New front entrance!

A couple of years ago we decided to paint the house a beautiful red color that I absolutely LOVE!  What I don't love so much is the mauve door that remains...  I hate the color mauve to begin with, then add a newly painted red house and YIKES! 

Every time I walked through that front door it drove me nuts!  But, life gets busy and you find other things more important to do - like watch your child's soccer or baseball game.  Slowly you learn to live with it until you "have time". 

Well last weekend I finally "had time" to tackle the front door! 

My husband was gone that weekend so I didn't even attempt to take the door off.  I just taped the window panes and hardward off and got to work!  I did rough up the surface a little bit so the paint could adhere better.  When I finished the first coat I thought, "What in the world were you thinking painting the metal door?!  It looks horrible!!!!"  I thought for sure I'd be out buying a replacement.  : / 

Keep calm and carry on...  With every coat it looked a little bit better.  The panes on the window are plastic so they really tested my patience.  Eventually I won the battle with them too! 
It took several coats, some patience and a small brush, but it's done!!!

Now I really need to get some fall decorations out there!  Maybe some mums, pumpkins and gourds?  I love fall and can't wait to get the decorations out! 

I did pull this little itty bitty fall wreath out.  It's not quite enough, but it'll work until I get to Hobby Lobby to find a new one!

Have you painted a door recently?  How did it turn out?  What was your process?  I'm certainly no expert on the subject so I would love to hear your experience. 

Linking to:

Bathroom planning

So now that the bathroom is partially demo'd I need to have a plan to put it back together!  At first my husband was just going to replace the tub/shower with another tub/shower.  He insists that I requested this at some point and was a little confused when I mentioned the option of a tub and then tiling the shower area.  I guess we were both a little confused...  The tub/shower combo was fine, but just that - fine.  No Wow factor there! 

The hubby is on board to do the tiling and now it's on to the fun planning stages!

THE PLAN:

Install tub
Tile the shower walls
Paint the walls
New shower curtain - I have been searching and searching, but haven't found the one yet.  I may have to use the white one until I do...
Frame the mirror
Add new artwork, shelving and accessories

I recently fell in love with blue/gray rooms with rich wood tones and crisp whites.  Here are a few things I was thinking about:

I think I may need to buy some samples to try on the wall.  This way I can see how they look at the different times of the day.

Here is a quick before pic of the space:

I'm so ready to have our main bathroom back!  It's been a long couple of months with all four of us showering in the basement mens bathroom.  I'm hoping we'll have a chance to get started this weekend!  Somehow life always seems to get in the way.  I will shower in the basement a few more weeks if necessary.  4th grade football games, birthday parties and family time are all too important! 

Check back soon for updates! 

Surprise renovation

Hello there!  I hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend.  I was a bit under the weather so I didn't get as much done as I had hoped over the long weekend.  Oh well, I guess the list just got longer for next weekend! 

So a couple months ago I discovered a crack in the floor of our tub/shower in the main bathroom.  It is 30+ years old, so I guess it's probably about time to be replaced anyways!  (Hopefully my husband doesn't think I need to be replaced since I'm 30+...  ;)  Anywho, the tub was inevitably going to need to be replaced and just when I didn't want to spend any more money - trying to save for a bigger renovation people!  We've limped along by all four of us using the shower in the basement.  Not the best of situations, but things could be a lot worse.  :)

Well little did I know that when I came home from work yesterday I would be confronted with my daughter hanging a sign -

Closed for Construction!

And behind the door this is what was awaiting me... 





Eww!!!  Look- no don't- at the hard water stains.





Yikes, what a mess!!!



Surprise!!!  The new tub/shower is here and ready to be installed.  I love surprises, just not sure if I like a surprise renovation...  Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled at the idea of having our main bathroom working again.  I just could have had the bathroom all cleared out and made the job easier had I know. 

The to do list just got longer!

• Install new tub/shower
• Replace linoleum with tile - maybe?
• Paint the walls
• Add fun accessories

I'm thinking maybe a blue/gray color I fell in love with in an office at work.  I've been looking for a place to use it in my house and here it is!  Homburg Gray from Sherwin Williams. 

Have you had any surprise renovations happen at your house without your knowledge?  I'd love to hear how they turned out!