Is it Happy Hour yet?

So I had this odd little space in the hallway adjoining the dining room and the kitchen and I got the big idea to turn it into a bar.

I looked into getting stainless steel shelves but after seeing how ridiculously expensive they were, decided to make these out of plywood and flashing! A pretty good substitute, I'd say...

I did all the tile work myself! I'm pretty proud.

And then installed the mirror on the shelves above. This was a much bigger pain in the ass than I ever imagined but it came out great, ultimately!

And this is the finished product! It's time for a cocktail!

HGTV Wannabe!

So, with all this time spent sitting around on my rear-end, thanks to my foot surgery, I'm surfing the web like a FIEND and trying to find things to do to keep busy and motivated in 2009.

Idea of the Day: Become a Designer for the Day on HGTV!!! So..., being the adventurous gal that I am, I fired off an email with a couple of pics and a link to this blog in the hopes that I will get the chance to put my creative energy to work and be a Designer for the Day! How cool would that be? How much fun? How exciting?? How... absolutely TERRIFYING! I love it!

I think they'll call tomorrow... ;) HGTV ~ Here I come!!!

Shameless attempt to show my sassy self!

Fireplace Facelift

When I first moved in, the den was a sort of key lime green color that I didn't dig and the fireplace left a little something to be desired...

The fireplace had no mantel, which I wanted and just lacked any style in general.
That was all about to change...

I found some guy on Craiglist to come put rock around the fireplace.
I think he did a FABULOUS job!
And the mantel I had custom made by Pat Steele - this amazing artisan who I met at the monthly flea market in Nashville.

And this is the finished product!!
I LOVE my new fireplace!
The only thing left to do is install my new fireplace logs,
curl up with a good book and a glass of wine,
and ENJOY!!!

Kitchen Upgrades on a Budget!

If I had loads of money, I'd completely remodel the kitchen but since I don't...

I just decided to do some painting and refinishing and put up some much needed shelf space.

This was the kitchen when I bought the house...

The countertops were in terrible condition - they had burned spots on them and I didn't care for the color on them.

The cabinets were also white and had ugly hardware on them that prevented 2 of the drawers from opening properly...

They all actually sag toward the left which makes me crazy but is not correctable until they are totally replaced so I just have to deal with it.

Also, as you can see, there are no upper cabinets anywhere in the kitchen which makes for some serious storage challenges...

First, I painted the cabinets and put on new hardware...




Then, I sanded and refinished the countertop...


This was done by priming, using 3 different paint colors with a sponge roller and then polyurethaning the heck out of it!

My New Half Bath!

The original half bath in the house was down 2 awkward stairs on the way to the basement. It was inconvenient, ventless, dark and smelly and to say I loathed it was putting it mildly. I truly hated that bathroom. I pretty much refused to use it. So, as part of the hot tub trade, I had a new half bath plumbed in where the W/D used to be. I also traded more passes for the tile work, drywall, pocket door and electrical. The result? It's one of my favorite things in the house!

When I bought the house, this was the utility room.
It had this beautiful stained glass window which I wanted to showcase
so I moved the W/D to the basement and turned this space
into the new Half Bath!
Check it out...

The linoleum on the floor was in bad shape so
we had it ripped up and laid down some tile.


Here's the tile being put down...


This is the pocket door and the exposed brick
where the sink will go...

The bath was painted a beautiful golden yellow.
We were installing the toilet and sink this day
which was much more difficult than it should have been...


Here you can see part of the stained glass window and the
super cute chandelier I had installed!


The sink was mounted into the bricks but the pedestal
didn't work with the pipes
so I got creative and made this little grass
and bamboo thingamajigger...


This is the finished product...

More Bedroom Improvements

We exposed brick from the original fireplace chimney throughout the house. We also made this interesting nook for handy storage and display and still have a functional closet!

Here's Nat peeling off the drywall to expose the brick...

Halfway through the project...

And here's the finished nook! Love it!!

My Deck Improvements

Another sweet trade I made was exchanging buddy passes for lots of work around the house. The biggie was having my deck pressure washed and re-stained. This was my deck before...

And this was my deck afterwards...


Nat, 2 Mexicans and a Wheelbarrow dug out under the deck and poured a 4" slab of concrete for some sweet storage!
They also made a double door for easy entry below the deck

A fresh coat of opaque stain makes the deck look brand new!




I had these stairs built just a couple of weeks ago.
It completely opened up access to the back yard and I LOVE THEM!!!