Half-Done Projects and Other Goings-On

Thursday, July 30, 2015


I pretty much freaked out last night when I realized there are only two days left in July and I haven't written a single post.

Bad blogger. Bad, bad, bad blogger.

So I thought I would share a few half-finished projects that we've been working on lately. I really wish there was a Project Fairy that would come around to wrap up the slew of projects that we start and then leave unfinished for pretty much ever.

P.S. Is slew a word?

So first, we stained our back deck. Well, we stained the deck boards, the skirting, and the railings. Why no pictures you ask? Because we never got around to staining the eight post caps on the railing. I'm sure it would only take about a half hour to finish up. But, sometimes Scrabble on your iPhone just sucks you in, ya know?

Here is a picture of the stain colour we chose. I'll share more details about the colour, brand, etc. once we're done-done. You can thank my little photographer (Coopaloops) who took this blurry picture the other day while he was sitting on my lap. Just ignore the foot in the picture. Or pretend that I moonlight as a foot model.  


A few years ago we replaced the exterior doors over at the Fixer Upper. At the time, we snagged an extra door for our ugly, falling apart side entry. It was sitting in the basement this whole time! While I was with the kiddos at camp last weekend, Alex stayed behind and surprised me by swapping out this old door:


with this one:


Yay, yay, yay, yay, yay! Of course it's missing some brick mold and some new door hardware - but it's still such an improvement. Earlier this week we went shopping for a solid glass storm door. We went a week without one but it's just so handy to have when we are in and out with toddler gear / baby car seats and the dogs are trying to escape. 


Remember when we installed that b-e-a-u-tiful wood-look laminate flooring in our basement?


Well, the floors looked great but the stairs going down into the basement were painted red and in really bad shape. Alex is almost finished covering the risers and treads with nice, solid wood stained to match. 



Oh, and while we're all here I thought we would take a trip down memory lane. Remember when my living room used to look like this? 


Well this is how it looked yesterday (and the day before that)(and the day before that). I was about to pull my hair out in frustration at the clutter and mess. Then I took a deep breath and snapped a picture for a laugh instead. And yes, I did add a filter on this picture to make it look less gross.

  
Who has time to clean when it's summertime anyway, am I right?





:)

26 comments:

  1. I like the after living room much better, it's lived in! P.S. I want that baby.

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    1. Julie.... It is very very very very lived in. ;)

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  2. AnonymousJuly 30, 2015

    Love your posts Sarah. I'm a mum in a fixer upper too. So happy to wait between posts.
    :) Donna from Australia

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  3. Hello! I just discovered your blog today. I love your "about" page! I too am living in a fixer upper with two little boys (not so little I guess, they are 6 and 8). Nice to know we are not alone in the crazy world of DIY renovation.

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  4. What a sweet husband. I love that door! And when you have a little one that cute who has time for cleaning?

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  5. AnonymousJuly 31, 2015

    I have said this on other blogs but I will tell you too. I have a needlepoint on my wall that says: Cleaning and Scrubbing can wait till tomorrow for babies grow up we've learned to our sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep, I'm rocking my baby and baby's don't keep." My house is clean - it has no toys strewn around - it has no little sticky fingerprints around and worse - it has no children around anymore. Enjoy these days, messes and all, because all too soon it is over.

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    Replies
    1. This made me get a bit teary. Thanks for the wisdom. It really does put things in perspective. :)

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  6. I see good progress and happimess! And slew is a word...it better be, I've been using it all my life! Enjoy the summer! ~Dawne

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    1. Thank you so much, Dawne! Enjoy your summer as well. :)

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  7. I have a random question... I need to carpet our basement and I'm looking for a light-colored neutral colored carpet that would hold up decently enough to wear and possible stains but that isn't expensive. I saw in your pic of your little one holding the mallet, you have a carpet that might fit the bill. Do you know what carpet that is and how do you like it? Does it look similar in real life as it does in the picture?
    Thank you much!

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    Replies
    1. Hi there! The carpet that you see in the above photo was in our side entry and basement when we first bought our home. We have two dogs and the carpet got destroyed fairly quickly so we removed it all and are replacing the flooring in those areas with laminate.

      I'm not sure exactly what the brand or colour of the carpet was. I can best describe it as a two-tone (cream and beige) low-pile berber (sp?) rug. I've seen a lot of similar styles at big box stores like Home Depot.

      Sorry I couldn't be of more help and good luck with your search! :)

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  8. Would you mind sharing the name of your floors or where you got them?? I LOVE your decorating!

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    1. Our basement floors are laminate that we bought from a local flooring store. Here is a link to the post where I shared the name of them and some other pics. I hope that helps, and thanks so much. :)

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    2. Oops I forgot the link, lol!

      Here it is: http://www.cozycottagecute.com/2014/03/laminate-flooring-samples-for-basement.html

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  9. Congrats on a July post! With those two squishy faces it must be nearly impossible to do anything but love on them! Just so you know I"m basically copy and pasting your basement into ours. It looks awesome

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    Replies
    1. That is a really nice compliment... thank you so much! Now we should have a race to see who's basement gets finished first. I'll put money on yours. ;)

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  10. Yay, new kiddo pictures!! Total heart melt as always! Love your house projects and your style. When you posted the living room 'before' picture, I thought...oh, no--I love the way your living room is decorated, don't change it....then saw the 'after' pic and laughed--have to say, nothing better than a house full of little ones and dogs...perfect!!

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  11. Thanks for sharing! Love the photos of your kids. When you're at home, you just can't run out of projects to undertake or accomplish because there is always room for improvement.

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  12. I live for these baby pictures, they're just so sweet!

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  13. I was cruising over at Thrifty Decor Chick and saw your blog post title and thought "Half done projects! Now THERE is someone I can honestly relate to and befriend!" It's like a thing for me to half projects in various stages of not quite finishedness.

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  14. I love your side entry rehab! How do you have the inside of the entry decorated? I'm interested because we live in an old farmhouse that has a back entry with a small landing and is a split entry. We are trying to figure out how to "redecorate" and make it more inviting. Any ideas would be great!

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    1. The inside of our side entry is a complete mess right now! It is such a tight space and gets so much daily traffic (us and the dogs) that it needs new flooring, paint, and trim. I think we will be leaving it how it is for now until our basement renovation is more complete since Alex brings his lumber, tools, etc. in and out through that entry and it is bound to get even more beat up! :)

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  15. Great job. Love the look, wish I had room! I used two matching for a client recently, with two matching chairs, they're so happy with all the seating!

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