218/365 A finishing touch

I finally have a shower curtain.

Not to worry, I haven't been going European (i.e. totally without). I've had a curtain liner up from the beginning, but Mom and I decided to make a custom curtain, and it took us a while to find the perfect fabric.

We found it, it's (pardon my girlie language) super cute, and we got it done this weekend. I love that the fabric (black on white) doesn't overwhelm my tiny bathroom with a big print and bold color. It adds just a subtle finishing touch.

Who knew you could get so excited about a shower curtain?


Camera: Canon 40D with 430EX Speedlite, 1/125s, f/4.5 at ISO 400 in mixed lighting

201/365 DIY kitchen chairs - before and after

I've got a list of projects I want to get done before the holidays, and I was able to cross one off my list this past weekend: finished kitchen chairs!

I want my home to be a colorful, lively space, so I chose to make my kitchen chairs fit into that same theme. Instead of buying a set of four matching chairs, I have one hand-me-down chair (already painted white), and I bought two unfinished, unmatched chairs to supplement it as a start.

That meant more painting for me, and I've just about had my fill of painting.

I primed the chairs several weeks ago, but I finally got around to finishing them this weekend. Here's the first chair, before its final coat, and after a smooth coat of bright yellow spray paint:
Is that cheery or what?

And here's the second chair, which was decidedly more difficult and left my spray-can trigger finger and forearm sore for days afterward:
It was worth it! The two chairs add a nice, fun splash of color into the kitchen.

Next project? Finish painting the laundry room. Yes, more painting.

Camera: Canon 40D, 1/125s, f/4 at ISO 100 to 250 in shade at about 4:00 p.m.

108/365 Fancy features

Shiny, fancy, brand-new appliances.

Even if you're not currently in the market for a new _____ (insert appliance here), it's still fun to go look at the fancy colors, dials, and options, don't you think?

Or maybe it's just me.

I was in Sears with my parents last night, and I couldn't help getting a photo of the neatly stacked fancy front-load washers and dryers.

Can you imagine living 100+ years ago when you had to take your laundry out to the river to wash by hand? Well, maybe you do actually remember that time, but I haven't had the pleasure of living through that experience.

The features on the latest machines are mind-boggling. They'll practically load themselves then help you get dressed when your clothes are warm and dry. And then you consider the décor aspect, and you get into a whole different realm of decision-making. When did a washing machine become artsy?

It makes me wonder what the features will be like in 10 years. Or 20. Maybe they really will load themselves.

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD1000

63/365 Utterly blue

It's amazing how much a fresh coat of paint can transform something, isn't it?

A house's exterior facade, an interior room, an old piece of furniture... spread a new layer of bright paint on it, and it immediately looks better.

I'm in wall-painting mode now, and I got to spread some of this lovely blue on beige walls over the weekend. The blue dried in a darker shade than it appears here, a shade aptly named "Utterly Blue." Beautiful!

I hope the color helps it to be a calm, peaceful room that lives up to its pretty name.

Camera: Canon 40D with 430EX Speedlite, 1/125s, f/4 at ISO 320

56/365 Spot spackling

It may look like Mom is spreading pink icing on the wall, but alas, it's not that outrageous. It's actually just spackle that goes on pink and dries into its final white form.

We're fixing up my grandmother's old house, and before we can paint (which we're looking forward to as a fun project), we had to actually fix the small holes in the wall.

Sigh. Isn't it hard to take your time to fix something and do it right before you can move on to the fun stuff?

Oh, but it will be worth it in the end.

We're looking forward to the painting process not because it will be an easy job (it won't), but because the addition of color in a house full of blah creams and beiges will be completely transformative.

And you can tell by the abundant number of floral photos on this blog that I love color!

Camera: Canon 40D, 1/60s, f/4 at ISO 1000, lit by a window at about 2:00 p.m.