Scratch the surface

 Liam has been begging for a long time for me to paint his room. We finally got around to it. It was the worst project ever. My head was just not in the game. I got crappy paint and it was dripping everywhere. The stripes were time consuming but not the worst part. I guess it turned out okay. He is beyond happy about it, though.

Credenza

 Don't look if you are afraid of color. Go on over to my other blog for more details on this brave piece of furniture.

Home improvements

 Okay remember this post? where I talked about my hideous fireplace? See, there it is in the above picture. Behind all the boxes. Ugly tiles around some crappy edging? Well, look at it now:

 I am so excited and pleased with it. We spray painted the nasty silver black so the whole fireplace is black. Steve tiled with 4 inch white tiles. He built the mantle and painted it crisp white. I can't say what a wonderful job he did. He did so much work and it was so professional! We were so excited about how it changed the look of the room, that we decided to paint the entire room. We painted it Behr Ashwood Semigloss. It is a really warm gray. I am still working on getting some curtains up and recovering some pillows.
Also, we have been working on an ambitious project. Stay tuned to see what we did to this little gem:

My early Christmas gift

Look at what has been going on in our house this month.

 So, all I wanted for Christmas was a place to hang our stockings. We have a fireplace in our family room but it is hideous. I mean, I feel like I can deal with most quirky things in the house that I wouldn't have chosen, but there is no excuse for a fireplace this ugly. Especially because we never use it and it is in a weird spot.

 I searched everywhere for a "before"picture. Turns out there aren't many because it is so ugly (just getting my point across). But I found this picture. It was taken two years ago a few days after we moved in. Look past the boxes at the fireplace framed with floor tiles then finished with some painted wood.

Now look at this beautiful site. My wonderful little brother putting in tons of time and amazing amounts of talent to build me a mantle. I should also mention Shawna and the time that she spent helping, consulting, and giving up time with her man so he could be here working. Isn't that an amazing gift?
So here is how mean I am. I am not even going to give an "after" photo yet. Steve is finished with the mantle but I have to do some paint touch ups and frankly I can't be totally happy until we paint in there so that the white mantle with white tile just pops!
So stay tuned!

Growing things

My rhubarb plant, who in a couple years will supply my enough rhubarb to make endless pies!

My very first attempt at a garden. Look how happy it is. Sugar snap peas, corn, sunflower, tomatoes, peppers, basil, cilantro, carrots, and green onions! Watching things grow is one of the best simple pleasures in life.