We issued a DNR* on my car this week. I think it’s just her time, although I must admit I’m not ready to see her go.


Story of my life, that when we actually move out of the city and need 2 cars (it has been less than a month) that my car breaks….bad.

Anyways – this means I need to go car shopping/test driving this weekend and the boy is still out of town for business, which means I have to go ALONE :(

Last time I went shopping alone it was for paint, (2 weeks ago), I was in the midst of painting and therefore did not have my wedding rings on.

Result = FREE PAINT

(Now before you get all judgey-pants, I wasn’t trying to get free paint; in fact I didn’t even realize I was missing my rings until I got back in the car).

So, when I go shopping for cars (where 99% of the dealers are men) should I *forget* to wear my rings and hope for a deal?
Or definitely keep them on so they don’t try to take advantage of a single lady?

Do you get more respect with or without the bling?

*Do not Resuscitate

Fabric Heven....

This past weekend I died, and went to a little place called Fabric Heaven.
Okay, it's really called Zimmans.
It was totally sketchy to get to, but definately worth it.

They had an amazing selection of designer home decor fabrics at non-designery prices -

Racks upon racks of gorgeousness - (plus there is a full floor of trimmings below and two floors of refinished furniture above).

Some of my fabric favorites below - most were in the $20-$30/yard range

I could've spent SOOO much money here.
I ended up with this (below) for curtains for our bedroom - 

And this (below) for my office curtains...

I'm particularly excited about the office curtains; I'm kind of in love with the color.

Do you have any great fabric stores?

We Bought a Couch....

We bought a new couch this weekend!  Saturday to be exact.
Sorry for the crappy phone pic - 

It's a smokey navy color.  And super comfy.
We can both lie down on it at the same time (but it's not quite wide enough to spoon) and yes we did test that out at the store.
I fell in love and bought it.

And then freaked out.
Debated calling and canceling for like 20 hours.
Decided to drive back to the store on Sunday and sit with her the next day to make sure I made the right decision.  Played with all the other colors and fabric options and made two different sales people convince me to keep the couch. 

I took more photos when I went back the 2nd time.  (More crappy phone pics)

She looks more gray here - which I like.


I can't believe I was so indecisive about a couch.  I think its because I wasn't really expecting to buy one - we kind of went shopping on a whim and don't really need a new couch.  I got nervous, I didn't know if there was something else out there that I would love more (and could afford) - definitely more nervous buying a couch than I was to get married.

Do you go with your gut instinct on big purchases? 
or do you have to review every other option out there to confirm you are making the right one?

Rush Hour and I are not friends....

Buying a house for us meant moving outside the city where things were slightly less outrageous in price.  I was fine with it since it would mean that I didn't have to take public transportation anymore (not a fan of other people sweating on me) but this whole rush hour traffic thing sucks.

While sitting in my car driving home today I realized that I spend $110 and 11.5 hours driving to get to work each week.  That is almost $450/month and over 40 hours in driving - that's a whole additional work week!


Oh how I envy those of you who have a short commute; or gasp - work from home.


What is your commute like?


image source

Pillow Love....

I happened to be browsing Etsy yesterday and came across the shop of WillaSkyeHome and her gorgeous pillows.  Her site says she is an interior designer with a passion for chic home decor fabrics -

And chic they are - you know I cannot resist a bold/classic pattern in fun colors :)

Charcoal & Taupe Greek Key

Sky Blue & Ivory Quartrefoil

And Navy Blue Lattice Work are some of my favorites -

Alright, cleaning the drool off my keyboard now.
If you are in the market for pillows (or covers) I would check out her shop -

*all images taken from her Etsy page

Battle of the Brands....Paint Edition

I’ve been going through an internal struggle of sorts and would like someone to please help me make up my mind.

It’s on paint – not colors; I’m even more indecisive with those, but brand.

