Autumn in the Air

 

     Why is it that I always love changing things for the season, but I am so ready to put it away just a few weeks later? Right now, I love all things fall...but it won't be long before all the colors and pumpkins will be driving me crazy!

 

     It really takes very little to change the look and feel of your home. I found this pillow (I only use one on my sofa) and throw at TJMaxx last weekend for about $35 total. I loved some of the season's pillows at Pottery Barn, but this one has color and texture and was only $19.99.

 

 

     You can see that someone thinks that all things soft and cozy belong to her. It wouldn't make much sense for me to invest much in anything that is within her reach.

 

 

Little bits of fall are tucked all over the house.

Soon, I will add touches of Halloween.

 

If you missed the wreath tutorial,

you can find it here.

 

 

     The bittersweet came in my last bouquet delivered from the area organic farmer. It was very green and the berries were closed. I let it sit for about 2 weeks and they popped open and dried into this beautiful sign of fall.

 

 

I am joining Marty @ A Stroll Thru Life for

Inspire Me Tuesday

 

and

 

Kim @ Savvy Southern Style for

Wow Us Wednesdays

 

The "New" Bathroom

     I decided to take a day off of posting about the trip, to share with you the finished bathroom redo. Our home has 3 full baths, all average size. Our master bedroom doesn't have a huge master bathroom. I wish it did because I think they are beautiful, but in truth, I'm not the type to lounge in a tub watching my flatscreen television anyway. The bath off the master bedroom is mine and my husband has his bathroom in the basement, it works for us! So, my bathroom has been the last room we updated since no one really saw it anyway.

     I took these before pictures as my husband was starting to empty the bathroom. You are really seeing the before. I had a few goals for this room. I wanted to get rid of the white tile floor. There was nothing wrong with the tile, it was simply very slick and I'd fallen once and almost fallen several times. I also wanted to get rid of the "spec" house look. Our home was built in the late 90's and they used very generic things. I wanted to add a "pop" of color to our mostly deep taupe house and I wanted it to be a bit more upscale looking. There is no window in this room, so the lighting for all the pictures is lacking.

     A white vanity and cabinet above the toilet, as well as an extra piece for storage had to go. The faucets, chrome with the fake glass balls...were out of here. A solution for having to keep my makeup and hairdryer/curling iron on my counter had to be found.

     I actually still liked my shower curtain. I bought it from Marriott Hotels a few years ago. It is the most expensive one I've ever owned...but, down it came.

Cheap looking white cabinet will find a new home in the garage.

    The new look started with a paint chip (Cottage Green) and a square of tile. I love not only the rough texture of the tile, but the combination of gray and brown in it. I opted to pull out the gray in the small rug. When the paint first went on the walls, it was a bit shocking...but as we brought in the other elements I really like it.

     The new vanity, mirror and cabinet are cherry. The granite top is a combination of black and brown (hard to tell in this lighting) and the faucets have been replaced here and in the shower with brushed nickel.

     It is impossible to get a good look at the light fixture. I actually wanted sconces, but that was not only going to require some wiring changes, my old eyes need the added wattage that came with the fixture over the mirror. It is simply a branch of brushed nickel with 3 shades.

     I wanted a chest or cabinet for the end of the room. It is not only extra storage, the space needed something. I wasn't sure what I wanted and then I saw this mirrored cabinet at HomeGoods on our recent trip. It is mirrored on both sides, both shelves and the doors. You can only imagine how thrilled my husband was to empty out our luggage and all the other things we had purchased in the parking lot at HomeGoods to make room for it in the SUV. It fit, and it is perfect in this spot. The lidded basket on the second shelf, holds the makeup I use daily. Easy to reach and yet hidden from sight.

     I found this handmade basket at one of the art studios we visited. I thought it would be perfect for keeping the curling iron and hair dryer in easy reach, yet not cluttering my counter.

     I also found soft green shell towels at HomeGoods (they liked us that day)! The cabinet above the toilet is now taller and holds so much more. You can never have too much storage in a bathroom.

     The soft color in the shower curtain was a perfect match for the wall color and it was the first thing I found. I really hadn't planned on a shell theme for the room, but once I saw that shower curtain...it all came together. I am very pleased that we were able to change the look so much in a space that isn't large

     This is how we spent our weekend!

I hope you had a good one too!

I am joining Susan @ Between Naps on the Porch for Met Monday

Please stop by and say hello to her!

Am I Being Punked?

     I'm one of those people who don't deal well with messes, at least not in my own house. Our 37 years together have been spent in a series of houses that needed something done. In one case, our largest house needed everything done. We have lived without kitchens, without bathrooms and in various degrees of mess. What we loved about the house we are in now is that the only thing we did when we bought it was change the interior paint and that was by choice. It was 5 years old and didn't really need anything done. After 9 years, we have gradually been upgrading the things that were a bit boring in our home. You may remember the kitchen redo, we also did the guest bath and have done simple things like remove all the brass doorknobs and put in brushed nickel. We will be replacing carpet when we no longer have our 16-year-old beagle (that is a story for a different day). Over the weekend we began work on the last bathroom we have to do.

     New floor tile had to be the first thing installed, so everything else had to come out of the room. I've spent the past few weeks deep cleaning my house and in one day...we ruined every room. Boxes of all the things from the bathroom are piled into my office/daughter's room. Saturday night until Sunday afternoon, there was a toilet sitting in my bedroom along with the old vanity. At one point, our old beagle came in the room and somehow got trapped behind a chest of drawers. She no longer likes to be touched, so we had to move the chest in order to get her out. The hardwood floor in the living/dining room was covered with dust and mortar, I'm using the guest bath, so that room that is rarely used now has things sitting and plugged in all over it and I actually moved into the guest room for a few days...so, it has that "lived in" look. No, I'm not mad at my husband, I'm just very sensitive to smells and home projects have many of those.

