The last 2 summers, year Justin and I (okay, mostly Justin) have put a TON of work into redoing our backyard. I won’t go into all of the details, but it was a huge improvement, and it really took the yard from gross and unusable to completely functional (although not NEARLY as big as Justin would like).
And when I say a TON of work, I really mean a TON of work. Everything was basically taken down to the dirt, and yards and yards of dirt removed. A bulldozer was involved. Bricks were laid. Cement was poured. A sprinkler system was installed. Hot tub stairs were built. A trellis was constructed. When Justin does things, he does it real good.
This year, we’re on to a new project: the inside. Our house was built in 2000, and an addition put on in 2004. The carpet in the old part of the house is GROSS. Other people’s carpet is gross to begin with, but even regardless of their dead skin cells living deep down in there, stains are also all over the place. Especially disgusting for Thad, who spends a lot of time in close proximity to the grossness. In the next couple of months, some beautiful hardwood flooring will be put in, extending from the front door, through the living room, kitchen, dining room and into part of the family room, ending at the sliding door out to the back yard.
The previous owners also lacked some painting skills (among other lacking skills, don’t ask Justin about this…his blood pressure will go up because they also did not seem to own a level, or brains, for that matter). A lot of paint in the living space is just white; a grungy, dirty, faded white, which will be replaced with Relaxed Khaki throughout most of the living space, and an accent wall of Quiver Tan. The colors we are going with are the same colors in my parents house. They built their house and put extensive time and research into color choices, and have an awesome overall idea of the look they were going for.
Since we are redoing all of the basic finishes (floors, walls, window molding, baseboards, hardware, etc) it will also be a good time to do a better job with the other decorative details. I have a really hard time with the big picture look that my parents are so good at. I tend to be really matchy-matchy. (As Stacy and Clinton would tell me…”It doesn’t have to match, it has to GO”. For instance, right now the kitchen decor is red and roosters. Which means that everything is red. Or is a rooster. Kind of repetitive and boring. I feel like it needs a little more color and variety; an overall look where things go together.
While I was blog-browsing, I came across this kitchen redo:
I don’t plan on painting the cabinets, Justin is deeply opposed to painting cabinets, and I really don’t have a problem with ours anyway. But, I love the color that she used, and I love the other pops of colors throughout the whole kitchen. It doesn’t match, but everything goes. She has birds throughout, but not identical birds, not even the same kind of bird. Love it. Some of my red things will stay (not gonna replace a $200 KitchenAid, thanks), but will not be the sole color in the room.
Here’s where we’re starting from:
Blah. Do you see anything besides beige, red and roosters? Not so much.
Red teapot, red towels, red canisters. Same rooster on the utensil holder and on the olive oil, and on the salt and pepper shaker. Really?
That’s an awesome red plastic soap dispense sitting behind the counter, but I think I am going to dump it and use one of these ($.99 at Goodwill):
To make this:
Replace the towels with something like these:
Definitely want to replace the utensil holder and the salt and pepper shakers, but haven’t found anything I like. The red canisters will go, but the glass flour one will stay. So these are just some ideas, I haven’t bought anything yet (besides the Ball jars) My plan is to start collecting things in the next couple of months, so that when the new floors go in and new paint is on the walls, I have everything I need to complete the room.
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