Screen Porch: Paint Problem Solved

Our paint problem got solved mid-week last week with some simple paint matching.  Of course, finding a piece of existing trim that could be removed and replaced easily proved a bit of a challenge but one of the base pieces of the front porch columns did the trick.  

Here's what was greeting me when I got home on Monday night last week. 

By the end of the week, everything was repainted and it now looks like this...

Still to come - lighting, screens, and floor paint.  We're so close I can almost taste it!

Hope everyone had a beautiful Mother's Day! After an absolutely jam-packed Saturday, Sunday was so relaxing!  I spent a great day with my kids, starting with a mouth-watering brunch at one of my favorite local restaurants, Liberty Tavern, followed by a relaxing day at home.  My father-in-law snapped this picture on our way to the restaurant.

Happy Mother's Day!

Screen Porch: Paint Problems

UGH.  That's pretty much all I can say right now.  We were sooooo close to having this whole porch renovation done this week but now I think that's in jeopardy.  I'm still holding out hope that it will be done in time for Alex's birthday party on the 20th but even that seems like a big hope.  (for the full play by play, click here).

So what's the hold up? Paint of all things!!  Totally not our contractor's fault. I had the original paint can from when we renovated 2.5 years ago.  The painters bought some more based on the formula and they started putting it on the porch and it didn't match the existing trim!  Huh???  I could imagine this happening if the paint was 5 years old but it's not even 3 years old. The color is really off and not even something I can live with in the short term because it's so obvious.

Here you go...

So the painting stopped which means the gutters are held up and the last of the woodworking and the screens...

I had forgotten how the details at the end are all so dependent on each other so one hold up, puts everything behind.  

Still looking forward to painting our porch.

Screen Porch: Ceiling, Oh the Ceiling!

If you've been around a while following the progress on our porch, you'll remember that the porch ceiling was a source of some angst for me.  I debated paint and stain in several variations.  Ultimately stain seemed the right way to go, so I sought out a white semi-transparent stain.  It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be but I did find several. We ultimately went with Cabot brand.

Here's the result...

Here's what it looked like before.

Still a little bit rustic but still traditional and fitting for our house.  I love it.

Some other details have been added now as well including this upright in the peak.  

You can also see the first coat of paint but I wish it was a simple story which had already resolved itself, but it's not. More to come on that...

Screen Porch: The Door and Steps

Well, I'm excited to say that we have a door on our porch and steps to get to the door. I'm a little behind in posting so I'll do some catch up this week (and vent my frustration!!).

Everything will be all painted out to match the existing trim (except the porch floor and steps.  These pictures remind me that we need to do something to shield those air conditioners a bit more.  Shrubs?  Surround?  Thoughts?

Rec Room Progress

I have finally made some progress getting our basement rec room together. Slow progress, but some progress.  It still needs some more toys purged from it but generally it's getting much closer to what I want it to be.  Of course, I should be spending more time on the treadmill and probably a little less time thinking about the decor!

So, here's where I started back in December.  Actually, this picture was from July but it looked the same even in December.

This was way too much furniture for this space.  The red leather chair on the left found a new home in Alex's big boy room.  The chair and sofa were sold via Craigslist.  (Hello $450!)

Next we moved the family room sofa down to the rec room.  Our sofa looked like this...

 Until I got a slipcover for it and then it looked like this...

Next I brought in one of a pair of chairs previously in the family room (the other is still in the family room), moved in some end tables (one was already here and the other was in the attic), and hung a great new canvas-mounted picture of my kids.  Finally my lamps came back fitted out with their $15 Target shades which happened to fit perfectly without a harp.  Hooray for happy accidents!

After a little bit of tweaking, the room now looks like this.  

More accurately maybe like this...

The sofa works so much better here than it ever did in our family room.  Maybe this was all part of my original subconscious plan! 

Those end tables work well here as well.  They were a hand-me-down from my parents and they have lived in my attic for a few years.  They are perfect down here because they have drawers and storage. Need to brain storm the options...

Also, think I need a couple more canvas prints of my kids.  Looks like I'll be back on the Groupon hunt!  This all leads me to my new color scheme which was previously (in my head only) beachy cream, yellow, blue, and green. Now though I think I am heading in a more colorful playroom direction.  I'm not saying wild color everywhere but a few fun pops of color might be in order.  It's time to stop fighting the toys which dominate this space but embrace them and their wonderful color!

