Blame it on the alcohol

You could...
Blame it on the Vodka.
Blame it on the Hennie...

But I think I will stick with straight rubbing alcohol, because that's what did it for me!
Remember when I showed you this post and this picture:

I mentioned I found a cleaning solution for my very well-loved microfiber couch. I didn't think it would work... but LOOK!!!

Same couch, people!!
Now I just need to keep the kids and dogs off of it!!

Stuffing the Billy's

Another sneak peak of what I have been trying to work on the past few days.
Pimpin' ain't easy folks and neither is finding THE RIGHT accessories to add to the wall of Billy's.

Here is the BEFORE:

And here is the NOW:

Yes, there is some Halloween stuff showing up on a few of the shelves. I couldn't help myself.

More to come... ;)

TGFP!

I am knee-deep in loading up the formals. It feels so good to get to this part. Finally!
Of course, it is October 1, so that means eventually the Halloween decor needs to come out. But I figured I'd wait until after we get back from San Fran... give us some time to enjoy the new rooms sans pumpkins and witches and goblins, oh my.

Because we won't have the big reveal until end of week, here are a few pics to tide you over...

It looks like we could go up one more layer of Billy bookcases. We may just do that!!

Here's a guy you've probably never seen before, and the reason for the title of this post:

You can say that again, sister.
Thank God for Pinterest.

We have these great couches that are microfiber and well over 7 years old. Structurally, they are fantastic. But as you can see... they've seen better days as far as stains go.

Between Nic and the dogs... ouch.

This loveseat and its mate (an eight foot replica) have been in the loft since we moved in. However, my momma needed to pick up her couch that she had stored over here (Goodbye Mr. Santa Fe!), which left us sans seating in our new biblioteca.

So, Alex and Isa brought down this sweetie pie yesterday and I got to work trying to figure out how to clean it. I found this post pinned on Pinterest... and it looked like it just might work.

I sent Alex to Walgreens for the sponges and an extra large bottle of alcohol.
The rubbing kind, of course.

It took some elbow grease (wait, maybe that's what I removed with said cleaning?!) - either way, it looks MUCH better. For now, anyway. Eventually, I may find a slip cover for it.

I even took the cushions out and washed the covers in the washing machine on Hand Wash. They came out great. Forgot to take a before picture though. Oops.

I am going to spend some time during the next day or two loading everything back in... and I will be back with more pics soon! In the meantime, be sure to check out my 31 days series... :)

350 < 8 [Installing new floors in the Formals]

Yesterday was CRAZY with a capital CRA.
Seriously.

Want to start at the beginning? Click here.

We did a lot of the prep work for the floors on Thursday and Friday nights. We had to be ready for Saturday morning. And we did it!

After our home builder came in and fixed the imperfections in our concrete floors, Marcos and I got to work and filled the nail holes (from the carpet tacks), and filled in the long, but superficial surface crack.  The very nice subcontractors left us some of their magic stuff. [One less expense. Yay!]

 

After we got all of the cracks and holes filled, I mopped the floor with vinegar. Just a quick mop. We had already swept and vacuumed and swept a gazillion times (concrete and drywall dust are no fun). After that it was time for Kilz primer. THAT STUFF IS STRONG. I think we were high most of the night (even with the windows open and fans going). But we needed to ensure we sealed the concrete and get rid of any odor from Olive (the perpetual pee-er).

That took us up until Friday night. My parents came over with their flooring tools and saw on Saturday morning before 9. I made breakfast (French toast and bacon) and then at about 11am we got started.

Our floors had been in the house for over a week, so we knew they had acclimated. We read the instructions to ensure we weren't missing anything - and then we pretty much got started.

We rolled out the 2-in1 underlayment plus padding. It was $34 a roll for 100 SQFT, we bought four. We could have gone with a more expense product, but this appeared to be exactly what we needed.

Once that was done and while Marcos and Alex ran to Home Depot for a few last minute things, my parents and I did a dry run to see how we were going to stagger the planks. I love how WIDE they are!! Almost 10".

The seams from left to right hardly show, so we didn't have to be exact in our measurements of stagger (at the end of each side of the room).

Here's my dad laying out the first plank... schooling us on how to lay floors.

This was truly a family affair. Here is Nic trying to get his knee pads on.

It took us a good hour or so to get the first couple of planks put down. We had to ensure we had spacers against the wall; the wall to the left isn't perfect. Despite all of the that, we were in good spirits. And we just kept on working, working, working. After awhile, we had dad man the saw while Marcos, Alex and I installed the floors.

