Projects

[Heather]

Is anyone working on projects?

We've finished our white picket fence and now working on building a gazebo. I'm also redoing our sons room - from construction theme to dinosaurs. It's looking cute, I just need to find dino linens and such. That and lotsa gardening here and loving it!

What about you all?

[vintage girl]

Heather, would love to see pics of your finished fence and sons room.

Well hubs and I have been very very busy. Said we were done, but you know how that goes:D Repainted bathroom, hallway, diningroom and just finished the livingroom. We had previously repainted our bedroom and the spare room. Bathroom - Soft creamy yellow and put up white wainscoting and white crown
Hallway - Soft beige, white wainscoting and white crown
Dining room - Peachy Pink with black crown
Livingroom - Light periwinkle blue with white crown
Master bedroom - Medium beige and light beige - pine wainscoting and white crown
Spare room - Light beige and soft green. Pine crown and pine chairrail.
I also had new curtains made for my kitchen (I can't sew). They are so pretty, multicolor pastel stripes. I have them on my bottom cabinets in place of drawers.
We are putting in a solar tube in the kitchen this weekend. Hubs is out picking it up right now at Home Depot.
Will be replacing our TV stand in the livingroom with a beautiful french provincial dresser with gold accents. Should be picking it up this weekend. I have two that I am bargaining for on Craigslist.

I will try and post some pics this week

Wow, I am tired just writing all this. But I like to keep busy. Hubs said he is blocking all access to design shows, magazines, etc. ;):D

[Carrie]

I just planted a lot of flowers, a snowball bush, a lilac bush, and made two raised gardens.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d88/Shadowreb/My%20home/018.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d88/Shadowreb/My%20home/019.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d88/Shadowreb/My%20home/020.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d88/Shadowreb/My%20home/022.jpg
I still have a lot of work to do in the yard, but my new mower broke. Lowes didn't want to honot their warrantee because I lost the reciept.

[ChapterTwo]

Everything's looking great, Carrie - you're waaaay ahead of me! :o

As for the warranty on the lawn mower - Did you pay for it by credit card? Maybe it would show up on your online statement and you could use that as proof?

[Carrie]

After a lot of trouble, we found that I paid part cash and part on my debit. When the scanned my debit card the information came up on the computer. I'm glad it did, because that was an expensive mower and I didn't get to use it but two times before last years freeze took out the grass. Someone forgot to put the bolts in the handle of the mower and the handle got bent where it connected to the mower. Not being able to lift the mower over curbs and holes was a problem and the mower was going so fast that it pulled me around the yard. Not good. I got a different mower for half price plus the extended warrantee plan and some of my money back. One of the guys tried to insinuate that I neglected the mower and bent the handle. Not apprecitated and not true.
After all the problems I had with them, I won't be buying my home improvement stuff from them anymore. I'll go to Home Depot or Meynards.

[Gigi]

Heather- I too would love to see pictures of the white picket fence!

Carrie- I wish I had a green thumb- your gardening looks wonderful! I was thinking about doing a small box type garden- we'll see :confused:

Vintage Girl- Oh my ~ yes post pictures! Your colors sound beautiful!

[mac78]

It all looks so nice. I am so ready to see flowers again. I am surprised to hear that about Lowes, sorry they gave you a hard time.

My project is still getting the bathroom floor down, and getting the spare room cleaned out. I have 4 more weeks of school left then I am free. I am working on the spare room more this weekend.

[ChapterTwo]

I finally got my kitchen painting done, as well as painting the chairs and replacing the vinyl on the cushions. The tablecloth is a vintage one I bought at a fair.

The kitchen turned out bright and happy looking - which was my goal! :)

P.S. - Don't mind the white bucket in the background...has ziplock bags full of kitty food in it!

[Heather]

Oh C2 I wasn't looking at the bucket - what kind of CAKE is that??? Yummy!!!! Oh and your room looks great too...

You've been BUSY Vintage Girl! Post pictures, ok? I'm curious about your dining room in pink with black crown. Show us, k!

Carrie - you've got your garden on! It's looking great too. What is that growing on the green ladder-like stakes?

[ChapterTwo]

Tnx, Heather. The cake was for Easter - one layer was "Funfetti" and the other was chocolate...my daughter baked it! :) It was super delicious and not good for my so-called "watching it" diet. lol Yeah, I watched it - I watched the cake go into my mouth and down to my tummy! :o

[CohenCottage]

We are trying to get all of our projects done before September so here's what we've been working on:

-replanting the front beds, relocating plants to other areas
-moving grasses to side beds, planting anise shrubs
-spring cleaning

hubs is also going to paint the cabinets in the nursery soon. we are gettting the picket installed in the front, and getting our floors refinished at the end of the month! i'll try to post pictures later today or tomorrow.

[Gigi]

Chapter Two- Charming! I just love gingham curtains, especially red and the table cloth is beautiful--- I like the white bucket!

