Sunday, November 16, 2014

Our New Deck


 The deck is finally complete. We capped the 4x4 posts, took some photos, and thought about how great next summer will be when we get to sit back & enjoy all of the backyard renovations. 



To refresh your memory, this is what the previous deck looked like:

Friday, November 14, 2014

Pergo to the Max

Well, we did it. We officially bought 46 boxes of Montgomery Apple Pergo Max.


For now, the flooring is hanging out in the corner of the dining room. From time to time I walk past the pile to admire and imagine. It's going to look really nice…eventually. We have serious labor to accomplish between now & then. 

We'll need to juggle furniture around to empty one room at a time in order to rip out  the old flooring & baseboards. So that's removal of carpet in the office and dining rooms, linoleum in the kitchen/pantry/half bath/laundry room. The tile in the foyer may or may not stay, we haven't decided.

We hope to begin work on this huge undertaking soon. Technically, we could pay professionals to do the installation. However, the installation charge doesn't include ripping out the old stuff. If we have to rip it all out anyways, we might as well lay the laminate {At least, that is our current stream of thinking!} Time will tell.

The Hanging of the Corbels

The antique corbels have been hung. We used some dabs of wood glue and the air nailer to secure them in place. There was a small period of time where the nailer was malfunctioning and I was standing on a chair holding the corbel in place while the blood slowly drained out of my arm…but that temporary discomfort soon passed. Andrew quickly scanned the manual, corrected course, and we were able to step back & admire the finished product.
{Take a look}


You'll notice the light hanging in the left of those pictures. We do not like it. We want to replace it with a traditional black lantern. It can't be too large or hang down too low or it will bonk people on the head. We've yet to find a suitable option. The hunt continues.

Keep creating, DIYers!

Friday, November 7, 2014

Brown Bag Wreath

$0 Project Alert! This one's free & fun. Just ask for paper bags next time you're at the grocery store. You will have to pay for the groceries…

Wreaths are a pretty way to decorate your home, indoors or out. I never really paid that much attention to wreaths until I had my own house, and then I developed an appreciation. I saw one like this on a friend's Instagram and figured it would be pretty simple to make. Easy, quick decoration for that {limbo} period in between Halloween & Christmas. Especially if you're like me and don't have much Thanksgiving decor. After I put away all of our ghosts & jack-o-lanters, I'm always at a loss. It's too soon for Christmas stuff! To fill the void, I settled on a few of these wreaths and a set of neutral pumpkins for the mantle. This should tide us over until I bust out all of the red & green at the end of the month.




First I cut the cardboard into circles. I traced bowls from the kitchen to make sure the circles were exact. Then I drew 1 leaf on the paper bag and cut it out. I used this leaf as a template to trace the rest. After cutting all of the leaves out, I made a crease in the center of each by lightly folding. Then I began gluing the leaves to the cardboard circle. I started at the top and went clock-wise until I reached the end. To hang, I tied a length of ivory ribbon to each.



I bet making one big wreath for the front door would be really sharp looking, too. Obviously I would need bigger pieces of cardboard for that! {Something to keep in mind for the future} For now, I'm satisfied. And I don't want to go overboard by putting homemade wreaths all over the place in the house - I'll get a reputation!

Thanks for following along.
Keep creating, DIYers!

Monday, November 3, 2014

Costume Party Recap

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! (a few days late)

On Friday night, we went to a party dressed as:
Sheldon & Amy from "The Big Bang Theory"

I think we nailed it. Andrew looked creepishly perfect and people at the party loved him. Luckily for me, he's 100% less odd than Sheldon. And in my opinion, exponentially more handsome! (Hey, when you're dressed up as smart people, you get to use words like exponentially).

I hope all of you had a fun Halloween weekend. Ours was jam-packed! The whole month of October flew by, and I didn't do much DIY. But I have {several} projects in mind for November, so stick around!