new house projects - guest bedroom

When I started posting about my move into my great grandmother's house this Thanksgiving, I thought it was going to be just 3 posts. Well this is post number 5, and I haven't even gotten to the fun part - the yard. Oops. These posts are great for keeping me organized, and I hope you're enjoying reading them. The weekend after Thanksgiving is going to be a busy one!

On to the next room, the guest bedroom. This is going to be pretty easy since I'm not worried about 'finishing' it. It just needs to be cleaned and painted, and will remain empty. The first family that lived here after Grandmother Grace died had a son while they were renting, and this room is cotton candy blue. Great for a baby boy, not so much for me.

This room has 3 walls of with large windows. I'm not going to fight the natural light, so I'm going to keep the room a bright neutral, color. I've got 3 paint strips that have the brown from the living room bead board, the yellows I want in my kitchen, and some light neutrals to tie the two together. I'll pick something from the light end of the spectrum for this room.

As far as decorating goes, since I don't have furniture for this room yet, I'm just going to put up some things that I like. I'll bring in my old Beatles poster, and my grandmother has some old sheet music with fun covers. I have 10 document frames that currently have vintage liquor ads (taken from a calendar and placed on watercolor paper for a faux matte) and I can take those out, replace them with the sheet music, and I think it will look pretty cool.

My poster is remastered from this shoot

Shopping List:

1. Paint
2. Painters Tape
3. Paint Roller covers

Borrow List:

1. Paint Rollers (long handle)
2. Paint tray
3. Drop Cloths

new house projects - bedroom & hallway

Love this x-ray print in my room

Writing all of these posts has made my move a  little more daunting than I'm used to.  This is my 3rd move of 2011. I'm a pro at it.  I can bring in my stuff and get it set up in no time.  But this is my first move into a house that is not an apartment, and also entirely mine.  Any other house I've lived in has come with roommates and their furniture already set up.  This move is not just bringing in my stuff, it's working on the house too.  I've never had to paint when I've moved, and I really don't know how much time that's actually going to take.  Luckily my bedroom is a room that I can set up in my sleep, because it's one of two rooms I haven't actually been in. (The other being the bathroom)

Bedroom Projects:

1. Dresser - I'd like to paint my dresser black.  I can do this in the gravel driveway and not worry about being messy.  It will need to be sanded, primed and painted.  I'd like to get new drawer pulls for it eventually, but that probably won't happen the first weekend.
2. Curtains - I need at least 2 more panels to fill all of the windows.  Not a huge priority since one of the windows doesn't get much sun, and there are blinds in place.  I'll also need curtain rods; I'm going to use what I've got in the kitchen.
3. Painting - I'm crossing my fingers that I don't have to paint this room.  That would take a huge chunk of time that I'd rather spend in the yard.  If I paint it will be a grey to neutral shade, something most people would consider light, but I consider medium.
4. Storage - I don't know what kind of closet space I've got and crossing my fingers it's not going to be a problem.  There's always the spare bedroom :)
5. Art - I've got 90% of the art for this room, but I'd like to get one of my skymaps framed and hung in here at some point.

Hallway Projects:

1. It needs to be painted. (Benjamin Moore # HC-29 or HC-30) Right now it feels like a tunnel and the walls are skint up and gouged in spots.  This is an easy fix.
2. Art - The only idea I have is vintage Chattanooga postcards I've seen on Etsy.  I'm going to treat this like the living room and just decorate for Christmas and deal with it after the new year.  :)

Shopping List:

1. 3, black curtain rods with doorknob style ends (World Market or BB&B)
2. 2 more curtain panels (JC Pennys)
3. hallway paint
4. painters tape
5. black paint for dresser
6. primer for dresser
7. sandpaper

Borrow List:

1. drop cloths
2. paint rollers (short handle)
3. wall putty.  I'm not going to need much
4. putty knife
5. orbital sander

My Bedroom Board on Pinterest

new house projects - the bathroom

This is one of two rooms where I have no idea what I'm getting myself into.  I've been told it's small and has a shower/tub combo, possibly peeling wallpaper...but that's it.  Not a lot to go on.  It's the only bathroom in the house, so there's no saving this until last, because anyone who comes to my house is going to see it.

