Sleeping Beauty

Posted on February 25, 2011 by April

I’ll admit it, I’m lazy. And I’ve been super lazy about blogging lately. Not because I have nothing to blog, because I just simply can’t sit down and do it. Not right now, not with all the other important things to get done

You see, Bubba and I have decided to throw a party this summer…at our house…that is currently painted with 20 kazillion paint samples, and dare I say, so cluttered it could almost end up on Hoarders. This party would celebrate our marriage (because at the actual wedding we didn’t really have a party, and only included immediate family), and as a very belated house warming party (I’ve lived in the yellow casa for nearly 3 years now). So, needless to say, there’s a lot of work to get done between now and this coming summer. And I’m hoping I will have a lot more completed projects to blog about. Let’s just say, I’m a great starter but a horrible finisher!

To decompress from all the stress and frustration, I’ve been looking at pretty rooms on House Beautiful. Particularly bedrooms, our bedroom is less than relaxing. The Bubba and I definitely have our work cut out for us in that room. So, I am definitely in need of some inspiration.

Have a great weekend!!

All photos courtesy of House Beautiful, and are linked to the HB site.

A Boy Named Dutch

Posted on February 16, 2011 by April

Remember my muddy $5 oops paint, and what an awful shade of mud it was even after using copious amounts of white paint to lighten it up? Well, after dealing with my muddy test spots for a couple of weeks, I bit the bullet and just painted over them. My kitchen cabinets are now white…again.

{And I just couldn’t resist the self portrait!}

The paint is Dutch Boy’s Bright White, Medium Base, Semi Gloss. And thanks to the cheaper price for a gallon as opposed to a quart, my doors and trim work will now be Dutch Boy Bright White as well.

It’s actually not a bad color in person, and in the day light. The picture makes things look a little minty green, but it really is white. And it went on quite smoothly, and being low VOC it wasn’t too stinky. I may be a Dutch Boy convert.

And speaking of paint (actually paint has nothing to do with it, but I really couldn’t find a good transitional sentence), Bubba (aka my husband) and I celebrated our first married Valentine’s Day together. He gave me the funniest doggie card signed by Annie, Goldie and himself, and these…

And he did the DISHES! Without me asking him too!!! Yes, most women would want something more valentiney for the big V day, but not me. Give me a silly card that makes me laugh, some pretty yellow flowers, and an empty kitchen sink, and I’m happy as a clam. He also made me a yummy dinner, but of course, being the wonderful hubby he is, that happens every night. ( I hope this post earns me some brownie points!)

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine’s Day! And if your anti-Valentine’s Day, I hope you were able to adequately avoid the sappiness of the day!

Clear as mud…

Posted on February 11, 2011 by April

Remember how I had briefly mentioned my desire to paint the kitchen cabinets with a can of $5 oops paint from Home Depot? And how the color was a little darker than I wanted, and it would be SO easy to lighten it up with a touch of white paint?

Oh how nieve I was….and am.

Saturday, it was cold, and a little snowy out, the perfect day to chip away at my indoor Honey-Do list. (Yes, I make a Honey-Do list for myself. Don’t worry, Bubba has one too.) Somewhere near the top of this list, I hand penciled in an experiment with my oops paint. So, I got out my experimenting bucket, and played chemist.

Here’s my lab…

After pouring my too-dark-for-me oops paint into a clean and unused 5 gallon bucket, and of course after pulling on my white lab coat, stylin’ goggles and rubber gloves (not really), I began stirring a few drops of white paint into the mix.

Hmm…still too dark, and a bit blurry I might add.

So after adding and stirring, adding and stirring, adding and stirring, I ended up using a quart and a half of white paint. Bringing the grand total of this little experiment (so far) to $20. In hindsight, I should have just spent those same twenty smack-a-roos on the paint color I wanted. But then I couldn’t say I was the proud owner of the gallon and a half mud colored paint.

Here’s what it looks like on my cabinet doors.

The picture is dark and distorts the color a little, but believe me, it’s not pretty. I’ve contemplated adding even more white paint to see if that would lighten things up a bit. But after my investment of nearly $20 for “cheap” paint, I may just call it a dud and move on.

Live and learn I guess, oops paint is hit or miss. Unfortunately this time, it was a miss.

But to leave on a positive note, I’ll share one of my favorite hits, at least for this week.

3 jars, and a set of three metal scoops from Wal-Mart. The scoops were 3 bucks for the pack, and the small jars were $3 each while the larger of the three was $4. Not a bad deal, especially since they made me so happy.

Here are my little jars holding cotton balls and q-tips in the bathroom.

Oh and that reminded me, we replaced the old cruddy faucet with a brand new sparkly one.

I’ll be posting about that process soon. Once I find the memory card that has the photos of the grossness. It was nas-TEE. Although, I find myself saying that with every project that requires ripping out the old and putting in the new. Comes with owning a 50+ year old home I suppose.

I hope this post was as clear as mud to all of you!

Colors of Winter…

Posted on February 4, 2011 by April

For nearly a year now, I’ve been blog stalking. Stalking fashion blogs, DIY blogs, designer blogs, food blogs, photography blogs, blogs about blogs. I’ve grown quite an affection for the blog. That’s why I started this silly little blog back in May, I needed a blog home. A place to come back and covet others blogs. You know the ones, with pretty pictures and pretty words, with proper grammar and witty comments, and no run-on sentences. I know it’s wrong to covet, but I can’t help myself when it comes to other peoples beautiful blogs.

One of my favorite covet worthy blogs is Pancakes and French Fries. This lady is hilarious, and beautiful to boot. ( Heh heh, I can’t say boot without thinking of Robin from “How I met your Mother”, a-BOOT). She’s recently started a series of color stories on her blog home, and has invited her blog friends, and I’m hoping blog stalkers, to partake in this project. And in keeping with one of my many New Years resolutions, I’ve decided to step out from behind my blog “stalkiness” and participate.

For January, Ms. Jules, chose grays and creams and pretty much anything that could be found on a cold winter day. So, I’ve done my best to find subjects that were gray-ish and creamy and sort of winter-y. I will be a copycat for my first color story, and present this puppy in journal/story form.

In January…

We got married. (Well actually, we got married at the end of December, but it was close enough to January I thought I’d include it.)