Eight Long Months

It has been eight long months since I last posted on my blog.  The only excuse that I have is laziness.  There are other things that I’d rather do than write.  But, I want to show you all the beautiful work that my husband has done around our home!

The kitchen was the last room I wrote about (2014!) and it is now completely finished.  Well, actually, EVERYTHING is finished!!  Let me dig through my photos and see what I can find…

This is what the kitchen looks like now.  My husband added beautiful above and under cabinet lighting.  The kitchen was completed in 2015.

It has been so long since we have done these projects that I don’t remember the order! In 2015 we did the living and dining rooms.  They came out really nice.  I don’t know if I published a before picture of the dining room in an earlier post, but this is the built in hutch that we demolished.

It looks so much differently now. We closed up the side openings.  I need my wall space for pictures!

I am going to stop here for now.  My next post will have pictures of the guest room and bath updates.

Thanks for visiting and I hope to not keep you waiting so long for my next post!

 

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Simple Coaster Liner

On a recent trip to IKEA, I bought this very cute, metal candle plate.  I bought just one to place next to my keyboard on my desk.  I like to keep a glass of water or other beverage next to me when I’m on my computer.  Since the little plate was also a little plain 🙂 I decided to sew up a liner for it.  It absorbs any moisture from the glass or cup and looks cute doing so.

I made a paper pattern, then pinned it on some pretty fabric scraps that I had.  I sewed the pieces together, then pinked the edges.  I made three so that I can just throw them in the wash when needed.

Easy, peasy project.

I made each one reversable.  The one in the lower left, (photo above) is actually sewn.  The pinking shears that I used were my grandma’s.  She died in 1960 and I have had them since then.  They are made by Eversharp.  Of course, they are not so sharp anymore!  I think I may have used them, as a child, to <gasp> cut paper.  But, considering that and their age, they still work quite well.

Here it is in use!

And that was my project for today.

Just a little side note:  We don’t have cable here at our house, but recently while somewhere, I can’t remember where, I saw an IKEA commercial on TV.  The CEO of IKEA what telling all about their wonderful company.  What I learned from that commercial is that I have been mispronouncing the name of their company.  I bet you all have too!  He pronounced it with a short i, not long i.  Ick ee a.  Cool huh.  I like being accurate.  🙂

Have a great day!

Yoyo Cup Cozy/Sleeve

I have been wanting a pink cup sleeve for my coffees.  I looked in my yarn stash, but had no pink yarn. While digging through drawers in my studio, I found some yoyos that I had been making over the years.  Quite a few were pink, so I decided to make a sleeve using them.

First I made a pattern from a sleeve that I already had.  I folded a piece of paper in half and traced the sleeve.

Then I picked out yoyos from my inventory and lined them up on the pattern placing them in the order I liked.  I had more yoyos of one fabric than the others, but that’s okay, I wanted pink.  I allowed a few aqua to sneak in, because that is my favorite color.

I began sewing the yoyos together into two single strips first.  A top strip and a bottom strip.  I made the strips curve slightly by sewing the yoyos lower on each side as I added them to the strip. The curve is very slight and not noticeable in the photo.

Now I have two single strips lined up.  At first, I was going to sew them together in line as you see in the picture below, but then decided to stagger the yoyos for a different look.

Here are the two rows now sewn together in a strip.  See how I staggered them?  Then I tested the fit by wrapping them around one of my Starbucks plastic ups.  The fit was fine, so I sewed them together on the sides and finished up.

This is the cozy or sleeve, whichever you prefer to call it, on a tall sized Coffee Frappuccino from Starbucks.

I always use a sleeve on my coffees, because I don’t like the condensation making my hands wet.  The sleeves are great for keeping that in check.  I carry several sleeves in my purse for myself and often a friend’s use.

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Tissue Mason Jar

I saw this great idea while perusing Pinterest the other day.  When I saw the pin, my eyes couldn’t help but scan my studio to the pretty silver mason jar I got from a recent wedding that I attended.  I knew I took that jar for a reason!

This summer, I went to a beautiful wedding of a friend’s daughter.  The bride used mason jars to make some really cute center pieces for the reception.  After the celebrating was over, I was there helping with clean up and she told me I could have one of her jars.  I couldn’t resist.

