Quick Coat Rack

I was hoping the addition of the hallway coat closet would eliminate the pile of jackets in the family room.  Unfortunately, the kids still drop their coats as soon as they walk in the back door- on the floor, on the couch, wherever!

We looked at some storage/hook/bench solutions, but the space is limited by the back door.  We needed either something really narrow to go next to the bathroom doorway here...

Or something really shallow to go behind where the door opens.  Mike came up with this really simple solution...

We had the left over trim and knobs from the cabinet installation.  Mike drilled out where the knob screws were in the back, so that it would be flush against the wall once assembled.  He then used heavy duty screws to attach it to the wall (since we knew it would need to hold heavy coats).

After these photos were taken, we grabbed the little can of paint that  came with the kitchen cabinets for touch ups. A perfect match, so we were able to wood putty and then paint where the screws were.

The boot tray is doing a pretty good job of keeping the shoes contained to one spot.  I hope to remove it for late spring/summer, but for now it's been handy to keep the snow & mud off the hardwood floors.

Shopping Trip- Tile

It seems like we're making runs to Home Depot or Lowes at least once a week.  Here are some of our purchases...

We fell in love with this tile for the master bathroom shower floor (just inside the shower):

The floor of the bathroom we plan to do a white marble, but we haven't picked that up yet.  The white marble will also go up the walls inside the shower.

Here is the tile that we picked out for the laundry room...  

And here's what we picked out for the back door foyer & the half bath downstairs.  We decided to do these two areas in the same flooring since they are so close to each other.  We needed a tile that could handle the mess of the kids & dog, and also needed something that wouldn't get slippery when wet.  I'm excited about this, because it looks like real stone!

Independence Day

I think Independence Day has become one of my favorite holidays, just since buying this house!  

The house was built in either 1760 or 1790 (we're still researching that).
I love thinking about what it must have been like when both this house & this country were new!  

I love working elements that are reminiscent of that era into our decor... 

The little iron George Washington statue & the framed flag embroidery are now sitting on the radiator cover in the foyer.  I also added a reproduction lantern that my sister-in-law gave us last Christmas.

On the other side of the foyer, I put some flags into a commemorative mason jar, paired with a framed "America" print...

It's hard to see here, but there's the Liberty Bell on the front,
along with the dates 1776 at the top, and 1976 at the bottom.

Outside the front door, we still have our historically correct flag flying on the front porch!

Happy Independence Day!

Mirror Painting

While painting the built-in shelves in the family room, I decided on another little side project while I had the white paint on hand.

A few weeks ago, my mom had given me this mirror.  I think that when we re-do our master bathroom, I'll hang it above the sink.  But in the meantime, it found a new home in the foyer.

The frame was painted an off-white.  I gave it a quick coat of white paint so it would fit in better in the foyer.  I really like the mirror in this spot, rather than the painting... it feels more open.

AFTER

Before

I had fun putting up some Halloween decorations, and bought a bouquet of pretty little orange flowers at the supermarket.

I also picked up some yellow & red bouqets to put in the family room vases.

At least the downstairs rooms are feeling a bit more put together now.  

Upstairs is a completely different story!  

We're tackling some of the attic/media room project this week... 

Deck the Walls

Yeah, I'm a little late with that title!

But, we've been getting more odds & ends done in the Foyer...

all involved putting holes in our freshly painted walls.

First item tackled: Spray painting the brackets & hooks on the shelf.

Silver matched the gray much better than the bronze.

Then Mike re-hung it above the table...

The decorations will get a refresh for spring.  

For now, I just added a few winter things to replace the Christmas decorations.

Next up: finding something to hang in the space over the radiator.

We had the aerial photograph of the house/property- but now it didn't look right.

We played musical pictures for a few weeks. 

I ended up taking a painting by my great-grandfather that was in the family room 

I stuck it inside a chunky white frame I had in the attic.  

We're liking it!  Now we just have to fill the space it left on the living room wall!

The cat thinks he's part of the decor ;)

Finally, we had the hallway wall... 

Mike suggested hanging some artsy photos I had taken last year.  

We love having meaningful artwork- these are all photos from our garden.

I waited until Snapfish ran a sale, and then had them printed up.  

Before buying new frames, we wanted to try to work with some we already had.

