Third picture down. Need to learn how to do more than one link in a post.

Chris

Here is a link that might be useful: fun flower pot

Oh Chris, I have seen your mosaics, but not the blog. Love all the pictures.

I volunteer at Restore (Habitat for Humanity). We have so much tile coming through, it is my first stop when going in. There are a couple of gals who grab up new and unusual, one makes stepping stones for art fairs, etc. I'd love to do mosiacs with this resource available...if I can get the ton of projects done around here. You should be living near me.

When living in NM I had a potter make a back splash for me depicting the mountains, desert and sunrise. It was like a puzzle. Never did use it, but still have all boxed. Do not know what to use this for, one of those things I just can't let go of. Have thought of using it for front of steps in back patio. Seems a bit fragile for outdoors though and is very thick.

As for fall projects, the summer went so fast that cleaning up the yard is now at hand. Actually, putting the patio furniture under cover and it wasn't even used this summer. Think winter, painting my bedroom and touch up of all the baseboards/trim in house, little things needing fixed. Finishing the kitchen. I retiled the counter and backsplash. Love it and only cost me $150 in total...tile/installation materials. The backsplash has natural stone going across it in sort of a mosaic. Everything came from Restore.

Your idea for the window sills is a great one. I have the same issue, which is why touch up is always needed. Can buy 6X6 tiles for 5 cents a piece and trim edging for a dollar. The majority is white, but often other colors show up. Kept looking for fake marble sills, but none have ever shown up. Fake? Tells you how sophisticated I am.

Keep the ideas coming. To everyone, this is a fun thread. Enjoy the pics and what others are doing.

Loretta- You remember correctly. We have 7 acres north of Greenville, at the edge of the mountains. We have a nice view in the winter. When we build up there, that will be the project to end all projects! At least it will all be new, so there shouldn't be much work needed after it's done. And if it comes out wrong, I'll have no one to blame but myself!

Oh no, not a huge job, that bathroom is tiny. Chris, you are so talented, don't think you are not. I didn't know you had a blog either. When you tile over an old piece of furniture, how do you prep the furniture so the tile will stick?

I was going to be fixing cracks in the walls tonight, but dh had a different idea.

OK I will not ask about Dh's Idea. Heheheheh

When I tile over wood furniture I usually prime the piece. This way the true color of the glass will show through. Also I use flat primer. It seals up the wood so the moisture of the grout does not warp it or if a drink or water gets spilled on it. I also try to seal up the grout after it has cured to keep the moisture out of it.

If it already has shiny paint,semi gloss I try to scuff it up a bit to give the surface tooth.

Question on my blog? I did not know I had one. Is the blog where the kitten pictures are at Flicker or where the other pictures are, Pyle Meadows? Me is confuzzled?? I never intentionally set out to make a blog. Hehehehe

Chris

Shades, you have some really nice pieces. That flower pot is really nice. You need to be hanging out on the mosiac forum :)

So we all have projects. Tiling, cleaning the yard, new window sills, painting. Let me be the first to say that I move at a snail's pace, lol. But I plan to paint the bathroom by the end of next week. Or the next.

Here is proof that I have at least started something

I dedided to paint my oak bathroom vanity. Well, I got the sander out to scuff it up some - shock! surprise! It's not real wood, hehehehe. I decided to paint it anyway, and if it does not work out, well, I tried. The paint strips are test colors for the L/R walls. I decided to used the dark brown below the chair rail and the one on the upper right above it.
{{!gwi}}

This is another small project. I had these candle holders for years, but they were shiny brass (colored). I sanded them, primed and painted. They came out nice.
{{!gwi}}

Loretta, your candle holders look great! What did you use? I also like the lighter color swatch you have on your wall. What is it? I spent the day painting my bedroom and I don't like the color. It's kind of a champagne color and doesn't have enough contrast with the white enamel; makes it all looks washed out.

