The Hall

Can a Hallway be pretty and calming...I think so! I wish I had a before picture of the hall but I don't, so just know that it was dark and dingy and blah.

The stain is the dark walnut like the rest of the floor, the wainscoting is a satin paint in white and the upper wall is classic gray by Benjamin Moore (same as the master).

I chose this track light from Ikea because someday I am going to have a picture collage running down the entire hallway.

The wainscot only took Bart an hour to put up...but then it took me 2 hours to prime and paint.  Next time I will prime and paint before it goes on the wall.

Barn Doors

Over the last couple weeks Bart and I have been trying to finish up the master bedroom.  We've finished painting the ceiling and walls, put up case and base and refinished the floors. Bart put up a new ceiling fan and moved the bed in, so the last projects to that need completing are the crown moulding, closets and then all then all the spackling and touch up paint on the trim. Have I told you that I HATE touch up? 

The closets before were basic, old sliding doors with cabinets that were too high for me to reach.

So we tore out the old doors and then the cabinets and then we were at a loss for what to do. Since we took out the cabinets that left us with an 8 foot opening...not a standard closet height or width.

Then came my inspiration (Bart was very skeptical). I wanted to create barn closet doors with some old shelving that Bart had pulled out of the furnace room and was going to take to the dump.

With a little of Bart's magic, those nasty old shelves turned into beautiful barn doors for my closets. The hardware we bought from Home Depot for $5.97 a hinge and we did have to buy a couple extra pieces of wood.

Now my only dilemma is should I paint them white or leave them rustic.  What do you think?

Painting the bedrooms

Bart feels like he has two full time jobs-being an engineer from 6-2:30 and home renovator from 3-9:30.  So when I can, I jump in and help...but that usually means PAINTING. Now I don't paint like Bart does or like they do on HGTV.  I was taught to paint by my parents (who still use oil) and that means prepping your walls and ceilings takes 90% of the time. I like my walls to be soft and smooth which requires feeling your walls and then sanding and spackling and sanding some more and then damp wiping and then sanding and spackling some more...because you've missed spots.  I don't understand how people can paint in regular clothes!

There are a few tools that I LOVE to use when prepping and painting a room.  The first is a mouse sander.  It does the sanding for you...all you have to do is move it around your walls.  It even can get into the hard to reach area.

The next is THE GREATEST INVENTION EVER. Introducing the shur line tool. Only $4 from Home Depot. This has revolutionize the "cutting in process.  This tool is quick, easy, and it gave me a great line in between my ceiling and wall...much, much, much better than cutting in by hand.

I always worry about choosing a paint color-I am hoping that you too have been indecisive about paint before. Once I finally decide on a general color, I "HO" and "HA" over what shade and if it will be too dark or too light and how on earth I am supposed to choose from such a little paint sample.  Well I finally decided on a Benjamin Moore color called Classic Gray for the master and boring white for the 2nd bedroom (I want to try wallpaper in there). By the way, have I told you that my favorite color is gray? I think I am going to paint the entire house shades of gray.

After many hours of painting 2 coats on the ceiling and 2 coats of paint in each room, our rooms went from this

and this

TO this

Master

AND  

2nd room

Bart also put up the baseboard in both bedrooms, so they look much better. We still have all the spackling and touch up painting to do from putting up case, base and crown but it is coming along nicely.

THIRTY, 30, three-zero

"Bart had a birthday shout HOORAY, we want to sing to him today, one year older and wiser too, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you".

I bet you can't guess what Bart wanted to do for his birthday...

I decided a couple weeks ago I wanted to highlight Bart on his 30th birthday (I didn't tell him because he wouldn't want me too...plus it will take him a couple days to even realize that I posted this) with 30 things we like about him. I want to thank all the family and friends that helped me compile this list.

We like Bart because

 Of his love for the outdoors and adventure

 He is a loyal friend

Of his focus to projects, regardless of scope or type

   He is diligent

Hard working

Sensitive to others

I love to work with him side by side – we think alike and work alike

He's lots of fun to "dream" with (he has great ideas)

Tons of self-discipline

He has energy and gets things done

He's athletic

Good looking

Bart is optimistic

 A builder

 Fun

 A great water-skier
He makes me laugh
Is tender heart

  He is hardworking/dedicated

A "jack of all trades"

He has awesome gun shooting skills

Is always nice

 Bart is the only person I know who could eat 12 hot dogs in one sitting and win the gallon of milk challenge
An NPR follower
Helpful
He is a great friend... a lifelong friend
He sews
 He loves tools

Bart's mix of imagination and realism
He gets so much done
I like that he's a good swimmer, it helps motivate me when I swim
He will talk to me even when he's busy

Thanks for being an all around great guy! Loves

Brecken

I have the cutest nephew!  He came down to visit me (and grammy) this last week. For those of you that don't know, Brecken is my little sister Cambria's baby.  I think he is a darling little boy...he will turn one in August.

