86'n It

Here is my long-overdue window repair post. Goodbye, peeling yucky teal paint!

Before..............After

Here is a little detailed before shot. Nice painting job right? I had to scrape the old paint off the glass before I could even start. I got new hardware too.

Then we had to tackle window coverings which was a tall order. We wanted something room darkening, dark in color but white on the backside, thermal, oh and cheap too. I originally ordered roman shades on sale at Penney's (JCPenney to you non-Ohioans) and got white curtains in-store to go in front.

Then a happy accident, we went to target late one night and found really nice, chocolate brown thermal, white backed shades for 75% off! We got these for $8.75 each!

I took $110 of curtains back to JCP, but left the order in for the white roman shades because we decided to use them in the living room downstairs. Too bad they are on backorder until November 23rd!

Here are the pics:

The color scheme is not quite pulled together yet, but the green bedspread has a chocolate brown thread pattern.

Anyone know how hard it would be to stain the crib and chaining table darker?

In other progress, I ordered a really cool ceiling fan last night. It is the Minka Aire Concept I. Lists for $330, normally sells for $270, but I got it on clearance at LightingUniverse.com for $173! Minka fans are supposed tobe really great quality, and I have to admit, I really struggled with finding an affordable, quality modern ceiling fan. Especially hard was finding one where the light didn't hang down 10 more inches!

Sexy no?

We will only have it on the shortest drop rod (3"), but it should still look great.

Now all I need is a rug!

We are having some guys come out today to do an inspection and quote for a new firebox... very exciting!

This is a unit from Morso that will go into our existing fireplace. It qualifies for the tax credit AND will help us use our gas heat much less. Stay tuned for more info.

Now I really need to get started on the nursery! The first thing is the windows. The windows are currently a peeling teal yucky paint. I need to scrap and paint this first, then put up the window treatments.

I was supposed to pick out fabric for the curtains and other things BEFORE we knew the sex of the baby so that we wouldn't end up with a too girly or too boyish room, but I slacked and didn't make a decision. I decided today on a pretty neutral green tree-print fabric, that I will embelish with the other accents. Here are the swatches:

It is a Joel Dewberry print. These are the colors I like, but all 4 might be a little much, eh?

We don't have time right now to patch and paint the walls & ceiling because these are REALLY damaged. This is the area right under the upstairs bathroom. If you remember when we bought the house, the tub was leaking like crazy and while sitting on the toilet, you could see into this bedroom below. Awesome.

So staging this room included cleaning and organizing the future downstairs bathroom which is adjacent. We have been using this area to store tools, hockey equipment and junk. Here is the before and after of that space:

And here is the before's of the junk room. It is pretty out of control. Stuff stacked to the ceiling, dried cat barf on the floor, an old refrigerator... We are really pigs.

I managed to reorganize and purge it down to this:

And because Marc and I are on a furniture buying ban (until we can afford nice stuff), my coworker generously donated a bed! (Which I promptly painted matte black.)

And here is the disappointing part. These photos are sad. I promise it doesn't look this bad in person. The wall damage is not that noticeable. I'm going to post these small.

The sidetable is actually a storage shelf with a skirt made of pillow cases. :) I really like the bed painted black too. These photos are dark, but I wish you could see the flooring. I cleaned it 3 times, then oiled it. It looks nice.

I made a closet enclosure too to shade that wall-o-junk.

I'd love to actually patch the walls and REALLY fix this room, but alas, we have too much other stuff to do. It is right now what I wanted, which is a room that is clean enough to have someone sleep in at Thanksgiving.

Sigh.