Celebrate!

Today was an exciting day!  We got to install 2 (yes, that's right, TWO) of our appliances!!  WOO-HOO!  It's looking more and more like a home every day!

We started out with the micro-hood....looks pretty nice there I'd say!

We got this for one heck of a deal!  $99 at Best Buy...regular price was $399!
It was an open box they were selling...and the guy gave us the mounting bracket from a different one so we actually had all of the parts except the screws!  SWEET!

Then we FINALLY got to bring in the stove that I bought LAST July!

Yes, you read that right, July 2012!

The kitchen is just about complete now!

I've just gotta get that mess cleaned up!

We even got the kitchen faucet installed...LOVE IT!

We got the laundry faucet installed too!

A VERY productive day!  So much so that we decided we'd take the night off and go to the 4th of July Celebration and watch our friends, The Harmans do a little bluegrass show!

What a gorgeous night it was!  The guys did awesome...and to top it off, we got to spend some time with some old friends of ours that we NEVER get to see anymore!

Love them both so much and miss them to bits!

Their three adorable kiddos were there as well.

I sure wish we got to see them all more often!

Laura & Sidney were both freezing (actually...we were ALL freezing)
This has been some AMAZING summer weather!  Couldn't ask for better!

I even managed to snap a couple of cute pics of Jeff & Sidney when they weren't looking.

Happy 4th of July everyone!!

Knobs & Pulls

I can't believe that I FINALLY got to install the hardware in the clutter room!  WOO-HOO!!!  Even this is quite a chore for me...mostly because I have to make yet ANOTHER decision :)  I ordered knobs and pulls MONTHS ago...o.k...probably a year ago!!

Knob placement is always something that I take very seriously, lol.  It is soooo annoying to me when a knob or pull is off center....even just a little.  Today I made a little template out of poster board and used the Frog tape for delicate surfaces to make the marks for my knob placement.

I used an awl to "punch" the middle of the hole before I drilled so that the drill bit wouldn't wander off out of control :) 

Looking good so far.  I'll take a closeup when I'm all done so you can see the detail of the knobs & pulls.  In this room alone there are going to be 5 different knobs & pulls.  YIKES!  Hopefully they'll all go together o.k. (I'm still not sold on that beadboard backsplash.  hmmmm)

The geese were back on our pond this afternoon.  I was really excited to see that there was a baby with them.  They have a hard time making it out here because there are too many predators.  It's actually rare that I ever see them make it past the egg stage!  

It was really funny when I drove by, the baby was trying to move so quickly...his little feet were burnin' rubber out there (and he wasn't going anywhere fast, lol)  Hopefully it will make it!

Glass Towel Bar Makeover

So it turns out we had TWO snow days instead of just one!  That was quite the late February snow!  I'd say we got about 6" total.  There was a nice sheet of ice over the top so it was extra crunchy to walk on.  Pretty yes, but I'm ready for spring this year!

So I have this old glass towel bar from my Grandparents house...I LOVE that it's glass...

but I'm not a fan of it's art deco style parts that hold it to the wall.  (what would you call those?)

So today I saw an escutcheon laying under the kitchen sink while Kade was doing some plumbing...

and I had a light bulb appear over my head! :)

And YES!!! It worked!!  You can pull the hanging parts off, so I slipped the escutcheon onto the glass bar....then put the hanging part back on...and voila!  

That is SO much cuter!  So now I need to clean up the hanging pieces (sorry, for the life of me I can't think of what to call them, lol) then spray them with my oil rubbed bronze spray paint.

AWESOME!!  I've actually got 3 more of these glass towel bars that I bought a few years ago at an antique shop....and they have those same art deco parts.

Now I'm actually excited to figure out a place to use them!

I'll post another picture when I finally get one completely done!!

Tub Time?

So when we made the decision to tile the tub surround instead of just using a "regular" surround, I knew that we were going to have to do LOTS of steps.  Let's be honest....who REALLY likes to do lots of steps??  No matter how bad we want to cheap out or take the quick route, we're not going to do it.  That's just not how we roll!  So today I began the chore of waterproofing the HardiBacker with RedGard.  It's this crazy stuff you roll or brush on and when it dries it makes like a rubber coating.  So weird!  :)  But I can see how it would work.

Here's how it looks with the "primer" coat - the RedGard thinned down with water.

That's all I got done for today on that...have to let it dry a bit...so tomorrow I will do the remaining coats.  So next we worked on lighting.  I got these schoolhouse lights that I just love from Lowes, only problem is that for some reason they don't hold tight to the ceiling...so they BARELY cover the light box!  How can we fix this??  Hmmmm....

Isn't it cute?  These lights are above the windows in the kitchen.

Here's how it looks "modified" 

We just made something like a plate to cover more at the base.

 

There it is...our "fix".  I just took a plain light box cover...plastic...like $2.15, Kade cut holes in them while I was working on the RedGard for the tub.... and then I took the very same spray paint that I used for the closet lights and gave them a quick coat.  The hole in the center didn't even have to be straight because the screw holes are what keeps it centered.  (although anyone that REALLY knows me knows that that being off center still drives me crazy, lol)

There it is again...all fixed....you can't even tell we did anything!

 Now...I can't wait to get the Kitchen cabinets in and see how cute these lights REALLY look :)

I'm going to finish up the RedGard tomorrow while Kade's at work, then we'll see what other trouble I can get in to, lol

The Little Things

Are we done yet??  Ha!  NOT EVEN CLOSE!  At least we're not looking at stud walls with wiring & unfinished plumbing hanging out!! On Wednesday we drove over to STL and went to Lumber Liquidators to pick up the tongue & groove pine for the sunroom and the stairway walls.  Today it was a little bit cooler so I decided I'd better get the closet lights out and painted while I could still breathe, lol.  I found these lights on ebay for about $8 each after shipping...I thought they were so cute and went well with the traditional/vintage style that we have.  I got such a good deal because they are SHINY brass, lol.  I picked up some Rustoleum Metallic paint & primer in one spray paint in Oil Rubbed Bronze (that's what the rest of our fixtures are)

Minus the color I think they'll be cute!

layed them all out on some cardboard...

Wow....that IS shiny, lol...

MUCH BETTER!!  I'll have to take a pic when we get them put up!

I also laid out the pattern for the tub surround.  3x6 white subway tile w/2 stripes of brown glass....LOVE IT!

I think we've got the right height and everything...the idea of tiling is making me so nervous!