Long Time Gone

I've been out of the blog loop these past weeks - both posting and reading!  I have been down and out with a nasty, nasty cold.  Wow! This one has quite a bite.  Planning on seeing the dr. tomorrow - fun!

Despite being sick, I've been busy painting the kitchen walls along with going to work.  I have to say the walls look great and are in a surprising color. Mr. Bluebird has also been busy adding beadboard to the cabinets and hanging light fixtures, and lots of odds & ends getting ready for the granite, floor guys, and painters.  I will show you soon!

Granite comes tomorrow, so the kitchen and first floor remodel is moving along!

Hope to have a new post up soon and am looking forward to catching up with all that you have been doing too!

Wishing you happiness (and health!),
Jane

The Good, The Bad, & Uhhhhgggglllyyyy!

Happy Sunday y'all! It was the most beautiful fall weekend around here...love this weather! Such a welcome change after the beastly heat of the summer.

Today I am excited to share with you my stair tread shelf reveal!

It started like this....

And now looks likes this....

I started out thinking I was just going to wood stain it, but this room was starting to get just a little to "woody" - and the floors that are going in next month would (or "wood!") only make it more so.  Out came a can of apple green spray, some gel stain, and a few coats of wax....love the pop of color. Total cost was about $20!

Now, for whatever reason my (gorgeous!) new sofa is looking like something straight out of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - but really, it is not.  I think it is my cheap thrifty point and shoot that is distoring the picture. It is really much more subtle.  The "frame" holding the 'W' is an old grain sifter - really neat up close and personal.  I will have to give it it's own photo shoot someday.  My dad found it in an old barn and gave to me for FREE years ago. The outside is several rings of wood, and the center is thick screening. Love this piece. It is camoflauging our cold air return (bleack!) - and again, the camera really makes that thing stand out.  When you are in the room, you'd be hard pressed to even know it was there.  Hubby tells me I can't cover it up completely because it is a necessary evil in Wisconsin!

This arrangement hides one of our old school surround sound speakers.  Another thorn in my side! Someday we will replace it with a flat, paintable one.  But for now, we camo it up!

And now the bad and ugly!



Too gross to be color picture worthy! This first floor remodel, as I have said before, has turned my house into a pit of horror! Unfinished projects are e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e! Chaos! Mayhem! I took off my cabinet doors and took them to my glass man (hey, I have a glass man now! I am feeling pretty HGTV!) and he is installing glass panels in a clear glass called winterlake - kind of on the seedy glass vein. And even more excitement this week - my granite guy (and I have  a granite guy, too! Pinch me!) is coming to do the template - then two weeks from now the counters will be installed.   So the mess will continue for awhile, but I am okay with that - I am grateful that all these nifty changes are coming my way!

Thanks for checking in!

Wishing you happiness,

Jane

Partying with
 Debbie Doos Newbie Party
Between Naps on the PorchMetamorphosis Monday
The Dedicated House  Make it Pretty Monday

Kristen's Share Your Creations
A Stroll Through Life Tabletop Tuesday

Bits, Teases, & Tears

Bits. That's all I have at the moment. Just little bits of things to share with you all.  With the remodel of our first floor in progress, I swear that MY ENTIRE HOUSE is underseige and is a disaster land.  But like my little sign says, I am going to believe it will be beautiful!

I am madly in love with my new three drawer cabinet, which Mr. Bluebird installed for me yesterday.  It replaces a little desk surface that seemed like a good idea when we built the house.  We used to keep our computer there and it was a spot for our daughter to do her homework.  Obviously, technology and life has changed, so this new cabinet is going to be awesome!  Looking forward to going white over the golden oak - the painter is on schedule for October! (I also need to finish taking down my faux beadboard wallpaper!!)

Onto the tease - a few weeks back I picked up a pine stair tread and two brackets.  I have been wanting to buy a big, beefy shelf for my living room for quite some time and have had zero success. So, I was cruising the aisles of Menards "just looking" and came up with this idea.  I orginally was just going to stain it, but changed course midstream and I am looking forward to showing it to you.  Soon! Mr. Bluebird needs to help me find the right fasteners because this bad boy shelf is

h-e-a-v-y!!

And now for the tears! Our one and only went back to college this morning, loaded down with clothes, shoes (lots of shoes!), groceries, and who knows what else.  She is starting her fourth year, but I am always kinda sad on this day.  Love her so much!

And away she goes!!!!

I will leave you with one last little tease.....after our daughter left, I started re-painting my downstairs powder room. It is getting a completely different look.  Hope to have pics of the finished room soon!

Happy Labor Day!!!!  Up to anything special?

Jane

Joining

Debbie-Doos Newbie Party

Between Naps on the PorchMetamorphosis Monday