Lots-o-changes

The hubs and I are officially done with finals(insert cheers) and we have been working away on the house so that we can get moved in before Christmas!  With finals and all this work on the house, I think I am going crazy because this morning I woke up and there was a 30 year old man in my bed!  heheh!  Today is D's 30th birthday.  Everyone keeps asking him if he is going to have a break down- he views it a little differently and I LOVE IT.  he says think how great the next ten years will be.  We will graduate from college(finally), have children, new jobs, possibly move(again, I do not even want to think about that) and fix up another house.  Anyhoo...my man is 30 today and loving it.  Thought I would share!

Lots-o-changes are taking place in this little old cottage that we are super excited about!

The guest room is coming along nicely. Actaully, the hubs and I are tempted to just crash here until our room is all situated!

I grouped a couple of books on the bedside table. The blue book in the middle is entitled "How to Play Big League Baseball." This just cracks me up because the hubs played pro baseball for 9 years! If only we had found this book then..hehehe! Inside it is stamped"discard" in red! The sweet little teacup and saucer were the previous homeowners. She had an estate sale and we purchased a few little thing.

So the little pillow in the front is too pretty for pictures! It is hard to tell the fabric and all from this shot with my phone-but it has the original price tag of 175.00 on it and I got it for, wait for it- $19.00 I just love TJMaxx. Great source for pillows!

The guest bathroom is nearly complete-The shutter door was a chore to paint but love the way it turned out. I also spray painted the doorknobs for this room guys. I know I know-My husband says I will paint ANYTHING-but one side of the door was silver and the other gold. This is not a girl scout song people. I had a can of brown spay paint and if it turned out badly, oh well- I can just buy new ones! I am telling you it turned out so great-My husband will never doubt me again. It is tempting to want to glob it on there- but it turns out best with several light coats and be sure the screws get painted also.

KITCHEN:
The corian countertops went in and I am in L-O-V-E with these guys!

I picked out this Price Pfister great faucet!  I love its curved neck but there is not too much going on!  I am a pretty simple girl and do not like too much of a fuss!  I actually had it instaled without the soap pump- I mean lets be honest those are more difficult than they are helpful!

We went ahead and had a more cabinets built to install over the stove.  Once everything is painted a nice creamy white, these guys will all blend in together.  This is the future home of the built in microwave, but we are waiting on a new electrical outlet.

Hello new plumbing!  Yes, we updated the last of the plumbing and have been staring at its gaping holes for what seems like months now-those bad boys are being patched as we speak!  Yippee!

All the doors came off and everything got a good coat of primer!  What fun that was!  I swear I had paint in my hair for two days.

humm..what are your thoughts on open cabinets?  I like the way it opens up the room-just the cabinets on either side of sink/window?

FOYER:

So this is currently the foyer-this could change(hehe I am really bad about changing stuff around).  I have always loved this piece.  It is my grandmothers.  It is in necent shape, but the fabric where the speaker is, is picked up(thanks to a speacial little kitty-cat).  I would love to get in there and look around and see what can be done about this.  Considering it is no longer used as a speaker, I would put any type of fabric there. Any ideas on how this can be done...please send them my way!!

And the winner is....

Sorry for the long drawn out conclusion to this little giveaway!  I was feeling a little under the weather yesterday and did not really make it out of the bed. 


And the winner of this lovely wine stopper is...
AMANDA!

Amanda, I'll be sending you a note shortly to get your address.
Thanks to all who entered!

Holiday Give-A-way....

What a great Give-a-way for the holiday's! 

This is a lovely hexigonal crystal wine stopper.  It is a great gift for yourself, for a hostess gift for that holiday party, or even a stocking stuffer!

Ways to be entered to win:

1)If you are not a follower, Follow me! Just make a comment to let me know.

2) If you are already a follower, mention my blog and giveaway on your blog.  Also, make a comment on my blog to let me know.

Give away ends Tuesday December 15th
Thanks and best of luck to you all!

The Kelton's

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas....

The house is not ready to be moved into yet, but I was feeling the Christmas spirit and did a little decorating!  As you may recall, there was a HUGE old mirror that was glued and screwed into the wall.  My hubby and sweet dad took it down for me, then I got to work.