I’ve googled paint critiques and reviews more than I care to admit and have found that most people say Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams are worth the few extra $$ over a home depot paint. So here is where the struggle comes in –

Benjamin Moore is more expensive, but closer to my house, people seem to prefer it a little more and I find I like their colors slightly better than Sherwin Williams (although I know anything can be color matched). We’ve used it in a few rooms so far and I love how it goes on.

Sherwin Williams is a little bit cheaper, a little further (not much) from our house and I have not used it before, but my dad has and he says good things.

SO, to further complicate the matter I asked for a A&D discount (Architects&Designers) when I bought paint at Benjamin Moore; they were more than happy to give me the discount and didn’t even ask for proof! However the discount was only a few dollars (this is not me complaining – anything helps) BUT Sherwin Williams offers 20% off.


So, my lovely readers, I come to you –

What is your preferred paint brand?
Would you take the bigger discount or the closer location?

image source

Dad to the Rescue : Upstairs Built-Ins

Remember this photo?

Those doors that didn't close?
Well, my dad came to the rescue -

Oh yeah - check out that flush-ness (I think I made that word up).
Honestly, I was painting the kitchen while he was upstairs fixing the doors so I can't detail everything that happened, but I know all the doors were off at one point and outside being cut down.  He stripped off the 90 years of paint build-up so that the doors could actually lie flush against the wall; and cut off some deformities from warping, etc.

He used my little circular saw:

and a upside down rubbermaid tub as a bench.

He's crafty.  If it were me there would be a giant gash (or 7) in the rubbermaid tub from the saw, and we would be out at least 2 doors.

But my dad is nothing if not a perfectionist - he decided to replace all the latches on the doors as well.
They originally had these magnetic ones - they had lost their magnetism due to layers upon layers of paint -

He replaced them with these -

Are they fancy? Nope -
Do they work? Sure do -
Are they inexpensive? Yup -

I lined the shelves with some shelf liner from Home Depot (it's like contact paper, except not sticky, and a little cushiony).  I think it was around $7.50/roll and I used 2 rolls.

And put all our random crap belongings into photo boxes to keep it a little more organized.

They still need some touch-ups but I think its a VAST improvement for the $25 we spent.

Mini-Deadlines....

In life I operate on deadlines. If there is no deadline; it probably won’t get done. This only applies to my personal life though; things that effect me & the boy. If someone else is counting on me I usually try to complete the task ASAP –


This brings me to my internal deadline; yesterday the boy told me he was leaving on Sunday for 2 weeks in Utah. After the first rash of thoughts flew though my head (you are just telling me now?, who is going to take out the trash?, ***, what about the lawn?, what if something happens with the house?, what if my car breaks?, who’s going to cook my food?) and the second round (ah, the bed to myself for two weeks, all the trashy TV I want, no sporting events, ice cream for dinner) I realized that I wanted him to come back to a HOME not just a house. He’s been a little snarky lately about how everything is half-finished, half-unpacked, half-done.

So I’m setting a deadline for 2 weeks from now; to have at least 2 rooms (painted, unpacked and furnished)…and also to clean my side of the bedroom.

This involves -
Sanding/Priming/Painting 2 dressers : one is going in the half-bath downstairs (white) and one is going in our bedroom (black)
Sanding/Priming/Painting 1 bench : for the mudroom (black)
Sewing a Cushion for the mudroom bench
Buying a mirror for the downstairs bath (shopping I’m good at)
Painting the walls and Trim of the Half-Bath
Sewing roman shades (x2) for the Half-Bath (I have no idea how to do this but found pretty fabric)
Paint trim & Wainscoting in the fireplace room (white)

If I get to it – painting the upstairs bathroom and the master bedroom
Also, need to purchase curtains for our bedroom; a table for the boys side of the bed and two lamps (that match)

Unfortunately I think the rooms he wants to be completed first are the kitchen and our bedroom.
O’well – beggars can’t be choosers and he can’t be trusted with a paint-brush, which means things take longer.

