went from black to bright red in only four coats.  I'm not thrilled with the finish of the paint, but I do like how cheery it's made the front entrance.

Especially when the outside is cold, snowy and incredibly bleak. It's nice to have that pop of red in the middle of a sea of taupe and gray.  Not that I have anything against taupe and gray.

So that's all the home improvement we've done recently that I forgot to tell you about.  Sorry!  I'll do a better job of keeping everyone in the loop the next time we tackle major projects...which I'll have the energy for (hopefully) in the spring.  Right now, all this gray makes me want to hibernate!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Mag-neato!

Here's yet another great thing I saw on Pinterest and replicated: an oil drip pan magnet board for the kiddos.

Like most households with small children, we have a ridiculous amount of fun magnets.  My kids play with these a decent amount, but for some reason they played the most with the magnets just as I was starting to make dinner every night.  As you can imagine, having two small children parked in front of the refrigerator during meal preparation time was not convenient.  Especially when I am rushing to get a meal in the oven before those two small children turn into ravenous wolves.

In addition to battling the kids to stop playing with magnets long enough for me to get in and out of the fridge, the magnets themselves were tearing up my walls when the fridge door was completely open. Not cool.

Tee hee.  I said "cool" while talking about my refrigerator. See what I did there?!

Enter one oil drip pan. I bought this at my local Super-Walmart for $9.96--it was in the automotive section.  It had an oily coating (no doubt to make it easier to get actual oil off) but that came off easily with a de-greasing cleanser. 

Big Guy secured the drip pan to the wall with screws, and it is located under our huge cork board communication center. The kids can still play with their magnets in the kitchen, but now they are not directly underfoot.  Score!

This magnet board was an easy and inexpensive solution to a small but vexing problem.  And now that the kids' magnets are gone, my refrigerator front looks so much more organized and clean! 

Right?! Well, maybe not...the stuff that's left is mostly mine.  I'm working on it, okay?

Framed corkboards

This is a story about a project I dreamed up years ago and took forever to get done.  In March of 2010, I told BFF Laura about my great idea to frame cork boards and hang them in the toy room as a way to display kids' artwork.  Essentially, I wanted to create a kid-friendly art gallery.  With gold frames, I was sure the drawings and pictures would be elevated to high art. 

Months later, Laura gave me some large pieces of cork board, and fancy picture frames that she had spray-painted gold.  The frames and cork board sat, and sat, and sat.

Over this summer, I bought several cork boards from yard sales and thrift stores, as well as several fancy frames.  They went into the stack of cork board and frames from Laura.  And they sat, and sat, and sat.

Finally, faced with a ridiculous pile of cork board and frames and no spare time or know-how to combine, I asked myself "What would Martha do?"

Obviously, Martha would give this project to a member of her staff to complete.  I don't have a staff, but I do have Handy Freddy.  I gave this entire project to my brother, and things really started to move.

Here's how to make your own framed cork boards:

1. Buy fancy picture frames and large sheets of cork board at yard sales, thrift stores, etc.
2. Pop the frames off the cork board with a screwdriver.

3. Measure the cork board to fit a fancy picture frame. 

4. Carefully cut the cork board with a hacksaw.  Go slow during the cutting or the cork board will tear.

5. If you want to paint your fancy frames, now is the time to do it. I simply used gold spray paint on mine.

6. Fit the cork board into the empty fancy frame, and staple it in.

Ta-da! A beautifully framed piece of cork board that is ready to display just about anything.

Handy Freddy made seven framed cork boards for me and no two are framed alike or the same size. After all of his hard work, it was the least I could do to get someone else to hang the framed cork boards--I made the Big Guy do that. 

My original plan was to put the art gallery in the toy room, but instead I settled on a large blank wall in the foyer.  I immediately put several drawings/colorings from the kids in the frames, but lately they are quickly filling with Christmas cards and pictures.  Everything is secured with thumbtacks.

This project turned out even better than I had imagined--I am thrilled with how it looks!  For my part, I'm putting the cost at under $25 for all materials, though I'm sure Laura spent some money on the cork boards and frames. 

I owe a huge thanks to Laura for getting this project started, and to Handy Freddy for getting it done!  And another huge thanks to Freddy for taking the step-by-step pictures. 

By coming up with an idea and having my 'staff' do 95% of the work, I really am becoming more and more like Martha Stewart!  ;)  Kidding!  You know I love Martha more than my luggage.

