Totally out of focus and should have been sent to the recycle bin ... but there's something dreamy about it that I really like.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Accidental artsy photo
I was playing around with a strand of Christmas lights and a filter over my lens trying to make the lights blur into heart shapes. Zeke walked into the frame and the result is a happy accident ...
Totally out of focus and should have been sent to the recycle bin ... but there's something dreamy about it that I really like.
Totally out of focus and should have been sent to the recycle bin ... but there's something dreamy about it that I really like.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Friends
Remember the little cat I posted about last summer? She is spending the winter on our deck. We noticed she was sleeping under the waterproof covers we have on our outdoor furniture so we gave her an old dog bed so she'd be more comfortable (the furniture cushions are inside for the winter). Then we started feeding her because we felt sorry for her. Then I brought a big box home from work and we made her a comfy and warm bed. We might as well accept she's our outdoor pet at this point!
We finally got Zeke to stop chasing her (Zoey never did) and now the 3 of them are friends. She waits at the back door for the dogs to be let out and follows them around in the backyard - its really sweet.
We have thought about bringing her inside but the thought of having a third cat adding to the litter box is really unappealing. Luckily the winters aren't harsh here and she seems to be doing okay in her little 'apartment' on the deck.
We finally got Zeke to stop chasing her (Zoey never did) and now the 3 of them are friends. She waits at the back door for the dogs to be let out and follows them around in the backyard - its really sweet.
We have thought about bringing her inside but the thought of having a third cat adding to the litter box is really unappealing. Luckily the winters aren't harsh here and she seems to be doing okay in her little 'apartment' on the deck.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Guest bathroom
This post is about 4 months late but better late than never, right?
When we were getting ready for my brother's visit back in September we thought we should check out the guest bathroom and make sure it was acceptable for someone to use. Apart from buying a shower curtain and rod we hadn't done a single thing in there since we moved in.
Here it is in all its glory:
Note the burn marks on the ceiling from the over zealous bulbs!
The problems:
* Yucky caulk around the tub, cracked caulk along the top of the shower surround
* Paint bubbling and peeling, and soft drywall around the edges of the shower surround and tub
* Grossness where the tub meets the vinyl floor
* Vinyl floor full of stains and dings
* Yellowed white paint on the walls
* Ridiculously large mirror
* Rusted, dated light fixture
* Peeling varnish on vanity
* Biscuit colored countertop that extends over the toilet
* Plastic toilet paper holder
* Miniature towel bar (we could tell there used to be a wider one because the old holes were spackled but not sanded - for some reason someone switched it to a shorter one - weird!)
Obviously there had been some water leakage at some point (maybe kids splashing in the tub?) and I have a feeling there is some moisture behind the shower surround but we don't have the money for a big bathroom project right now so we decided to fix what we could see and then prettify the room. After a couple evenings spent scraping off caulk and peeling paint, patching walls, and recaulking we were ready to start painting.
The only window is a small one in the shower, which makes for a bit of a dark room, so we decided to paint over the slightly yellowed white paint to freshen things up. And what color did we pick? Gray! Ironic, huh. I love gray and ever since we painted our bedroom "Light French Gray" which turned out to be blue I've been dying to paint a room gray. We settled on a lovely light gray that has slight warm tones that will hopefully counteract the overly cold feeling in the room.
Of course I couldn't stop there so we removed the huge builder mirror and used a borrowed mirror from the hallway in its place. I also decided the ugly oak vanity needed painting. I wanted to paint it white but the counter is biscuit colored and I thought a white vanity would just make the ugly biscuit color more pronounced. We already had black semi gloss lying around so I slapped some of that on and it looks a lot better.
The floor has to stay for now but at least that gray rug covers up a large portion of it!
We switched out the brass hinges for satin nickel and added knobs. This is our go-to toiler paper holder (that's something I never thought I'd write!). Its the same one we used in the powder and its only $17!
This light fixure is probably our best find ever - we found it on clearance at Lowe's for $14 - is that a steal or what!? (CFLs are a bit ugly but I feel guilty using anything else.)
The frame is one we had lying around and the picture is an enlargement of a photo I took in the backyard in the spring. I borrowed the tray from the kitchen and grabbed the other goodies from around the house. I think the yellow looks lovely with the gray!
This was our solution to the miniature towel bar situation. To add some interest to the wall and provide space for more towels we used garment hooks instead of the traditional bar. I LOVE how it looks and it was such an affordable solution!
Because we used things we already had we didn't have to buy much so this was a very affordable makeover and made a huge difference in the room.
Light fixture $14
Paint $22
Toilet roll holder $17
Garment hooks $10
Rug $15
Photo enlargement $1.50
Total $79.50 Yay!
When we were getting ready for my brother's visit back in September we thought we should check out the guest bathroom and make sure it was acceptable for someone to use. Apart from buying a shower curtain and rod we hadn't done a single thing in there since we moved in.
Here it is in all its glory:
Note the burn marks on the ceiling from the over zealous bulbs!