Things are going to be busy around here -

Are you motivated? Or do you have to set mini-deadlines for yourself?

No House Projects This Weekend....

No playing with the house this weekend – we are headed up to Maine for our first wedding of the season. It’s a BIG one, we are talking 230+ and should be a pretty fun time (minus the driving to get there). We called dibbs on being driven home by the pregnant girl after the reception, so bring on the libations.

The boy was offered BOX seats to Saturday night's Red Sox game and had to turn them down because of the wedding.  I feel terrible since he doesn't really know the couple, I told him he didn't have to come with me and that he could go to the game and take his brother, but he said he would go to the wedding with me.  I melted - he's such a good hubby.

I have a feeling this will be the largest wedding I’ll probably ever attend –
Which do you prefer? Large weddings or intimate gatherings?
or would you be at the Sox game? :)

Are you Afraid of the Dark?

Last time I left you with this pretty blue wall :)

Before we primed; we taped, patched existing holes and sanded.
I didn't tape this room, the boy did - we ended up with duct tape instead of painters tape (we were actually using frog tape) in some places (NOT RECOMMENDED).
I guess this pretty much solidifies the fact that we are from Maine and will try to duct tape anything.

Then the boy also decided to vacuum the walls in lieu of wiping them down pre-paint.
In case you haven't seen walls being vacuumed before it looks like this and is highly hilarious.



Coat #1 after the primer left a little something to be desired -

We have a few accidents 1.5" away from the crease (where the tape ended)....whoops!
I've decided taping is over-rated.  I'm way better at free-handing edges.

But in the end I got my navy blue wall :)

And it matches our LeCrueset -

There was a lot of talk about how it would make the room feel smaller, but I think having only one wall actually creates the illusion that the wall is further away than it really is making the room feel larger.  I have some plans for either a large white floating shelf or a series of white art pieces.

And maybe some crown molding to cover up those 'accidents'....
 
What do you think?  Are you afraid of dark colors on your walls?

The specific color is Benjamin Moore Symphony Blue - with a deep base primer underneath.

Well...it's definately blue -

Guess what we did this weekend?
You should've seen the look on my mom's face.

Don't worry - it's just the primer :)

A House Tour....

Do you want a little house tour?
I thought you did -
*Please excuse the terrible picture quality, I was too lazy to adjust them :)

Lets start from the outside and work our way in -

If you come in the front door, the kitchen is to your left, the living room (which they used as a dining room) to your right.

I didn't like the feeling of walking directly into the dining room so we are currently using this as the tv room (the tv is against the wall on the left of the image).

It's also got a second connection to the kitchen.  The fridge is right behind that light switch - so convenient for snacks.

The other side of the tv-room/dining room has the access to the mud room and downstairs bathroom.

There is a huge window in the mudroom-

and stone floors :

This leads into the downstairs bath (1/2)

The previous owners took the mirrors/vanity cabinets -

If we come back through the tv-room we move into the kitchen.

And through the kitchen you can see the family room and doors to the backyard:

Lets step outside for a second -
We have a tall fence and shed :) Although you can't see it all, the backyard is a decent size (for our area) and behind the fence there is a swamp pond.  The lawn needs a lot of work - that is a boy job.

Okay, lets go back inside.

And head upstairs -

At the top of the stairs, to the left is the master bedroom, to the right is the upstairs bath and bedroom #2/office and straight ahead is what we are calling bedroom #3/guestroom.
The Master: (to get these three pictures I stood in the door and rotated from left to right)

Our bed will be located between the windows on this wall.

Next up, the bath -

It's SMALL.

Again, they took the vanity - 

And there are random fish tiles in the shower -

Right beside the bathroom is the 2nd bedroom and what I'm going to be using as my office -

The floors need work in here -

On the way to the final bedroom there are built-in storage cabinets on either side of the hall.  Although right now they don't really shut (also need work).

And thats it!
Well, half of the basement is finished - but it's boring down there (and filled with stuff)....we'll save that for another day.