Doing any furniture swapping in your house?  Amazing how different and perfect a piece can feel in a different space.

Lamps Transformed

I have had these brass lamps since we moved to Arlington 14 years ago.  They have followed me through several apartments and now our house.  They used to be in our living room but eventually they made it back to the attic where they have lived for several years.

I had contemplating spray painting them for a couple of years.  I finally got up the guts to do it last weekend.  Enter Rustoleum Harbor Blue.

The lampshade is from Target and just happened to fit over the existing lamp works so I didn't have to get a harp.

More to come tomorrow...

Den: The Rug

This post is really long overdue since I found this rug back in March!  I actually thought I posted about it a while back but clearly I didn't.

And here it is with the new rug...

And a close-up...

It's such a bright and sunny room, it could definitely handle the darker rug (found here).  I also wanted something that would be able to stand up to art projects and whatever else my family can dish up. It's an indoor/outdoor rug with no pile so it's relatively easy to slide a chair on it.  Also the price was definitely right since I got it on sale for $135 with shipping.  These pictures were taken a few weeks ago and the wrinkles have smoothed out considerably since then.

Still hard to believe that this is the same room where my kids slept for the past 5 years!

And now...

I really need to paint that cabinet door this weekend!  Have you done any rug shopping lately?  Find a great deal?

A Birthday Present for HOUSEography!

As a birthday present to my dear blog, I got it a mega makeover!  She was sorely in need of some changes so here they are...

Lighter, brighter and overall more my style.

[update!! Thanks Casey!] Here's a screen shot of my old blog.

I'm hoping the new blog will be a little easier to navigate and generally easier to read.  Thanks to Casey at Sugar Studios for the wonderful work at a great price!

What do you think?  Like the new design?

On the porch front, the painters are scheduled to come today to paint!! I'm so excited. Woohoo!

Porch Progress: The last leg (hopefully)

I am really hoping we are down to the last leg of our screen porch renovation journey.  Ideally, we'll be done this week but the weather will have to hold for that to happen.

Here's the view from the back of the house.  The area without a railing is the doorway. There's a frame there now but it has been raining here most of the weekend and I didn't get an updated picture.

Here are a couple of close-ups of the railing detail.  Loooooove it.

From the front...

I finally made a decision on the porch ceiling.  Took a week to make that decision but only about 2 minutes to choose a color for the floor! I'll keep you in suspense for a couple more days.  Hopefully I'll be showing final pictures early next week!

Next up will be fixing the landscaping around the porch a bit and get about 20 bags of mulch to fill in what is washed away.  The work area is really clean though so I don't think it will take much to make it all nice again... I hope.  Our front yard is also in major need of some grass seed and water. Our sprinklers have been turned off throughout the porch renovation so I am itching to get them turned back on and get our grass back in shape.

And then there's furniture... I have my eye on a table which I may fill you in on next week.

Feels good to be in the last few days of this project... I'm ready to eat dinner out there again!

Master Bedroom: More Mirrors

This is my 500th blog post... hard to believe!  I have a blog-iversary gift to my blog (and readers) planned next week. Eye candy!!  Can you guess what it is?  Now, on with the show...

For a while the pictures over our bed have been bugging me.  I really like this original artwork (purchased at a yard sale by my mom many years ago), but it seems a little wasted over the bed where you can't see it. They seem a little too small for the spot and just don't have the impact I wanted.

A few months ago I found a great Crate & Barrel mirror at Goodwill for $20.  I didn't know where I was going to use it but I think I may have finally realized that if I see something I really like - no, actually LOVE - for a great price (under $50) then I should buy it because I will likely end up regretting not buying it and inevitably think of a million places to use said thing about an hour after leaving it behind.  So, home it came with me...

So, I popped it over the bed to see if I liked it.  Result - I do like it. Not sure I love it but it's a departure from the starburst mirror that is over nearly every blogger's bed right now.  Raise your hand if you have one?  Don't get me wrong, I love the look but just wanted to try something different.

 

Here's the before -

And now...

I like that the mirror is a little less traditional and stuffy than the pictures were.  It also shows off the ceiling height in here. 

