Home Improvement..(Arrr, Arrr Arrr!!)

During Ricardo's vacation, we were able to knock off a couple of home improvement projects that had been on our list for awhile. It's every man's dream to do home improvement while on vacation right?! ha! Ricardo and I are do it yourselfers. Not because we are great at it. Not because we find it thrilling to accomplish it. Simply because, if we waited until we had the money to have things professionally done... well, we would still be waiting. And waiting, and....well, you get the idea. :)





So, here is the projects that we have accomplished. We are gradually redoing all the baseboard in our home. We are transitioning from 2" baseboard to 5" baseboard. You might ask, "What is the big deal? Why?" Well, I like the looks of the taller baseboard. Also, besides being prettier, it is more practical. Because it is taller, there are a lot less dings to the wall when you are vacuuming or scooting furniture around. Take a look at the difference:



Ooh la la! Momma like ahh ! Momma like ahh a lot!!! So this week we replaced the baseboards in the downstairs powder bath. Here are the before's :

And here are the tools of the trade: (I am sure that the professionals have several more in their arsenal. :)

And here is the final product:

Another item on our to do list- installing this cabinet in the powder room. As you may have noticed from the above sink, there was no storage. None. So now we have this nice little "head banger" hung right above the commode. I think it is nice to have items that guests might need tucked behind doors....like aspirin, for when they hit their head on this cabinet. ha!

We also redid the baseboards in the upstairs media/game room. (And the adjoining hallways.) Now the Hollywood couples can be displayed in the glamorous way they deserve.





Here is the adjoining hallway. (The walls are all brown hue in color, however this one side appears greenish in this photo. Just didn't want you to wonder why we had one green wall. ha.)

I really like the results of our labor this weekend. Something else I also really, really like , is the new TV stand we got during Christmas break. All wood, mahogany stain with scroll work. We found it online (craigslist). It was a store display model. Also-they were moving; so we got it for $199. Quite a markdown. I couldn't be happier! Isn't it lovely?! It has a few scratches on it, but who cares? I think we got a heck of a deal!!! Also, may I say: "I love Craigslist!" You can find anything you need there. One man's junk is another man's treasure!

And the last project on our list is the shelf above my kitchen windows. Ricardo made this lovely item for me. I didn't want heavy drapes or valences in this area. I really enjoy the natural light that comes through. I think it looks lovely and clean.





Course, I haven't knick-knacked it out yet. Here is the shelf Ricardo also made for me in the adjoining family room. I like the symmetry between the windows now. Your eye just flows easily from room to room. Well, not your EYE... your vision flows. If your eye flowed, THAT would be a problem. A big problem indeed. But I digress.)

And this has nothing to do with anything. But I thought it was worth mentioning. A tip you might find useful one day. Here is our kitchen table before:


And here it is now, turned about 1/4 a turn. Sitting on the diagonal. It makes my kitchen look much roomier now. I've heard tile on a diagonal will give the appearance of a larger room, but I didn't know the same applied for furniture. I must say I like the added appearance of space. My kitchen needs all the illusions possible when it comes to roominess!


(Go ahead, scroll up and down a couple of times to check out the difference. I'll wait.....I don't mind. Truth be known, I can amuse and entertain myself for hours!)

So anyhow, that is our project completion for this week. (You can see now, why I didn't have time to wear my boots! ) If we were to have had someone come in and do this, I'm sure it would have been oodles more than the small amount we spent. Perhaps it would have looked a little more "polished" as well. But, I love the outcome of all our projects so much. Thank you Ricardo!!! You are wonderful!

Course, this guy isn't "so much-ah impressed. His expression says that he is sooo over it. Oh well, you can't impress everyone.

Speaking of over it, hope I didn't bore you to tears with this posting . If so, I apologize. Now if you will excuse me, we're tired from all this work. I think Wii need a break! :p