Projects: We just finished closing in a screen porch addition off the kitchen- the hardy board came yesterday- so this weekend we will be adding that to the exterior. I went with white hardy board, and will add a red accent at the peak to match my studio, and shed....

AND oh- we went to IKEA and purchased kitchen cabinets for my studio- We moved in here in September- and the studio wasn't quite working out as I had planned- I need a better equipped kitchen- IKEA is amazing- great prices and you can plan your room (my case a kitchen)- right there- print it out- and pick it up. NOW we just have to put it "together"---

[vintage girl]

Cute cute kitchen. I love the tablecloth. I wish I could garden, but that is hubs area. I have a black thumb!!! I will get some pics this weekend. I am really pleased with how all the colors turned out. Heather, the black crown looks really nice and pops against the peachy pink. We found a wide decorative white crown on sale, and spray painted it shiny black. I have black in the kitchen, so I decided I needed that color in the crown to tie it all in. Very pleased with the results:)

[ChapterTwo]

Thanks, Gigi...So long as I don't KICK the bucket, I'll be okay! :o

Thanks to you too, vintage girl. And I have a question for you. Before I start researching online, do you have any tips on laundering vintage kitchen tablecloths? I have a whole bunch from my Mom - some have spots and I don't hold out much hope for those, but is there anything I SHOULDN'T do, in laundering them? I remember you said you collect them. Well, I do too, but it's unintentional...I have a lot from family members.

[vintage girl]

I treat them like delicates and launder in cold only. I have several with spots and sometimes they do come out. I always treat them with a spray-on stain remover and sometimes it works, other times it doesn't. Depends on how long the stains have been there and if they were washed previously with the stains. I even wash my vintage quilts this way and have not had any problems what so ever. I now use Gigi's laundry soap and it works fantastic. It is very natural and gentle. Before I just used diluted tide. I put them in the dryer on delicate, also with no problems. The only vintage linens I don't put in the dryer are very old quilts or quilts with rips, as the dryer will cause the batting to come out sometimes. I use all of my vintage linens on a daily basis. The ones that are too delicate to actually use, I stack folded up on an old bench between my diningroom and livingroom. They just look so pretty with all their bright colors. I also like to use quilt pieces and tablecloths for window treatments. I just fold them in half and hang over the curtain rod, or use those clips with the rings attached. I love doing this as I can change out my curtains anytime I want by doing this. You can also wrap vintage linens around pillows, use them draped over benches, couches, end of the bed, etc. I have also framed them and hung them on the wall. You are only limited by your imagination. :)

[vintage girl]

Ok, one of the projects that I mentioned was replacing my tv stand with a different one. I wanted something lighter and more french country. I decided to try finding a french provincial dresser that would be big enough for my big screen TV and also would have storage for movies, etc. Here is what I found on craigslist. I am picking it up on Sunday. Last item I was going to get from Craigslist, I measured wrong, and it was too big for the space. Luckily I discovered that before we went to pick it up. This time, I made sure I used my head and measured properly:rolleyes:

[ChapterTwo]

I like that a lot, vintage girl! :)

[RoseMary]

My everyone has been busy!

Heather, I know you're enjoying that picket fence. I'd love to put one around an herb garden someday.

Carrie, I love your raised bed and your flowers. I hope to get some flowers going around here sometime soon. Sorry you had so much trouble with Lowe's. I have so many receipts, but I'm always missing one when I have to return something:o-glad you had part of yours on a statement!

Vintagegirl--you have been BUSY! I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures. And I like what you're doing for your TV.

CT~I love the picture of your dining area. The colors are so bright and cheery and that tablecloth is great! I have containers around for cat food, too:).

Cohen, sounds like you're busy getting ready for the new addition!

My projects: I've been painting my dining room/kitchen (that's right, for all of you who know me--I've painted some of the pine board walls!), also putting on part of a new counter top. I'm not sure when that project will get finished, so the kitchen still looks like a work in progress. I still have some chairs to paint, but will put off most of the work in the house until I can get part of my garden going.

[ChapterTwo]

Thanks, RoseMary!

I'm so happy to hear that you painted some of your pine walls - are you happy with the outcome? I bet it looks great. :)

That's the bad part about this time of year (but I am NOT complaining)...we have things inside that need finishing, and now there's all of outside to deal with!

I'll be joining you soon, RoseMary - next up is painting my dining room, but it needs to have a lot of the peeling paint scraped first. Wheee. Then after that, I'm dying to try Venetian Plastier on the hallway going up the stairs.

Thanks, vintage girl for all the details about washing your quilts! I'll need to buy some of Gigi's soap.

I'm a quilt freak too, but the only old one (and it's not even really a "quilt") is what's on the kitchen table. The rest are reproductions. When I get done with my bedroom, I'll take pics of that to show you.

[Gigi]

Rosemary- You are painting some of your log walls ~ I bet it will be beautiful! Love to see some pics.

