disgusting home improvements

I don’t have a lot of time..but if I don’t just get this post done…it might never happen!  so this post will be mostly pictures, which are very self explanatory.  We decided that before the winter gets here we wanted to add more insulation to the attic.  We never really had an adequate amount and it always bothered Dexter.  so we bit the bullet and found a good deal by price matching.  Home Depot had it for 7 something a bag…Dexter shopped around and found it for 6 something a bag a bag at Menards…Home depot matched that plus 10% more off…then they give Dexter a Veterans discount of 10%..so we actually got it for like 5 something  a bag plus free blower rental with 20 bag purchase, we ended up buying 30 bags.  So anyhow after a long debacle getting the blower scheduled (nightmare) we were finally ready to do it…lets just say th

at after hundreds of feet of hose, lots of dust..the machine not working at first,  stopping every couple of bags to let the dust settle, insulation everywhere, a major rainstorm before we finsihed…cleaning up everything and taking back 10 bags…we finally have enough insulation in out garage… WE WILL NEVER DO THIS AGAIN!!!  I hope I made myself clear

sorry about the crooked pictures…technical difficulties….grrrr!

anyhow…this is just the back of the house…after we put 10 bags in we moved around to the front to gain access over the garage to the rest of the attic, and put in another 10 bags…at that point it wasn’t funny ANY MORE!!!  Dexter couldn’t wear goggles because it was humid and they kept fogging up…so he was practically blind…we wore masks and everything, but were coughing up insulation dust and blowing out black boogers (gross, sorry) for a few days after wards…this is definitly a job to hire out…don’t try this at home!

Before & After

so anyone who follows me on facebook knows that I have been in the midst of a redecorating spree in my kitchen and dining room areas.  It has been a lot of fun to think outside of the box and come up with some ideas that are a little out of the norm for me, for instance curtains made out of canvas drop cloths, (which are fabu-less)  I thought I would just do a mini post of the big changes in paint, and then later when I get all of the details taken care of I will be back with pictures of all the little things that make such a big difference in making it all work together….so here it is…

dining room before

I have always loved this look…a few years ago I decided to go bold with the red wall and buffalo check curtains…all the accents are very country, very comfy and I loved it!  however just recently I had been yearning for a change, I wanted lighter, brighter, and bigger!!!  so this is what I did…

dining room AFTER

The major transformation was just paint…painting all the wainscoting white and the walls a nice tan color made the room much bigger…this picture doesn’t show the curtains I made…but I will post that in the “little details” post when I get those things done.

The kitchen transformation isn’t as dramatic…but it looks lighter and brighter too…previousl the wainscoting backsplash was tan..counters are tan…meduim oak colored cabinets and red soffets trim…

BEFORE

can you tell I as already in progress and stopped to take a before picture…I am usually so excited about my projects that I forget to take pictures because i just want to get it done…anyhow notice the soffet and backsplash…those are the big changes…

AFTER

Please disregard the toaster that Brianna forgot to put away and the can of stain on the counter from another project and the fact that my under cabinet light is practically falling down (another project in itself)…I painted the soffet and back hallway a very nice green color…very soft which I think makes a nicer contrast to the cabinets…I painted the wainscoting white and did a slight rub on the finish, just rubbing some of the tan paint into the crevices to make it look  a little worn  and make the grooves really POP!   A few years ago a friend and I created this treatment on the soffet…it goes all the way around the kitchen and previously I had berries and basket and stuff hung on the little knobs.  Now I am putting a vinyl saying around the board with a little something hanging here and there, I’ll post that later. I will also be changing the glass in the cabinet door…I haven’t decide on anything yet, but definitly something less clear…I hate seeing the things in there, but it is valuable storage space so a change there is a must!!  My kitchen feels so much larger and I love it!!!

a little catch up!

I don’t have much time these days for blogging….a lot has been going on!  Now that we are back in the swing of school and all the schedule changes that go with that, I have been at school a lot…doing various different things for teachers helping in the office and of course subbing.  I also have a million and one things that I have been working on around our home. I’m trying to make it more pleasing to anyone who might want to buy it (hint hint).  We have found a home close by that we would love to buy…but more on that later!  I just wanted to take a few minutes and post pictures of a day when Dexter and I went and ate lunch with each of the girls at school.  Trent has reached that age where having mom and dad come to school isn’t very cool…so we’ll have to find another way to have some special hangout time with him!

First we ate with Brianna, since her lunchtime is first.  She was not happy about the school lunch that day…So daddy wentand got some other special things for her to eat…she was so excited to have us with her!

She is not sure about the chocolate whips yougurt!!!

 

Brianna with her friend Lilly, so cute!!  After we ate, we headed outt to the playground to play…andof course Dexter broke some of the rules, which I thought was so funny!!!

And then we ate with our sweet courtney…They were having Chili and cinnamon rolls for lunch which is always a favorite!!!   We are so happy that we got to spend some time with her!!!  it was cute to see her interactions with her friends…we love our kiddos!!