This is what happens when your sweetie rents a mini jackhammer for the day...
All day - just for the entry, but he did a wonderful job.
I think the cats approve - or maybe they're still critiquing!
Beautiful 16" tile - so much better than the ugly 8-9" tile!
I love our tile installer! I smile every morning when I walk down the stairs and see our fabulous new tile! Now if I could just get the energy to work on those baseboards!!
My first bluebonnet photos this spring! I love how they look next to the cactus - and a cedar tree in the background - almost perfect, but I couldn't get just the right angle today.
They never look quite as pretty in my photos as they do in real life, but every year I have to try! Maybe this will be the year I get the perfect photo to frame - I still have about two or three more weeks to get my elusive perfect photo!
My kids' bath has definitely seen better days and the flooring was never my favorite - so I decided to look for some peel and stick tiles that I kind of liked and will hopefully last until we can budget in time and $ for real tile.
About 12 years ago I found some vinyl saltillo tiles that I used in my old kitchen and loved them - I was amazed at how well they held up (8 years when we moved) and the color was perfect! And then, of course, they stopped making them and I haven't found any others that I even came close to liking. Parquet, especially fake, has never been my favorite, but I was excited to find some on Monday that seem perfect for the beach cottage theme of the room. (They are much more of a natural oak color - instead of yellowish - then it appears in the photos.) So, I started late this afternoon and made tons of progress! Since the old vinyl already had lines that were squared I just used those lines to center my first tile and it went super quick from there. I'm going to paint the baseboards, my sweetie is going to change out the toilet this weekend (about 6 more tiles there) and caulk around all the edges - and then done!
It already looks better! And don't you just love the vintage seahorse knobs!
I really want to paint my whole house, but that's just not happening right now, so I figured . . . at least I could handle the front door!
So, here is the before...
And here is the after! I still need to finish a bit of tile on the front step and add some flowers - and maybe scrape off those stickers, not very welcoming! But it's still so much cheerier!
I started by sanding the door since it had been painted with a glossy paint. Not awful, but I really wanted a pretty color, not just gold/beige.
The first coat - what an awful color - this is the point where I was thinking this was a really bad idea! My kids thought I was crazy!
It took me three coats with a bit of extra touch-ups. I used a brush for the molding and smoothed everything out with a small foam roller. The hardest part was staying at home long enough for the paint to dry between coats!
While I let the first coat dry, I gathered wreath-making supplies. I have family coming to visit from Sweden, so I was trying for yellow and blue, but the blue just didn't work.
I like it, though!
I found these cool vinyl numbers at HouseHoldWords on Etsy. Begged my mom to come help me put them on - she's so good at measuring! I love how they turned out! Thanks Mom!
The color I used was color matched at Home Depot in a Satin finish. It is Sherwin Williams Relentless Olive. The interior green that you can see in one photo is from the same color strip - Shagreen and is actually Sherwin Williams - it blends perfectly!
My daughter really wanted to make a necklace for her kindergarten teacher today since tomorrow is the first day back after spring break, but the beads we had on hand were too small for the string we had available. I had the "brilliant" idea to use my scrapbooking paper scraps to make traditional paper beads. We had so much fun! She picked the paper and I had the job of rolling - I remember it being much easier when my fingers were tiny!
I found some gorgeous ones on Etsy that put mine to shame!
Every spring I wait for the Mountain Laurels to bloom!
They usually begin blooming in February right about Valentine's Day until mid March. There was a bit of a late start this year with a couple of freezes, but it was worth the wait! They smell divine! Like grape soda - but better - and usually have bees buzzing everywhere. Rain is moving in tonight, so the bees were taking a break and I was able to finally get some photos!
I planted this tree five years ago this spring and have been ever so patiently waiting for blooms. There was one bundle of blooms last year, but this year. . . wow! About 12 bunches on such a tiny tree!
All day - just for the entry, but he did a wonderful job.
