Tore Up From The Floor Up

Holy hardwoods batman! 

As you know one of the items on our home to do list was to replace our damaged hardwoods with a more durable and attractive laminate. After looking at many different floor samples for the past couple months Chris and I finally chose one. So on Sunday we bit the bullet, ordered the flooring and decided to start removing our current hardwoods.

As soon as we started, we knew we were in for quite a task. The hardwoods were heavily glued to the cement underneath, and were VERY, very stubborn. 

After cutting sections with a circular saw, both Chris and I used pry bars and hammers to remove the existing wood. 2 hours and all our blood sweat and tears (not from crying, but from a wood chip flying in my eye), we had only removed a small portion of the dining area. 

Before starting this project Chris told me that if we had to hire someone to remove and install the floors we couldnt go on a cruise next year, so believe you me, we were determined to make this DIY project work. 

So Chris did a little research, talked to some friends and family who've done similar projects in the past and decided to rent a floor scraper from Home Depot. The hope was that it would help remove the hardwoods as well as scrape up the remaining glue and wood remnants. Some reviews online said the machine didn't help at all, but we had our fingers tightly crossed.

Chris rented the scraper, and with the help of our good friend Justin they demoed the rest of the hardwoods in the dining area, kitchen and living room as well as removed all the adhesive in half a day. The cost of the machine was around $85 plus $15 on pizza to feed the hard workers, but that $100 saved us thousands (plus a vacay) since we didn't have to hire help. 

Here are some before and during photos of the demo. (sorry for the bad iphone photos)

Before

During but after  using scraper

During but before using scraper on glue and stuck on hardwoods. (Sneak peak of new curtains)

After removing wood and scraping glue - looks ugly but is so much better!

Currently our new flooring is stacked in the corner acclimating to room temperature per manufacturers instructions. The plan is to install these bad boys this weekend. I Will keep you posted on any DIY drama and of course "after" pics. Wish us (and by us, I mean Chris and handy friends) luck!

A few house updates

Well, looks like I've done it again. Completely neglected my blog, for all of you who have been checking for updates I apologize, and for those who haven't, you've obviously not missed anything. During my little blogging hiatus I have made a few updates to the house, or at least made purchases for the updates. 

As you may remember from my Home To Do List a few items that I've been meaning to get to are:

Making a wreath for my front door - I love the look of the fluffy burlap wreaths that people have been making, but being the cheap-o that I am, I just couldn't stomach the steep price tag. Enter Hobby Lobby and the 50% off sales. All of my supplies (minus the $2.99 metal base which I used a 40% off coupon for) were 50% off making the total price of this wreath project $18.

Definitely not an exact replica of my inspiration wreaths but not a far cry, and MUCH MUCH easier on my wallet.

Another project scratched off my to-do list; picking a fabric for curtains. I took the pillows I currently have in my living room to the fabric store to make sure everything would coordinate. I decided on the Khanjali Glacier and was pleasantly surprised with how everything came together. I ordered enough fabric for (2) 96" curtain panels and (2) 18x18 pillows, about 6.5 yards. I cant wait for the fabric to come in - thanks in advance to my mother in law for helping me with the sewing portion of this project

I've also been working on sprucing up our back patio. 

I've added a few plants as well as a little herb garden/lattice thingy

I also decided it was time to replace our current outdoor light

Isn't she a beaut? Just image more rust and way more bugs in the jar

with a more substantial updated light

Fingers crossed it looks good! I just happen to think its the little upgrades that make a world of difference!

While I haven't gotten to everything on my list I am definitely making progress! I will post pictures of the finished curtains (once my MIL makes them) and installed light fixture (once Chris installs it) - hey, I have the ideas not necessarily the skill :)

To Do List: Home Edition

We bought our home as a foreclosure, and while we were lucky in some aspects; great location, stainless steel appliances, lots of room. there were some other aspects that definitely needed to be changed. For starters, the previous owners allowed their cats to use the entire house as a litter box. The carpets were destroyed, even some of the baseboards, the smell was horrific. Also, the colors of the walls were an eyesore, think blood red sponge paint, neon orange, and pee (fitting with the smell) yellow. While we have come a very long way from those days (I promise I'll post before/after pictures eventually), there are still quite a few things on our "home to-do list." 

• Replace floors

 When we closed on the house we tore out the carpeting right away, but left the hardwood. So now we'd like to look into replacing it. Im thinking something like this

• spruce up patio with plants

• Curtains for living room

Top and bottom are 2 of my options for curtain fabric - whats your favorite?

Top: Braemore Gazebo Cloud

Bottom: Khanjali Glacier

• Replace sleeper sofa with daybed for loft

• Finish decorating guest bath

www.westelm.com

love this idea of setting out toiletries for guests

• Replace brass light fixtures
• Replace brass door knobs/hinges
• accessorize living room 

• wreath for front door

I love the look of this

 But think I might be able to DIY a version using this tutorial: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Burlap-Wreath

•  Have area rug professionally cleaned

anyone know where I can have it done for less than $200

Our rug USED to be this beautiful Ivory, now... not so much

These are just a few items on the top of my "to-do" list, but I'm sure as I scour my Pottery Barn and West Elm catalogs every month I'll come up with a million more. What are some of your favorite home decor trends right now?

Hanging Out

For a town home our house has a lot of storage, but the one thing it lacks is the unappreciated coat closet. Because of this, Chris and I have taken to throwing our coats on the stairs, or over a chair, making for a really organized looking home (and a really wrinkled jacket). 

Another thing our house has a lot of is blank wall space, and another thing it I lack is money. So I put my thinking cap on/searched pinterest for hours on end, and came up with the idea to MAKE a coat rack for the naked wall behind our front door.

So we headed to the hardware store to pick up our supplies: a piece of wood (26x7.5), and some coat hooks. 

The wood was only $6, the coat hooks on the other hand were $5 each. I'm sure you could find some cheaper (maybe even cuter) options at Hobby Lobby, but it was Sunday and I'm impatient.

We then figured out where we wanted the hooks to go and marked and drilled pilot holes so that we wouldn't have to drill after it was painted.

The next step was to sand the rough edges and do a quick sand over the whole piece before painting. For the base color I chose to use some leftover paint that we used for our walls. I figured a: this is a cheaper option and b: it would tie the rooms together. Its gray, but I couldn't tell ya the name.

I used a small foam roller for the front and small paintbrush for the sides. I painted several thin coats until I thought it looked completely covered. I then let it dry completely before I started my taping.

I knew I wanted to do a chevron pattern, and I had looked for a stencil but had no luck. I figured how hard could it be to just use painters tape to create the lines? The answer: REALLY HARD, and REALLY time consuming!

A good 3 hours later the floor and dog were  covered in painters tape but I had nice, straight and even (for the most part) lines.

I then used my foam roller and rolled on a few thin coats of white acrylic craft paint. I would suggest using a higher quality paint and/or using a trim brush to paint between the lines, but that was what I had on hand and I think we've already discussed that I'm impatient/cheap.

After I finished my last coat I started peeling off the tape right away before it dried hoping to help create crisper lines.

My lines weren't perfect, but for the most part they looked pretty good. I then used a small sponge brush to touch up any smudges.

After the whole piece was dry we hung it on the wall and installed the hardware. We just used 2 screws with anchors to hang it, hopefully that will be enough. 

 Overall I'm really happy with how it turned out, and how it fills in the space. 

Now just to decorate the other 95% of my house.

(PS- Sorry for the grainy iphone pics, I'll try to get some better shots in the daylight)