There were some areas that needed to be repaired before the Mythic paint could go up.  All in all, I was pleasantly surprised.  The glue had been put on so long ago, it really had not hold and did not greatly harm the wall.  I then put up a good coat of primer then paint.  While the paint was drying I made a couple of stockings from some scraps.  I really love the rusticy look to these little guys. I put a little red bell on D's and a tiny glittery pinecone on mine!  I was so pleased with how this tured out-Just the look I was going for!

I just love the way the tree lights show up in the mirror on the mantle! I promised myself I would not buy ANY christmas decor this year and I think I did really well-I used all of our old stuff that had been stored away!

My hot hubby and I celebrated 6 years this weekend.  We had a great Winter wedding and tall beautiful trees decorated in all white and silver at the home of the recption.  Some of my favs are a tad too heavy for our tree, so I placed them in a little hammered metal bucket next to the fireplace.  Love this!

We are not living in the new/old house yet, but I have been taking a mug of hot cocoa over and studying for finals this week. Umm...yummy!  The progress may slow down a bit until we both get this semester behind us!

TA DAH!

In a Fixer-Upper it is easy to feel overwhealmed with the never ending to-do list. I prupose something a little different. Don't get bogged down in the to-do's, but instead focus on the

ta-dah's!

The living room has been painted and cleaned up-but no pictures have been hung yet. I did go though one box of a few of my fav items to display them. When ever I am feeling anxious about all that is left to be done-I just glance at my fun slipper chair and little table of fun finds-and I know it is coming. Soon the whole house will be just the wy I have envisioned it for months!

byt he way-this lovely little sofa was purchsed at a super cute shop here in town called The Twisted Daisy.  The sofa itself is the mason sofa by Rowe.  Check out http://www.thetwisteddaisy.com/

She has loads of cute stuff!

I try to focus on a freshly painted beautiful wall or a new light fixture. I look at all the beautiful things and rooms we have created together, and look forward to the next thing on the list....

Like our green kitchen!

Cha-cha- changes!  We have some major changes coming to this little kitchen.  It will have no idea what hit it.  The end of this week the cabinets are getting painted, new hardware, new countertop, sink and faucet installed!  I can't wait!

Just in time for Christmas

The house is coming along and it looks like we will move in .....

Just in time for Christmas!

We are still painting this house guys!  Oh my I am 'bout tired of painting!

Mythic has worked like a charm!  The stairs were previously covered in ugly old carpet.  After we pulled up carpet we had the wood refinished, but the painted part looked awful.  They went from bad to good in just a couple coats of Mythic.

Man I feel like we have been painting forrreeevvverr.  You have to keep things lively. SOoooo I dunked my hand in the paint and tapped David on the bum!  These are his "work jeans" and at first he did not think it was funny!  I can just see him now cutting the grass in his "work jeans" with my hand print on his bum.  hehehe

The bedroom has come a long way, yet still has more to be done.  This room really needed a lot of work on the sheetrock seams and setteling cracks, which means there is sanding.  Then we moved on to priming and should get this bad boy painted next week(do not hold me to that though)!

Pooped from Painting!

We had a successful painting party at The Keltons's Cozy Cottage.

First, we did a little wet sanding......

No, David is not posing, this is how he always sands! Don't you?!?

Then to caulking...

We saved the best for last- cutting in and then a good coat of primer. 

 I have realized I enjoy all the prep work and painting.  I almost find it relaxing.  We turn on the ipod to my classics list -Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, James Taylor- and before you know it, we have been working for hours!  Towards the end of the day, I realized for everything we had primed, we still had to paint two more coats. 

Man, now that I htink about it, I would just assume leave the walls white.  Nahh...we will be on to more painting tomorrow.  It has been a slow process, but I know it will be all worth it.  It is amazing how a fresh coat of paint can really transform a home.  Especially with Mythic. 

Mythic paint-now that is a breath of  fresh air!

MYTHIC PAINT~Legendary Performance!

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy~ Today was like Christmas. 

After waiting around for my craigslist shopper to meet me to look at some items I am selling, I came home, diasapointed because she was a no show and found four huge boxes on my front porch.  Immediately I thought, what have I bought now.  Humm...Maybe something for Christmas?  Then I noticed the boxes had tape that said http://www.mythicpaint.com/! I ran inside to get a pair of scissors and began ripping open the boxes.(okay, so  I didn't exactly rip them open, because we need them for moving ;)   Anywhoo...Back to the point, I had 15 gallons of paint on my front porch!!! Guess what we will be doing this weekend!  Yup!  I will be sure to take Lots-o-photos!  We are having a pizza painting party!  Come on by if you are in the area. I will have a slice of pizza and an extra paint brush waiting on ya! 

