Tag Archive for home improvement

DIY Entryway Project – Finito!

Happy Thursday everyone.  Hope you are all enjoying a wonderful week.  My sister and her husband are here visiting from Montana, but I wanted to take a few minutes to blog about our finished project.  This posting is coming to you in between snacking, and chatting.  We finally have our entryway project completed, and wanted to share some pictures with all of you.

First of all a little history on why this project is such a milestone for Travel Man and myself.  We will be celebrating our 10th anniversary this year and we have this little list of projects around the house to get done this year.  You know the projects I’m talking about the one’s that you have left until you can get “around to it”.  Well we’re working on our “around to it” list, and this is one of the projects to get completed.  We are ecstatic that this one is coming off of the list.  And the reward of the results when this one got done have just been great.  It’s like a weight lifted off of your shoulders, because you’ve been wanting to get it done for such a long time.

The before pictures – tile removal, and pre-painting.

Mid Process- Painting Done & flooring in the Works.

Grandma’s Assistant                         Flooring Complete

The Finish Trim Work

The Finished Product.  All done.

The painting technique that I did on the walls was a two-step process.  First I rolled on some texture paint, sort of thick, and then got the swirls in the paint with a big 4″ brush.  Once that dried for 24 hours I painted over the texturing with a semi-gloss paint.  The color is a sea salt blue, and the sheen changes during the day with the light coming into the house.  It was a fun process figuring out how I wanted to do the texturing, and I am pleased with how it turned out.

As I told you earlier it’s great to have this project off of our list.  Next job we’re tackling is landscaping our front yard.  Hopefully we can get this one done before the heat of summer arrives.  Happy DIYing to all.  What’s the next project on your “around to it” list?

11 Things I was Reminded of During our Home Improvement Week

If you are a follower of my stories you know that Travel Man and are near the end of a project remodeling the entryway of our home.  After a few marathon work sessions last week it reminded me that we almost always have a great time together with our projects,  and here’s a few reasons why we do: 

1. Projects with my Travel Man are fun.

2. We work well together.

3. It is important that I pay attention and know when to leave Travel Man alone to let him think and work.  It can be all fun and laughter.

4. Working a project and meeting our deadline is like a well orchestrated dance.

5. I’m a great “sous” carpenter- clean up is my specialty.

6. Planning is everything.

7. Changing the plan when you are actually in the middle of the project can be important.  Be flexible.

8. It’s ok with me if Travel Man doesn’t like to paint, because I love to paint!

9. Finishing all of the detail work gives you the greatest sense of accomplishment.

10. The detail work is what makes your project spectacular.  This one is still in the works as I am typing this post.

11.  I need more exercise, I am seriously out of shape.

As our entryway project comes to a successful close I have to give a big shout out to my wonderful husband.  He worked by hard to get a lot of work done in a short period of time.  And of course, this week he is back on the road.  That’s our life, planning and executing, and trying to get things done on short notice.   I will have pictures a little later this week, remember patience is a virtue my friends.

Home Improvement Projects

My wonderful Travel Man has had a few days at home in a row which has been  a rarity since the beginning of the year.  We decided to take advantage of this week, with him at home to get some home improvement projects rolling along.

For most of this week we have been texturing and painting the walls in our entryway, installing new flooring, and getting all of the trim work completed.  We are down to the wire and will be finishing up tomorrow morning.  Travel man is off to Canada on Sunday.  This project has been a long time coming, and it is just delightful to see it all coming together.  I will post a slide show of pictures once we are completely done.

We have also been putting together a plan to landscape our front yard. Our house sits on a corner lot, the first house on the south side of our street.  So we have a lot of front yard going on.  We had the front yard graded probably two years ago now, and have just been keeping the dirt free of weeds and in check since then.  Putting a plan together with a blank slate is somewhat of a daunting task.  You want the grass and plants to look nice, and you don’t want to make a mistake with your plan.  This is why we have waited to spend any money on our front yard.  We had to have the time to get a vision, agree on that vision, and put a plan in place to execute.  That sounds so “Corporate world” doesn’t it?  

Anyway, we have been doing so much planning for the front yard, and supply purchasing for the entryway I told my husband one morning this week that I had a dream we were planting in our entryway!!  My thoughts were a little mixed up don’t you think?  All of this planning an executing has been making my head spin.

The entryway project is coming along so beautifully it is already creating “the domino effect”.  You know what I’m talking about.  You make an improvement in one area of your home, and it pushes the domino into the next room that needs to be painted or remodeled, which in our case is our living room.  And we all know the “domino effect” creates a never-ending “to-do” list.  But I love lists so that’s ok.

Watch for my entryway pictures in the next few days.  I’m excited to get this project off of the “to-do” list and work on the front yard before it starts to get too hot.  Happy home improvement weekend everyone.  How’s your “to-do” list going?

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