Curtain Call: Act II

After being majorly underwhelmed by all the curtains at the chain stores, I turned to Etsy to see if I could find a shop that made curtains with more modern and interesting fabrics.  There is, of course, a price difference for going directly to the maker, but I don't feel so bad because I know it's going to a person, not a corporation.

(View from the foyer to the new and improved living room.)

The curtains we put up in our bedroom were a compromise from Kohl's.  They are kind of a champagne color with shiny leaf patterns running up the bottom.  

But for the living room, we wanted something cool and original.  That's when I discovered this pattern on an Etsy shop called Ella Seeh.  It happens to go exactly with the orange and gray we are painting the opposing walls (more on our new gray walls soon).  It was meant to be.

I ordered them a tad small to save money which is my only regret.  There is some slight gap-age going on the very sides when they close, but otherwise, they look great and the high quality material is light yet durable.

Lets not forget the thick drapes and 100 pound valance we started with:

Valances have got to be some of the ugliest things on the market, so knowing that we needed one for privacy in our upstairs bathroom, I picked a fabric I liked from the same Etsy shop and ordered a custom size valance with this modern flower fabric.  What I like most about it is that it provides the privacy we need but it's still light enough to let the morning sunlight through.

Pictured below is the original curtain made of 90% dust and 10% lace, equaling zero privacy.

Lighten Up

I was itching to update some of the brass and glass light fixtures in the house.

 (Original lights in the foyer and the eat-in kitchen.)

This black chandeleir was the display piece at Lowe's, so when it retired to the clearance shelf we picked it up for $23.00 (marked down from $79.00).  It was missing the mounting bracket so it's a good thing we had a handyman take care of hanging it.  Otherwise, I'm sure it would have fallen on our heads by now.

(New light in the eat-in kitchen.)

Tommie and I did manage to change out the fixture in our foyer to this glass bell jar light with an edison bulb (also from Lowes).

(New light in the foyer.)

Another quick fix was updating the glass covers for the light over one of the bathroom vanities.  They were $1.50 each at the Mission Thrift Store in Durham and with less flowery curves than the originals, they help modernize the fixture.  I'm also planning to spray paint the base silver.

The old fixtures were donated to Habitat for Humanity's Restore shop.  We still have plenty of brass and glass to part with, but this is a start.

Whiteout

I never gave much thought about painted versus non-painted trim until faced with a house that's downstairs is full of dark oak trim on the top, bottom, and sometimes in the middle of every wall.  I often like the natural look of wood, but not this wood--it's dingy, dirty, dark, and dated.  So, as we go through each room with new colors for the walls, we're transforming all the trim to white.  We will likely finish this project sometime before 2020.

(Stained oak trim to white.)

It takes multiple coats of primer and paint to cover up the wood and it's painstakingly slow (sand, sponge, prime, sand, sponge, paint, and paint, and paint).  It's starting to feel like Groundhog Day around here.  Also, painting things white isn't as visually rewarding as painting with color, but it has to be done.  I can just hear the house begging us to brighten her up.  I'm also touching up the window frames after the new windows were installed and painting the banister rails white.

I can't believe that no one before us wanted to change the trim or paint a wall in here.  It's crazy to me...though I suppose some may argue that "hearing" what a house "wants" is crazier.

When Tommie and I first moved in, we found some items in the back of a bathroom cabinet left from those before us...mauve hair dye, deep maroon nail polish, and black lipstick...that about sums things up in here.  The 90's are calling and want the house back.  It's time to bring this baby up to speed.

  

All I Can Think About is Toilets

When my friends and I were teenagers, we went to a camp and got in trouble for flirting hanging out with the cute maintenance staff.  One night, while presumably rebeling again, we were watching shooting stars with the boys on the beach.  We all pointed to the sky, mesmerized as multiple stars flew across the sky every few seconds.  Then, during a quiet, peaceful moment the camp's go-to plumber boy let out a frustrated groan and remarked, "All I can think about is toilets!"  That's how I felt a few weeks ago when we decided to update two commodes in our house that were original to the house.

I don't care if a toilet still works, if it's more than 20 years old, it's nasty.  And nasty they were.  I'm pretty sure a giant cockroach was holing up in the one upstairs until we clubbed him with a shoe.  And the inspector told us that the downstairs one had a leak.  The seller was supposed to fix this, but he neglected to tell us that the floor below had rotted out and the pipe was cracked.  It was our first surprise snafu as homeowners.

