Snagged it!

I always seem to find the perfect items when I am not looking for them… and when I have the picture perfect idea of something I want… I can’t find it. A new TJmaxx opened just this month and it’s taken me a few weeks to drive to that side of town to check it out but I finally made it!

With my stair project coming to a halt I thought it would be a place to hit up to see if I could find any carpet runners. Well… I didn't find a carpet runner but what I did find was this A-mazing natural area rug!

Snagged it for $24.99! suckers…

The only issue with it is that there is no grip underneath so on our terracotta tiles it slides around. I tried carpet tape but that’s a no. I have seen DIY projects where people use clear caulk under rugs to add a grip so we are going to try it this weekend.

The next thing I found was a natural woven storage container. We seem to always have magazines, tractor manuals, & misc. papers, that pile up under the coffee table so I really wanted to find a container big enough to fit under it but also fit with our decor.

As I grabbed the container this old lady came up behind me staring at it in my hand. So I lingered for a moment to make sure there weren’t any others that I wanted and decided… it’s mine lady! I was here first.

Snagged it for $12.99!

When I said “Tractor manuals” I meant it… Oh to be a Farm Boys Wife.

Once I placed my new rug down I felt like the space didn’t seem right.

 

So I added a bushel basket that was just sitting in the kitchen and put it in the corner

by the door for umbrellas.

 

Much better.

Then I had an old rake… farm rake… that I have been wanting to hang but wasn’t sure about where. We have a coat closet so we don’t need a coat hanger.

How about a hat hanger?

 

Love IT!

Maybe I should shop more often with out having any expectations?

Have a good weekend! I’ll be spending it at a farm equipment auction with my husband :)

Stair Reno Part II

Yesterday I let you all in on my stairwell Reno Part I! I didn’t want to leave you hanging too long so even though my project isn’t 100% complete I wanted to post what I do have done.

Remember… this is what I started with!

And here is where we are now. . . 

Wait for it…

Here it is!

                  Welcome to the Dungeon                                         Welcome to our lovely basement

Can you believe what a difference paint and a little manual labor can make! Here’s what I did:

1. Pulled up the carpet painted treads black… hated them… painted them white! LOVE
2. Painted the walls in the stair well and at the bottom … did you notice?
3. Painted the trim work white… It makes a nice separation between the spaces
4. Re-painted the basement floor and extended the line out past the wall using leftover paint the previous owners had

What could be left to do? Well here’s the deal-o… I really would like to add a bit more color to the space so I am on the hunt for a runner to go down the staircase.

But you just painted the stairs… why would you cover them?

Because I want to! What are you going to do about it… punk. ;) I love the white stairs but practically they are going to get filthy in the matter of months so I want to make them kid safe… for the future, and once again add a little more color to the area.

I am on the look out for a bargain. This girl is not buying $40 runners just to cut them up and staple them to stairs. We’ll see what I come up with!

How did I do?!?

Stair Reno…Part I

When my husband is away I like to do Reno projects to our house!

Ever hear the expression, “It’s better to ask for forgiveness then to ask for permission”? If you haven’t now I’ve given you an excuse to go ahead with something you feel needs renovated without asking first. Of course it has to be something that in your heart you know REALLY needs attention to. Like this Ugly 70’s carpet, tile, and laminate wall leading into our basement.

I don’t want it to seem like I went behind my husbands back because I didn’t. This is a project that's been on our “home to do list” and haven’t gotten to. Two weekends ago when he left for a work trip I thought it would be a great time to surprise him with a newly finished basement stairwell.

Quite honestly, I needed this project. A week without him around would’ve put me parked on a couch watching Big Bang Theory reruns over and over. {They are still funny every time!} I also wanted to have a project that I put 100% of myself into. I wanted to pick the colors, I wanted to do it at my pace, and I wanted the satisfaction that I could complete a project this large by myself. Sometimes you need a little “I” in a marriage or else you lose your pizzazz.

Now for the looming thoughts, “Who cares what a basement stairwell looks like, it’s just a basement.”

Unfortunately/Fortunately for us we have an open stairwell which means there is no door to the basement to hide the ugliness factor. We have two entrances to the house, the main entrance that opens to the foyer… my husband uses that one. And the entrance from the garage breezeway into the house/kitchen area. So every time I enter I have to look down to the ugly yellow carpet and brown walls… it' just sucks the life out of the house.

I started by evaluating what I was getting myself into… this 70’s carpet was GLUED to the stair treads. Who does that! It would take extra time but would it be worth it? The answer is always YES when your carpet it yellow/brown!

It took only 10 minutes to pull the carpet from the stairs. It would take a day and a half, a heat gun, and pure muscle (what I have of it) to remove the carpet padding glued to the treads. This was a freaken mess!

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After I got most of the padding off with a scraper and heat gun, I went back over with an adhesive remover to get them cleaner. I wasn’t able to get all of it but I was satisfied with what I was left with. Green BABY… GREEN. From there I decided to start working on the walls. After much Googling I came across the best project which was a oil based primer. You HAVE to use oil-based on tile and laminate in order for the paint to stick to the slick surfaces.

With all of the cracks I had to brush in the paint before I went over the walls with a roller. It didn’t take as long as I thought it would.

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After this step I primed the stair riders an rolled the rest of the walls

I was pretty tired after 2 days of this but I managed to paint the final coat on the walls {Khaki} and get the stair treads painted. What color? I’ll post later this week to show you part two of the stair case Reno.

 

What do you think so far? Should I have stayed in the 70’s?

                         {Before}                                                                {Half way there!}