Finishing School

Lately I've been working on some home improvement projects, and because I'm better at starting than finishing, each one went on for some time. I had visions of blogging gleaming before and after shots, but that's not what you're getting because that could give the false impression that my projects went smoothly, or were tidy, or now look awesome. Also, I forgot to take before pictures.

So now, for your viewing pleasure, I present "Home Improvement in the Trenches"

Project #1: The Bathroom, or Well Begun is SO NOT Half Done

Ratty towels, rugs, and shower door inspired some fixup. This presented more problems than I'd anticipated. Namely, peach tile (peach is my least favorite color), dirty boys (anything white was not an option), and my issues with fuzzy bathroom rugs (I look at them and wonder if they've been washed since the seventies.)

The bathroom looked like this for about a month while I was working these things out.

Five shower curtains, 2.5 sets of towels, and 4 rugs later, it now looks like this:

Project #2: The Vanity, or Remember This was Just For Fun?

I've been wanting to paint this cupboard since we moved here three years ago. It's made of melamine, the cheapest, tackiest (?), and most durable surface on earth. Turns out, also the least paintable. Home Depot (which we affectionately refer to as The Po) boasts Behr's primer/paint can tackle anything. So, one Monday morning in a rare flurry of productivity I did the laundry and painted this baby. Tuesday morning when I put the door back on I noticed the paint was chipping a little. So I nicked it with my fingernail. Then I pulled it all off with my hands.

A week or so and some swear words later, after sanding, PRIMING, and two more coats of paint, my bathroom cupboard looks like this:

Special thanks to Aunt Cree for the plates salvaged from the Lion House. Now I can think of the pioneers while I flat iron my hair.

Project #3: The Fireplace, or Just What it Would Have Looked Like in Little Women if They Had an HDTV

Last year's TV upgrade (Merry Christmas) made the oak fireplace with brass inserts look even '80's-er, so after 10 months of deliberating paint colors (and being busy), I decided on "Lancaster County," pulled out the spray paint, and tackled our symbol of hearth and home.

*SIDE NOTE: Thanks to Melissa, I've learned that spray paint is the one exception to the home improvement rule that everything will take longer and cost more than you planned. It's instant gratification. Almost feels sinful.

I thought the project had gone rather well until two days after I'd "finished" I saw that one of the boys who lives here had scraped a chair against the new paint.

It took me a few days to get back into the paint clothes and touch it up. Now it looks like this:

What is it with the lady we bought this house from and ugly tile? Also, brown carpet with the ugly gray tile? Decorating is the adult equivalent of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.

So now that I've documented my projects I'm officially finished. On to the laundry room . . . Don't hold your breath.