My bathroom right now is pretty boring, but I really like my shower curtain (the brown tree silhouette at the end of this post), and I've got nice microfiber brown towels to match.  Since I've got some black hooks, I'm hoping I can use both blacks & browns without making it claustrophobic.  I think it's really small, but I like blacks and browns together.  I also like this picture, and I'm thinking about dying the background of my shower curtain a dusty rose color to match. My hesitation is that I'm not a huge fan of pink.  If the shower curtain is the only thing this color, it could be pretty though.  Decisions are so hard to make when you've never been IN the room.

Potential Projects for the Bathroom:

1. Wallpaper Removal: If there's wallpaper, I'm 95% sure it will have to go.  This is not going to be fun in a cramped space.  On the upside, if it's as tiny as I think it is, maybe it won't take too long.  I'll need mom's wallpaper scorer & wide putty knife, and probably some sort of solvent.
2. Painting: I'm going to have to come up with a color scheme.  Maybe something two toned, charcoal grey & light brown.  I've also painted a frame around a shower before, and that might be a good idea. I REALLY need some help in this area, and I have a friend in mind that just might find herself at the paint store with me this weekend.  One thing I have found helpful is the Design Seeds blog.  (that's where the great color palettes are from) All it is are pretty pictures, with colors pulled out for you.  You would think that as an artist I would be good with color, but I really struggle.  Maybe it's because I'm a picky perfectionist, but I can get really lost getting colors to match.
3. Makeup Storage:  I really like the idea of putting magnets on the back of makeup, sticking them on a framed piece of metal.  You can paint the metal or put paper on it, to make it your style.  I've posted about this project before, and I've got a great frame picked out.  My cousin is a painter, so I'm thinking about having her paint me something as a Christmas present.
4. Shower Curtain: The white background is probably going to be too stark, so I'd like to dye it.  This is a maybe project, and something I can easily do on my own, so it may not be a priority.
5. Cleaning:  The not so fun part of the move.
6. Furniture: Nothing I really need to bring, I just don't need to forget the toilet paper on day 1.

Possible Color Combo

Shopping List:

1. Wallpaper removal solvent?
2. Wall Paint (once I pick a plan)
3. Sheet metal
4. Lots of Scrubbing Bubbles
5. RIT Dye (Color #116 maybe, Rose Pink & Taupe) 
6. Magnets 
7. Painter's Tape

Borrow List:

1. Paint Tray
2. Paint rollers (long handle?)
3. Cleaning bucket

My Bathroom Board on Pinterest

more projects - the living room

Found on tumblr, I kinda like it :)

In two weeks I'll be in my new house!!  I should get me keys after lunch Thanksgiving day, and while everybody is out shopping on Friday I will be having a work day.  I won't know how much cleaning I'll have to do until I get to look, but there are a few things I already know about. So my mom doesn't freak out, here's my to do list for the living room:

1. The fireplace: It has char marks on the facing, so I need to find some way to clean that up without making a huge mess.  I'm going to start with Simple Green, a scrub brush, and a bunch of old towels, but will probably be ready with a backup plan if that doesn't get it.  If you have any suggestions please let me know.
2. Curtains - I'm completely at a loss on what to do here.  I'm thinking about brown or navy, but I'm probably going to leave that decision until January.  So to get started I'll get brown curtain rods for 1 double and 1 single window, and 2 drop cloths to make curtains out of.
3. Ceiling fan - Classic 70's brass fixtures.  I don't mind the wooden blades, but the hardware needs to be sanded, primed & painted.
4. Lantern Light Fixture: I think I remember a really dated light fixture in the living room.  I hope that it can be repainted and doesn't have to be changed.
5. Carpet - May have to be steam cleaned.  This would be a good Saturday project after any painting is done, before furniture is moved in, and while we're more focused on the outside.
6. Ottoman - I'm not going to get my leather tufted ottoman, but I am going to make a placeholder.  I saw this palate ottoman, and I think I can handle it. I just need a sander, legs, and stain. I'll wait to do the cushion til the 2nd weekend, or maybe wait until January.
7. Furniture: Need to get the couch from a friend in Riverview, a table from grandmother, my 2 side tables, and decide about chairs & papas-an chair.  May be able to get couch on Saturday, but I'll wait to move the rest until Sunday.

Shopping list:

1. 2 brown curtain rods
2. 2, 9'x12' drop cloths
3. sandpaper for orbital sander
4. 4 table legs
5. 1 can stain
6. 1 can spray primer for metal
7. 1 can spray paint for metal

  Just as a bonus, here are some of the color pallets I'm thinking about for the living room...eventually.  For now I'm just decorating for Christmas!

My Living Room Board on Pinterest

Lots of Projects, starting with the kitchen

I cannot believe I'm moving in 2 weeks.  This is the point where I go over my plans, and really start getting ready.  I've got a couple of projects planned for my new place, and this weekend I'm going to be getting my materials lists together, and doing whatever prep work I can do.  I've got 3 areas I'm focusing on, so to make it easy I'm going to break this into 3 posts.  As excited as I am to share everything I'm doing with you, this is for my mom as much as it is for everyone else.  She tends to get overwhelmed, and likes to know I have a plan, and what the light at the end of the tunnel looks like, so this should help her sleep as we get closer and closer to move day!

The Kitchen -
My colors are ivory, yellow, chive green & maybe orange, and I'm using black hardware.

1. Pot Rack - The kitchen and dining room are open and not all that large.  There's not a lot of cabinet space, so I think I'm going to add a yellow painted pegboard to one wall to hang my pots and pans.  I need to beg my parents for scrap from my dad's woodshop, and go ahead and get some hooks.
2. Stained Glass - My grandmother has two great framed stained glass windows in her basement, and I'm going  to hand them in the 2 double windows in the dining room.  This should be easy, all I need are 8 screw in hooks and a length of chain that can be cut into 4 equal lengths.
3. Painting - I'm not sure if I'm going to need to paint in here or not.  I won't know until I get in Thanksgiving night, but I've got a paint color picked out just in case.
4. Curtains - I'm not going to be able to put in my dream curtains this month, but I am going to do a placeholder.  I'm going to use my black curtain rods from my bedroom, and make curtains from drop cloths.  I might even dye them the color I was thinking about, so I can see if it becomes too much yellow. I need 2, 9'x12' drop cloths for the kitchen windows ($25 ea, Lowes) and Rose Pink & Lemon Yellow RIT dye (Yellow 2, color #61)  If I'm really good I can have the curtains dyed before I move in.  I may need to borrow my sisters galvanized tub.
5. Furniture - I'm bringing in my bistro table & directors chairs the first day.  The bakers rack & sette chair as soon as the walls are done, and the sideboard on Sunday when I have helpers.

This is what I want to do, but yellow

 Shopping List:

1. Peg hooks (12-24)
2. Benjamin Moore Pineapple Grove paint (#333)
3. 8 screw in hooks
4. Chain (length to be determined, 8 feet max)
5. 2, 9x12 drop cloths
6. Rose Pink & Lemon Yellow RIT dye

**Note: the pictures are from worldmarket.com  I LOVE world market, and this series of bake ware & stoneware is exactly what I was looking for color wise.  The walls and such will be white-ish, and I'm just looking for a few pieces to be these colors.  I'm aiming for bright, but not in your face. :)

 My Kitchen/Dining Board on Pinterest