Summer Reading (part 2)

A few more of my summer reads.

Summer Reading

I’m managed to do a lot of reading so far this spring/summer (thank you rainy Seattle summer!)

Here are some books that have make it onto my nook…a big thank you to the Seattle Public Library – I haven’t had to buy a single book!

finishing off the fireplace

You may remember that our fireplace originally looked like this:

and then for awhile it looked like this…

We decided we wanted to have a simple mantel, something that was modern, finished looking, and pulled the place together.  simple – nothing fancy.  I’m not sure why it took us so long to put it together, because it really was a simple project…although it did take 2 tries to get it right.

take 1: we attached the trim first, then primed and painted, then put caulking on it to smooth out some of the dents and knots, and then tried sanding it back down to paint again.  needless to say, this wasn’t the best approach – and luckily our supplies were cheap because into our scrap pile they went.  our caulk was old and never dried, sanding after priming was a major fail, and trying to do anything on the uneven surface from attaching the trim first was just hopeless.

take 2:  no pictures this time – I just wanted to get the thing finished.  this time we did it in the right order. 

• step 1: sand
• step 2: prime
• step 3: paint
• step 4: attach the trim
• step 5: paint the trim
• step 6: attach directly to the brick using liquid nails!

and it is FINISHED!

Our Home: Now (July 2011)

So I finally got around to taking some “after” shots of the house so you can see the progress we’ve made since moving in. The word “after” should be taken lightly because clearly there is still some work to be done (like finishing the mantle…a project I’m working on right now and will hopefully share the finished product soon). Okay – I admit it – the house was only clean enough to take pictures of because we had people over last night.  I think we should have people over more often just so we are forced to keep the house clean!

Living Room: View from the front door before…

and AFTER!

view from the hallway into the living room before:

now:

another after (without the mantle) of the living room – this poor picture doesn’t have a matching before, but it will survive.  oh..and yes, it is July, and yes, we have a Christmas tree.  that’s how we roll.

view from the living room into the dining room before:

and now!

view from the kitchen into the dining room before:

and now:

master bedroom then:

and now:

and I don’t have a before picture of the master bathroom, but here it is now:

Guest Bedroom then:

now:

and the office:

now:

bathroom 1:

now:

 

Clearly decorating (and adding some COLOR!!!) needs to be a priority, but I think it is so much better than before!!!