I guess while I was working, Nic decided to go around the house and take pictures. I've told you before how much I LOVE finding his pictures on my camera. Look at this one, it's straight out of the camera.

After a quick pizza break at 5, we got to work finishing up the last few rows. I took a ton of pictures last night, but the colors were off, because my camera hates the dark. So here is a picture from this morning.

And here is a reminder of what my formals looked like a few months ago:

Not bad, but not exactly what I want.

Today, I am headed to Home Depot to buy new baseboards, and then I have a new mirror from Hobby Lobby to hang up... and then new drapes from IKEA. I am hoping I can start building my Billy built-ins this week and then loading everything back in (and out of my hallway and office).

I am so sore and tired today - but it feels good to have accomplished something that big. A HUGE shout-out to my parents for being the best. Really. THE BEST.

As a side note, be sure to check out Eighteen25 later on today, where I have some NEW Halloween Printables to show off!!

Finally Focused on the Formals

I may be MIA for the next few days. We've been working hard to get our formals ready for wood floors!! The husband and I are working on scraping the carpet glue off of the concrete and removing base boards.

The entire rest of the house has taken a major beating while this work has been in progress. Which explains the first picture, right? I am so ready to be done! ;)

We have a TON of Dr. Pepper on hand and we are working it!!
Updates soon (I hope!)

A Concrete Jungle

No, this post is not in reference to New York nor Alicia Keys. Instead, it's about Olive.

Remember when she was cute?! And piddling on the floor was clean-able? Yes, well, she's still cute, mostly. However, I am so over her using my expensive carpet as a pee pad. Okay, to be honest... it's been a while since she's been a bad doggie. She's trained now. But my carpet... has to go!

We were definitely planning on changing it out sooner or later, but spending some time in that room recently, painting, made us make-up our minds on SOONER rather than later.

The husband decided to pull all of the carpet yesterday evening while I was off getting my hairs cut.

Wait. This post is about the formals.

Here are some pics of that space now.

 

Yes... all those white spots on the walls were from my love of hanging any and everything several times. :) We are going to get the paint out and move right along.

We've figured our formals are about 350 square feet all together. Those two pieces of wood flooring might not be enough, now that I see the pictures.

I kid, I kid. We have to buy lots of flooring. Those are just my sample pieces. We are looking into Lumber Liquidators - with Marcos installing the floors himself. We had a third sample we wanted to look at; however, it's being mailed to us.

I am really leaning towards the one on the left. It's lighter than our table, but has very similar tones. It also goes well with our tile (a huge must!).

So, the husband got the ball rolling and we are going to have to move fast. I am not a fan of concrete floors, my formal's furniture in the hallway or the loud echo I get when I scream.

Anyone want to come help Marcos float these babies?!
Anyone?

Turning Green {Repurpose}

I found a new spray paint that I love. *Eden Green*
But before that, I found something cool at Goodwill.

It was on the wayyyyyy bottom of one of the shelves. Forgotten. Alone.
I saved it.

But I didn't take a before picture of it.
SMH

{did you know that means Smack My Head?!? i just learned that from one of the kiddos. can't remember which one. prolly nic}

Let me tell you - it was OLD. DARK. SCARRED.
I didn't know what it was.
The husband said it was a cabinet door. I laughed at him.
Allllll the way home.
Until I got the piece in the light {I am telling you - it was dark, glossy, stained, dark!} - and I found the hardware holes. SMH again. I hate when that man is right.

Who cares what it is. I like it.  I was going to leave it dark. Then I was going to spray it cream. But then I spied Eden Green and I knew it was exactly the color it was meant to be.

The kids love it. They thought (before I sprayed it) that it looked like one side of a saloon door.
What the heck do they know about Saloons?

Here it is, just after spraying it.

I let it dry, then I took sandpaper to it. Here's how it looks now. Love, love, love the green.

 

And finally, here is a comparison shot of the corner. 

Holy Guacamole, that's one fine corner. Now, if I can just get the rest of the house to measure up!
And maybe... one day... I will get the formal living room couch slip covered (hello, Santa Fe) so that I can give you a wider shot. =) That's the plan!

So... with the curtains now reinstalled, I wanted to share with you a few more pictures.
The room is FAR from done. It's going to be a library some day. Which means we need bookcases.

Here's a close-up of the drapes.

