Top Projects of 2009

Did you get alot of projects completed in 2009?
Do you have alot of projects planned for 2010? I do!
Rhoda from Southern Hospitality is letting us all showcase our top projects for 2009.
I'm sure by looking at what others completed it will inspire us for our own projects this year!

2009 was filled with a finishing a project that we started in 2008, a few other smaller projects and some unexpected projects. Have any clue what I'm talking about?

The project that we FINALLY completed in 2009 that was started in 2008 was our kitchen.
Here is the before:

And after many months of us working on it off & on...the after:

If you would like to see the whole story on the kitchen makeover, click Here

I wanted a large chalkboard for one of the walls in my kitchen, so I went searching the thrift stores & garage sales for the perfect piece I could transform and this is what I found.

After some handy dandy spray paint and taking the mirror out, replacing it with mdf painted with chalkboard paint...it went from YUCK to this.......






After all our hard work on our kitchen, we left for a 1 week vacation to Myrtle Beach,SC. Guess what we returned home to??? Well, it wasn't a "welcome home" sign..unfortunately. It was a flooded house and mainly the NEW kitchen. Only 1 month after we finished the kitchen..insert tears!





Not only was the kitchen damaged, but the whole house other than the upstairs had to be gutted. We ended up having $20,000 worth of water damage all because a pipe fitting for the kitchen faucet broke. Lesson: DO NOT USE PLASTIC FITTINGS AND TURN OFF YOUR MAIN WATER WHEN GOING ON VACATION!

So we had to move out for 2 months while house was fixed. This allowed us to make a few upgrades, ah some more projects.....
Awe pretty new hardwood floors...a blessing out of the flood.

Oh and we decided that since the house was torn up that it was the perfect time to have the popcorn (acoustic) stuff scraped off the ceilings. Yeah to no more popcorn ceilings!
We also updated a few paint colors and replaced bath/shower unit while we were at it. I won't bore you with photos of our ceilings and paint colors.

So hmmm, I thought what can I do while moved out of my home for 2 months?? I know, I can refinish our oak dining room table. I always liked the table, but really didn't like the golden country oak color. Oh and I bought new chairs.

Ok so that was the big projects that we did in 2009. Now if you will excuse me, I have to get busy on the projects for 2010. Wanna come help?

Darlene

Pottery Barn Look-a-Like

Do you have some extra hardwood flooring planks that you haven't been able to throw out...because you just know that someday you'll find a use for them? Well I do! We just had hardwood floors installed and we have some extra planks that I wouldn't let hubby throw out. I didn't know what I would do with them...but I knew there had to be something I could use them for and I just discovered it!!

Michelle from Three Men and a Lady blog shared a GREAT IDEA!!

This was from Pottery Barn

And here is her version....

Voila!!!

Go to her blog to get the complete instructions and be sure to check out all her other creative ideas!

Now I have to go figure out what design I'm going to put on my hardwood floor.

Have a great weekend!

We are moving back home this weekend...yeah!!!

Darlene

We've Got Floors!

As most of you know we came home from vacation to a flooded home. We had about $17,000 worth of water damage. We had to move out while the repairs were being made. We had carpet in our living room/dining room and in our daughter's bedroom but decided due to this flooding we would go ahead and upgrade to hardwood floors. The floors were installed last week and have to say, "I Love Them." They are by Shaw called Vicksburg and the color is called Harvest. They are actually handscraped by prisoners so each plank is an original!

We hope to get moved back in this weekend. Now I better start designing some custom rugs for the LR & DR!

Wall color is SW Kilm Beige (lighter than I originally had but since the room is small & we were going with dark flooring we decided to go with lighter walls. The window insets are SW Fireweed.

I have a project I've been working on while away from my home, I'll show you hopefully by the end of the week.

Darlene

My Hardwood Floors

I found the hardwood floors friday after looking for the past week. It will be installed in our Living Room/Dining Room combo and in my 20 yr old daughter's bedroom. It is by Shaw which they said was bought from Anderson and said it is the cadillac of the engineered hardwood floors. It is called Vicksburg and the color is called Harvest. The wood is Hickory. They said it is handscraped and distressed by prisoners so no two boards are the same.

Now our entry is only about 4'x4' and currently tile...wondering if I should rip out the tile & have the entry done in the hardwood as well? How will engineered hardwood do in an entry??

It won't be installed for probably another 3-4 weeks but I'll be sure to show you how it looks in my home when it gets installed. I've never had hardwood so I'm excited!

Darlene