Welcome To Our Humble Commode :)

I think it's comical when I call my dad, brother-in-law (Kaleb), or friend (David) any time during the day they all immediately ask what I've found on the curb and that yes, I can use their truck to go get it. :)  I don't even have to ASK anymore- they know what I'm usually calling for.  I really need a truck/van/Uhual, but the husband knows better.  Although it was a glorious day, and I may have had a personal revival, when I found out the seats in my car lay down.. it was a powerful moment right there in front of Goodwill when that was found out!  It was one step closer to a truck :)

The curbs of Anamosa produce a plethora of fanastic junk that can be striped down, painted, upholstered, etc.. you just gotta have the vision.  Reminds me of the house we are in- dad said don't buy it, it's in terrible shape!  I saw it and was so excited because it was a blank slate to me.  It wasn't in great shape so I could do whatever I wanted to it and still not ruin it! :)  We got the house for a song and went to work... granted the work continues, but one day we'll get there.  Doug's become a pro at electric work and dry walling and all around handi-man-ness.  Plus he's super cute with a drill in his hand. :)

The bathroom when we moved in... these people apparently had a deep-seated love for wallpaper border.

The bathroom now... Much better than dusty rose with border! 

Still have flooring to install but making progress!


The living/dining rooms.. the house sat vacant for quite awhile and the pipes burst so the carpet and flooring in kitchen was quickly removed and they used crow bars to remove.  Floors and walls were in rough shape so we decided to paint!  I'm not much for plain wood so it was fun to get to do what we wanted with the floors!  These are before...

And after!

These are old pictures and it's just the painted floor before I put the polyurethane on... Unfortunately I used the wrong polyurethane on the floor so we have to redo it, but this is what it will look like again after we redo.

I found a stencil online that I LOVED, but costs $140!!  WHAT?!  So I decided it could be made by hand so that's what I set out to do.   I took the design to Copyworks to be printed on engineering size paper.  Then I painstakingly cut out the stencil from plastic and began painting... let just say, it's a work in progress.  I've cut it out 4 times (long stories there) and quite possibly will have to cut it again... grrr..

It's so great, but I have NO clue why I decide on Majestic Magenta as the color and was not very happy with the color after while so I decided to try again with black

Ah!  I absolutely adore this in  black and white and with the floors it's amazing!  My stencil literally shredded after just a few repeats, but I'm deteremined to get this painted on my wall, so we'll make this a winter project and recut the stencil yet again. :)