Spring Inspiration

As we are coming up on the one year anniversary since our last *big* home improvement project

Our old bathroom

Now is a good time to get started on our next project which isn't as fun or pretty as the loo or our bedroom makeover but our hallway needs some minor attention.

Yawnsville!

Gnarly nipple light, icky popcorn

The ho-hum gallery

Lola *painted by Antz* is lonely in the hallway

The walls desperately needs a fresh coat of paint and Antz wants to remove the popcorn ceiling *and eventually the popcorn in the living room also* Liv chose to gift us an original piece of artwork on the wall and unfortunately it wasn't with a washable crayon.

Can you see it? Lovely green crayon, she's the next Banksy!

Thanks kiddo

We also want to remove the light fixture that was here when we bought the house. We installed the pendant light from Ikea 5 years ago but I kept the ugly brass one because it gave me extra light for when I apply my clown face makeup *I use the mirror on the door to paint my face* Our engagement portrait and a few wedding photos live in the hallway but we are considering adding something on the other wall since we have exhausted all the wall space in the rest of the house and the white wall is terribly boring.

It's nothing grand but it will tide us over until next year when we tackle the big kitchen reno. Speaking of the kitchen, I keep going back and forth over how extensive I want to make the project. We need the plumbing repaired, floors repaired and refinished and paint the yellow walls another color but as far as the cabinets, back splash and countertops go, I'm not sure. I thought we could sand and paint them ourselves but the doors don't close properly and the hinges are old and gross. If we do sand the doors, the cabinets will still look pretty shabby *they are almost 100 years old* and I have no idea what we will discover once we remove the existing countertops. I am sure we can install the subway tile backsplash ourselves and we will keep our existing sink since it's cast iron. The woman at Home Depot said never get rid of cast iron sinks because they don't make them anymore and they add value to your home. I can live with the sink since it's in pretty decent condition and it goes with our Craftsman kitchen. We do need to replace our faucet and I want to buy new knobs and drawer pulls. So my biggest dilemma is the budget. I want to do everything for $6000 but if we replace the cabinets thats about $2000 from Ikea without installation. Our plumbing will be at least $4000 and the floors maybe $600. Then $1000 in supplies, paint and accessories. We also need to replace the kitchen curtains since the sun has faded the color in the Anthro towels.

I can go overboard with spending and I know I won't recoup any money from this renovation so I have to keep in mind it's mostly for buyer appeal. I am in the process of trying to refinance our mortgage *thanks to HARP* so hopefully we will squeeze a few pennies out of our house to put into the kitchen. The next project will be our garage, nothing major, just some paint, organizing and cleaning up and new storage shelves. I would love to set up a raised garden bed in the backyard but I have to make time to figure out what I want to plant and how to keep them from dying immediately.

Peonies would be delightful!!