Category: Projects (Page 1 of 49)

Happy Birthday, Tara! Woo hoo!

One of my goals during my vacation week was to work on my bedroom. I did get some straightening done on Monday, but I also wanted to do some actual decorating.

I got some artwork in Ireland that I wanted to hang, but I needed frames. I found two carved-wood frames I liked, but had to search and search for the third one. It was frustrating, but challenging and delightful at the same time. I feel like internet searches are different than they used to be. So many of the results seem sponsored or something. Instead of seeing what I’m looking for, I’m seeing what Google or Amazon are paid to show me.

Anyway, I did eventually find the third frame, and I love it. It’s in the middle of the picture below. I had to find some acid-free paper to put behind the art, and then the framing was complete:

Since I like the frames so much, I was inspired to look for something to hang on the wall by my bed. There’s a chair rail all the way around the room that meant I had to find something narrow, but after another delightful internet search, I found it:

It looks too small in the picture, but in real life, it looks better. I maybe need fluffier pillows or something. The carving on the wood panel looks like the frames. I like it.

I’m not done with the room yet, but these first steps I think were the hardest. I can do the rest in bits an pieces.

Last week Monday, I was off from school. I started painting my bedroom, but I ran out of time. Yesterday I finished it! Woo hoo! I completed something!

The old color was a purplish brown. The new color is a bluish/grayish white. It’s called “Ice Sculpture”. Here are some before and after pictures. The “after” looks shiny, because it wasn’t dry yet, but I wanted to post pictures from daytime. The finish on the new paint is matte.

Maybe tomorrow I can put the room back in order. If I get my grading done in a timely manner.

During the week, I fantasize about doing something productive on Saturday in my house, but then Saturday comes, and I really don’t want to do anything.

But this time, I DID do something! I finally straightened and organized my closet!

I took the “before” pictures at the beginning of August. Ha! I got the dresser back then and started using it, but didn’t do the rest of the organizing.

So here’s the process:

I got everything off the shelves! It looks so clean. I hung a shop light on the wall inside the closet, so I don’t use the floor lamp any more. And the closet was the perfect place for the picture of my iris.

One room in my house is done! Woo hoo!

My final pool improvement has started…. I’m getting a heater!

I know it sounds a little weird to be getting a pool heater in Southern California, but my pool is consistently cold. Maybe it was built on top of a pet cemetery or something…

Anyway, the new heater requires a new gas line. They started on the line yesterday. It just looks like a trench to me. There is supposed to be some more work today.

Should I have waited to post about this until I had more information? Maybe, but yesterday was my first day of school, and in all the excitement, I forgot to take any pictures. School went well though. I’m looking forward to more (and normal) classroom time today. I want to establish my new routine. I like routines.

The living room is painted! I got things back in order, and the new paint is dry. Here are the “before” and “after” pictures:

So this seems to happen to me a lot. I choose a color I really like. I put samples on the wall. I live with it for a while. Then I paint the whole room. And the paint looks different. This paint is more blue than I was expecting. It even looks a little on the purple side. Ugh.

I do at least like that it’s lighter in the room now. But I think I might be re-painting. If I do, it’s going to be a while. I have school stuff to do now.