The candle project was easy, I used info I go on the decorating board. I sanded them lightly, wirped clean, primed with Rustoleum automotive spray paint from Lowes, then painted with Rustoleum Brown Hammered spray paint, also from Lowes. I am really liking the finished product. I also spray painted the knobs from the vanity and medicine cabinet.
The paint color is 'Favorite Tan' by Sherwin Williams, but it has a slight green tint to it. I heard so many people on the decor board talk about 'Baby Turtle' from Ben Moore that I decided to go check it out to see if I could use it. It's really nice, sutle beigey-green, but I already had a coupon from SW so I stuck with this one. lol
The bottom color is 'Ground Nutmeg' from Glidden. My L/R chairs are all light brownish/tanish, my curtains are green, with red accents thrown in. If you look at the 1st pic you can see the sofa are. That is a true representation of the color, so everything in there is 'understated' - ok, dull! lol So whatever I paint has to go with green and brown.
I feel your pain with the B/R color. But your color sounds really nice. My best friend had a car call champagne and it was the most beautiful pearly white. Maybe with the window treatments and bed linens up it will be different.

yeah Chris's mosaics are beautiful..

me, I'm hoping to go through a lot of old tax paperwork and see what i can shred so it will take up less room..and i want to do some needlecrafts this winter..but fall ..it will be finishing up the gardens and outside work before snow flies

Curtains...which were also my spring and summer projects!! I did get some made for the den and kitchen, but neither of us like them too well.....back to the drawing board :^(
We FINALLY got rain...after 56 days over 100 degrees. Our yard and lot are beginning to grow once again, so there are more chores. Then there are upcoming holidays, etc....Yikes!!!

Sounds like us jaybird. We had been so long without rain that we had cracks in the ground big enough to lose a chihuahua and in the last week we've got over 14 inches. Sure wish I had a cistern.

Loretta. Your cabinets look great the darker color. Love the candle sticks.

Welp Have paint will paint. Hehehehe I just bought it in case I had time. NOW I am making time. I even went down to the office tonight to get some work done so I can paint in the morning then go to work while that coat is drying so I can get a second coat on in the afternoon. What a dork I am for buying that paint. Hehehehe I am doing small areas at a time so the whole job is not too overwhelming to me. It will be nice to have a nice fresh painted kitchen. And paint I can wash!!! The builders cheep flat paint is NOT washable. Ask me how I know? :^(

Speaking of curtains I bought scads of fabric for our kitchen curtains and have forgotten where I put it. I do know where the rods are.

I did get the remake done on my quick fix slip covers for the new love seat. It is not a great fix but it will work for awhile until I can do something better. They are washable and will help the love seat last longer. With the kitties laying around on things I need washable..

Chris

Chris, I do that! Right now I am painting the bedroom and while everything was out of the way, I thought I'd change out the rest of the old beige plugs and switches, and I can't find where I put the new ones, or even the plate covers I took off a couple of months ago.

Ladies are we having a 'senior moment"? lol I bought a new paint roller, even though I knew I had one somewhere. Of course it was in the box I had looked in several times to get out the tape, brushes, etc.
I replaced the switch covers in my bathroom - boy, was I shocked at what the 'nice' ones cost. So I just got the cheap (er, inexpensive) ones and save the 'nice' one for the living room. I'm still working on the bathroom - the walls and ceiling are painted, but I still need to do the trim and window, install shoe molding, put up towel bar and change light fixture.
We all sound busy, I hope we don't run out of steam before we are done.

Me too Loretta! I finished rolling the paint in the bedroom, now just have to cut in and paint the trim. Ugh. I hate painting trim.

I have a small decorating project in mind. Add some decorative wood corbels to the archway leading to my kitchen. Sort of an antique look. I've seen both metal and wood corbels in catalogs. All I need are two.

I'd like to see pictures of that when you are finished jannie. I like corbels but never know where to put them.

OH Jannie this just gave me a thought for project number 1005, someday. I was thinking where corbels would look good here leading me to something else. We have a long opening between kitchen and living room. Builder guys said the beam would hold up a swing if we chose to do so. NOT!!! I have a long narrow window I always wanted to do glass on glass mosaic on. Thanks to you I just found the perfect place to hang it. Will be so pretty with the kitchen sun shining through it. We have vaulted extra high ceilings so it will not be a head basher. Now it will drive me crazy until I can do it. Come on winter.

I have gained on the kitchen paint job. Over half done now. Had to work a long day for me today so no time to paint. Not sure when I can get back to it. It has not been as hard as I expected it to be. Going slow and not pushing myself is a good thing for me right now.

