Keepin' it Real...

We've Finally Made It!

Yup... we've been recognized at last!

On our latest run to Home Depot -- for primer, paint and sandpaper for the ceilings (we decided to bite the bullet and paint) -- the check-out guy [AKA our fifth best friend in Round Rock] recognized us and said, "Hey you guys are doing a lot of work. We see you here a lot!"

That's right... we're now officially DIY'ers. When the peeps at Home Depot recognize you, you KNOW you've hit the big time!

Weekend Project: More Poppin'

On Friday evening we ran over to Home Depot to grab supplies for this weekend.

Today we picked up where we left off and are spending the weekend scraping more of our ceilings. The kitchen is now done, as is the entry way. All we have left are the bedrooms, one bathroom and the great room, but due to the steep ceilings, 15 feet at their highest point, there is no way for us to reach, even with our new ladder. We're going to have to come up with an alternative for this room... Typically, it's the popcorn-ed room that bugs me the most and it's the one room I cannot fix.


Now we have a decision to make... do we sand and paint them now, or do we smooth the walls and THEN paint? What do you think? Ultimately, you should paint ceilings before you paint walls, right? But what if you need to re-texture those walls before you can paint?



Honestly, while I don't like textured walls, they wouldn't bother me so much if they were uniformly textured throughout, but alas they are not. The previous owners did some AWFUL patch jobs on the drywall. The corners are just terrible, as is the peak of the arch in the kitchen. In fact... while removing popcorn, we also discovered that some walls had been "patched" using regular silicone caulk, meant for bathrooms!


I have a strong feeling that we need to leave the ceilings until we smooth the walls out.... trouble is, it's going to take us AGES to get them smooth. And it's going to involve a lot of sanding! Ugh... Part of me just wants to re-drywall the whole thing. LOL. Wishful thinking right!

Well I mean... how expensive is white ceiling paint going to be? I suppose we could just go ahead and paint them and if they get "dinged" during the wall smoothing process, we can just patch paint. Yeah... I think that's the best idea!

We're Taking a Break...

Diesel sleeping on some new paint rollers from Home Depot.

Somethin's Poppin'!

Here's your popcorn progress update:





So far the guest bathroom and passage ceilings are done... but we're not even half-way. Still the entryway, the great room (argh!), both bedrooms and the master bath to do.

We discovered some... uh... creative drywalling. In the passage, instead of taping the top edge of the wall, but we discovered that someone thought caulk would do the trick just as well. So of course, after scraping the caulk out of the gap, it looks like we're going to need to retape that wall-ceiling join. Not bad though.

The system we used tonight was just straight water and a scraper. It was effective enough on the unpainted popcorn, however the painted popcorn (in every room but the bathrooms) it required a lot more scraping than we were expecting.

This weekend, we're going to try something different:


Watch at about 2 minutes in. Keep your eye on the bubble. OMG!! We're trying warm water, vinegar and a proper sprayer in place of the pump action water misting bottle.

Anyway, the two "finished" rooms need a bit more work. We're nervous about getting the drywall too wet because we don't want any chance of mould. Looking at the various videos I've watched, I see most people wetting things MUCH more than we have. Going to get a bit more aggressive this weekend, but will put a fan on the area as soon as the popcorn has been removed.

Anyway... that's enough of adventures in popcorn country for one day.

Popcorn Be-Gone

We just sprayed a little water and grabbed a spoon to check if we can scrape the awful popcorn from our ceilings and whaddaya know... We CAN!!

We're so excited about this! Popcorn ceilings are just so unattractive and we're popcorned throughout the house. It will require a lot of patience, a lot of arms above the head, some scrapers and a spray bottle.

Here's what we're dealing with...
Oh... I know what you're thinking... WHAT THE HELL WITH THE CRACK!!
Looks bad huh? Well, never fear. We aren't that stupid. We bought the house knowing that it had had complete foundation makeovers twice in it's life, (and we have lifetime warranties on both). Once in the front, and once in the back. This caused the middle to show a few cracks. We have it on excellent authority that the cracks we are seeing are because of the split lift, and are nothing to worry about at all.

Bottom line... we KNOW there are going to be some surprises after we remove the popcorn. We KNOW we are going to have to have a Taper on speed dial.

And we KNOW we want that popcorn gone!

Shopping List:

- Pump spray bottle
- Two large paint scrapers
- Dust masks
- Step ladder
- Drop cloths

I can't wait for the weekend!

Kitchen Inspiration

So it's late and I need to get to bed, but I HAD to share some inspiration pics for our kitchen.
I'm a little worried that it may be a bit of a green overload -- I don't want it to look like a St. Patrick's Day Parade. But the colors in there need to compliment the rest of the house where green hues will be featured A LOT. The bottom line is... the kitchen has no window (yet!), it's dark and dreary at the moment, and could use a bright, fresh, clean look -- without being too clinical in all white.

This tile (the glass subway tile in a sea green color):

Picture Source: DGRTiling.com

These knobs/pulls:

Picture Source: MakingItLovely.com

This wall color (Luurrrvvee the splashes of red):

Picture Source: DesignSpongeonline.com

This color on the cabinets (maybe darker on bottom, lighter on top?):



This counter top (still undecided, but we want an acrylic Corian or Silestone in a green-grey):



What do you think?

Weekend Project: Curb Appeal

Well, we did it! Our first project is now complete... well, it's almost complete, we still have a few other things we want to add before we can completely cross it off our list, but we're just happy to have made as much progress as we did for as little moolah as we spent.

Behold, I give you Operation Curb Appeal.

Here is the not-to-bad starting point.


Here are the spoils of our $200 Home Depot shopping spree.


Here is the (almost) finished product.


I think it's a huge improvement. Everything just looks "fresher", as though our house spent a week at a spa and returned to us well-rested.

Here's what we did:

• Replaced the builders standard, totally 80's house numbers for these slick brushed stainless ones.
• Replaced the beat-up mail box.
• Inserted solar powered path lights in a brushed stainless finish.
• Planted the front bed with some annuals, perrenials and ground cover with interesting leaf shapes and colors.
• Added a bouganvilla plant for some height. Our hope is that it will grow up the soon to be placed trellis and cover up some of that drab grey brick wall.
• Lastly, I cleared an easy water run off round the sides of the beds, so that water can easily drain away rather than sitting and creating a big muddy mess.
• As a finishing touch, we added a hanging fern to soften the porch and
• Threw down a bright, fresh welcome mat to finish things off.

What is still on the cards:

• Repainting the house in a sage green color, with a red front door.
• Adding a bright red bench.
• Replacing those ugly, outdated light fixtures for contemporary brushed stainless ones.
• Planting the facing bed.
• Replenishing grass seed.
• Maybe adding a third bed in front of that little retaining wall
• Oh, and fixing the retaining wall where it has come loose.

We're really happy with our first little project. I know what you're thinking... "What about the inside?" Well, we hear ya. BUT, with closing costs, tax being due and my upcoming visa renewal we need some time to save up for those larger projects. We do have some big'uns on the cards for the summer. I will let you know more as we get to them. But for now, our el'cheapo first project was a good one for us to tackle.

Our front yard is the first thing people see when they get to our new house. It was an instant facelift! We feel that it was the best way for us to spend our $200 for the most bang. What do y'all think?

Movin' on Up

Peter lifting me over the threshold. Not the stuff of Hallmark movies, but we aren't ones to thumb our noses at a tradition. :)

And So We Found a Newer House...

... we closed on March 24th, 2009. We LOVE it!