the Decorating Chica

Pin It When we moved into our current home, Thanksgiving week of 2019, for the first time ever we had a sauna in the basement. Not a love of saunas I immediately wanted to get rid of it. However it was large and was built in the basement, very well constructed I might add. Fast forward five years, after multiple quotes to removed said sauna for way too much money, I decided to do it myself. Wow is all I can say. Was the hardest thing ever! I successfully removed the door, the heater, benches, and front and side walls. That was all I could do. This is the only picture I have of it. Was VERY well built but way too large for this basement and the two people that lived here. Thankfully a friend and her husband came and tore down the other two walls and room paying them with the free cedar. Then my dilemma was what to do with this space. We priced out having the shower removed but after the cost and the fact that the sewer and pipes would still be left behind, we decided to keep it. Honest...

Pin It I did it! I followed the color drenching trend. Was I nervous? Yup. Totally. But, honestly I absolutely love it! A quick view of the bedroom when we moved in . This bedroom has a very unique cabinet at the top of the wall. Originally had sliding doors and pendant lights (which I removed). First update during the first year of living at this #1951renovation. This shows a picture of how that space was converted. I have a had time taking pictures of it but tearing the whole box down would have meant major wall repair!    Five years later I decided to do another update as some of the walls were losing top layer of plaster. Plus I really wanted to take the bedroom to another level by adding crown moulding, wallpaper a focal point wall, fine tune the baseboards (that had never been finished in 71 years). More importantly I really wanted to try color drenching! I sure love to paint! Adding crown moulding.  Wallpaper time! Update, this wallpaper was very poor adhesion! Lo...

Pin It Do you ever feel like you are done? I don't. But, at our last house I did get most of the rooms exactly where I wanted them and I was happy and didn't want to change anything. However, I think I have finally gotten my bathroom as close as it can be, short of a major remodel, to where I want it. When we moved into this house Thanksgiving of 2019,  the bathroom looked like this (see below). This bathroom had a major remodel in 2015 by previous owner (was still in the 1951 original bathroom). I loved the cabinets and tile mostly. But I had the upper bins and upper two shelves removed (there was a bin over the entrance as well that was removed) .  Then I painted and  added this wallpaper.  Which I really loved but the seams   did not hold up well and started lifting over time. I actually liked the wallpaper a lot. Fast forward three years found me stripping the wallpaper.  Removing the wallpaper was not super hard I simply take a scraper and make X cuts...

Pin It You know how they say, one thing leads to another? It is so true! This project stemmed from our bedroom update (will be posting about this soon). First time ever tried Heritage Traditions All In One paint. Super impressed with how easy it was. No prepping or sanding. Simply wiped down with a damp towel to get dirt/dust off and started painting. Then I used some brown furniture wax to give it a bit of an aged look. Updated the wood knobs and used the old knobs that were from the bathroom cabinets. Only cost for two nightstands was the paint at $33! Plus had enough left to updated a coffee table. More about this soon! We really like these nightstands but they didn't go with the new bedroom update. Time to refinish them! First time trying Heritage All in One paint . First coat done! Decided to give it a bit of an antique look with Dixie Bell 'Best Dang Wax"  I had in my work room.  Grabbed and old brush and an rag and got to work. Updated drawer knobs with the forme...

Pin It This room in our house is our favorite. The one we spend the most time in. Where we watch tv, read, enjoy sunsets and walk onto the patio. It has beautiful terrazzo floors that are original to the house when it was built in 1951. It is an ever evolving room and we have done so much to it in the five years we have lived here. Photos tell it all! Before, right after we moved in. My first step was getting rid of the brown paneling by painting it Repose Grey by Sherwin Williams. That lasted about a year!    Then I painted it black! Best. Decision. Ever. Then I collected interesting pictures frames, painted them same black as wall and mounted in a gallery style. T he black focal point wall lasted about another year. Then I painted this back area with the black . Took the black all the way through the back room up to the kitchen. Eating/Kitchen area. Paint color is Black Magic Final of family room