Chris

Jannie, where would you put the corbels around the arch? It sounds like a great idea. They always look elegant to me.

Martia, are you done painting?
Chris, I see you are on the "I have a real job" schedule, lol Making a living first, decorating next, lol I saw that you are working on a slipcover repair. I have a loveseat I want to cover also. Emagineer gave me some info and a starting point. I looked on the web and the price range is wide. I received some sample swatches today that I love, but I'm still leary of getting it made (because it depends on my measuring).
This is a pic of the new color on vanity and mirror.
{{!gwi}}
I still need to trim around the old tile. You can see that I put beadboard on the lower wall. I have no idea what the plaid-like reflection in the mirror is, lol
{{!gwi}}
Looking at the tile floor you can see why I had to stay in the green family.

This is the color I used as a starting point.
{{!gwi}}

Now, if I can only make myself paint the window and the door.

OH Loretta, Your bath is lovely. I really like the towels you have chosen too. Can you tell me more about your not wood cabinets you painted? They look great!! Was it that fake looking wood paper over the thin plywood or??

Marti8 I had to jerry rig the love seat cover. I did not have enough fabric in the seat cushions to make them fit all four cushions so just made tubes to cover. I can easily slip them off for washing. Someday when I find just the right fabric I will get some more to do the cushions. At least it helps to keep the kitty hair off the couch. The green cover part is what I had remade for our longer couch. Some how it fits the love seat better???

Yah right now my job is pretty awful I just quit for the night. I am too tired to do any more. Only 8 hours today in two sessions. I just have no more concentration for it left tonight. Back at it again tomorrow. Hoping to take Friday off. I have an offer to go shopping with a girl friend. Been a long time since I had a girls day out.

Night night

Chris

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

Loretta, your bathroom looks great. What color did you paint the cabinets?

I am almost finished painting the bedroom. Still have to do the baseboard & doors, but we are trying to decide what to do about flooring. I don't want to paint baseboard and then have to take it off to put in wood floors. I'd like to think the carpet could be cleaned, but I think it's too far gone.

The cabinet sagaÂÂÂÂÂ.. I started to lightly sand the cabinet by hand and soon tired of that. So I got the palm sander to finish them  no problem with the doors & drawers. When I started the side I noticed it was sort of peeling (or getting ÂfuzzyÂ). Well, I looked close and it is not wood like the drawer fronts & doors. I guess the box is pressed wood or something similar. It reminds me of the fake Oak book shelves you can get from Walmart. But I had already sanded, so I had to paint. So I sanded the rough spots by hand with a finer grit paper and tried to smooth it out! Yeah! I hope I sanded enough of the slick covering off, or else when I clean it the paint will come off too. I painted them "Tricorn Black" by BM. I bought one of the sample quarts for $5.00 and it was enough for 3 coats and I still have a little left over. Then I put a coat of poly over it. Hopefully itÂll last several years until I can replace it.

Chris, that was a neat idea to cover your chair, they should be easy to clean. IÂm sorry to hear your job is stressful  IÂve been there! ThatÂs one of the reasons I retired early, it was too much pressure and I was just tired of it. I hope you are able to have your girlÂs day shopping. There is nothing like some Âretail therapyÂ. Lol

Marti, the baseboards and doors are the worst part of painting the room! The hardwood floors sound nice. I have hardwood in all of my rooms except the kitchen & bath. They really need to be refinished, but since I have area rugs down the outside edges can pass for now. I wish I had appreciated them more when I was younger. But if you have a small house with no garage, then there is no place to store furniture so you can do the floors! Have you chosen a color? The hardwood is also better if you have allergies.
Ahhhhh! Homeownership  the money pit that sucks every dime out of your pocket! lol

Just a short time to visit. It has been bugging me I did not remember where the kitchen curtain material was I bought last ?? January or os. Well to be truthful I had even forgotten I had bought it until I came across the rods in the closet. Sooooooooooo Last night I had to look in my studio and the fabric was on my fabric shelf. I was so hoping after I even remembered about the fabric that it would go with the change of plan paint color. The good news is it is a perfect match. So glad. Now to find the time to sew and decide what style I want to do. I am leaning towards tab top. The rods are nice white rods.