Now a couple of months later, I have found the perfect use for the jar.  It was a very quick and simple project, because the jar was already painted.  My jar happens to be painted with mirror paint, but I think the next few that I make, I will use chalk paint and distress them a little.

These are the supplies needed:  Mason jar, painted or not, tissue, piece of cardboard, decorative paper, scissors, pencil, and a razor blade.

I traced around the jar lid ring with it centered on one of the smaller circles from my decorative paper.  I did the same with the carboard piece.  Cut out the two circles and place them together.  You can glue them, but I didn’t.  Then I cut an X in the center of the cardboard/paper circle while held together.  After cutting, place the circles into the ring of the lid.  Roll a small amount of tissue to fit into the jar with a piece of tissue pulling up from the center.  Don’t use too many or it will be too tight and the tissue will just tear when you pull it out.

I put my finished tissue holder on my bedroom nightstand.  It looks much sweeter than a cardboard box of tissues!  Don’t you think?

Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope you enjoyed this quick and easy project.

Also, I realize I have not posted since last December.  I hope to remedy that in the next few days and weeks with some pictures of the progress of our home’s remodel.  It looks a LOT different now.

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Catch up time.

I think three months is a long time in between blog posts.  Don’t you?  Wow.  Time just flies by for us.  Indeed we have been working all of this time.  This post is meant to catch things up a bit.

The kitchen is coming along nicely.  It is completely usable and just needs a few finishing touches, like light rail, crown molding, and a FLOOR!  Thankfully, the floor is going in tomorrow.

The dining room is waiting for the floor and trim.

The living room has been painted and is waiting for trim and floor.  All three rooms will get floor installed tomorrow.  That will be great!

My studio is just waiting on closet doors to hide my messes!  🙂  I just covered the office chair today.  I like it better than black leather.

That’s it for the catch up today.  Maybe I can get some pics up of the floor going in tomorrow.

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About the ads that follow: They are not placed by me  and are not associated with this post.  They are placed by WordPress on blogs that are free.  Thank you for your understanding.

Model Homes

Do you like to tour model homes?  Being a licensed real estate agent in the State of Arizona, I regularly take classes to keep my license current. Recently, the classes have been in some beautiful model homes.

Let me say a little about the builder.  The company is Meritage Homes in Arizona.  Meritage also builds communities elsewhere, but I am familiar with only the homes built in the Phoenix area.

I know you are all aware that the Phoenix area can get warm…okay, HOT! These homes are the only homes in the area built with spray-on, insulating foam.  The rafters in the attic are all sprayed with foam which keeps the attic temperature within ten degrees of the home’s interior temperature. A 3000 square foot home has an electric bill commensurate with a 1500 square foot conventionally built home.  In other words, the utility bills are cut in half.  They have documentation that verifies this.

At each community that I have been to, one model home is usually built with a wall left open to view it’s interior.  Also, the ceiling is open so that you can see the attic and how it is insulated. This room also contains props showing how their homes are built.  They use Low E2 windows throughout, and some homes have solar panels.

Another plus of Meritage is that they partner with Operation Homefront, an organization that supports families of service members and wounded warriors.  If you are interested in knowing more about Meritage Homes, please click their name to visit their website.

However, that is not what this post is about.  What I want to show you, is some of the interior designing that I have enjoyed in a few of the homes.  Sorry for the photo quality – cell phone!

Isn’t this a fun idea for a boy’s room?  Chalk paint is on the wall behind the bed for artistic expression.

This is a boy’s nursery with a barn-like theme.  Those are red bandana squares sewn onto the curtains.

This is in the alcove to a master bedroom.  I really like the unique wall hanging and the mirrored chest.

I am looking for ideas for our master bedroom.  This design is very pleasing to me.  The side lights go well with the overall arrangement and keep a lamp off of the table, which could be nice if your side tables are small.

My last picture is of the master bathroom.  Garden tubs are not something that I desire, but I do like the arrangement of mirrors on the wall above this tub.  I have a thing for mirrored finishes!

Unless you contacted me to refer you as a buyer, I do not receive any compensation for touting Meritage Homes.  This is just for your personal information.

Thanks for stopping by.  You can also chat with me on Facebook or follow me on Pinterest.

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About the ads that follow: They are not placed by me  and are not associated with this post.  They are placed by WordPress on blogs that are free.  Thank you for your understanding.

