Paint this, sew that

Apparently it's summer already

Did anyone know this?  That it's summer already?  I guess it didn't really occur to me that because finals were this past week, school must be over for a few months.  Insane.  Seriously.  Oh, and my baby is four months old and rolls over, giggles, and is eating solids.  Where has the time gone?

Probably into my work.  I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again: I'm not getting much housework done.  Between the baby, work, and designing my collection, I just don't have the time to do as much around the house as I'd like to.  Remember when I last gave you an update on the list in November?  Yeah, you know the one I'm talking about.  Let's see how much has been accomplished...

 hall bath (reveal can be seen here- I do owe you an update as since the reveal I've changed up the shower curtain and vanity hardware, but that wille be another post for another day..)

-prime/paint the ceiling

-scrape edges so the spackle isn't gunked up on the trim

-install new light over vanity

****

The kitchen (you can see our most recent update here)

-Take out countertops and put in new countertops

-Install new sink

-Put fridge in fridge nook (it's currently living in our dining room since it's 3/4 inch too wide for the current nook...that will be fixed when we redo the countertops)

-Knock out bulkhead/vent over stove and take out tiny side cabinet

-Built pantry in place of tiny side cabinet and to make up for the huge gap left from our old, extra wide stove (that will be explained in a later post). New plan is to extend the countertops and build a narrow pull out cabinet for trays.

-Put in new vent and finish ceiling

-Repaint walls

****

 laundry room

-Paint cabinetry white

-Put in another wall cabinet

-Paint walls

-Redo the floors

****

Finally, the baby's room.  Yeah, this one's going to be a doozy (reveal can be seen here- I owe you an update on this one too as we've decorated more and switched out the rug for something much larger and more rolling-around friendly)

-Scrape down popcorn ceiling

-Rip out floors

-Put in new floors

-Paint walls

-Prime/paint ceiling

-Put in a new ceiling fan (like the one in my studio because the one in there now is WAY too big for a little 10x10 room)

-Decorate

^that's what it looked like when I last updated you guys

^that's how it looked this morning when I went to get the little lady from her 20 minute nap (because that does SO much good).  I'm not even ashamed of the mess.  Because this is the cleanest room in the house at the moment..

 

 

As you can see, only the hall bath and nursery are done.  Of course now that I see these lists, I want to add more projects to them, but for now, I'm just sticking with the normal plan. 

Why did I show you this list again?  Well, first of all, it's a nice reminder for me.  Any other new mommas get brain mush?  I used to have the best memory on the planet, and now I can't remember my phone number.  Also, it's motivation for me to get some stuff done this summer.  I'm still going to be working, but it will mostly be from home so I'll be spending a lot less time commuting.  During the school year I spend at least an hour to/from work every day.  So at least two hours in the car.  Vomit.

Back to my point..

So this summer it is my goal to get things DONE.  I have a whole bunch of outdoor related projects I want to do, but since we have supplies for almost all the projects on this list, I need to finish them first.   I was looking around today and noticed how many project supplies I have laying around the house that need to be done already.  I think the undone projects are making me anxious.  Correction: I KNOW the undone projects are making me anxious.  I mean, really, I've had the paint for the laundry room and kichen for a year.  A whole freaking YEAR. 

Who wants to come over for a painting party?

Absent

Sorry I've been so absent lately!  It's been somewhat...how do I say it...insane here lately.  My sweet little 3.5 month old has decided now would be a good time to start teething.  Yeah, wasn't expecting that until MUCH later!  After a frantic call to her doctor last night, we were finally able to give her some relief and she's back to her happy self.  Of course I woke up this morning sick.  I'd rather be sick then her in pain though, so I guess it's a fair trade off.

The work that's been getting done around the house is in areas I don't really talk about.  Mostly landscaping.  Because I have no clue what I'm doing.  But I found some hedge trimmers in our garage (I didn't even know we owned any!), and I went to town trimming our trees after a particularly difficult day once the hubs got home.  Then I pulled weeds and all that other stuff that normal people remember to do on a somewhat consistant basis when they have nearly half an acre. 

We ripped down the backsplash behind the range in the kitchen!  We are just waiting til we have the funds/time to put something up.  We also found a less-than-five dollar solution to the cabinet doors we need to fill in the gaps (thank god for the restore!).  It'll all make sense once we get to working on it.  I'm taking a week off at the end of the semester from my thesis work (to wait for fabric to get here and to get my sewing machine serviced before getting started on my exhibition work again) and I'm hoping to get some stuff in the kitchen wrapped up. 

OH!!!!!!  How did I not mention that we have a new garden??  And stuff is GROWING instead of DYING!!!  I used all my birthday money to buy one of these guys:

I loaded it up with three different kinds of squash, two lettuces, cauliflower, bell peppers, and
a watermelon just because :)  I need to get another, smaller container to put my strawberry plants (no good for curious pups!) and another one for some jalapenos.  The squash looks like it's actually thriving in the one sunny patch in our backyard so I'm hopeful it will survive. 

Oh, and are there any mommas out there that can give me suggestions on how to find play groups in small towns?  The only one I know of only gets together at fast food playscapes and I don't really want to go that route.  Lord knows I can't say no to a milkshake if I'm around one!