I have already found homes for two of the pictures. One is in the corner with my grandmother's chair.  I love the colors together and it grabs more attention. I'm debating adding one of the others over the top of this one for more height.  

The other is over Jim's dresser but it was too messy to photograph in good conscience!

There's a quick change-up for a Tuesday morning.  Have you done any quick changes in your bedroom to lighten it up.  

Angel Food Cake Cheating

I needed an easy cake for Elizabeth's 6th Birthday party.  As I have said before, I am not a baker. I don't have the patience or the ability to measure accurately. I often leave out ingredients but I still like to "make" my kids' cakes.  So, I am always looking for an easy dessert that seems homemade (like it's on my own plate) but really it took 5 minutes.  So, an adapted angel food seemed perfect. Also, it's light and works with fruit so it was perfect for little girls who were already stuffed with pancakes and candy.

This is beyond easy. All you need is a store-bought angel food cake, fruit of your choice (I used strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and kiwis.  And Cool Whip (or whipped cream if you prefer but I love Cool Whip and so does my daughter!

First, slice the cake in half horizontally. Set the top aside.

Next layer on the Cool Whip and then a layer of fruit. I filled the center with Cool Whip as well. Maybe overkill!

Layer more Cool Whip on top of that.

Finally, replace the top and cover the entire thing with Cool Whip as if it were icing. Decorate with fruit of your choice.

Elizabeth loved it and thought it was perfect for her - my berry and kiwi loving girl!

Elizabeth's Pancakes & Pajamas Birthday Party

Last weekend we celebrated Elizabeth's 6th birthday with a Pancakes & Pajamas Party.  Six of Elizabeth's best friends came over at 9 a.m. on Sunday morning wearing their PJs ready for pancakes!!  They were all so cute and super excited to show off their PJs!  This was a great compromise for a 6 year old birthday since most of the kids are not ready for sleep-overs but they are already excited about the possibility!

I spent a good part of Saturday morning hanging a ton of streamers in the dining room.  I wanted it to feel enchanted. Thankfully the blue painters tape held overnight and only 2 streamers had fallen by morning!

I added balloons, paper lanterns, and tissue paper poofs around the chandelier.

While the girls arrived, they started working on cereal necklaces. They strung Fruit Loops (a delicacy in our house) and multigrain Cheerios onto elastic meant for jewelry.  To stop them from falling off the end, I clipped a small binder clip on the end of the string.  They would have done this for 45 minutes I think but I wanted them to eat the pancakes while they were still warm...

That's my little man Alex working on his own cereal necklace!  

After tying 8 square knots on the necklaces, we moved them into the dining room for pancakes and hot chocolate.

We had special toppings for the hot chocolate including graham cracker and oreo pieces and mini chocolate chips.  And of course whip cream in a can!  For the pancakes we had maple, strawberry, and blueberry syrups, as well as fresh fruit.  I also had yogurt for them in a bowl on the side.  

I think they felt very adult sitting in the dining room with coffee mugs!

Of course, curly straws and a cereal necklace snack ensured they were firmly in kid-ville!

After pancakes, they headed outside (it was almost 80 degrees at 10 a.m.!) so they could decorate a pillowcase. I bought the pillowcases in bulk on ebay and I already had the fabric paint from baby shower onesie decorating (more on that here)! 

When they were done, they played outside on the swing set while I cleaned up. Then we came back inside for a candy hunt! Elizabeth had missed Easter at home while we were in London, so she really wanted to do it. We could have skipped it but she loved it!  I made baskets for each of the girls from the dollar store. Each had their names on them and a little label

Finally, they came back in for my no-bake homemade cake (recipe to follow tomorrow).

By this point the girls were super sugared up but with only a few minutes to go, Elizabeth opened her presents. Total chaos but so much fun for the girls to see her open their hard-thought presents!

The adorable invitations and favor labels were made by Michelle at Bugaboo Designs.

I also customized my winter wreath to greet Elizabeth's guests with some more ribbon and some "6"s cut out of card stock I had on hand.

Hard to believe my baby girl is 6 years old!

Happy Birthday Elizabeth!

p.s. I found a lot of inspiration on Pinterest, and especially from the very talented Cassie at Hi Sugarplum!  Thanks Cassie for so many awesome ideas!!