After reading what seemed like thousands of online articles about painting kitchen cabinets, I'd built the process up in my mind into something akin to climbing Mt. Everest. But we'd decided that rather than investing in all new cabinets for our kitchen, we could live with what we had (for now). This meant tackling cabinet-painting.… Continue reading Kitchen: Cabinets
Kitchen: Island
Many, many years ago, Tony found this “island” at a thrift store; it was actually a discarded display piece from a Banana Republic store. It’s a beautiful piece and made the perfect island. Again, after a few years of renters, the finish on the top had been damaged and it needed repair. I thought about… Continue reading Kitchen: Island
Kitchen: Floors
Pandemic quarantine means time to work on the house. I've been hating on our nasty vinyl floors for years, and they'd only gotten nastier after years of renters in the house. But I couldn't figure out what to replace them with. Tile was too heavy for the creaky floor and would likely crack with time.… Continue reading Kitchen: Floors
Living Room: Online Interior Design Adventures Part IV
After I gave my Havenly designer some feedback on the last concept, which I mostly loved, she made some tweaks and sent us a final concept. Though I LOVED the black and white rug in the original design, it was too large for our space and cost over $800. She went looking for an alternative,… Continue reading Living Room: Online Interior Design Adventures Part IV
Living Room: Online Interior Design Adventures Part III
So, it was pretty exciting to get a first concept from our Havenly designer. Here it is: Some things I love and some I don't. But mostly I like it. Things I like about this: That rug! It's a gorgeous natural fiber rug from Pottery Barn. It's also a bit out of my price range.… Continue reading Living Room: Online Interior Design Adventures Part III
Living Room: Online Interior Design Part II
Within three days of setting up my workspace in Havenly, my designer Maria has sent me three idea boards. And I have to say, this is really, really fun. She pulled three looks together and asked me to rate both the overall look and a set of individual items. Already I feel this is worth… Continue reading Living Room: Online Interior Design Part II
Living Room: Trying out an Online Interior Design Service
Our Southside living room is easily the room in which we spend the most time, but something about it bugs me. The furniture is stuff we bought for a different house and doesn't seem to fit in this room well. I love some of the pieces but it just doesn't "hang together." And I can't… Continue reading Living Room: Trying out an Online Interior Design Service
Bedroom Bests
Every night between 9 and 10, Amelia retires to the peaceful bedroom to watch Real Housewives or some other drivel while Tony stays up to watch zombies and such with Dottie. This is Amelia's favorite part of the day, and favorite room in the house. A cluttered bedroom is hard to sleep in, don't you… Continue reading Bedroom Bests
Southside Bathroom: After
We finished this bathroom up almost a year ago and I'm just now getting around to posting these pics! There are still a few things that need doing; I'd like to replace the light fixtures and Tony needs to install the hardware on the medicine cabinet door. I also need to find a window covering.… Continue reading Southside Bathroom: After
Bathroom Bests
After fixing up a couple of bathrooms and using them extensively (ha!), there are some items we really love. I love those home blogs where shiny new bathrooms look hardly used, and there is room for plants and fluffy towels and accessories. But we don't have one of those bathrooms. So, storage and function are… Continue reading Bathroom Bests
T&A Fix It Up 