Keep busy ya all. Back to work for me. Sigh.

Chris

i really love the dark cabinets..i have been so tempted..but can't do the oak ..just can't bring myself to do it.

as for the corbels that were mentioned..i would love to buy some nice ones and put here and there in our kitchen to make the cabinets look more old fashioned and built in.

i do have some projects started in our kitchen but not sure when they'll ever be finished.

Ronbre, thinking back to the price I paid for them, I should have known my bathroom cabinet was not real wood. I really like the new color, but I don't know if the paint job will hold up (fingers crossed).
I started on my living room today. The ceiling is painted, now on to the trim (ughhhhhhh!)

Good luck with the trim painting, Loretta. I am sick to death of painting trim. Actually, I'm sick to death of painting raised panel doors. The paint I'm using is good, but dh thinned it so it won't show paint strokes and it has taken 3 coats on the big, flat areas. Yuck! Yuck! Yuck!

-but dh thinned it so it won't show paint strokes
I've convinced myself that paint strokes are good, lol I believe that professionals painters are worth every dime they make. What a chore!I knew I had had enough of painting when I decided it was ok to paint around the drapery hardware instead of taking it off! But I am finally done. I painted my bathroom (even painted the light fixture). Then, next I painted my living room, added some shelves to my nook (I think they are slightly crooked), got rid of 75% of the knick-knacks and this is what I ended up with.

Then I was reading a post on the Deco board (someone had paint that they weren't lovin') and a poster advised her to 'just re-paint instead of trying to let it grow on you'. Well, I had a lightbulb moment. Even though I liked the colors in my bedroom, I was concerned about how bright they were. So after reading that piece of advice, I decided to bite the bullet and repaint! I am so glad I did! Now I truly love the color (it's so girly) lol. So this is the new toned-down version of lilac (?) and green

I've just found this topic and I cant believe how industrious everyone is being! I feel so lazy right now LOL and It's not like I dont have a ton of things to do around here.

idietolive I love what you've done with your LR walls, the colours are so gorgeous. Im thinking I need some chair rails around my house now because I love your two tone wall effect. Your bedroom looks lovely and so cozy.

Im trying to get my bedroom finished over the next few months in between work and everything else. It's been a very slow project but I'd like to get at least ONE room in this house finished so Im trying to stop doing bits and pieces all over the place and focus for a change.

Not a whole lot left to do, I need to sand and refinish the wardrobe drawers (DH doesnt get it since they are hidden behind doors) but they really need it and they bug me - I know they're in there all scratched up :). I also want to move a small cupboard out of the corner and install a shelf for the tv accessories, leaving a space underneath to fit the laundry hamper, make a curtain to hide it and that will solve a couple of clutter problems in there. Also need to rip up the old carpet, paint baseboards and get some new carpet installed. ahhh, I cant wait for that new carpet, Ive been waiting for that for a LONG time. I almost forgot, I need to make a new summer bedspread too, the list keeps growing!

idaho your mosaics are amazing, you really are VERY talented! I'd also love to see more pics of the room where you made the loveseat cover, it looks like there's so many interesting things going on in there

Wow Loretta! Your living room looks like a magazine! And I love the new color in your bedroom. I would never have thought of lavender & green together but it really works well together.

I'm still working on my bedroom. In fact, Loretta, your table skirts look a lot like the kind of fabric I have that I thought of making skirts with. How do you like it, and do you have anything under it to give it fullness?

Trancegenie, I know what you mean. Both dh & I are really good at starting projects, just not so good at finishing them to the very end. I want my bedroom to be completely finished so I can go on to the next thing. It's just taking soooo long and I'm tired of it.

Thaks Ladies. I still have a couple of things to do, but I'm going to take a couple of weeks and be lazy.

Martia8a, your bedroom may be taking a while, but it sounds like you are doing a super job on the painting (which will pay off later). Have you figured out if you are going to re-arrange it or put things back where they were?
That green skirt may seem fuller because there is a round cardboard barrel beneath it. Its where I store my Christmas lights. I like the skirts, they come from Walmart and only cost about $13.00.
Trancegemini, it seems like you have a long 'to do' list.