InterVENTion

I'm running out of post titles.  Sorry bout ya.

Remember in my latest Pinterest challenge post I showed you guys the oven/range hood/cabinet situation?  Let me refresh your memories..

Well, things have started rolling..

We have the new range hood 80% installed (there are some wiring issues my dad is helping us remedy so it's not hooked up at the moment) and a new cabinet is in the works. 

I figured since I haven't been able to update quite as often, I should at least post when we get something done.  Thank goodness for grandmas that want to babysit for a couple hours!

Oh, and you can't tell from the picture, but I recaulked around all the moulding in the kitchen/dining room like I've been DYING to do for months.  I'm planning on completing the rest of the house in the next couple months.  It's a good quick project to do while the baby's sleeping her quick naps lately.  Not complaining though- we've had a few sleep-thru-the-night nights the past week so I'm hopeful.

findings

We got a hand-me-down treadmill last weekend that we are keeping in the garage.  It's been great to have around- me and the hubs can take turns on it while the baby is sleeping (one stays inside in case a lost-pacifier scream erupts from the crib), which is much more convenient than one of us being a couple miles from the house if we need to know the last place said pacifier was seen.  I used to run a lot- well, five miles a day, which is a lot for me.  After living in a not-so-safe-to-run neighborhood a few years back, I got out of the habit of my daily jogs....and I'd like to remedy that.  So I've been going out there as much as I can and catching up on my reading.  Yes, you read that right (pun intended).  There is all sorts of "graffiti" on the walls and other notations.  Like today I discovered that the garage addition was constructed in 89-90...a few days ago I noticed someone wrote "deathrow" backwards over where the fireplace had been added a few years after the garage.  I also noticed today that someone had tacked up an old newspaper article about how to organically handle moles (a problem we STILL have how many years later?) along with a paint chip of the original house color.  Oh how I wish it was still the original grey instead of the grey it is now.  If it hadn't been painted less than five years ago, I'm sure I could convince the hubs that we should paint it back.  One day...

 

Does anyone else find goodies like these in their garages?  I want to do a major clean-out of the garage this summer, but if it is anything like last- I'll probably keel over from heatstroke about twenty minutes in..

How the table has turned..

I got this table when I had moved from Austin back up to Dallas in my small Mazda Protege a couple years after I had graduated from college and didn't have room for furniture, only the basics :my clothes, my sewing machine, and some fabric.  Priorities, I tell ya priorities.  I'm sure I went back to pick up some stuff a few more trips, but I'm 100% certain I never brought any furniture with me as I clearly remember sleeping in the living room on an IKEA futon even though the apartment was a one bedroom.  But I digress...

This table has gone through several transformations.  I remember finding it in the clearance section of Michael's for $5 and snatching it up, thinking it was the best deal ever.  Well, I had painted it a chalky blue when I first got it then decided I hated that color and attempted to paint it a leathery brown before giving up.  It somehow ended up as the table to hold all our internet box thingies (technical terms right there), and I never repainted it.  Well, I took it out of the nursery as soon as possible because I just didn't want anything so ugly in there.  Want to see how ugly?

I'll give you a minute to  clean up your vomit......

 

Done yet?

 

Ok.

So I went ahead and didn't sand it because it was already really rough, but I did give it a good dusting before spray priming it.

*don't forget the undersides!

I think I did two coats of spray priming then I let it sit for about 24 hours before starting in with the color.

I was all set to go either pink or purple with this, but once I saw this blue, I knew it'd be perfect.  It picks up some of the blue from the curtain and it makes me happy.  It took two coats of the glossy gorgeousness, but it was worth the wait.  Here it is after one coat:

*disclaimer* this one trash bag was clearly not enough as I walked outside yesterday and our porch is now blue.  Whoops!

*sigh* much better, amirightorwhat?  I'm so sorry for the crappy picture!  It's really overcast and the only picture that I could get to show the color most accurate was from my iphone.  Once the sun comes out, I hope to update the pics!  Oh, and I totally owe you guys a new nursery tour.  We've switched out the rug, added some mobiles, some wall art, and other goodies so the original post is definitely outdated. 

Back to the table...

I absolutely love having it in this spot right next to the door and under her mirror.  It's perfect to have a few soft books (we have a ton more, but I want to get a basket to contain them a bit better), her shoes, her hairbrush (oh man, that girl LOVES having her hair brushed), and my makeup bag.  Why my makeup bag?  Well, when I'm getting ready to go to work, I put the baby in her crib and play songs on my laptop for her to dance to and I sing along.  It's our one morning routine that I absolutely love and can't get enough of.  So much so, that even when I don't have to go to work, we still do this. 

So that's the most recent spray painting project I've been able to do!  Oh, and I let the table sit outside a couple days to make sure it wasn't fumey before bringing it in (and I wore a mask while painting to keep the lungs safe!).  Have you spray painted any furniture lately?  I think this is the first piece of furniture I've spray painted and I think I'm hooked!

 ****UPDATE******  I wanted to note that this project only cost me $3!  I already had the spray primer, table, and dusting supplies, so all I had to buy was the paint!  It's Krylon Blue Ocean Breeze in Gloss in case anyone wants to pick up a can!

 

 

Linking to

thriftydecorchick.com spray paint party

Hookin up with HOH