As a reminder... the inspiration came from Ashli of Mini Manor (formerly known as Maillardville Manor).  Here is her drapes post... And you will see that they are not really drapes; rather, they are table cloths she (we, really) bought on clearance from Target earlier this year.

Here is my first drapes post.

Well... that was a lot for today... So much to get ready for and here I am sitting on the computer.
I guess I should go bake something.
Or something.

Toodles.

Working the Corner

Scratch that. The title should be "Working on the Corner."
Hmm. Rereading that - it doesn't appear much better, does it?

Well, my drapes are still down {but I am going to pick them up from my aunt's house today}...
I told you about that, right?! I took them down, washed them and took them over to my aunt's to get some material added to the bottom. They were highwaters. Which I didn't mind so much, but my mom?!? She hated it! So, I complied. Finally. I've had the extra material (brown table clothes from Target, same material as the "drapes").  It just took me a while to get them down and out. My aunt had the drapes done in less than 24 hours. Seriously. She wanted me to have them back up in time for the holidays.

Anyway - drapes will be back up tonight... In the meantime, I was up and at Hobby Lobby yesterday before they opened. I was on a mission. I failed, but that's not the point. I found a new lamp!

I've been wanting a lamp for the formal living room - and it SPOKE to me. Seriously.
I passed by it once.
The second time, I snatched it up. It was the only one left with a brown lampshade.

Here it is:

It's a little hard to see the base, but I am okay with that.
The thing is... the new shade will go PERFECTLY with the added fabric to the drapes.
I *love* it when a plan room comes together.

Wait. See something else? I swapped out the frame (it was a sleek black IKEA frame) for a woodsy one I found at Ross last week. And then... see my new signage?! $4.99 at Hobby Lobby.
Love it.

So, what do you think?! Am I workin' it?!?

Don't answer that.
{unless you want to. i <3 comments}

I Spy

As I was chatting with my mom last night [hi, mom!] I realized I never shared a pic of my citrus trees. Shame on me. Here they be:

I guess they look more like twigs, eh? But... look at this picture below.

I cannot believe it. When I was out watering and digging and scaping the land yesterday, I didn't even see these little buggers. It wasn't until one of my son's friends came over and I was showing off the greenery that he pointed them out. [I think he was secretly hoping I'd offer to make him a mini-margarita. I don't sever alcohol to 15 year olds, good sir. You have to be at least 16 and a half. I kid, I kid.]

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So... I've been working a little bit on this room... Don't judge my metal diamond placements. Eventually there will be a very large mirror back there. And eventually I may realize the diamonds just don't work - and will have to move them. But for now - they show effort. And progress. And that makes me happy. I love them because they are supposed to be square - but I made an executive decision to make them diamonds. Because of the diamond shapes in my chairs. [deja vu - but at least I got a better picture this time!]

Goodwill shopping a few weeks back allowed me to score something pretty COOL!

It is, I believe, an old radio cabinet. I think. That's what I am calling it.

It's a lighter color than my table & chairs. But when I really look at the two, side by side, they do share some of the same tone. I just wasn't going for an all dark, all wood room. Remember, the other half of this room is the formal living room. Which we hope to make-over into a little library. And totally copy her design, here.

I plan on take some dark wood tones into the "library" in picture frames and books. And then I need to somehow bring some light, cream colors into the dining room to try and make this all work.

The cabinet does need some help. The insides were torn out and it has no back. Mr. is going to help me fix those problem areas and then we have to decide on if we are going to leave it alone, or paint it or stain it.

I originally thought I could paint it the color green that is in the curtains. I saw a REALLY cool example that I loved. And now I can't find it on the net, anywhere. Then I wondered if I should play with the indent, and paint that cream - and the rest green?!

Then I wondered if I should sand and stain the top, the beveled part of the doors and the bottom trim piece a nice mix of ebony and dark walnut.

Now I am wondering if I am out of my ever loving mind.

Do YOU have any thoughts on the subject?! [on the cabinet, not about me being out of my mind.]

I have plans to put a large framed picture above the cabinet... and maybe add a lamp... Give it a bit of height. The room will also, eventually be getting crown molding. So, weigh in. Let me know your ideas [so I can steal them, too].

Alex and Isa both had a friend spend the night - so I am off to get breakfast started. The line at Dunkin Donuts is sometimes long - need to get there early. =)

Have a fab Sunday, people!

P.S. WAIT - don't leave. I just thought of something. Do you think I should bring that light fixture [above the dining room table] down a bit? Is it too high?! Thanks! ;) I owe you one! Anytime you want some design advice... Well. Nevermind.