[Carrie]

Pretty kitchen. Cake. I suddenly want some. ;)
That's actually a tomato trellis that has been overgrown by concord grapes. I need to see if I can get them to grow up the back side of my out building because the Ultimate Tomato cage can't handle the weight anymore.

[RoseMary]

CT, I do like the walls painted. It is so much lighter in here! We are just getting too old to live in the dark. Now we can finally see in that part of the house! Now I realize that your picture was of part of your kitchen and not your dining room. I'm looking forward to seeing pictures of what you do in there!

Gigi, I decided not to paint any of the cordwood, only the pine boards that are on some of the interior walls. I'll be glad to post some pictures when we get this project finished:).

[Carrie]

Ok, one of the projects that I mentioned was replacing my tv stand with a different one. I wanted something lighter and more french country. I decided to try finding a french provincial dresser that would be big enough for my big screen TV and also would have storage for movies, etc. Here is what I found on craigslist. I am picking it up on Sunday. Last item I was going to get from Craigslist, I measured wrong, and it was too big for the space. Luckily I discovered that before we went to pick it up. This time, I made sure I used my head and measured properly:rolleyes:
Beautiful old dresser. It's nice that tvs are now thin enough to fit in narrower spaces.

[ChapterTwo]

I do like the walls painted. It is so much lighter in here! We are just getting too old to live in the dark. Now we can finally see in that part of the house!

RoseMary, I can well understand! I did the same thing here - when I moved in, the living room and the second bedroom had "70's Style" paneling on the walls, which I painted white. The rooms look so much bigger now, and I'm happy with the bright feeling. I look forward to seeing the photos when you finish up the project.

Tnx for the compliments, Carrie. The cake...it doesn't take much for us to want some! :-)

[chyna]

I decided to make up a to-do list at work the other day (so I can quit trying to make it up in my head and trying to remember later on) and it came out to be 3 pages of legal pad. Granted they aren't single spaced but good grief! Now I need to do up an Excel spreadsheet just to organize them all! That is my plans for the season, organizing my to-do list. :p

The biggies are working on the yard. Pulling down the deck (more of an expanded landing), making planter boxes from the lumber on either side of the concrete steps (still under the deck), one more planter box on the side yard and finish the walkway , retaining wall at the back fence, lay landscaping felt down and transferring the gravel from the back fence (big time weeds) to the side of the garage, finishing painting the garage. Sure there is more but don't want to think about them all. :eek:

[vintage girl]

Well the antique dresser did not work out. I got a phone call that they had measured it wrong and were a foot off. it is too short. At least they let me know before I drove 50 miles one way to pick it up. Oh well, that just means the hunt for the perfect TV stand is still on. Sometimes the hunt is more fun than the result;) Heather, I am attaching a pic of my diningroom with the black crown moulding. I tried to take some more pics, but my camera started acting up. I also have pics of the remodeled bathroom, and livingroom, and hall. I have a very very small hall and bath, so getting pics was hard. Also some pics of my first roses of the season:)

[vintage girl]

Chapter Two,

Here are some pics of some of vintage linens and how I use them in my home:)

[RoseMary]

Everything looks great, vintagegirl! I love all the colors. I really like your style. I have lots of 'stuff', too:). A few times I've packed it all away, but the house just seemed empty without it, so it's all back out where I can see it and enjoy it!

[Gigi]

Vintage girl! OMgosh--- these are some wonderful pictures! I love the many uses for the beautiful quilits :)

[Heather]

Nice pics, Vintage Girl - thanks! I really liked your quilt on the bed. I wish I could have one of those, sigh. Now I know what you mean about the black crown - it really "goes" I couldn't picture it white or any other colour.

[yarborough house]

We have black crown on both of our porches. I love it.
Love all the pictures.

[Heather]

Are you home Tammy?

[yarborough house]

Yep got back Sunday afternoon but since that day started at 4am with kids I didn't count it as a day- haha
Just got back from the nursery with tons of plants...wooohooo
How are you Heather?

[Heather]

Everything is good here. I'm gardening like a mad woman and we've been out on the boat too quite a bit. My next project is painting our enclosed porch but I have to wait as we get hundreds of ladybugs in there each Spring.

[CohenCottage]

we got the lady bugs when i was in college heather, and they were a mess! they crawled in the windows of our dorm (which was built by henry ford in the 30s), so our rooms were covered in lady bugs.

we have to wait to paint outside until all of the pollen is done. i found out our neighbor has a pressure washer though, so i can't wait to wash the yellow away! does anybody in the south remember how long the pollen lasts normally? i'm thinking it's usually done by the beginning of may, right?

[RoseMary]

I think the first of May is about right, Cohen--maybe a little bit sooner. Everything here is yellow, too. I'll be glad when it's gone!

[yarborough house]

Our pollen is done..thank goodness. It finished falling while we were gone so we could come home to one heck of a mess..I hate, dislike, abhore, am disgusted with pollen. :)