Mantle Love

About a year ago I painted the fireplace white.  I love it. It's so clean and unmuddled. The mantle hadn't changed since we moved in.  I put an end to that yesterday.

Lately I've been in the bedroom painting the doors and trim. When we moved in this rent house, almost every painted surface was the same color....taupe. The doors were 'white'...but yellowed horribly. The walls and trim were literally the same color.  I spent a lot time painting the doors, kitchen cabinets and the trim clean and white.

While moving things from behind the closet door that remains open at all times, there were a lot of my husband's show posters and small paintings....so I decided to put some to use instead of them just collecting dust.

Here's how the mantle's been :

And here's the present :

Rug Love

I love RIT dye. I really do.  Some of life's problems would be not so bad if we could just put RIT to it for a remedy.

When I redecorated my daughters' bathroom, they wanted hippy Beatles fare and I obliged.  Yellow and black seemed the colors that dominated. For whatever reason, whether it was a tumor on my Mom Judgement gland or temporary insanity or sniffing paint fumes, I chose yellow bath mats.

I'm better now.

With all the make up and hair dying that goes on in that bathroom, the bright yellow bath mats got freckled with a rainbow of color. And mama wasn't happy.  Enter - RIT DYE.

Rit Dye has a multitude of uses from carpet, clothing and upholstery to the more popular Tie Dyed garb.  Years ago I dyed some bath mats from orange to black ....once again for the girls' bathroom.  Apparently I don't learn my lessons.

So, here's the yellow rugs. All spotted with multiple

colors of hair dye.

The RIT Dye site will tell you exactly how to

dye your particular fabrics, for mine

it was with salt. 

I added salt to dissolve in one pot of water, while another

was getting ready to boil to ensure I had enough water

to cover the rugs. 

You can use a bathtub, sink, washer or as I did a

bucket to soak and agitate whatever

you're dying. 

*Make sure you follow

instructions as per the website HERE *

Then I threw them in a cold wash cycle for rinsing.

And they came out of the dryer like this!

And they look like this now.  Very cute!

I have totally forgotten to show you all the cute knobs I got at

Michael's a while back.

They were on sale a couple of bucks each.  

The girls think they're just awesome, and I agree.

Coming Soon!

I have decided that I'm going to re-finish the countertops in the bathrooms.  I pondered this for many moons.

I've researched and thought I had the PERFECT idea.  Until I took a chance and Googled something.  I worked with a paint in the past...and by the past I mean over 15 years ago.  It was a cool paint, with a cool effect.  And then I wondered - with the correct sanding, priming and finishing...could I use this for countertops?


The answer, my friends, is yes!

Instructions and photos to come soon.

Back Yard Love..Summer Edition

It's hot.  I cannot even describe how hot and give the heat justice.  We have had heat indexes from 109 to 115 degrees daily for the past few weeks. I try to not go outside at all unless I just have to.

The landlord promised years ago to remove a tree who's roots have grown almost to half the yard and into the foundation. Needless to say, these roots have killed and injured our mowers. Besides that, the brick that is laid to the side of the patio is next to impossible to remove and re-lay. Roots have grown under those bricks and all I can really do is keep it all 'tidy'.

Leaves have overcome the yard from the same tree

the landlord said he would remove. 

Yes, 2 BBQ pits. 

The UNEVEN brick-ness drives me crazy.

There it is, yall. 

  

A few months ago this was so pretty.

Thanks to the heat it looks like this.

I'm surprised they're even still alive!

My Snow White Carpet and Butterfly 'garden' is dead.

Unless I want a $600 a month water bill, something

had to go. 

Ugh.

It takes a lot of time to get rid of the leaves

from that tree. Sweeping and hosing the

bricks to at least make them appear nice

There's one dead mower the tree killed. 

Bathroom Love

The first thing I did in this bathroom was paint the walls.  When re-doing my girls' bathroom the first time, I just wanted the wallpaper wall gone.  It was peeling and bubbled and missing in some parts. I painted the walls originally the same brown, matched at Home Depot with their paint department. But white seems logical for how small the room is.

Then I painted the standard cabinets in white...which basically looked like THIS when we moved in. Instantly it made a wonderful difference. There were stains and chips and just worn down. So clean, so fresh.  And painted the baseboards...that were doo-doo as well.  I added hardware.  NOTHING in this rent house had hardware, which is awful for wear and tear on any cabinet or drawer.

Then I laid the floor.

So here's the first 'AFTER'..that's actually this posts 'BEFORE' :

We found a Yellow Submarine shower curtain.  I purchased it HERE.  Then I found a Beatles print at Walmart and framed it and put it up.

This is before I painted the walls white. 

Another view - doo-doo- brown. 

I want you to notice the door.  This is one door not painted since we moved in.  

Imagine the entire house like this, when we moved in.

This is the TYPICAL of each door in this house upon move-in.

And at the bottom of the door is all damaged from the 

prior tenants that I can only assumed

locked a pet in here. 

I spent the 4th of July painting that bathroom.

Hardware Love

I found the drill!!!  In my daughters room, of all places.

So with the drill found and charged I started to install the hardware in the kitchen.

This is what happens when my battery runs out on the drill.  Hahaha!

Dishwasher LOVE

....or should I say Dishwashergate?

Well, more like husband love.

The mister went and ordered it and it came this morning! After weeks of reminding the landlord we need a new one and him ignoring us, we had to take action.

You do not KNOW my excitement!

Soon I will have a new dishwasher and no longer have dishes all over my damn kitchen counter tops!

**UPDATE**

The Landlord said NO to the dishwasher we bought.
(Not sure if I mentioned this before - we have no written lease agreement...so he makes up things on a whim....like the first $75.oo of any repair is on us.)

He said he would get one and have it put in THIS weekend.  I won't hold my breath...as it's been over 4 weeks since we first told him of the problem.

So now...my pretty NEW dishwasher must be returned.

I'm trying REALLY hard today to have Rent House Love.






**6-20-2011 Update**
Yesterday was Father's Day.

The Landlord decided of all days - to bring over his dishwasher that he purchased.  So that meant, on Father's Day, my husband got to spend it under the sink, cleaning leaks, uninstalling and installing. Poor guy.