After owning this shed for about a year, we finally made it look less like a big, grey box. We actually ordered the shed with white trim, but there was a mixup and we didn’t think it was worth it to send it back.
Continue reading
This week was a whirlwind. We had so much to do and so little time. I feel like I sound like a broken record, but again, weather was not our friend. If I’m going to do this challenge again, I won’t choose an outdoor room. I think I was a little too ambitious for my first go-round. But, BUT! We finished! Our small home porch makeover is done! Continue reading
Before Pictures of the Vinyl Siding on our Home
Man, oh man, what a journey this has been. Hiring someone to install new vinyl siding on our house has been one of the most stressful and expensive home projects to date. Continue reading
The Bathroom entrance before renovations.
I’m happy to say that we’ve finally finished the one and only bathroom in our small house. Or it’s at least done enough. It’s never really finished, is it? 😉
We did almost a complete gut job. The pictures don’t really show the sad shape the bathroom was in. Our house was a rental and was not loved for many years. The only thing we kept in the bathroom was the tub– which we had refinished. Continue reading
The old library shelving
We had our reference section sitting on our study carrels for 6 months because the shelving collapsed when we tried to move it : /
I’ve been absent ’round these parts because… (dun, dun, dun!) I’ve had a huge project at work (whomp, whomp). But this is no ordinary project. Last year, I wrote a request to the senior leadership team at my school to fund new library shelving. The old shelving was falling apart. Literally. The furniture in the library was all original to the school, so it has been there since 1969! After much fighting, scraping and the occasional tear, we got the go ahead for new shelving!
Today I am happy to bring you the biggest “Before and After” this blog has ever seen!
AFTER!
I no longer feel like I might get assaulted when I re-shelve books!
It has been a long process. We weeded 6,000 books from the collection. We researched and designed shelves. And we physically moved and re-shelved 24,000 books.
I am tired. My body hurts. I didn’t know being a librarian often involves so much physical labor. I actually soaked in Epsom salts last night. I am an old lady, but a happy old lady who knows that hard work pays off.
love,
melanie
Most of the things that live in our house are either thrifted, handmade or gifts. Rarely do George and I buy any home goods full price. We both grew up on the low end of a middle class households. When I was little, my mom made all of my clothes and George grew up in the country (’nuff said), so the DIY attitude has been engrained in us.
We thrifted the chest above to use for George’s t-shirts. He has amassed quite the collection since he began working for a clothing company– one of the perks! We knew that Lane Cedar Chests are good quality, but the finish was in bad shape. We thought it might be fun to paint the chest instead of staining the wood. I really liked the bones of this piece, just not the surface. So, instead we sanded it down, primed it and painted it. (We didn’t paint the inside, of course. Cedar smells too good!)
We decided to highlight the different panels of the chest by using a different color. I love the color combination of grey and yellow. Although, I did make poor George go to the paint store multiple times to get the right shade of grey. Grey is such a hard color to get right!
Here’s the after shot! TA-DA! It’s amazing what a little paint can do.
Do you have any Before and After Projects to share? Show ’em to me in the comments!
love,
melanie
