Stairs

We had our runner installed last night.  I was a little nervous of how I would like the pattern, but I have to say I not only like it, I love it! When we first moved in I thought I didn't want to compromise the steps by putting carpet over it. But having a toddler changes things, it's all about safety! Now that we have carpet on the steps, I don't know how we lived for almost two years without it.

We are still in the midst of other home improvements, so stay tuned for more pictures to come.

Here is the runner.  Again we went with Smart Carpet, a Costco vendor.  We paid $862 for the carpet, binding and installation.  I also received a small runner for my hallway, all included in the price above.  The carpet we chose is by Milliken and the style is Modern Flair, Nickel.  The carpet is nylon and has a basic pad underneath.

My Wreath Project

Now, I'm not Colette of "Moving to the Country" but I did try my hand at making a wreath for our front door on my own. To my surprise, I enjoyed doing it too!

For what seems like forever, I've been searching for the perfect wreath and didn't find it until I went on Etsy.com. BUT I didn't want to pay the price of nearly $100. So, I did some research and found out that I could easily duplicate the wreath.  So here is what I did:

I went to Michael's, which lucky for me has an 35% off coupon  that week, and I got the following:

• Three 6 ft vines of artificial boxwood leaves (it is plastic, better to have this over silk for the elements). I paid  $11.99 per vine (all prices below show the coupon discount).
• One wire wreath frame at 16 inches for $2.99: http://www.michaels.com/search?q=wire%20wreath
• One Fleur De Lis wreath hanger for $4.99

Then I found the other items at Kirklands and Home Depot:

• One monogrammed wooden letter plaque from Kirklands.com for $12.99: http://www.kirklands.com/product/Wooden-Monogram-F-Wall-Plaque/171599.uts
• One can of Thompson's clear, wood sealant from Home Dept at $4.99 for the wooden letter: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Thompson-s-WaterSeal-12-oz-Clear-Multi-Surface-Waterproofer-TH-010100-18/100122967

Total savings for doing it myself is $40.00!

Here is a comparison of my wreath (on the right) to that of Etsy (on the left):

Here is a full door view:

 

 

 

 

 

 

PAINT!

What a difference paint makes!  It's been almost 2 years, and we finally started  to paint our house. We waited for the year nail pops and for seam repair work. We're painting one room at a time.  But here are a few pictures of our rooms; the office and the dining room.  We also changed out the light fixture, added molding and chair rail--bye-bye builder grade!  It's hard to see in the picture, but our office is Sherwin Williams, Repose Grey and our dining room is Comfort Grey.  The dining room in person is more of a green-blue grey and the office is a traditional grey.  One of these days I will break out my professional camera opposed to using my iPhone.

Stay tuned for more fun pictures to come as we continue to paint. Happy building and decorating everyone!