Bella is even interested in the paint!  Mythic is Safe for people, pets and the planet!

I picked out some great Mythic colors- be sure to check back after the painting party!

Miracles DO happen!

We now have a WHITE tub!

I happily said bye-bye to the blue one

Ahhh... it's the little things in an old house that mean so much! 

I used a company that has been around for a while called Miracle Method.  Some of the other companies are a more temporary fix and often result in peeling(or so I have read.) What makes miracle method so different is the patented bonding agent that makes this some tough stuff!! 

                         

Such a cool process!  They clean it, make nesessary repairs then tape it off to protect walls, floors and faucets.  After the prep work has been done, they spray it white!  You can pick the finish you want, from matte to glossy.  I went with glossy as this is what a new tub looks like.

They do tile, tubs, sinks and lots of other great stuff.  For info and more shocking photos, check out their

website.  http://www.miraclemethod.com/

A few more bathroom photos:

I painted cabinets, changed out hardware and removed a couple of doors.

remember the before.....

and my painted countertops

ahhhh....all I need now is a good book and a glass of wine!  I am please with the look of the bathroom with NO major renovation, just a little cash!

Fall Leaves

Late this afternoon I meet yet another painter over at the house to tell me what the damage will be to scrape, sand, prime and paint all trim, windows and doors-Oh what fun!  As we walked around the home and talked about all the reglazing the windows needed and the work he would have to do to restore the original front door, I dazed off watching the fall leaves fall around the home.  They are BEAUTIFUL!  There are two lovey trees in the front that are all different shades of yellow, orange and red right now, then a few smaller trees that line the side of the home that are firey red!  After the painter, left, I snapped a few pictures!  I wanted to just sit on the ground for a few minutes and let the leaves fall all around me!  It was a long day- but the fall leaves made it all better-not to mention softened the price tag of the painter!

Blue Bathroom update!

Well, my team didn't win tonight, but I DID complete a project in the house! You remember the blue bathroom-well it has been updated a little bit. It is not completed, but is looking much more bearable.

Before-please note the white counter top with gold swirls and specks of brown and BLUE!

I painted the cabinets and removed a couple of doors. The cabinets currently housing paint and cleaning supplies, will show off folded fluffy towels and baskets. I also updated the hardware(some of which is missing in the picture).

I primed and painted the countertop an antique white, then sealed it with a coat of polyurethane. I will add a couple more coats this weekend. Works well for a quick fix on a tight buget. I have done this before in another home and surprisingly, after the poly, it holds up really well. If you are going with a white or light color be sure to use a waterbased poly. If you use the oil based, it will turn very yellow-this is something I have also done before!

The BLUE bathroom is not completed, but it is well on its way! For some reason the blue sink doesn't bother me, but the old faucet does. I am thinking of something in an oil rubbed bronze, like this one....But that will have to wait for another day!

The BLUE bathroom!

Since there were already holes in the ceiling from the complete rewire- We thought, why not just make a few more and update the plumbing!




All the plumbing had previously been updated except for the upstairs bathroom that we lovingly refer to as the blue bathroom. This is because-well- EVERYTHING IS BLUE! The tile on the walls, the tile on the floor, the sink, tub and yes, the toilet! But as of today, have new plumbing and a new toilet! We are having the tub refinished and it will be shiny, new and WHITE! I have a few tricks up my sleeve and will post pictures promptly once it is completed ;)



David and I went to home depot to pick out a WHITE toilet. Who knew there where so many different toilets to choose from?!? David picked the one with a rating of 10 out of 10 for BEST flush performance. This just made me laugh! Wow, If only I knew how happy this would make him, Christmas could have been a lot easier!




Now we are just shopping for a new counter top and sink!


The house has a ways to go, but so far it is coming along nicely!



Guest room #1:






Guest room #2:

Dinning room:

Living room:







Master bedroom and future closet:
pre polyurethane
not sure if you can tell in the photo, but there is the random little nook that is not really big enough for much of anything- but it will make a GREAT closet! Hopefully I can snag a couple of old doors to put up here. I am really excited about this. I love old homes, but also love having a closet!
At the other end of the room, there is a window in the small nook from the dormer. There is a lot of great natural light that fills the room!

I am missing pictures of the third guest room-which according to David will be his work out room!