Read "The Hunger Games" and Got Some Work Done

So I have avoided reading "The Hunger Games" series because I knew that I would not be able to stop until I was done.  I finally gave in and put all my other projects aside so I could read all three books.  I loved them!  Now Andrew wants to read them.  One of his classmates presented "The Hunger Games" during share time as his favorite.  I told him that he needs to wait a few more years and he thinks that's unfair since one of his classmates has read them.  I don't want to be overprotective but there is a lot of gore for a 9 1/2 year old.  Would you let your 9-10 year old read this series?

Now that I've finished reading I am making myself get back to home improvement projects.  Here are some things I've updated so far.

I changed out the foyer light.  It used to look like this:

 

Now it looks like this:

 

 

I also bought a new rug that I absolutely love!  I also replace the light switches and outlets to a pure white.

 





I'm trying to decide what color to paint the walls.  The biggest portion painted above is BM November Skies.  I also plan on staining the door a dark espresso.  The room below was painted November Skies and I think it looks lovely!

Transitional Living Room by Salt Lake City Interior Designers & Decorators Lacy Green, enzy design

On to the family room (I think I previously called it the living room but family room is more accurate).  I have been to the paint store three times and am still trying to decide what blue I want to use.  So far I have BM Old Navy, BM Down Pour Blue, and BM New York State of Mind (the colors are a little washed out in this pic).

 

I ordered some curtains from JC Penney and when they arrived I hated them.  They were excessively shiny and just did not fit the feel I am going for in this room.  I guess next time when I read that curtains are 100% polyester I'll know that really means "shiny".  So I got on the web and found some nice curtains from IKEA.  I wish they were "whiter" but I think they look nice even if I haven't washed or ironed them yet.  They are from the RITVA line if you were wondering

 

 





I'm going to try an get the chandelier installed this weekend (the shades are not on yet).

 

These are some of my inspiration pics for the family room (gotta love Houzz).  I hope I can pull it off!

Contemporary Living Room by Toronto Photographers Lisa Petrole Photography

Contemporary Living Room by Gastonia Interior Designers & Decorators Emily A. Clark

 

Traditional Family Room by Cornelius Interior Designers & Decorators StarrMiller Interior Design, Inc.

 

So things are coming along and as long as the library does not have "Divergent" ready for me soon I might actually get a room or two painted.  I put all my supplies out so they will stare me in the face so I will be motivated to keep working.

 

Here's to a productive weekend!

Before Pictures

Here are pictures of our house as it is right now.  I didn't even clean up the kid's toys as you can see.  I have taken down the outdated impressionist curtains that were in the living room and kitchen.  I'll post a picture of that loveliness later.

The best thing about our house is that it has great guts and the views are gorgeous!  Well, when you come from living in a downtown area where there is not much to look at, this is a huge change.

 



 

These are the built ins that I can't decide whether to paint or not.  They look darker in the picture and the cabinets are a bit faded from the sun.  What do you think?

 



 

 

Another view of the built ins.  Yes, that is all my yarn on the shelves.  Yes, I'm obsessed with knitting.  I'll do some posts later on that.

 

 I love our vaulted ceilings!  It makes everything feel so much bigger.  Don't you just love that chandelier?  But it's soooo, what's the word, brassy!  Excuse the baby eating her breakfast, it's the only way I got these pictures taken in the first place.

 

Oh, brass.  How I can't wait to be rid of you!

 

And this hardware is on EVERY cabinet from the kitchen to the dining room to the bathrooms, ugh.  These are in decent shape but most are corroded to a lovely green.



This is the foyer.  Again, another brass light fixture and an outdoor rug.  The walls are texture painted and I'm a little worried that I'll need to sand them before I paint.  Yikes!

This is the front porch light.  Isn't it lovely!  Wait, I mean dirty.

 

 

I love the front doors with their lead glass inserts but the paint is chipped in a lot of places and look at the dirty brass kick plate!



 

 I'm just itching to get started.  The cold weather needs to be gone!  Do you have home improvement plans for the spring?



New House and My Giant List of DIY Projects

We moved into our new (to us) home a few months ago.  Since then I have been obsessed with design thoughts/ideas/projects to update this place.  Before we moved from our previous house I began dipping my toes into the DIY world.  We ripped up our old nasty berber carpet and I installed laminate floors.  It was a huge undertaking in our small house (with nowhere to move furniture), four kids ages 9, 4, 3, and 6 months, and two dogs but we did it.  I learned a lot during that project.  Now that we are settled into our new place and the frigid winter is coming to an end I am ready for more.

Here is my list of things that I want to accomplish before next winter.

Whole House
1.  Spray paint all door knobs to satin nickel, replace strike plates, and replace hinges.
2.  Replace outlets, covers, switches, and switch plates.
3.  Paint trim and doors (a brighter white).

Dining Room:
1.  Spray paint chandelier.
2.  Replace hardware on cabinets.

Living Room
1.  Replace hardware on living room built ins.
2.  Spray paint brass fireplace inserts.
3.  Paint walls and possibly built in.
4.  Hang curtains.
5.  Find roman blinds for window seat.
6.  Recover window seat cushion.
7.  Hang new chandelier.
8.  Find affordable furniture (ha!).
9.  Artwork

Foyer
1.  Paint walls and door.
2.  Replace light fixture.
3.  New rug.
4.  Artwork.
5.  New mirror and sconces?

Hall
1.  Paint walls.
2.  Artwork.
3.  Replace light fixtures.

Exterior
1.  Spray paint lights.
2.  Put out bird houses and feeder.
3.  Plant the kid's trees.
4.  Paint door.

Next up I'll be posting some current pictures of the house so I can track the progress this year.  Do you think I'm too ambitious?  It's good to have goals right?  Now I just have to wait for my hardware and light fixtures to be delivered.  Yay!