These gold frames hanging in the dining room (the three on the right) fit the bill...

They were from our old house and had Monet prints in them.

Nothing that I LOVED...

So, I took them and spray painted the frames silver & the matting black. 

The black matting tied in nicely with the new rug!

I wish the frames were a little chunkier, but they'll do for now.

Total cost = $20.30

(I already had the spray paint left over from other projects)

Our plan is to print out at least three more sets of images I've taken, 

Then we can swap them out seasonally!

Here's a new look from the front door...

Foyer- Before & After

We're not completely done... but with the holidays quickly approaching, I'm calling it "done for now" and will update when we get the finishing touches in place!

So here's the side-by-side...
Not all that dramatic a change, but remember, we weren't really unhappy with the foyer, nor wanting to re-do this space, until the ceiling fell down.
Then it became necessary :)

The renovation included the following:
-After fixing the plumbing, we sheetrocked the walls, and the ceiling.
-The walls have been painted gray ("Frappe" by Valspar)
-All of the moldings, doors & the radiator cover were repainted a crisp white.
-We switched out the light fixture.
-We replaced the light switch plates.
-The floor took a beating, so we bought a new, larger rug- to cover them up until we get them refinished!  (Plus it feels more cozy in the winter!)

More pics:

With the front door open

This is the view when you enter the front door:

2011- Before we moved in

After

View from the back door:

After

2011- Before we moved in

The detail shots:

Some Christmas decor

New light switch plates

Bells on the door for Christmas

The new rug!

To finish it up, we plan to hang some artwork... some ideas are being tossed around on that, though it'll likely be in the spring when we get it settled & up there!


In Progress shots:

Sheetrocking & spackeling

Painting radiator cover

New Light Fixture

Painting back door & molding

Painting front door & molding

Update: foyer wall decor

New Foyer Light

The foyer is starting to come together... we're waiting for a few more pieces to get into place before posting the Before/After comparison.

Last weekend, we bought a new light fixture.

Although we liked the old light, it just didn't go with the new paint colors.  We debated painting it black, but decided against it since we were thinking of using it by the back entrance once the extension is built.

AFTER

BEFORE

New switches & plates!

We also got new switch plates... they're a pewter finish, to match the base of the light fixture.  SO much better than the mismatched brass & plastic tan ones that were there!

Light switches BEFORE

We're waiting on a new rug to arrive, and we're in the process of making some decisions on artwork/decorating.

Inching closer to the finish line for this room!

Spackle, Sand, Paint- Repeat

In between cleaning up the yard after Hurricane Sandy, we decided we needed to get the living room corner cabinet & the foyer finished... 

It's been dragging on ENTIRELY too long!

So Mike spent last weekend spackling & sanding.  

It's pretty much his least favorite job, and I hate the mess (SO much dust!)  

But since it was needed to wrap up these rooms, we bit the bullet & got it done.

Right now, they really don't look much different from these pics...

Just add a coating of white dust EVERYWHERE.

Foyer

Living Room

The good news is that we bought the paint for the foyer & grabbed the almost full can we already had for the living room.  I'll post new photos as soon as we get it on the walls!  The plan is to work on it over the Thanksgiving weekend.

So, while Mike was sanding, I decided to work on the upstairs hallway moldings & banister balusters.  My mom had gotten a first coat of paint on them when she was here last, so I was able to finish it up in a single day!

They were all a creamy off-white color, but we decided to change them to white.  The pretty molding details should really pop once we get the hallway painted.

Check out the difference:

Before on the left;
After on the right

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

 It felt really good to have something to work on that showed immediate results!  

But I'm not going to lie... those balusters were a nightmare!  

I'm now dreading doing the rest down to the 1st floor, & up to the 3rd floor.

AFTER

I guess that's the biggest problem with trim work- they all run together & once you finish a section, the rest looks twice as bad sitting next to it!

Now the doors look
REALLY shabby!

We still have to decide what to do about painting the walls in this upstairs hallway.  

The stencil is really starting to bug me.  The problem is wallpaper that's under the existing paint.  We'll have to remove it, then more spackling & sanding (UGH!) before we can re-paint.

Oh well, little by little, we'll get it done...
(I'll just be keeping the lights low in the meantime!)