Big Plans...

Well I am sitting here in my PJs, looking at pretty pics online for ideas for my dining room. Our table is great, but now it is the same color as the floors, so I am going to have to paint it. I am not heartbroken about this, as I have been itching to paint it since we got married and it came out of storage. So the table is going black, to match the great Broyhill buffet I got at an estate sale about a year ago, and I am going to get new chairs to match. The old ones are more country than french, and I figure I can get a good price for them at our upcoming garage sale. I have 6 if you are interested??? So that is my big plan for the dining room.

For the laundry, which was one of those "while we're at it" moments, I need to go get another tall pantry cabinet from Lowes, this time in white. I have moved the existing shelf down to bar height to act as a folding table, and it offers some great storage underneath for those pesky laundry baskets. I splurged a bit (although they were on sale) and got some new grass baskets for the open shelves above the washer/dryer. I considered ordering some doors for them, or even replacing them. But we have spent enough already. I had curtains up to block the mess, but they were a pain to close. Things were already pretty much organized in baskets, but they didn't match and that really drives me crazy, even in a room like the laundry room. So the kitchen redo was the perfect opportunity to tackle that room too, since I was going to have to repaint in there thanks to the new pocket door. A few cheap accents plus some I already had around the house, some paint (I used a very light neutral taupe called "Clean Linen" and added a stripe around the room in "Deepest Aqua" to go with my beachy theme) and presto! Done! Well, almost. I still have to go get and install the new pantry cabinet. And I have to go to Conway for that. Uggg. Oh, but I have big plans for the pantry cabinet doors! I am going to sand down the inside panel and paint it with chalkboard paint! Should be a handy little memo board! :) That will probably happen very last! Since it's more of a want than a need at this point. I will post pics soon. Promise.

One big (hopefully last) splurge...and a big surprise for my sweet and understanding husband. He has really been good about letting me pick everything for this reno. Floors, paint, cabinets, counters, backsplash, you name it! He just lets me pick what I want. So I am going to do something for him in the kitchen. He is a gadget guy. Loves electronics. So I found this very nice under-cabinet mount TV/radio/CD/DVD player at Target. It is a bit pricey, but he is worth it, and so part of my first summer paycheck is going to this (the other part is going for new chairs). I just hope he doesn't read my blog and ruin his surprise!!!

The floors are ALMOST done, and so this morning (after blogging of course!) I am preping my quarter-round for painting. I know I have to get some new, but I am going to try to salvage what I can. We still have to finish the dining room (just the bay window area. I hope to knock that out today) and do the hallway and bathroom floors. But at this point, those areas are not the priority. The kitchen is...for my sanity and my husbands nerves! I can't wait to get the cabinets in. I think it will really start to look like progress then.

Well, I guess I am off to prep and paint some quarter-round. Well, maybe after a Sonic run.