White Box Challenge

Alternate titles to this post:  Why Do We Keep Buying Olympic Paint?, Second Marriages, Evolving Tastes, Hugging the Toilet, Fragile Flower, Husband Is Not Observant

What the heck am I talking about?  Good question.

This week-end I decided that I wanted to start our powder room’s make-over.  The only thing we have done to this room since we moved in is hang a mirror above the sink. I believe that took us close to a year.  Oh yeah, I added the toilet paper holder too.

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Not bad.  Just not the vision I have for this room.  This is the potty everyone uses when they visit our house and I wanted the room to be a little prettier.

Cue the white paint.  Olympic’s One to be exact.  It’s official.  We will no longer be purchasing Olympic paint for our walls (We will use it for furniture.).  We’re a sucker for new things and went for the One.  It took three coats and still doesn’t look the best.  We know how to paint.  We’ve painted two entire houses. We used a good roller and good paint brush.  We were covering a light paint color.  A gallon of paint (for this tiny room) and 3 coats later and we have “meh” results.  I still have some touch up to do but this is how we ended the week-end.

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Looks better, right?  Don’t you just love it?……..

Okay, it’s not done.  Just one step closer to my vision.  Or according to my husband, “one of my crazy ideas.”  He was less than happy with me when I asked for his help with painting.  I promised to do the whole room myself.  This worked until I realized that there is only so much space for a ladder in this room…and I’m short.  And afraid of heights.

And now for our alternative post titles:

Second Marriages: While crammed in this tiny room together I asked Nate if he wants his second wife to be into DIY projects/decorating.  He said it was a toss up but she definitely needed to be able to paint on her own.  I told him that was okay because my second husband will either love to paint or be a billionaire and will let me hire it done.  It’s good to dream.  Keeps the marriage strong.

Evolving Tastes:  We discussed my need to re-do our entire house.  I explained to Nate that I have “evolving tastes.”  He laughed hard on this one.  I don’t get it.

Hugging the Toilet:  Did you know that it’s hard to paint behind a toilet?  I ended up straddling it.  I’ll spare you the photo.

Fragile Flower:  Nate tried to show me how I could use the ladder and reach places that I told him that I couldn’t reach.  I have this thing called a fear of heights and anything above the second step of the ladder makes me weak in the knees.  He wanted to know what I thought would happen if I fell two feet.  I told him that I might break a hip because I’m fragile.  He then proceeded to call me his fragile flower.

Husband Is Not Observant: 

Nate (during our 3rd coat of paint): “What color was this room originally?”

Michelle: “Seriously?”

Nate: “Yes.”

Michelle:  “You don’t know the color of a room you have peed in for the past 3 years?  Seriously?”

What do you think of our white room?  Do you and your spouse paint well together? Who else has evolving tastes?

Stroll Down Memory Lane- Insulation/Dry Wall

It’s time to catch up with our house building process from 3 years ago.  There was about a month lag where we were finishing up wiring/electrical and waiting for someone to dry wall. 

First up. Insulation.  We chose blown-in cellulose. 

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Blown-in cellulose insulation is made up of recycled newspapers. We chose blown-in insulation because fiberglass insulation tends to settle whereas the cellulose does not.  The cellulose insulation also contains fire retardants which could slow the spread of a fire (what a horrible thought) and the cellulose also repels insects.

Look, it’s our bedroom…

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And laundry room…

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After the insulation was installed, the dry wall was installed…

In our bedroom…

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Hall…

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Living room…

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Our choice in dry wallers was…poor.  I want their work day…which was 3 hours.  Seriously.  This was an extremely stressful time for us.  They quoted us two weeks as a finish date…which slowly turned into four.  The dry wall was the start of us relying on outside contractors to do the work.  Up until this point it was us or our builder (who was a one man show and was super reliable). 

During this time, we were also finishing up outside…because we had nothing else to do…

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We finished up the brick on the pillars and added shakes to the top of the entry.

Hey, look! People might live here someday…

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There you have it!  Our 3 house years ago this week!

Who votes for a 3 hour work day??

Barn Light Electric

I mentioned on Monday that touring the Parade of Homes gave me bad ideas.  As in, I now feel the need to replace things that I just put in my home 3 years ago.  The more I thought about the pendant that I was madly in love with, I realized that it was not the right fit for our house.  We have this modern-country vibe going on and that pendant was just a little to glam for us. 

And then I ran across an exciting opportunity from Barn Light Electric

I have previously seen some of Barn Light Electric’s products floating around on various design blogs…mostly high end designers.  Naturally, I assumed that their lights were a bazillion and twelve dollars.  Much to my surprise, the lights are super affordable. And I’m in love.  Their style is that perfect mix of modern-country…to keep Nate and I both happy.

Barn Light Electric’s Giveaway is easy and fun.  They are giving away bloggers a chance to win (1) $1,000.00 or (1) $500.00 Barn Light Electric Gift Certificate!  All you have to do is some on-line shopping and share your picks.  That I can do.

I REALLY like the Bermuda pendant.  I know that it would look stunning in our kitchen.  It’s $107.  See, not a bazillion and twelve dollars.  They do, however, have a bazillion and twelve finishes which is a great feature.  I usually run into the problem where I find a light I like but hate the finish.  Not a problem with Barn Light Electric.

9" Bermuda Pendant, 96-Galvanized, Black Cord Hung

I also REALLY like the School House Pendant "The Brevard".  I’m nothing if not indecisive.

The Brevard School House Pendant, 11-Satin Steel, Black Cord Hung

Or there is the Outlaw Pendant.  Fantabulousness.  (That is a word.)

The Laramie Pendant would look mighty fancy hanging above our breakfast table.

24" Laramie Pendant, 96-Galvanized, Black Cord Hung

Their ceiling fan selection is also fabulous.  Ceiling fans and fabulous usually don’t go in the same sentence.  Good work Barn Electric. I’m thinking this Ball Ceiling Fan would look perfect in our master bedroom.

Ball Ceiling Fan, Brushed Aluminum

Would you like to partake in this fun giveaway? 

How to Enter:

  1. Look around online at Barn Light Electric and pick lights you’d love to own.  
  2. Feature your lighting picks on your personal blog, and link to the lights if you can!
  3. Copy/Paste these rules at the bottom of your blog article so others can enter
  4. Once your personal article is up, you must email your blog link to: contest@barnlightelectric.com to be qualified to win. The contest ends Wednesday, October 12, 2011
  5. Don’t have a blog? Find out how you can enter by reading the Official Rules.  And start blogging.  Because blogging is awesome.  (Barn Door Electric also has a great blog.  Check it out here.  I’m not willing to admit how much time I spent reading it yesterday.)

What are your favorites?  What’s your decorating style?  Traditional?  Eclectic? Modern?  Country? Tuscan? Industrial? Glam? A combo?