Nursery & One Room Challenge Week 2 Progress

As you saw last week, we have joined in on the One Room Challenge Spring 2018! Ready for week 2?

It was in pretty rough shape last week when we got started. Here's a reminder: 

Very embarrassing. Very bad. Terrible awful.

Just Porchin' Around

It is officially summer for this teacher! And I am super glad! It has been a whirlwind year of testing, Speech & Debate coaching, planning, and a lot of changes. But it is over. Next year will be easier. I plan on doing some decorating and updates to my classroom next week, so I shall have to post about that here soon. Speaking of changes... I finally bought a new computer! The first new one I have owned since 2007. It is a refurbished MacBook Pro and I love it! 

Plus I love my Little Mermaid sticker that I bought for it, check out all the different options on Etsy.com, I found mine {here} and it was an easy fun way to accessorize my computer. I also put a clear case over it that I bought from Amazon. com to keep it safe. 

I've also made progress on the porch! Remember last week when I showed you the new (safer) decking?

Well, I had a four day weekend and decided to take that time to stain it! I used the color Gunstock by Minwax. I did it all with a brush. It was ridiculous to try and use the pad and the handle thing from Lowe's. It soaked up so much of the stain that I used 5 times as much on three planks as necessary. Ugh. It only took me a few short hours to complete and do the steps at the same time. 

Though I confess... I did accidentally forget to unlock the back door, it was cool. I hung out in my yard for like awhile.

Here's the after!

I totally love it! I think it gives the house more character and pop, plus it looks way fresher. Which is always a plus. Of course... once you finish one thing there are still more things to do.

Here's a few images of things that remain on the the To-Do list:

Summer Porchin' Re-do List:

• Install new decking  $650.00
• Stain new decking $20.00
• Spray paint lawn furniture
• New accessories for tables
• Plant flowers
• Touch up front door
• Install dead bolt
• Paint roof
• Repair wood damage
• Hang lights beneath awning
• Paint trim and sides of deck

Hopefully I can manage to get a few of those things done before the summer really gets going. It would be great to have friends over to hang out and grill, and just have a good time. Until all that is done though... here's one last look at the cozy porch!

Back to School Time

Well it is that time of year again for us here in Colorado! Back to school! This is my first week back, I get to meet all my great students next Monday for the start of the 2014-2015 school year. I anticipate it being a lot of fun, even with all the testing changes (cough: PARCC).

When I was teaching summer school I decided it was a great time to update my classroom and make it reflect more of my personality, remember when I first showed it to you in February?  Well it is still similar but I've added some awesome stripes!

Here's the tour this year:

The view from the front of my classroom:

Teacher corner (I still love my FREE desks):

My huge book collection and DIY magazine holders:

Painting the new stripes only took a couple of days after my summer school class was out. Which was awesome, I feel like they add some subtle character and my students will love them! I still want to find a slip cover for the couch that is functional but it is a work in progress!

When do you go back to school? I feel like we are just uncommonly early, but maybe not.

It's a Gutter Job

This last whole month has been filled with posts about the exterior of my humble abode! So here is another one for you as well. Last year all the gutters on the front of my house basically crumbled and fell off the house, or were knocked down from a falling limb or something equally dramatic. Here's a before of the entire front of the house, without gutters:

Here is also the back of the house, which from what I can tell, has never had any gutters at all.

It only took one short afternoon for the guys to come out and do my gutters. I did choose to hire them, especially with my Dad being so far away in New Mexico, I am quite sure this is one of those things you could DIY with the right means, but I don't think its for everyone.

Here's a beautiful view of the finished product:

It definitely gives the house a wonderful finished look and helps navigate the excess water from storms and other precipitation. The total cost was $678 on this bad boy.

The company that did it was called Guttermeister, click on their name if you're local and want to get in touch. I would definitely recommend them!

My house is feeling so grown up! New door, gutters, painted porch, new steps. I love it!

Outdoor Happiness

When back in the day when I first bought my house the back "yard" was a very sad and terrible looking space. Since the dryer sat in front of the door just enough that you couldn't use it, I didn't give much attention to it. I would just cringe and pretend it wasn't there when I saw it. Here's an original angle:

A wondrous "before" shot of the door of doom:

The weird cheap light fixture that has never worked in my recollection:

Overall, I wouldn't describe it as a pleasant area. The cheap lighting, the scary door, the cheap tiny piece of gutter above the door, broken steps, and peeling paint. So this year I decided it was time to step up the game on the entire exterior. Last summer I replaced the light on the front of the house:

The lovely gentle that gave me the light for the front, also gave me another for the back! So after one year of having it around the house, I decided to finally install it:

The new stark white door looks so incredible and keeps the house so much cooler. I love it! But it did make the peeling paint look that much more terrible...

Here's a full range view, ignore the lumber and debris, that should be gone soon!

Every year I repaint the front porch, so it totally makes sense that I should repaint the back porch. Finally. After six years. I used the same paint from the front porch to keep costs down and make it look cohesive.

Ah fresh paint how much I love you! Here's another view from the same angle with the light and paint. The new steps also look fantastic! There are still a few things to do, for instance; clean up the rubbish, paint the new step runners, and fix the mulch and rock leading up to the steps. 

 

I feel like it looks a thousand times better! It makes the back of the house much more in line with the rest of the house. Plus it helps increase the resale potential, if I ever get to that point of course. Maybe next year I can build a wood fence along the chain link to create more separation and visual appeasement from the neighbor's yard. Hopefully before the summer is out I can get you a full updated image of the space with accessories and everything! I hope you like it as much as I!