     Between 2 dogs barking, a tile saw running, an exhausted husband who works much too long and hard at these projects and total chaos in the house, I talked to my daughter and I told her I felt just on the verge of doing one of those laughing so hard that hysteria was going to follow and sobbing would happen next. So, I took a deep breath and counted my blessings that I had a guestroom to hide in and two working bathrooms in the house!

     Here is a hint of the new look. The white tile floor is being replaced with something darker, the taupe walls will be cottage green (the photo isn't quite the actual color-it is sort of a medium seafoam) and I think I will use some shade of  coral as an accent color for towels, etc. I'm not sure about that yet, I want to see the paint on the walls and the new vanity and granite first. I think we are getting too old for this!

     I'm not sure this qualifies for Met Monday.

So far it qualifies for MESS MONDAY instead!

Please join our hostess Susan @ Between Naps on the Porch!

A Little Sunday Afternoon Project

     My china cabinet is a very old piece that we bought from a family friend of my parents, many years ago. I don't love it, but it works in the spot where I need it for right now. I would love to paint it, but my husband has a real issue with painting wood furniture and even more so when he remembers how hard he workded to strip it to the natural oak. After reading this post on Tatertots and Jello, I decided to try my hand at a dreaded "craft project" which we all know, I don't do very well.

     I forgot to take a picture of the cabinet full and with the light reflection, it is almost impossible to get a good photo. Let's just say that my love for crystal and cut glass had turned this cabinet into more of a storage piece than a display piece. I had it way too full, so I removed and washed everything and put my Fostoria  stemware which took up the entire first shelf and part of the second in the mini-kitchen in the basement.

     I removed the shelves and got to work. Jen used wrapping paper for her project, but I couldn't find any locally that didn't look like wrapping paper. I bought a roll of wallpaper at Menards and got to work. I did find that my cabinet is very difficult to work with. It is a wide piece with a narrow opening, so I almost had to crawl inside of it to put up the paper. I also found that the double-stick tape didn't want to stick to wood that had been oiled many times over the years. I finally combined foam double-stick tape and double stick scotch tape to make it hold.

     I do think it lightened up the cabinet a bit and it certainly looks better with less in it. I think painting the back would have been easier for a non-crafty person like me...but, I do like the subtle pattern of the paper.

I am joining Susan @ Between Naps on the Porch for Met Monday!

The Kitchen Backsplash

     Once again as I put this post together, there is devastation from deadly tornadoes. I watched on Facebook last night as a friend who has a mother and other family members in Joplin, MO was posting as she waited for news. Her mother is fine, her house isn't. Most of her other family members have been found, they are still waiting on news of a few others. I saw another friend offer to drive the 2 hour trip to help our friend's family, take supplies, take in pets or offer housing. Tragedy may be the worst, but it brings out the best in people. I pray that all of our blog friends who live in that area have survived and that we have seen the last of these "power storms" that have been hitting this spring.

     My post today is the last part of our kitchen redo. My dad is here visiting and he spent several days last week putting in our tile backsplash. We opted to keep the colors neutral because we know we will sell this house in a few years. We did want to add a little touch of something special, so we added a tumbled stone mosaic which is extra work but I really am happy with the look.

     Please remember to sign up for my

 Boos Cutting Board Giveaway.

You still have a few days left.

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You may remember the beginning of our project...

This is how it looks now!

Click on pictures to enlarge.

We will still need to seal the grout in a few weeks.

We keep finding spots that still need a little "scrubbing".

We also have to get the baseboard on

the bar area and then we are done!

     I am joining Susan @ Between Naps on the Porch for Met Monday. Make sure you stop to see her and all of this week's projects.

Small Changes

     My Met Monday post isn't very interesting this week, although we did get quite a bit done.  We were supposed to leave on Saturday for Asheville, but we cancelled the trip because of my mother-in-law's health. Thank you to those who have sent messages and prayers. We were there on Saturday and she squeezed our hands and opened her eyes a little. She is still hanging on but we hope it isn't much longer. This is no life for her. Our prayer now is that she stay free from pain and fear. Yesterday, we put a fresh face on our hardwood floor. I didn't take a before picture, but between the little grandson's cars and all the furniture moving we have done lately, it needed a bit of a facelift. We used a glossy finish this time instead of the usual semi-gloss. I think we will be sorry very quickly as the glossy finish tends to show everything. It looks pretty today though. My husband also worked on the finishing touches of the bar in the kitchen (the pieces aren't up yet, but are stained).

     Our other major project was removing the above storm door, and replacing it. We have been getting rid of all the brass in the house and this door had a brass handle and trim.

     The new door has brushed nickel. This wasn't an easy project, I thought it would be. It took my husband several hours and finally both of us to put in the trim pieces that hold the glass in. The problem was with the instructions...they really didn't tell us much. I found a video online and then it was much easier. I now notice the brass hinges on the front door, hmm...another project?

Now, it matches this...

     ...and these. Once you start one of these mini-projects, it keeps expanding into the next project. We still hope to change the sliding patio door. We have always planned on putting in French Doors, but I'm not sure we have the room to swing the door open without hitting the table. The one thing I want to get rid of is the blind at the door, so if we replace it with another slider it will be more energy efficient and have built in blinds inside the glass. I do think that doing the little touches to keep your home up to date (or at least in the right decade) can not only make you happy to be there, it helps if you ever decide to sell your home.

I am joining Susan @ Between Naps on the Porch for Met Monday

Please take time to stop and say hello to our hostess!