Busy work: Before and After....

....so the kids aren't confused when they come to visit.....and a disclaimer. My house is odd in design, function and decorative style. If we like it, we do it. Doesn't match or flow? We don't care. Anyone remember the switch from a gold bathroom faucet to a white one?

After I painted the upstairs living room, I put what was originally a closet back together as a nook with a rack of DVD's and a basket with magazines......and some other junque. You can't see it well, but there is an office book case (borrowed from Steve's junk filled office) at the bottom, far right corner of the photo as well. We had recently re-arranged the furniture, took a big overstuffed chair downstairs and brought up my rocker and where the bookcase is in the photo was an empty space. Can't have any empty spaces in this house . So....this is before.

This is after: Steve made shelves for the nook. The valance is gone and the bookcase has been given back to Steve so he can stack files, papers, and ads from Home Depot to compare to the ads he still has from 2006 for pricing stuff he has forgotten he wants.

Then....these three shelves were originally in a corner further down this wall under the TV, but when I rearranged the sectional that doesn't fit in the space we measured probably 13 times and called the furniture store another 13 times to have them measure to be sure it fit on the wall....inhale....we moved two of them to this spot. Why we didn't put all three of them up and why I took that ugly bookcase from Steve is a mystery. But now all three are lined up like good bookshelves and are filled with photos and my junque.



Then.......there is the back splash story. It, along with the counter top story is way too long to tell....but first there was a blank blue wall, then there were 4 miniature picket fences with stenciling, then I painted the pickets all white, then there was the discussion about whether to tile or tin the picket area that I was sick of looking at. Yes, I was. Steve adamantly said no to the tile because the counter top that he refuses to replace without tearing up the whole kitchen is way beyond unevenly installed and is a also a of piece junk that sits out from the formerly blue then picketed wall. So.....



I ordered three punched tin wall thingys, Steve made a "frame/holder" for them and screwed them to the wall. Yes, he did. Here are three shots of the new back splash that I don't dare splash for fear of the wood warping even though I put 4 coats of sealer on them.






Then....there used to be a recessed light right above the sink that I also hated and was sick of and I saw this really cool light in a catalog and all you do is take the light bulb out of the recessed fixture, screw this light in like a bulb after you have adjusted the cord to the length you want by wrapping the cord around this hook gizmo, then just slide the plate up and presto-chango a new light and look!!! So now I have a country kitchen with a primitive tin back splash and a contemporary light fixture all for about 50 bucks and 400 swear words.


Then.....there were supposed to be before and after photos of the new shower door (so I wouldn't buy a new outer decorative shower curtain every 3 months which Steve said is silly) purchased in 2006 that Steve opened the box to read the instructions and check that all of the parts were there that when we finally decided to have it put in we couldn't find the instructions so I contacted Kohler and they emailed me the pdf file with the instructions and I rescheduled the installation and so the guy shows up this morning to install the door and Steve can't find the skin with all of the parts. Those photos will be posted by 2011.