Renewed

These were
inexpensive and they
look really nice. 

Still chugging along and creating a nicer aesthetic around myself.

Still need to
add a frame
to that mirror.

Well as promised here is the final product - the bathroom! The shower stall walls are a basic kit that I got at Home Depot, the quality is OK and installation rather easy but it's not the prettiest. Then again at $75 it was a steal. If I had had the money I would have tiled the walls but maybe in a few years if I decide to stay in this house longer. The color is nice but I forget what it was called, all I know is that I got it at Ace Hardware from a color I chose at Lowes. The showerhead and faucet are a Moen piece that I got at Lowe's when they had a clearance event for about $25. The paint was a total of $35 but that doesn't include all expenses.

Wal-Mart cabinet my
sister no longer wanted.
Yay me :)

• Paint $35
• Shower Wall Kit $75
• Showerhead Kit $25
• Primer $20
• Compound $16
• Tape $2
• Paint Supplies (misc.) $20
• Shower Supplies (misc.) $40
• Lighting $20
• Towel Hooks $10
• Drywall $20
• Misc. Items $100
• Total:  $383

I love these hooks!
I found them
for $4 at Ross.

I guess final cost it was more likely more, including all the time I dedicated to this project. Things I learned, I don't mind the hard work and my father really wishes his daughters were more feminine. I don't think he completely dislikes our DIY abilities but I sometimes get the feeling he questions his choice of activities with young daughters back in the day. I think he's regretting not taking tea now, even if most of the time he just thinks it's cool we can do these type of projects. Although without his help that bathroom would have been a week long or 2-week long project for me alone. Likely more expensive too because I would have gone through quite a bit of trial and error.

Invasion of the Cantaloupes!

Well hello there! Where to begin? Last time I simply summarized but lots has happened since I last wrote. Let me begin with my homelife and then we will move on to the trip in July.

The garden and my house have been coming along quite well. I have chosen to paint my bedroom, really refresh the white walls and add one accent wall. Maybe the closet too. The bathroom is a large project that will take quite some time to tackle, especially as I want to change up the shower setup. mainly the expense of it, it will eventually take place but for right now I will simply commit to purchasing the supplies I will require and then take a week and tackle the whole thing all at once! The paint for the bedroom was inexpensive because I got a promotion at Ace Hardware. Check your local Ace Hardware because pints of Clark & Kensington or Valspar are only $0.99; limit of 4 per purchase. Ask and make sure you have a copy of the ad (or on your phone) because it is running from now until August 30. Obviously they don't want to give away this stuff and some stores may say that it has ended but it hasn't. Always double check. This is just a quick picker-upper for my bedroom, I needed a little flair to end the summer :)

So delicious!

As for the garden it is amazing! I came back to a bunch of weeds but prior to the trip it was beautiful. I can now say I am tired of eating cantaloupe, at least for this summer. I have eaten the cantaloupe, I have made it into a drink, now I don't know what to do with it anymore. I have learned some valuable lessons about planting cantaloupe this summer and watermelon. Corn too. I keep on eating but it just keeps on coming! Well I've harvested the corn, that is that for the corn but the chile is still growing and the melons are not done yet. Better planning will go into next  years crops, much better planning.

I think this post will be limited to the garden and my house because I don't have all night for this! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Retro New

As this year is a year of action, I have been giving my home quite a bit of thought as to what I like and I don't like. Turns out I don't like a lot and I like very little. Especially right now that my sister is searching for a house in town and I'm seeing all of these nice homes. This in turn has spurred a desire in me to update my kitchen. I thought to myself, I should keep the house in the period it was built (too much Rehab Addict). Then I looked up kitchens from 1972. I found the following:

I just can't. Full sentences could not describe the horror I felt at seeing what a 1970's kitchen was supposed to look like. See that edge above the sink in the yellow kitchen? My kitchen has that all the way around the top of the cabinets in an overhang-like thing that sticks out. Can you say ugh? I can. Ugh. I also have a yellow/white marble-like laminate counter, at least the yellow kitchen has tile instead; to say that my kitchen is retro would be a gross misuse of the word. After seeing what I'm up against if I keep the "style" (I don't think the 1970s had style or understood the word), I have decided to opt out of the 1970s. I know I was born in the decade but I am not claiming any of it! 

Instead I am going to keep a slight retro feel with some accents but I need to redo my kitchen. Besides the fact that it is truly not functional it could use a bit of plastic surgery. I have a lot of unused space because the cabinets are set into deep corners, lots of lost space because I can never reach anything back there. Also the previous owners cut into the cabinets to put in a dishwasher and it looks so ugly where they did that. Recently my father helped put in a new stove and we had to cut out part of the cabinets because my old stove was a built-in stove top/oven. Now I have ugly lines everywhere and I do not like it at all. The top cabinets can be saved and just moved but the bottom is pretty bad. The drawers stick and for some reason the rollers they are on rub on the wood so I always have little pieces of wood over everything, then I have to rinse/wash my pots/pans again to remove the wood splinters. I need to reimagine that kitchen but that is a long-term project, may not even happen this year. Who knows, it might but only if I have the time. And money. Pics of my dirty kitchen will come soon :)