Getting Closer

I finally finished painting the body of the dresser!  Now to just wait 72 hours for it to dry so that I can put my dining room back together...

Patience has never been an easy one for me.

Cyclone Technology

If you know me, odds are I have told you that my Dyson upright changed my life.  I might have even convinced you to buy one. 

I swear my carpets never knew clean until the Dyson rolled into my life.  There is something so rewarding about seeing your dirt swirling before your eyes in the canisters.  A little gross at first, but you grow to appreciate it.  My love affair with the Dyson began one weekend while catsitting for the Rockenbachs.  Wanting to clean up some kitty litter, I grabbed their handheld Dyson in the laundry room.  It was instant attraction.  I was sold.  The next time I catsitted, they had left out the full sized Dyson.  You would have thought I won the lottery.  I vacuumed the whole main floor, enamored with the cyclone technology.  Within weeks, I would own my own Dyson upright and my whole concept of clean would be forever altered. 

Move forward a couple of years and I still love my Dyson, but I have not been able to get that handheld out of my mind.  How great would it be to have something for quick pick-ups?  To not have to drag out the vacuum, plug it in, and then feel obilgated to vacuum everything since I have it out?  Thanks to a little Christmas money from Santa, I was able to make that dream come true!

I found a refurbished model on Overstock.com and it came looking good as new.  I immediately tackled some tumbleweeds in the hallway.  It's perfect!  Now, this handheld only runs about 6 minutes on a charge but I only plan to use it on quick spot treatments in between full vacuums.

This weekend I will get it hung in my laundry room for easy access.  For now I'm just getting it charged so I can play with it some more! 

Dresser Drawer Update

Excuse the iPhone photos I'm using in this post but I wanted to updated the progress on my drawer refinishing.  The hardware I ordered finally came in this week and since my drawers were dry I was able to pop them on.  Here's the pull I ordered:

Simple but a much improved update.  The original brass pulls were fine, just not for the style of my dining room.

Dust much?

My replacements were the same 3" measurement as the old hardware so I didn't have to redrill any holes.  Yay!  This made it a cinch to pop in the new pulls.

I think they look pretty awesome!  I can't wait to put everything back together and see the final look.  I've got the body of the dresser all prepped for the painting to begin!

Kitchen Chaos

My kitchen is out of control.  In trying to decide on a paint color, I've created a mess.

The bright blue is totally obnoxious in person and the two other "whites" are actually blues.  They are almost too light but they may look different against true white trim. 

Well, even on my white table in white jars...they still look white.  So I haven't made any color decisions yet in the kitchen but now that it looks so awful with blotches of color everywhere I will be motivated to fix it.  I predict a color decision within the next two weeks.  I'll mull it over as I finish my black dresser.

You Say It's Your Birthday

It's my birthday too,yeah!  I woke up this morning just a wee bit older.  I probably also woke up with a few more wrinkles and maybe a gray hair or two but let's focus on the positive!  I scored some fabulous birthday gifts over the weekend from my family that has me ready for springtime.

First up was this awesome book I've been wanting!  As I've mentioned before I'm hoping to add a garden to my backyard and attempt growing a few different veggies and fruits.  This book lays out a method of gardening that is explained best by Wikipedia, "the process of planning small but intensively planted gardens."  It uses raised beds which I will build myself.  How am I going to build it?  Well, this saw I got for my birthday is probably going to play a big part.

I'm so excited to have a power saw.  My arm thanks you, parents.  If only I had this guy when I built Giant Jenga.  My back yard will also be getting some patio landscaping thanks to Uncle Ken.

I'm going to have big pots around the patio furniture and hopefully I will be able to keep the plants alive.  It will help liven up the back patio view.

On top of all of these great gifts, I can't wait to start receiving my new subscription to HGTV Magazine!!!  I am going to be obsessed with these magazines as much as I am with the channel.

I better start reading my gardening books.  Spring will be here before I know it!

The Refinishing Begins

I'm finally making some headway with refinishing my sideboard.  Last week I got the new hardware ordered and it should be in any day.  This weekend I started working on the drawers to the unit.  Here's what we started with:

First thing I need to do is fill in the one lonely shell engraved drawer. 

After a couple of applications of wood fill, followed by a lot of sanding, it was ready to be primed.

I decided to try out a new product for painting this piece.  Glidden makes a Trim & Door paint that is no-drip and comes in white, red, and black.  I got the extra high gloss black.  It has a weird gel consistency but it is supposed to lessen the appearance of brush strokes.

It was really simple to apply.  I now have one coat on all the drawers.  I'm allowing the 24+ hours to dry before putting on a final coat.

It is hard to tell from the pictures but below is the drawer that once had a shell on it.  The paint is still very wet in this picture so it looks a little odd.

No shell!  Once I get the second coat on, the drawers will need 72 hours to fully set.  While that's happening I hope to begin on the main body of the dresser.  That's means in about a week or so my dresser will be all done!

Tea Time

I have been using (and coveting) my company's Keurig machine for several years.  We are lucky to have this machine and its wide selection of drinks.

It is quite fancy and is connected to its own water line.  I don't drink coffee but the Keurig has tons of hot and cold teas that I love.  Thanks to some Christmas Cash, I was able to buy a smaller retail version of this awesome coffee machine.  Introducing my Keurig!

It is perfect for brewing a cup of tea for the drive to work.  And my green tea habit is probably a little better for me than my old morning Diet Coke habit.  [Don't get me wrong, I still drink Diet Coke in the afternoon.  I haven't lost my mind of anyting.]  This is also great for when I have guests stay at the house.  Before I could only offer them brewed coffee from a Folgers can that I've had for about 10 years or a ride to Starbucks.  Now I can keep a few flavors in stock at the house and my guests can create their own morning drinks!  As for me, I'm stocking English Breakfast Tea and Green Tea.  I meant to buy regular green tea but being a rookie I accidently bought a green tea blend.  It turned out to be fabulous with hints of lemongrass and mint.  I highly recommend it!