The problems:
* Yucky caulk around the tub, cracked caulk along the top of the shower surround
* Paint bubbling and peeling, and soft drywall around the edges of the shower surround and tub
* Grossness where the tub meets the vinyl floor
* Vinyl floor full of stains and dings
* Yellowed white paint on the walls
* Ridiculously large mirror
* Rusted, dated light fixture
* Peeling varnish on vanity
* Biscuit colored countertop that extends over the toilet
* Plastic toilet paper holder
* Miniature towel bar (we could tell there used to be a wider one because the old holes were spackled but not sanded - for some reason someone switched it to a shorter one - weird!)
Obviously there had been some water leakage at some point (maybe kids splashing in the tub?) and I have a feeling there is some moisture behind the shower surround but we don't have the money for a big bathroom project right now so we decided to fix what we could see and then prettify the room. After a couple evenings spent scraping off caulk and peeling paint, patching walls, and recaulking we were ready to start painting.
The only window is a small one in the shower, which makes for a bit of a dark room, so we decided to paint over the slightly yellowed white paint to freshen things up. And what color did we pick? Gray! Ironic, huh. I love gray and ever since we painted our bedroom "Light French Gray" which turned out to be blue I've been dying to paint a room gray. We settled on a lovely light gray that has slight warm tones that will hopefully counteract the overly cold feeling in the room.
Of course I couldn't stop there so we removed the huge builder mirror and used a borrowed mirror from the hallway in its place. I also decided the ugly oak vanity needed painting. I wanted to paint it white but the counter is biscuit colored and I thought a white vanity would just make the ugly biscuit color more pronounced. We already had black semi gloss lying around so I slapped some of that on and it looks a lot better.
The floor has to stay for now but at least that gray rug covers up a large portion of it!
We switched out the brass hinges for satin nickel and added knobs. This is our go-to toiler paper holder (that's something I never thought I'd write!). Its the same one we used in the powder and its only $17!
This light fixure is probably our best find ever - we found it on clearance at Lowe's for $14 - is that a steal or what!? (CFLs are a bit ugly but I feel guilty using anything else.)
The frame is one we had lying around and the picture is an enlargement of a photo I took in the backyard in the spring. I borrowed the tray from the kitchen and grabbed the other goodies from around the house. I think the yellow looks lovely with the gray!
This was our solution to the miniature towel bar situation. To add some interest to the wall and provide space for more towels we used garment hooks instead of the traditional bar. I LOVE how it looks and it was such an affordable solution!
Because we used things we already had we didn't have to buy much so this was a very affordable makeover and made a huge difference in the room.
Light fixture $14
Paint $22
Toilet roll holder $17
Garment hooks $10
Rug $15
Photo enlargement $1.50
Total $79.50 Yay!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Happy New Year!
Being the ultra hip couple that we are we were in bed by 11pm. Originally we planned to stay up and welcome the New Year but after watching the ball drop in Times Square on TV we decided that was good enough.
At midnight a bunch of people in our neighborhood started shooting off fireworks, which terrified our nervous-nelly Zeke and he climbed up onto our pillows and started shaking uncontrollably. For the next 2 hours. When he finally settled down he refused to go back to our feet where he usually sleeps, which meant Josh and I spent the night hanging off the sides of the bed with no blankets. Happy New Year to us!!!
Zoey slept soundly through the whole thing - she was snoring incredibly loudly so that's probably why she didn't hear the fireworks :-)
We've had some pretty crazy winds this past week and a bunch of tumbleweeds blew into our neighborhood - some even made their way into our backyard.
The kids next door made some into a snowman (tumbleweedman?) - I guess when you don't get snow you have to improvise! You cant really tell but his hat says "Happy New Year".
Tonight's project is to put all the Christmas stuff away. I will miss the tree the most but hey its only 11 months until I'll be getting everything out again! :-)
2010 wasn't a bad year, but it wasn't the best either so here's hoping 2011 will be a great one!
Happy New Year!!
At midnight a bunch of people in our neighborhood started shooting off fireworks, which terrified our nervous-nelly Zeke and he climbed up onto our pillows and started shaking uncontrollably. For the next 2 hours. When he finally settled down he refused to go back to our feet where he usually sleeps, which meant Josh and I spent the night hanging off the sides of the bed with no blankets. Happy New Year to us!!!
Zoey slept soundly through the whole thing - she was snoring incredibly loudly so that's probably why she didn't hear the fireworks :-)
We've had some pretty crazy winds this past week and a bunch of tumbleweeds blew into our neighborhood - some even made their way into our backyard.
The kids next door made some into a snowman (tumbleweedman?) - I guess when you don't get snow you have to improvise! You cant really tell but his hat says "Happy New Year".
Tonight's project is to put all the Christmas stuff away. I will miss the tree the most but hey its only 11 months until I'll be getting everything out again! :-)
2010 wasn't a bad year, but it wasn't the best either so here's hoping 2011 will be a great one!
Happy New Year!!
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