 

Pocket Door

Currently, our kitchen looks like this!  I neglected to keep you updated with the progress.

My husband and son are preparing to install a pocket door.  The door will replace this section of removed wall.

The door will lead from the kitchen into my future studio.  This is how my studio looks today. It’s basically a storage area!

This morning, my husband ordered the counter tops. We can continue to work on the kitchen while we wait for the counter tops to be built.  Not all upper cabinets are installed, yet.

Thanks for stopping by.  You can also chat with me on Facebook or follow me on Pinterest.

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About the ads that follow: They are not placed by me  and are not associated with this post.  They are placed by WordPress on blogs that are free.  Thank you for your understanding.

Not My Husband’s Favorite

Plumbing is not my husband’s favorite thing to do.  It tends to lead to more work.  Pipes get corroded and sometimes break while you work on them.  Or other miscellaneous problems occur.  That was not the case this time as he moved our pipes from the floor to the wall.

As usual, when he took the drywall off of the wall, he discovered something.  We are always discovering ‘something’.  This time, it was a good thing!  We found that our exterior walls are built with 2×6’s.  Since we live in Phoenix, that is a good thing.

This means that our walls are R-19 for insulation.  You can never have too much insulation, right?

My husband cut a hole in the floor so he wouldn’t have to go under the house to do the plumbing change.  You can see where the pipes used to be and where they are now.  When he cut the hole in the floor he discovered gray pipes that went nowhere.  They are what is left of the original plumbing which has all been replaced with CPVC pipe.  Remember, this is a manufactured home built in 1985.

Our son showed up again, which made for some quick work. Yes, those windows are on a list to be replaced!

Doesn’t my husband do a nice, tidy job?  The kitchen is getting closer to the mud stage.  I hate that part.  Dust EVERYWHERE!

I am looking forward to the finished product.  Am I being patient?  Not really.

Thanks for stopping by.  You can also chat with me on Facebook or follow me on Pinterest.

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About the ads that follow: They are not placed by me  and are not associated with this post.  They are placed by WordPress on blogs that are free.  Thank you for your understanding.

South and West Walls

Now that we have caught up considerably, let me show you what we are currently doing.  A few days ago, my son came over and helped to demolish the south and west walls of our kitchen.

I emptied all of the cabinets and put the items who knows where?  Anywhere that I could find space, that’s where!  Then the cabinets came out.

My husband and son work well together and had the cabinets out in a very short time!

Our city has a wonderful free program.  Once every three months they have a bulk pick up of any large items that you want to get rid of.  We were able to get our kitchen broken up and at the street for the next day’s pick up. 

The trash is gone and we are on to the next project – moving the indoor plumbing from the floor to the wall.  Stay tuned, folks, MacGyver lives here.

Thanks for stopping by.  You can also chat with me on Facebook or follow me on Pinterest.

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About the ads that follow: They are not placed by me  and are not associated with this post.  They are placed by WordPress on blogs that are free.  Thank you for your understanding.

More Kitchen Work

The guest room work got put on hold as soon as the kitchen cabinets were delivered.  The guest room was the only space that we had room for storing all of the cabinets!  I should have been blogging all of this, but I just didn’t.  No excuses.  This will be a quick catch up post.

These are the old cabinets that were removed.  I see by this picture that I am really behind!  The wood floors have all been removed, also.

Old Cabinets. North wall.

My husband added some electrical outlets and moved others.  He patched all the holes and also removed the laminate flooring which had two layers of tile below it.

These are the IKEA cabinets installed on the north wall.  Later will come trim and molding.

Cabinets installed.

He built out a table for eating in the kitchen.  The wood top is temporary until the counter tops are installed when the entire kitchen is done.

The tile that you see on the floor, now, is there for leveling.  The home is not level.  We had a company come out to level it which they did.  However, he told us that the home has settled over the years and cannot get any more level.  So, my husband used layers of tile on the floor in an area that bothered him in particular.  The tiles won’t be visible once the flooring is installed over it.  He is very resourceful.

Thanks for stopping by.  You can also chat with me on Facebook or follow me on Pinterest.

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About the ads that follow: They are not placed by me  and are not associated with this post.  They are placed by WordPress on blogs that are free.  Thank you for your understanding.