Calender art

Now that the master bathroom has been painted, it desperately needed some artwork. Naturally, I went through all the amazing photos I've taken on my ridiculously luxurious vacations and picked a few of my favorites to frame.

Bwahahahahahahaha!  Sorry, for a moment there I confused myself with Martha Stewart and her awesome vacations.  My bad.

For really nice pictures of beaches I can only dream of visiting, I got out a calendar.  A 16-month calendar from 2007, to be exact.  

I bought inexpensive 10x10 frames at Michael's. 

Then I tore out my four favorite pictures from the calendar. 

I cut the pictures to fit the frame, inserted the pictures and put the frames back together.

Voila! Quick, easy and frugal art for the bathroom.  Seriously, trying to hang these correctly on the wall was the hardest part about this project. 

The pictures are on the wall over the soaker tub and totally visible from the shower, so I can see them while I'm hosing off.  Sweet!

This type of project works equally well for pretty postcards. 

Of course, I still need to get those off my counter and onto the wall.  It will happen.  Eventually.

Painting the master bathroom

Over Labor Day, the Big Guy and I got a HUGE task crossed off the household to-do list: we painted the master bathroom. I've wanted to do this ever since we moved in.  It was painted an ugly brown-green-baby poop color (including the ceiling) and it made the room incredibly dark. More importantly, it was making me a bit nauseous.  It had to go!

Before:

During:

After:

Isn't that a huge improvement?  The main bathroom is Softer Tan and the water closet is Shagreen. Both colors are from Sherwin Williams.  Softer Tan was not my first choice for this room, but I had to stick with a neutral color to coordinate with all the tile work and counter tops.   I hope to have artwork up by the end of the week, which will bring in some brighter colors.

Phew! One room down, and only four more to go by October 8.  

Martha Monday--September To Do's

Martha has a planning calender tool on her website (I've mentioned this before), but did you know you can also see her To Do list for the month?

Go ahead and take a look at that calendar. It's blissfully empty--Martha has a few things going on, but not much. I can only assume that this is not her actual calender. We all know that she's busy working, managing her farm and other properties, gearing up for a new season of The Martha Stewart Show, travelling and more. Quite frankly, I feel a little cheated.  I want to know Martha is busy running around like a madwoman, because that's exactly what I've been doing lately.   Knowing she is busy with life, work, family, etc. and making it all work would give me encouragement and motivation I need to keep pace with my own life, work, family and more.

Fall is a busy time filled with lots of birthdays and fun activities.  The Little Guy's birthday is next month, and there's A LOT of work I want to get done around the house before then.  Basically, we've lived here for almost three years and there are many rooms I don't consider to be finished--master bedroom, guest room, family room, living room, etc.  In fact, until September, only three rooms have been finished: Little Guy's room (see here and here), Little Miss's room and their bathroom.  I'm really sick of living in rooms I'm not happy with, and that has to change.  And I want it all done before Little Guy's fourth birthday.

Because there is nothing like a huge looming deadline to make me kick it into gear.

Here's what I have planned for September 1--October 8:

Paint the master bathroom (The Big Guy and I actually did this over Labor Day weekend--I'll be posting pictures soon!)
Hang artwork in the bathroom
Paint master bedroom and hang artwork
Paint guest room, hang artwork and display shelves/hooks
Get storm door for front entry
Paint the front door
Paint the half bathroom and hang artwork
Paint the family room
Finish art display project for living room

And those are just my "home improvement" to-do's.  I'm not including other stuff, like putting the garden to bed for the winter and basic household maintenance.  It's going to be a busy few weeks, but I am looking forward to it. The happiness I get from a finished task and great-looking room far outweighs the struggle it took to get the job done.  I'm already looking forward to enjoying these made-over rooms.

What do you have planned for this fall?  If you have nothing going on, feel free to come hang out at the TMI household. I might have something you can do. ;)

Martha Monday--Gearing up for cold weather

Last Friday, the mittens came out, as did fall jackets and all the hoodies one household can handle.  With temps in the 80-90 range last week and 60s forecasted for this week, I'd say that the autumn season has definitely arrived in the Midwest.   This year, I'd like to stay organized so our two entryways (one to the house, and the one from the house to the garage) do not become a jumble of outerwear, boots and mismatched mittens and gloves. 

