Mirror mirror on the wall

Who has the ugliest mirrors of all? Eighty-year old ladies do.I was blessed with this gold "beauty" years ago (it was left in my parents' house by the previous owner, Priscilla, age 87). I had the good faith to keep it through 3 moves and now it looks like I will be hanging it on my wall. After belt sanding it and painting it a cool turqoise high-gloss. Happy Labor Day weekend!

Kid's bath

I have my next project!!! In M's bath recently, my three-year old was able to pull the soap dish off the wall! First call was to grandpa to make sure we didn't have a concussion. Second call was to my contractor to discuss a fix. Third was to my husband to explain Maggie's ( and the bath's ) condition! Here is the damage....demolition starts next week! Check back for details.

First things first....

We actually made some progress on the outside of our house this summer....here's a sneak peak! Note: this isn't a final "after" shot - it's always a work in progress!! (see upcoming post...)

What I did on my summer vacation....

We had a fantastic summer filled with family, friends and pool time! (and only minimal remodeling.....)

Kitchen before & after

After many requests, here they are! One note - we are still waiting on our backsplash and a few other items so it's not totally complete!

More "Before & After" pix

It's my favorite time.....

Yes, Christmas is a wonderful time of year, but I'm taking pictures today for my "Before & After" posts!! I love a good transformation!! Here are a few, more to come as we get much-needed furniture and things hung on the walls, window treatments, etc.

Merry Christmas!!

Duplex

We've been moving this past week into our new house and you know I couldn't go more than 7 days without a project! Switching gears, I am having a backsplash installed at the duplex and I'm so excited about how it turned out! Grout is still drying, but here is the basic idea:

I will post some "before & afters" this weekend of the new house. Stay tuned!!

It's not the end of the world......

It's Moving Day!!! This seems more like the Mayan end of the world to a toddler, so we started the morning off right with coloring and suckers. Try it, it's awesome.  

Maggie got a few new toys to make the transition a little easier. Still not sure about this new house......

I heart Pinterest

My latest inspiration came from my Pinterest friends:

Jack comes to visit!!

Maggie is hurling herself and red trike into the walls, which Jack doesn't seem to think is a good idea.....

Movin' on up.....to the eastside

We're in official packing mode!! Maggie has been a huge help.

The fireplace is almost there.......here's the before and (almost) after:

Rubber Gloves

The bedroom we once called Rubber Gloves is being painted!! One last look at this beauty......

What an angel

                      So happy cleaning - she will make some lucky man very happy in 40 years.

Color me happy!!

We are finally at the point where we are talking COLOR! I love how paint makes everything look better. Here are some of the samples on the walls:

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy turkey day!!!! No home improvement today (and we are THANKFUL for that ;-)

Tile Shopping vs.3

My name is Sara and I might be a tile addict. We're back to pick up our ordered samples. Maggie has now named the lions and wants to take them home.

W

We are taking advantage of some beautiful (ie: warm) weather for November and we are building a fence! And with that, clearing brush. I had this image of W of his Texas ranch clearing brush with secret service men standing around, talking to their wrists. It wasn't quite as glamorous at our ranch.

the boys using their auger to dig the holes 



the raw materials



That's me! Laying out the horizontal pieces

Tile Shopping vs. 2

In an effort to pick out a 3 backsplashes (2 for duplex and 1 for new house) we have been hitting the tile hotspots in Cincinnati. Here are some of the options I'm eyeing....(I love tile!!)