painting kitchen tile

yeah. it's something i've wanted to do for about four years now, but all the information i could find on painting tile lead me to epoxy and bathtub glazes (which sounded toxic and involved multiple, multiple coats with days and days of drying, fans, ventilator masks...just, no).

i finally just decided to go for it. regular ol' paint. not even gloss.

it took two coats. i painted them the same color as the cabinets (but went with satin instead of flat) using a brush for the grout and a small foam roller for the tiles.

wish i would've done it a long time ago!!

it's so much brighter now!!

it's flawless and smooth and looks like the tiles were made that way. if you're thinking about doing it, just do it.  Nike®

christmas movie marathon

november = that time of year, right? well, it does for me because my tree went up on november 3rd! 

i'm pretty sure everyone thought i was crazy (except, surprisingly, my husband who thought we'd get our ''money's worth" out of all the effort that goes into putting up all the decorations) ..just wait til this weekend when it's his turn! [enter: icicle lights!]

anyway, back to my top christmas movies! in no particular order

the family man

home alone

christmas vacation

elf

the santa clause

and because sometimes you just need a good cry:

the family stone

stepmom

[not pictured--where the heck are they?] the holiday 

dr. seuss' how the grinch stole christmas 

there you have it! merry november

getting ready to sell

i've made a list (gasp!) of things we need to check off in order to have a house that's ready to sell. i figure we have anywhere between 1-2 years left in this house. 
so! i'm trying to get rid of things daily, clean, and organize. i'm constantly looking at houses for sale (i think i should've been a realtor in another life)--i just like house dreaming.

My main area of concern is clutter, so:

#1 DE-CLUTTER:

    -master bedroom closet, side tables, armoire 

    -master bathroom vanity 

    -hallway linen closet

    -laundry room

    -main bathroom vanity, medicine cabinet

    -guest room closet, armoire

    -office desk, closet

    -entryway cabinet, closet

    -kitchen cabinets, drawers, counters, shelves, pantry

    -living room console, ottoman

    -backyard shed

    -garage

#2 HAVE A YARD SALE / DONATE

#3 FIX:

  -add door knocker

  -replace back door handle 

  -paint trim around door to garage
  - paint tile in kitchen
  -replace front door handle(?)

  -touchup soffit paint 

  -fix splash area on front porch (add gutters)

  -remove shrubs (front and back)

  -stain mailbox post (and cement mailbox into ground)

  -overall yard work

  -touch up living room paint 

  -trim in main bathroom 
  -paint main bathroom vanity
  -replace main bathroom toilet paper holder
  -new counter in main bathroom(?)
  -re-caulk main bathroom sink
  -redo main bathroom mirror trim

  -baseboards (fix, clean, paint)

  -touch up grout paint in living room & kitchen

  -carpet hall + bedrooms 

  -fix closet bars/shelves

  -paint lower kitchen cabinets 
  -paint garage interior
  - fix up back patio area (new porch light?) (pavers?) (mulch?)

#4 STAGE:

    -empty closets (x5)

    -remove armoire & extra table from master bedroom

    -remove jewelry case, record player, armoire & chest from guest bedroom

    -remove extra chair from office 

    -remove club chair, table, fireplace, albums/crate & pantry from living room

    -remove family photos from all rooms
    -take down floating shelves in dining room and put up large art
    -stage office shelves (globes & books only)

my "five year plan"

my mind has been a wanderer lately. i've been dreaming of living in nyc. jerem's on board and it sounds like so. much. fun. it's something i've always wanted to do. but with all the excitement it makes me feel, the thought also makes me feel homesick.

i know we could do it. and i know we would like it. a lot. which kind of scares me because

what if i never wanna come back? 

most families live in separate states. you see your parents and sisters and brothers and nieces and nephews on christmas and thanksgiving. that sounds awful.

so i'm coming back down to earth and being happy where i am. 

and i'm making a plan. 

and i said to jeremy, "how about we live in this house..until we don't." 

________________________________________________________

aug 2014: J starts school check

dec 2014: finish nursing school check

jan/feb 2015: get a big girl job update: i got a job march 2015!!

jan/feb 2016: J graduates

feb/march 2016: J gets a job update: j got a job oct 2014!!

june 2016: v a c a t i o n - t o g e t h e r 

2018: buy/build forever house & make babies to put in it

for now-

• save up money for forever house down payment.
• all the while making this house our home one room at a time. 

fire pit!

this friday, the husband and i decided we wanted to build a fire pit. we had company on their way and figured it'd be a nice way to spend the night--outside, drinking, eating.

so we went to home depot and scoped out the materials we'd need. we picked up some sand, some rocks (i picked white marble because they were the prettiest), a whole lotta limestone concrete wall blocks (40, to be exact), and a wheelbarrow.

after loading them onto the cart. then into the truck. then out of the truck and into the backyard, we were ready to build. we laid out our pattern in home depot (10 per ring) so when we got home we laid ten out where we wanted. i used flour to mark the line around the blocks (with room for a perimeter of rocks) and jeremy got digging. 

step 2: rocks. 

step 3: sand

step 4: blocks. 

(we meticulously checked that each block was level and used more sand underneath 

to even them out)

 we've got some supplies to return and one more bag of marble rocks to buy to finish it up.

but we were cookin' (literally) within a couple of hours. 

seriously our favorite project yet. 

grout update

this photo sums this project up best. 

before     &      after

it took hours (and hours!) but my main living space (about 500 sq ft) now has newly painted grout! 

it took some backbreaking scrubbing, a toothbrush, a small paintbrush and a lot of paper towels along with this awesome stuff: 

polyblend's grout renew in oyster gray

but i am absolutely IN LOVE!

i didn't realize how much light the floors soaked up until i gave them nice, light grey grout. they are beautiful and make the room much brighter! seriously, even in the dark, they sort of light the floor.

my grout beforehand would not look clean no matter what i sued or how heard i scrubbed (even with a metal grill cleaner!) 

i'll have to get some better before & after shots but i just can't get over how clean and uniform the floor looks now!