-- leaving a space underneath to fit the laundry hamper, make a curtain to hide it and that will solve a couple of clutter problems in there--

I remember seeing a project in a DIY magazine. These people built a shelf in their foyer, and it had a curtain attached with velcro to cover the storage underneath - it was really neat.

I know several of you ladies sew. I need a loveseat cover, but I am so hesitant about having it made ($$$) Do you think it is possible to take a readymade one and stitch it down the middle (so it is shorter), without making a mess of it? Most of them say that they fit loveseats from 58" - 73" long. My loveseat is only 60" so it always means lots of extra fabric to tuck in (which is a pain in the .....).

I wouldn't attempt a loveseat cover either. I don't know why you couldn't take one up though. I think I'd take a bit from each end instead of all of it from the middle. It would just look a bit nicer I think.

I had to put the bed back where it was. Dh really didn't want it on the opposite wall. I'd like to leave out the dresser though, but he wants it back in. Until he finds a tv console cabinet though, the dresser is staying in the den.

Because our bed is taller now, dh had to put extensions on the round tables by the bed. They were made out of an scrap anyway, so it doesn't matter what they look like. There was a narrow shoe rack/bookcase in one house we had and dh cut it in two and put a round piece of plywood on each one. So there is a little storage under each table.

"These people built a shelf in their foyer, and it had a curtain attached with velcro to cover the storage underneath - it was really neat. "

Interesting! I didnt even think of velcro but that would make it nice and easy to get the curtain out of the way when I need to take the hamper off to the laundry room.

"Trancegemini, it seems like you have a long 'to do' list."

oh our house needs a lot of work. It's a 1960s house but it wasnt updated or properly maintained over the years so it's a bit of a fixer upper. I always have a huge list of things to do that it gets overwhelming some times. but we love it here and it's in a great location.

"Both dh & I are really good at starting projects, just not so good at finishing them to the very end. I want my bedroom to be completely finished so I can go on to the next thing. It's just taking soooo long and I'm tired of it."

I know that feeling marti :). I get so easily distracted so I flit all over the place doing things here and there and I just get impatient so I cant seem to stay in one room for long LOL but it will be nice to get a room finished off properly so I have one less room to worry about.

ps. idietolive I think a loveseat cover could be adjusted to fit better - it should just be a case of adding some extra seams or resewing some of the existing ones. If it is a darker colour or has a patterned print the seams shouldnt be that noticeable either so I dont think it would be too difficult. Im sure we could give you some ideas on how to do it if we could see photos of it on the loveseat too

I'm glad that we've had some surprisingly good weekend weather where I live, because we're still knee-deep in painting the exterior wood windows and trim on our house.

We accepted a bid to replace some windows on the back of our house, but now that I said okay to the proposal I haven't heard back from the guy in a week!

When that's finished, we start on the interior projects:

* Paint the foyer and replace cruddy old sliding doors on the foyer closets with nice curtains
* Install organization systems in the foyer closets
* Knock out tiny old closets in our bedroom and install larger wall closets
* Paint second bedroom
* Paint bathroom ceiling
* Clear our basement clutter (ugh!)

I'm using no-VOC paint for the interior projects so we can do them over the winter. There's a place near us that sells Yolo paints and they color-match to most big brands.

Our house is from 1921 and there's always something to do. That's when I'm glad that it's small and manageable.

Ugh, replacing windows is a mess. We just went through that a couple of years ago, replaced the windows & storm windows with insulated glass windows and already have one fogging up. Luckily have a lifetime guarantee, but it still won't be fun. You're right, there is always something. I wonder if that is true with new houses?

--We accepted a bid to replace some windows on the back of our house, but now that I said okay to the proposal I haven't heard back from the guy in a week!--

Sounds like my contractor, lol

Is it really worth it to change out my windows if my heating/cooling bills are not terribly high? I have storms on all of the windows and they seem to be doing a good job, but I have often wondered if it would be worth it to change them out. Usually my utility bill is around $90 in spring/fall months and approx $130-$150 during the hottest/coldest part of the summer/winter. Every now and then we'll have an exceptionally hot/cold month and the bill will be higher. So, worth it or not?