Doorable!

Way back in December I posted about the most obvious remaining ghettofabulous thing in my house... the doors. (Find that post {here})

Well! For once instead of just making a list of crap to do and then not ever doing it... I have for you my lovely readers... PROGRESS!

Okay so here it is. The old ugly door. Well... it fell out in the night. Truly terrible. Luckily I have a protector, he may be small but he's fierce. Just kidding. He hid under the blankets and barked from there. 

Anyway. My door! It had a hole in the front that the previous owners had simply covered with contact paper (like shelf liner) which had begun to peel because well. That's not really what it is for.

Here's the old:

I didn't think it'd be a huge deal to fix the door and for my first one I suppose it wasn't but I went ahead and a bought just a slab door instead of one that was prehung... there was definitely some damage done on this particular frame...

Yup. Totally blown out at multiple points. Perhaps why it fell? Hmm.

So I patched and filled those holes (I didn't take pictures because that is not exciting) and brought my new baby door home! I purchased it at Lowe's for $32.00 and brought it home in my Honda Civic. Oh heck yes. It fit! It is just an interior door so I was able to move it myself pretty easily.

Originally I was going to paint the doors all white but I thought "hey! I'm not going to recoup any of my costs on this when I go sell my house so why not give it some sass and character?" I'm glad I did! I'm sure it would have been easier to spray the door but I hand painted it using paint I already had, a mistint from Lowe's for $7.00 that I used on my stools and front door already. Reduce, reuse, right?

The paint I used was a Paint+Primer by Valspar so it only took two coats for full coverage. Now that the easy part was over... I had to manage to fit the dumb thing into the spot.

The previous owners were rather... well... crafty? with their improvisation and doctoring on the house. For instance instead of using solid shims that they sell mega cheap at the store, they used chunks of wainscoting from the rest of the house. #notsturdy #notconsistentthickness

Meaning essentially that when I measured the top and bottom of the frame and got 30" the middle was actually 29 3/4" which sucked. It took me many swear words and destruction of the frame (as you can see below) in order to get the entire thing one even 30" measurement. I'm still considering taking out the one side and replacing it with a more solid piece and using REAL shims. Maybe when my parents come back in the summer. Hi Dad!

I had to replace the casings, which I planned to do anyway, but when I tried to remove the old stuff it snapped into multiple pieces. So. That's great But here is the door finally hung! Looking beautiful and wonderful!

I put my door mirror back on because I have to be able to look at my outfits you know but hopefully I can get a mirror somewhere else and lose this one so you can just see the awesome door. I even replaced the handle ($10.00 at Lowe's) with a cool Oil-Rubbed Bronze look, which coordinates with the handles and chandelier in the kitchen and dining room. Plus it is actually a bedroom lock rather than a keyed entry lock like the old one.

Here's one last look at the awesome new door. How's that for detrashing the trailer?

So the total cost for this project:

• Slab door: $32.00
• Door knob: $10.00
• New casing (not installed/shown): $14.00
• New hinges (x3): $9.00

Total Cost: $65.00

One door down. Three to go.

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The Master Bedroom Fiasco

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Every so often I start to get really bored with my house. Just in general and I've been really looking into the financial aspect of what I need to do to consider moving in the nearish future. You know somewhere with a garage... fenced in backyard... space between neighbors... closets.... those things. Our real estate market is starting to pick back up which could really be a good sign. Until that moment however, I am going to start working on the rooms in my house that I am most bored with, to see if that staves off the "I want a new house" feelings for awhile.

One such location is my master bedroom. Here's of course the love and appealing before photos when we first bought the house:

So certainly the most recent look is leagues better:

Gotta love that my furbabies bomb every photo. However since I've moved the computer desk and equipment to the office as you saw in a more recent post {here}.

That means now I have a real mess. Be warned. These following photos are not awesome.

I have taken most of the wall art down because I was bored with it and have moved it to either the living room or the office so now the walls are a little bare:

Presently I only have one nighstand because I put the old ones in my sister's room to give her storage. Now my one solo stand is laden with books, journals, more books, and more books. What? I'm an English teacher.

I've rearranged the book case and turned the old wine rack into a shoe holder. But its still not quite right. Maybe it's the blank wall on the left?

Or perhaps is the gigantic old TV that I have to sell and get rid of that is taking up one entire side of the room. My parents got me a new, smaller, and more energy efficient model for Christmas. They know my enthusiasm for gigantor TVs is a bit limited.

Check out my rigged nightstand. DIY at its absolute finest! My box of home repair materials and a laundry basket on top! Beautiful. Convenient. Awesome.

Then of course there is space being consumed by dog kennels. It's cold enough here in Colorado that we have to have them covered up with a blankey. Part of the reason it looks so messy.

And to top it off, I recently had to throw out my shag rug that was in there. It was a victim to the animals. I was saddened. 

Not going to lie. I feel as though this bedroom is cringe worthy. That rug really needs to be replaced. It's stained and dirty. I love how high pile rugs feel but not their functionality. The whole space really lacks romance and appeal that's for sure.

 I have a few ideas of how to make this prettier, it could take me a few months since I'm going to try and get some new things but here's what I've got so far as a list:

Master Bedroom Update:

• find a second short dresser as a nightstand- paint it white
• get a new rug situation
• make/find a new headboard
• update the shams and bedding
• new wall art
• patch and repaint sections
• replace door
• organize dog kennel area 
• clear clutter/donate unworn clothes

Golly. If you think of anything else that might help this situation please let me know! Or send me pictures on Pinterest I love that place.

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