Now I can add my old coffee pot to the donation box I've started.  Don't worry, I'll throw out the 10 year old Folgers as well.

Cleaning Out My Closets

My office is not the only dumping ground in my house.  My closets are slowly becoming mini-hoarder episodes in their own right.  I am obsessed with all the closet space in my house.  My old condo had 2 closets, one in each bedroom.  My new house has 7!  They are fabulous.  They are everywhere you could need one.  They are in danger of being abused.

These guest room closets above look so tidy and innocent.  [they are actually one large closet but since their are two doors, let's just call it two closets.]  Lurking inside of these closets are winter accessories, handbags, hats, evening wear and tons of spare throw pillows.  I decided that if I was going to use any of the items inside then I was going to need to make them more accessible.

Need a hat, handbag, tote or glove?  It's probably somewhere in this pile.  Need a scarf?  Oh, try the big paper box on the top shelf.

You get the picture.  So to fix this problem, I nailed up some wall hangers that I had laying around.  They don't match but they get the job done.

Now I am able to hang my scarves and small handbags!  The top shelf will hold various hats and the bottom shelves will house larger bags, totes and a basket of gloves and earmuffs.  Perfect!

 Now ideally I would have a bedroom closet big enough for all my clothes and accessories.  But I don't so I will be happy with the 7 I have spread around the house.  As I get dressed each morning it's like I get to take a mini tour of my house.  If you are looking for off-season clothes or winter coats, those are in the office.

Office Reorg

My poor office.  It has become my house's Island of Misfit Toys.  Basically it ends up with any and all spare furniture and junk.  It is home to my last moving box that has yet to be unpacked.  It is home to several pieces of mismatched furniture.  It is home to my spring and summer clothes.  It gets no respect.  This past weekend I rearranged the room for the 47th time.  It was once fairly neat and tidy.

I liked the idea of floating my desk in the center of the room, even it if was a bit undersized, but then the big red chair moved in.

Things became a tad cluttered.  I made the decision to move the desk back against the wall and have the chair act as a sitting area in the focus of the room.

Notice no matter where the furniture goes, the Public Storage box never moves.  It's like magic.

It definitely helped open up the room a bit more, which in turn will probably just allow me to cram more junk into the room.

It is much easier to access my desk now, especially since I am not dodging the large chair or power cords running along the floor.  I have still yet to hang anything in this room, except for when I randomly "store" pictures by hanging them on nails that came with the house.  Some day...  For now I'm content with my little reading nook in the front room. 

If you look closely, there is a pig on my desk.  That is actually my awesome West Elm Pig iPod speaker.  It makes me happy.

West Elm's Ceramic Pig Speaker

Checking in on the Winter To Do List

Right before Thanksgiving I posted my To Do list for the Holiday Season.  I'd like to formally rename this the Winter To Do List and that is because the holidays are over but my list isn't.  So let's check in on how productive my winter has been.

My art was finally hung...as long as you don't count the broken frame that is still leaning against the wall.  I haven't decided where it's going to hang yet because I want to get one more frame to go in that area. 

My pre-Christmas and post-Christmas shopping got me pretty well stocked in the decoration department.  I got a new main tree (and several small ones) and conquered hanging outdoor lights.

So now it's on to conquer the rest of my list.  My kitchen currently looks like this, with paint chips in varying shades of light blue hanging everywhere.  It's been a couple of weeks...I should probably make a decision soon.  That is easier said than done.

As far as the sideboard in the dining room, I have come up with a plan and am currently shopping for the new hardware.  I need to pick it out first incase I need to reset the holes drilled on the drawers.  I'm hoping to find pulls that just fit the already drilled holes.  That should be coming together very soon and then I will start priming and painting.

I have come to the sad realization that my boxwoods out front are dead.  Kaput.  Not just sleeping.  It is sad but I'll just have to try again next spring.  Hopefully by planting them earlier in the season this go round, they'll have a better shot of getting established before being hit with 110 degree temperatures. 

Last but now least comes the task of planning for a back yard garden.  I'd really like to be able to grow peppers, zucchinis, tomatoes and a few other staples at some point.  I'm beginning my research by reading my Christmas gift, Neil Sperry's Complete Guide to Texas Gardening.  Hopefully I'll be able to pick up some pointers, not just for my future garden but my landscaping as a whole.

Well, I better get to crackin' on my list.  I need to be finished with these items come March and the unveiling of the Spring To Do list.

Winter's On Its Way

A wise man once said ...My dad called yesterday to inform me that I need to unhook my hoses from the outdoor faucets because we are now getting into the freezing temps of winter.  Now, I knew that I was supposed to cover my faucets but didn't realize that it's also best to remove all hoses that are connected to them as well.  It's a wonder I didn't learn that lesson at the condo.  My hose stayed connected all through the great Super Bowl Ice Storm and snow to follow. 

Being the wonderful daughter that I am, I took care us this as soon as I got home.  A couple of weeks ago I had invested about $2 a pop in nifty little faucet covers.  I just unscrewed the hose and popped these succkers on!

Easy as can be!  All three of my faucets are now safely winterized and ready for whatever mother nature might throw at us.  And yes, I am tempted to spray paint them off-white to match the house but I will try to restrain myself.  Now it just looks like my house has pimples. 

Thanks for the tip, Dad.  You are a wise man after all.