Altered appearances...

This was the headline....

Mariah Carey radically altered her appearance for the critically acclaimed film "Precious," which got its international premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 16, 2009.


Under this photo...



Which was funny because I actually think it's more like she alters her appearance when she looks like this...



but whatever...

Speaking of altering appearances... we are still working on the dining room. Here are some photos of the now finished chair rail and picture frame moulding. There is so much more to do yet (hang lights, beadboard is still not up, finish the edges of the floor, etc, etc) but it's looking good.

Kitchen Redo

The kitchen in the photos looks much better than it did in person. I was sick of the orange-y oak cabinets. I had some inspiration photos from the decorating blogs I visit and a vision. We took off Friday to have a three day weekend to work on it all. Thanks to remodelingguy.net, I was inspired to finally try my hand at the kitchen. We removed the glass rack under one of the cabinets. We always felt compelled to use it although the glasses hanging there were always in the way! We also demolished the "appliance garage", freeing up more counter space. It was a good day on Friday!







Then we got to work. We used spray paint, auto primer first! Yep, it seemed pretty easy! But then we thought, hey! Let's spray paint the vent over the stove! That was a disaster! So we decided to take it down and get another one. It was over 15 years old. We ran back to the store. They wanted $200 for a stainless one. For another $50 I could have an over the oven microwave! I kept telling Sparky, "I believe in you!!!"





Then we pulled down the ugly southwest inspired tiles that I had super cemented to the wall more than 10 years ago. We had to use a crowbar and hammer to remove the tiles. This resulted in a LARGE hole in the wall! In fact, several holes. Oops. Ok, back to the store for a patch and spackle. Bob did a grand job fixing that up. Hanging the microwave would prove to be a difficult task...


Bob tried to escape out the window at one point but I just kept saying, "I believe in you!" After he used painter's tape to shut my mouth, he was inspired to become Bob the Electrician. He did it!!!!! He made me take a close up of the electrical box thingy he installed for the microwave. I was actually quite impressed!!!! We may appear to be seasoned DIY's but we are not so this was most impressive. THANK YOU SPARKY!!!

There is still more to do. The diningroom needs another coat on top and bottom, the chair rail needs nailed in and the picture frame moulding will go below that. The lighting in the kitchen will be replaced as will the curtains and possibly the blinds (sshhh, I haven't mentioned the blinds to Sparky yet!). We are also going to place beadboard along the sides of the cabinets and under the cabinets as the backsplash.







But it's almost done!