More Home Updates

I hosted book club at the end of May and it became my deadline for some home improvement projects. My friends had of course seen our house in its pre-makeover state, but having a deadline gave me the drive to finish three huge projects by the end of the school year (not the most ideal timing).

I went gung ho on refinishing our banisters, and while I was at it, I tackled the dining room and half bath as well.

Most of our house is dated and long overdue for a makeover, but these two areas in particular were driving me nuts.

The dining room was the only room we left white after painting the rest of our main floor gray last spring, so it was time to add a fresh coat of paint of Sherwin Williams Argos.

Especially because this is what it looked like before.

Of course, after I painted the walls, I had to design some new prints to hang as well. I put together a collection of some of our family's meaningful locations, songs, numbers and memories.

I couldn't stop there. I made some new curtains too. I painted stripes on long white curtains to match the ones I did in our living room a year ago and added small curtains on the opposite wall with fabric from Tonic Living.

Before:

After:

So much better. Since I was on a roll, I tackled the room that needed the most work as well; the half bath.

Looking at the before pictures makes me cringe a little bit. Apparently, maroon walls were in six plus years ago. And those brass knobs have long since been replaced.

It was no picnic to prime and paint over those dark walls. And to have to repaint the entire ceiling because there were maroon marks everywhere.

But the end result was more than worth it.

I searched high and low for billy button flowers and finally found them on Etsy.

The before vanity look was not pretty.

I framed the builder grade mirror by cutting molding into four pieces at 45 degree angles. I glued them right on the mirror and puttied/sanded the corners. After sufficiently taping the frame to the wall and letting the glue dry for a few days, I painted it white. 

And of course, those orange oak cabinets desperately needed a coat of white. With the final additions of an updated light fixture and a replacement faucet, it all came together.

I was still ripping off tape and putting everything back together the day before I hosted book club, but I made that deadline just in the nick of time.