Before installing the new toilet downstairs, we hired a contractor to replace the rotted subfloor and add supports, then we had to get a plumber to fix the cracked flange.  It was an unexpected few hundred dollars but in a way it's good we tackled it right away--better than falling through the floor in the middle of a "moment."

(Old, leaky toilet above, new toilet below)

We got new American Standard space-saving and energy efficient toilets (Cadet 3), but truthfully, I don't love them.  I love that they look better and no longer serve as a science experiment for growing mold, but the flush is finicky and the lid is super thin and will probably break in a year.  Also, I'm all for energy efficiency, but there is hardly any water in the bowls and that grosses me out.

I am happy, however, with the deal I got on toilet paper holders.  Updating from dirty brass bars to these sleek, silver modern fixtures was a bathroom breakthrough.  And I got them on clearance at Lowes for $3.95 each when they are normally between $12 and $16.

With all that out of the way, I'm done thinking about toilets.

Home and Body Repairs

I'll be taking a brief hiatus from house projects to recover from hernia repair surgery on my left and right side.  Luckily, it wasn't the move to the new house that gave me this trouble--it's a pain I've been coping with for a year until finally being diagnosed and cleared for surgery.  Hopefully I'll feel better and be able to take on more tasks once I've had time to heal.

In the meantime, here's an update on some of our spaces since moving in...

LIVING ROOM

Done:
Painted two opposing orange accent walls.
Painted half the trim white.
Wet/Cleaned the fireplace stones.
Replaced beige outlets with steel plate covers.
New windows installed.

To Do:
Hang art.
Paint the opposing walls grey.
Finish painting the trim white.
Get sofa with chaise delivered.
Hang curtains.
Get a new fan/add light.
Replace the doors...eventually.
Box-in fireplace, create built-ins, and craftsman windows...eventually.

MASTER BEDROOM

Done: 
Removed wallpaper border.
Hang curtains.
Painted room.
Replaced beige outlets with white covers.

To Do:
Hang art.
Look for furniture (dressers, nightstands, a TV perhaps) that better fit the space.
Create seating area by windows?
Get a new fan/light.
Replace windows...eventually.

EAT-IN KITCHEN

Done: 
Removed valances.
Painted the trim white.
New windows installed.

To Do:
Update light fixture.
Finish painting the trim white.
Figure out how to paint over painted wallpaper.

SECOND BATHROOM

Done: 
Removed old curtains.
Removed some cabinet doors for open shelving.
Removed bronze soap, towel, and toilet rods.
New shower curtain.

To Do:
Paint vanity and cabinet and replace knobs.
Update faucets.
Update light fixture and mirror.
Replace window.
Install new shower rod and towel hooks.

"Steel" of a Deal

Purchasing a home is likely the most expensive decision we will make, so saving money is more important than ever. For me, saving money involves spending time searching through Craigslist, searching for promo codes or coupons for almost every purchase, and finding other creative ways to save.

A recent savings score came in the form of stainless steel outlet plate covers to replace the dingy plastic beige covers throughout our house.  Our prior rental had steel covers in the dining room and I really liked them...only I didn't want to pay what ranges from $7.00 to $25.00 per plate.

This brought us to an exchange shop I think is super cool in an old tobacco warehouse in downtown Durham called The Scrap Exchange.  People can drop off almost anything here and other people can come buy it for a nominal fee.  It's great for crafters, artists, teachers, and people looking for random items like outlet covers.

Sure enough, we stumbled on a stash of steel covers in a box and weeded out any we didn't think we could save.  A lot had sticky labels and were very dirty, but with a little Bon ami, elbow grease, and a flat edge to scrap off any paint remnants on the sides, they were back to their shiny selves in no time.

Look how much cooler the place looks with some steel up in here...

And the grand total spent?  We got 18 stainless steel outlet plate covers for $1.67 TOTAL!  We went back for more the following week and spent another two dollars for something like 20 of them.  I like to tell my husband that all this scrounging around for savings has saved us millions of dollars over the years, but he is pretty good with numbers and thinks my statement might be slightly inflated.  

Beach Break

We booked a summer vacation before we knew we'd be buying a house and would have 1,000 tasks to do (and pay) for, but I'm glad we kept our plans because it's good to take a break.  

Getting away from the house is really the only way I'm able to forget about the million things we still have to do.  Since we just moved in a few weeks ago, I almost can't remember which house we're going back to.

For our vacation we're renting a place on Oak Island, NC that has a beautiful marsh on one side of the island and the Atlantic Ocean on the other.  

The weather is perfect and the water is warm--it doesn't get much better than that.  It makes me wonder if/how we could buy a vacation home.  I know...one home at a time.