Peter wakes up, gets the pups from their crates and feeds them. We go for a walk. When we get home, Peter gets ready for work, I make breakfast, and the dogs climb into our bed. They linger until 8:30 or 9:30 when I force them out. Tough, right?
December 13, 2011
December 12, 2011
Living Room: Coffee Table
In 2008, Peter and I upgraded from his bachelor-pad coffee table to a more substantial piece found at a Crate and Barrel sample sale. The coffee table has a glass top intended to reveal the items displayed inside. When we got the table, the plan was to line it with dark fabric and display our piecemeal collection of silver.
Fast forward to December 2011, the coffee table remained on an ever expanding to-do list of home projects. But no longer! When Peter cleared out the dining room in order to paint, he had to empty the bookcase we use as a china cabinet. Since he emptied the room and painted, I figured the least I could do was restock the bookcase. After filling nearly every shelf, I was left with our various pieces of tarnished silver. Upon noticing the tarnish, I decided I should clean the silver before putting it away. While the newly clean silver sat to dry on the kitchen counter, I thought, "What a pity I'm just going to store it away in the bottom of the bookcase."
The thought was enough to motivate me right over to Joann's. I considered using black felt or black velvet; however, once I saw the prices of the fabric my mind was made up. At $2.99/yard, the price of felt was right! I went ahead and bought a yard and a half, double what I needed, in order to leave room for error.
I meticulously measured the inside of the coffee table then used white chalk to mark my cutting lines on the felt. While the efforts at precision took longer than anticipated, they paid off. Once cut, the felt fit snugly into the coffee table. I put the silver in the coffee table along with some other odds and ends, and it's great {it looks much better than it photographs}:
After nearly three years in the queue, line the coffee table has been scratched off the to-do list.
Fast forward to December 2011, the coffee table remained on an ever expanding to-do list of home projects. But no longer! When Peter cleared out the dining room in order to paint, he had to empty the bookcase we use as a china cabinet. Since he emptied the room and painted, I figured the least I could do was restock the bookcase. After filling nearly every shelf, I was left with our various pieces of tarnished silver. Upon noticing the tarnish, I decided I should clean the silver before putting it away. While the newly clean silver sat to dry on the kitchen counter, I thought, "What a pity I'm just going to store it away in the bottom of the bookcase."
The thought was enough to motivate me right over to Joann's. I considered using black felt or black velvet; however, once I saw the prices of the fabric my mind was made up. At $2.99/yard, the price of felt was right! I went ahead and bought a yard and a half, double what I needed, in order to leave room for error.
I meticulously measured the inside of the coffee table then used white chalk to mark my cutting lines on the felt. While the efforts at precision took longer than anticipated, they paid off. Once cut, the felt fit snugly into the coffee table. I put the silver in the coffee table along with some other odds and ends, and it's great {it looks much better than it photographs}:
December 9, 2011
Living Area: Paint
Remember when I mentioned we were planning on painting our entire living area? Ten months later, I am happy to report the project is complete! We didn't go with Behr's Heavy Cream as originally planned but instead used Martha Stewart's Pip. Heavy Cream, as it turned out, had a bit too much cream in it. I wanted a color that lightened our space while coordinating with our current trim color. Heavy Cream was too light so the trim looked yellow. Pip, on the other hand, brightened the trim.
We started painting back in May with the plan to do one room every other weekend until the job was complete. We were able to do the master bedroom and living room before we got off schedule. While Peter did the majority of the leg work, I helped a bit with those first two rooms. Then I got pregnant and was quickly put on bed rest so Peter was tasked to complete the job alone. It would be an understatement to say I was needy while on bed rest. On the weekends I wanted constant company. I justified the delay in schedule any way I could and asked Peter to sit with me. Once my restrictions were lifted, Peter painted the hallway leaving only the dining room. The dining room should have been a breeze to knock out. But it wasn't. Not only does the dining room contain the heaviest furniture in the house but we had loads of excuses, from visitors to our own travel. Six months after we started painting, the dining room still looked like this:
Last weekend, I went to Nashville for my last class! While I was gone, Peter solicited the help of some friends to move the heavy furniture out of the dining room then finished the painting project started so many months ago. I came home to a very bright dining room that now matches the rest of the house:
We started painting back in May with the plan to do one room every other weekend until the job was complete. We were able to do the master bedroom and living room before we got off schedule. While Peter did the majority of the leg work, I helped a bit with those first two rooms. Then I got pregnant and was quickly put on bed rest so Peter was tasked to complete the job alone. It would be an understatement to say I was needy while on bed rest. On the weekends I wanted constant company. I justified the delay in schedule any way I could and asked Peter to sit with me. Once my restrictions were lifted, Peter painted the hallway leaving only the dining room. The dining room should have been a breeze to knock out. But it wasn't. Not only does the dining room contain the heaviest furniture in the house but we had loads of excuses, from visitors to our own travel. Six months after we started painting, the dining room still looked like this:
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