Progress on the Living Room

 

The living room has a new area rug!

 

I found it at Target last week.

 

On clearance, plus $15 off.

 

Had to get it, right?

 

 

It has a nice little texture.

 

Kind of a bland color, but I've got so much going on in there.

 

It's a place for the eye to rest.  Or so they say on HGTV!

 



Since I was in the rug shopping mode, I decided to find a new one for the entry.  Home Depot, also on sale.

 

This one isn't bland or boring.

 



 

 

I love our living room.

 

It's not very big.

 

But it's a great place to

  get away from the TV and read or think or plan.  Everyone needs a little quiet spot.

 

 

 

 

It's the home of some of my favorite things.

 

 

 

 

Pictures of my grandparents and my kids.

 

 

 

 

A crocheted edging my great grandmother made and I had framed years ago.

 

 

 

 

 A picture of my mom as a baby ca.1922.

 

 

 



 

 

Pretty happy with the way it's turning out.

 

Our little sanctuary.

 

 



Home is Where Your Hearth Is

 

 

We've lived with unfinished projects in this house since 2007.  After awhile you don't even see the things that need to be done.

 

  Most are small, hidden jobs like a few baseboards here and there, or trim in the kitchen that doesn't show.  We're good at ignoring these things.

 

Until you have an event, like for instance, a baby shower, at your house and then all of a sudden all of the unfinished projects need to be finished yesterday!

 

 

The fireplace in our family room was one of these projects.

 

When we built this house I wanted the fireplace high enough on the wall so that we could see it from the kitchen and the eating area.  It's so nice to be working in the kitchen and be able to enjoy the cozy fire.

 

It's also nice to have a hearth double as extra seating when there's a lot of people here for a family get together or a party.

 

For years we tried to come up with some kind of surround.  We couldn't agree on tile, brick, or stone.  We looked at antique mantels. We looked at custom mantels. Nothing was quite right.

 

So we've lived with wonky drywall and OSB for almost seven years.

 



Until a couple of weeks ago.

 

The mister repaired the drywall around the edge of the fireplace.

 

He painted and installed baseboard.

 

Then he made a removable, padded, upholstered hearth.

 

 

 

 

I like it a lot.  It was an inexpensive fix. 

 

We may do something else with it someday.

 

But for now we checked another thing off our to do list.

 

 

And the ladies at the baby shower thought it was a pretty comfy place to sit.

Guest Bath

I don't know about you, but when I hear company's coming to stay a few days, I start thinking about all the things I'd like to get done before they arrive.

 

One of the items on my list was the guest bathroom in the basement.

 

It was pretty much a basic alabaster box when I started.  Functional but not very inviting.

 

The first thing I needed was a little storage.  I bought the cabinet from Just A Bed of Roses

in Farmington, Utah a couple of years ago.  It needed some paint and a new top, and the Mister was tired of it taking up space in the garage, so we got to work.  It's not very deep but so perfect for extra towels and toilet paper.

 

 

 

 

There are no windows in this bathroom so I thought it needed some bright colors to lighten it up some.

 

Target had this shower curtain on sale last year. 

 

So many colors to work with.  Perfect!

 

 

Now when the grandkids come to visit everyone has their own towel color.

Gotta have a few fun accessories.

 

 .

 

Not too much work and what a difference it made.

 

We had fun with our company too.

 

AND another thing off our to do list.



Built-in Bookcases

When we designed our home a few years ago we decided that we wanted some built in bookcases

on either side of the fireplace in our family room.  The mister really wanted to build

them himself so we moved in and knew we would just

live with the empty spaces until he got around to making them.

 

Almost five years later the project is finally underway!

 

 

 

He actually started this project last fall but things just kept getting in the way.

 

Like a trip to Disneyland, Thanksgiving, Christmas and just life in general.

 

 

He's not a cabinetmaker or even a carpenter so he's had to figure things out

along the way.

 

Things are going well as far as I can tell.

 

The garage and shop are full of bookcase pieces and sawdust.

 

Looks like some painting is next.

 

 

 

I'm so looking forward to getting this project done!

 

I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

 

Progress

We've been making a little progress here at Mimi's Cottage this past few weeks.

On cold or rainy days the Mister's been slowly working on our bookcases.

On warm and sunny days we've been working on our Summer 2011/2012 project.

Planting a few trees and shrubs, leveling the lawn area, and moving the 

vegetable garden to a new location.

Good thing we found some cheap labor.

This guy works for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

So we're moving along, slow but sure.  

We've entered our ten birthdays in twenty days time of the year.

So we have to take some time to buy presents, wrap presents, bake birthday

cakes, eat pizza, bumper bowl, eat cake and ice cream, go out to dinner, and enjoy 

some time together as a family.

Built In Bookcases

Do you see that empty space to the left of the fireplace?

Do you see the fireplace in all of it's unfinished glory?

Well, look at the project the Mister decided to tackle.

That's right!!  He's working on the built in bookcases and the fireplace surround!

Someday we'll have something similar to this...

Country Living

I'm so excited!  But don't hold your breath!

It takes us a lonnnng time finishing these projects!

But I'll be patient because when it's done it's always done right.

Want to see a cute grandgirl?

It's Margaret Anne.

Isn't she getting big?

The New and Improved Entry

We've had a couple of very busy weeks here at Mimi's Cottage.

I thought when we retired things would slow down a little.

Boy, was I ever wrong.

We did, however, check another project off our long, long list.

The entry is finally finished.

Remember how the Mister decided to install the beadboard the week

before Christmas?  yikes

Well, last week we got er done.

It only took two months!!

 Before

 This is the paintable, textured wallpaper that I got at Lowes.com.

It's painted yellow and it lives above the wide beadboard paneling.

I couldn't find a trim that I liked so we made our own.  

The scallop is from Michael's the three other pieces are from Home Depot.

Some of my favorite things are in the entry.

Like my kids silhouettes that we had done while we visited

Disneyland in the 70's and 80's.

Love them.  (love my kids too)

Love this Christy Repassy hollyhock painting.

Love this calligraphy piece that my mom made for my grandma when

she took an art class in college way back in the early 40's.

Love this drawing of our house that was a birthday card from an adorable friend.

Her artist husband drew this for me for my 58th birthday.  

Love little birdies.

After three plus years in this house we can cross another project off our list!

Working on the Entry

We've been in our house for a little over three years now.  

Our contractor built our house to the drywall and then we (meaning he)

did all the finishing.  We (he) installed the kitchen and bathroom cabinets, 

and the hardwood floor, tiled, finish plumbing, finish electrical,

 painted, landscaped, and lots more.  Did we save any money doing it ourselves?

I think so, but I'm not sure.  The mister and I enjoy working on projects together

so I guess it's been worth it.  After awhile you get used to not having things 

finished.  I hardly noticed all the missing baseboard and door trim.  

We are finally getting around to doing some finish carpentry.

The entry wall before...

Plain old drywall.

Getting ready for the paneling...

 Paneling going up...

Stuff from the entry stashed in the living room...

Checking out wallpaper books for over the paneling...

This is where I'd like the wallpaper to go...

Paneling still needs to be caulked, painted, and trimmed.

See that cool door on the coat closet?  We bought 12 doors from

an old house that was being demolished.  Ten dollars each vintage hardware

included.  Still needs to be painted.  Escutcheons need to be plated.

Feels good getting a few projects started.