I wondered that too, since we had storm windows over the others. We wanted to change them partly because spiders kept getting inside the storm window and building webs between the two sets of windows. Taking the storm window off to clean them was a huge pain in the rear. I couldn't tell our a/c bill was that different until I looked back over the last few years. Our bill used to average $200 in the summer and now it averages $125. But one thing I wish we had done differently was to get thermally broken seals. We really didn't know much about windows, just took the contractor's advice on these. They are aluminum windows and even though they are double-paned glass, they sweat like crazy in the winter. Every morning I have to get up and wipe down the sides of the windows and the sills.

We replaced the two living room windows last fall and did get thermally broken and they don't sweat at all. So if we stay here, and if the older windows keep fogging, we'll eventually replace them all again. What a pain.

We have a mix of insulated replacement windows and original wood windows with wood storms.

As far as I can tell, the original double-hung windows with the wood storms are really excellent at keeping the cold (and noise) at bay. We reglazed most of the storms this weekend and they're drying in the garage.

However, the original casement windows in our shed dormers are not at all efficient. Weatherstripping helps, but we're slowly replacing them with insulated windows.

idie2live -- If your energy bills aren't very high, it might not be worth the high cost of window replacement for only a modest change in your bills. If your storm windows are in good shape, they probably do a pretty good insulating job already.

I think one of the biggest disadvantages of original windows and storms is trying to clean betewwn them. How do spiders get between them anyway?

About three months later I finally put the last of the paint o the walls in the kitchen. Never even considered doing the ceiling this go round so I am finally done painting the kitchen. Now to put it all back together. Pictures to follow when that gets done. Do not hold your breath anyone.

Chris

Will it pressure you into posting pix if we all hold our breaths?

Sorry I got to messing around with the city website and blew a page and HAD to fix it. EEEEKKKK

So here is one picture and I will try to get a better one tomorrow. It is dark and the other picture I took I have changed the couch since.

The green is a little darker than it shows in this picture. As you can see it is just barely there.

{{gwi:1538245}}

I am still putting things away. I got too tired.

YIKES they are predicting snow tomorrow when we wake up. With a winter storm advisory 2 - 4 inches. WOW What a switch from a beautiful clear blue sky and laundry on the line today.

Ok now you can take a breath until tomorrow. I know the color will not show at all at night.

Chris

Oh good, I knew I could put a guilt trip on you. Never worked on mom though. ;) I like your color. I had a friend who painted her whole house a very light & subtle green, with green shag carpet (hey, it was the 70's) and it really made her little house.

I can't EVEN imagine snow and that much of it. It's a chilly 55 degrees here right now. lol

First of all I am so sorry I missed your pictures to comment on Loretta. What a lovely home you have!! I am all with you the change in paint color in your bedroom is amazing. Loved it before and now it is oh so dreamy!! Something to keep in mind as I choose colors for our house.

As promised this is a day light picture of the kitchen. It is not as good as I had hoped but it is snowing as promised so no sun to get a good picture. Still we are happy with the color. I think I will stay with the color we have in the living room and hall which is called whisper white. It is not a bright white because bright white stands out against it. We both like it as it is but the paint needs to be semi gloss or better paint then came on the house as it can not be washed.

Chris

{{gwi:1538244}}

That is really pretty Chris. I like that it is pale enough to go with a variety of colors, but still contrast with the white trim. I don't know why, but I have a thing about loving white trim against another color.

I know you are happy to have the painting behind you! Ceilings are the worst.
In my mind there is no such thing a a bad shade of green - so I love it! But I also love all of your white-on-white also.
Snow! How nice!

your kitchen looks lovely and bright and fresh idaho. great job! Im working away here on my projects and I might have some photos hmmm, well lets see a few months when the bedroom is done :)

Thanks so much for the sweet comments. Yes I am happy to have finished this project. Spent the afternoon playing mosaic on the top of that trunk in front of the couch.And looking back at it I did make big progress. I am enjoying the project but it is hard on me to be sitting on the floor to do it. Had to stop. I am stumped for color placement and need to paw through my glass before I go further. Too soon for a picture.

Work the next two and maybe three days. Special meeting tomorrow night. Sigh. Be back when I can.

Chris

Can't wait to see it finished Chris. Don't work too hard.