Naturally, Martha has some ideas.  I like this for the front entryway:

I wouldn't put the hooks on the walls (it looks too informal to me) but I like the bench so that guests can sit comfortably while they take off and put on their shoes and boots.  I'd do only one or two bins for Barley items and umbrellas. 
And this is the solution I like for the mudroom:

I like the idea of everyone having their own separate bin for hats, gloves and scarves.  And wet mittens could be attached to the outside of the appropriate bin with clothespins for quicker drying time.  A few hooks along the wall for additional coat storage, even though the mudroom has a coat closet, probably wouldn't hurt.

That's my Martha Monday.  I need to institute a "Get It Done Tuesday." 

Have a wonderful week!

Martha Monday--Home Depot vs. Lowe's

Recently, Martha Stewart introduced a new line of paint available only at Home Depot stores.  This latest product lines joins a wide variety of other merchandise sold there, including outdoor furniture, rugs, cleaning products and organization solutions.

Sigh. I'm not pleased with this...I'm not a big Home Depot fan.  I prefer Lowe's.

In past years, the TMI household shopped at Home Depot quite a bit not because we were huge fans of the chain, but because of the proximity of the store to our home and the wide range of products they offered. The customer service has never impressed us. 

Since we've moved to Aurora, we now have options:  the Home Depot and Lowe's are the same distance from our house. In fact, the two stores are right across the street from each other.  Product-wise, they both offer pretty much the same type and quality of stuff.  The stores are also pretty comparable price-wise.  However, the customer service at Lowe's is a gazillion times better than at Home Depot, at least in my neck of the woods. 

At Home Depot, the employees practically run away from customers and when you do catch one to ask a question, they say it's "not their department" and shuffle off to find someone else who will be equally adept at avoiding you.  At Lowe's, the employees are knowledgeable, friendly and eager to help. 

Example:  last March, we had a ceiling fan installed in the family room.  Our family room is large (20' x 20') and almost as tall.  Being creatures of habit, we went to Home Depot to shop for a fan.  After an excrutiating time of waiting for a salesperson in the fan/light department, we finally found one guy who seemed confident in his knowledge of the product. We picked a fan and asked the salesperson if we needed to buy an extension rod to distance the fan from the ceiling. 

"No need for that," the salesguy explained.  "It's included in the package."  He assured us that everything we needed was there, and all we had to do was install it.  Long story short: we did need an extender, which I didn't find out until the electrician was in my house to install the thing.  I had to run out in the freezing cold with my toddler to Home Depot, leaving a complete stranger alone in my house with my possessions and my dog, only to discover that Home Depot DIDN'T KEEP EXTENSION RODS IN STOCK.  I ran across the street to Lowe's, where they not only had extention rods in stock but the two salesmen took the time to match the color and get me all the parts I needed.  They were so helpful and very nice.

Of course, I'm leaving out the part of the story where the ceiling fan light cover had to be ordered, which the Home Depot people said they would take care of and have it shipped to our house, only to have it delayed for weeks because at first no one ordered it, then they said we hadn't paid for it, even though we had a receipt saying we did, and then it was shipped to the store instead of our house, and no one bothered to call us to let us know where it was.  This experience was so bad that we made a conscious choice to buy the foyer chandelier at Lowe's. 

Since that unfortunate incident last March, I've avoided the Home Depot. Sure, I stop in now and then for a particular sale item, but my major home improvement purchases have all been at Lowe's.  I'm greeted as I walk in the door, employees will walk with me to find the items I need rather than just pointing in the general direction and wishing me luck, and they are all knowledgeable within their departments.  

Martha, please, reconsider your store partners.  Give Lowe's a try.  And after you've made that switch, we can talk about moving your crafts line from Michael's to JoAnn Fabrics.  Trust me, Martha...it will be a very good thing.  

The new and improved kids' bathroom!

During the redo of the kids' bathroom, it stayed like this for several days:

Laura had gone home and I was having problems finding free time to get it finished.  After a few days, though, I pulled it together, shoved a paint brush in the Big Guy's hand and we got some color on the walls.

It took two days to get the color on the walls, and then a day after that to get all the hardware (towel racks, shower curtain rod, etc.) back up.  I think it came together nicely.

The shower curtain is really fun. I got it, and the crab toothbrush holder, at Kohl's.

Finally, the kids' bathroom is done.  They can have fun in a bathroom designed for them, and I think guests will enjoy it as well.  Now, on to the next room...

Laura, paging Dr. Laura.  You're needed in the TMI household. Stat!