Utah Valley Parade of Homes

I love going to the Parade of Homes.  The tradition started many years ago with my grandpa- he is one of the few people that opens every single door, talks to all the builders and loves going into the furnace room. Usually I do the Salt Lake and St. George parade of homes but since we moved down to Provo, I thought it was fitting. This is what I (the commoner, non-designer) learned.

Number 1-Rugs are a necessity...even if you have carpet

Number 2-Wallpaper is again in vogue

Number 3- Have fun with your ceilings

Number 4- Be creative



This is made out of penny tiles and is in a SHOWER!



Clouds made out of batting and glass rain drops



This is a functioning kitchen

Number 5- An indoor/outdoor pool is the best way to go for our  Utah climate

Number 6- Wainscoting is classic and timeless

Number 7- Your lights can be decorations

Number 8- The more seating the merrier

 

My fellow parade critique-thanks mom!

Number 9- Gray is awesome in the bedroom

 

Number 10- Bunk beds can look stylish

Operation case and base

Yep, we did surgery this weekend on our doors, casing, baseboard and crown moulding.  If you will take note of the lovely garbage bag on my head I learned the hard way that long hair and paint spray don't mix well-Bart called me a grandma after our first coat.

This is our "door factory" that we set up downstairs in our basement.  I thought is was ingenious of Bart to stand the doors up so we could spray both sides at once.  On a side note, I think I'm in love with the spray gun.  Setting up the spray gun we easy enough and spraying the doors and moulding was SO FAST-we had to sit around and wait for the paint to dry. The clean up was the worst part but that wasn't even THAT bad.

We decided to go with white doors and moulding to help the house look lighter and brighter. 18 doors down, now we need the hardware to hang them and then we can get the new doorknobs on...and then we can have a door back on the bathroom :)

We went to our favorite store Home Depot and loaded up as much case, base and crown as we could and then drove slowly home.  By this time we were finished with our door factory so we took them down and laid out our case, base and crown moulding. Then POOF the trim was painted.

I learned this weekend that a paint gun is the way to go. I also learned that your prep (sanding, wiping, sanding, and mopping) work makes your trim and doors look even better and that you need to open the windows and doors or you will get a headache from the fumes.

Dark Walnut was the winner

As the title implies, 55% of you liked the dark walnut stain-beating out the special walnut which received 44%.  I love the dark walnut so that is the color I decided to stain our floors.  Now, I have never tried to refinish hardwood floors before and let me tell you it took a lot of time, left my knee's skinned and was a mess.  When I have enough money I will hire someone else to do my floors :)

How to: First you need to rent a sander and get all the supplies for the sander, then ask your dad to do it for you :)---$150

Second: After you are finished sanding you need to vacuum the floors, then damp mop the floors and then use tack cloth to get ANY dust, debris or dirt off the newly sanded floors---$10

Third: You are ready for stain.  Buy your stain (Home Depot didn't have a gallon of dark walnut-only quarts BUT Lowe's had gallons.) Mine was oil-based so then I needed to buy lacquer thinner. You also need to buy the lambs wool applicator pads and a pole.  PLEASE NOTE- if you ever do this WEAR GLOVES! You then need to apply the stain, let it sit for 5-15 minutes and then wipe the excess stain off the floors.  Buy lots of rags or cut up lots of old shirts-I learned the hard way.---$84

Next: Let the floors dry...and you can't walk on them or you will get toe prints! Reapply the stain if the floors aren't dark enough.  Note-It literally took 3 days for our 2nd coat to dry.

Fifth: After your floors are dry and not sticky anywhere, you need to apply your polyurethane. Remember to use an oil-based top coat if you are using oil-based stain and water based for water based.  Applying the polyurethane was faster and easier than staining. But, yet again you must do at least 2 coats of polyurethane to protect your floors.---$105

Last: Enjoy your new floors for one day...until you cover them with builders paper to start the painting process.

As far as the cost goes, I bought enough supplies for roughly 600 sq. feet of flooring ( 2 bedrooms, the hallway and the front entryway) with 2 or 3 coats of everything and I have some leftover for the office and the family room.