Ta-Da!

It has been a crazy month since the day we made this first cut into the carpet. For years, I had wanted to replace it with new flooring, but was afraid of what we would find underneath it. Thankfully, most of our fears were unfounded and the project went very smoothly. If you missed the adventure, scroll back through the month of June and you can see the process unfold.

Living Room - Gone is the icky cream paint that was on the wall since I bought the house in 2006. I had painted a couple of accent walls with a dark terra cotta color, but that was as far as I got. I am very happy with how the new color turned out - it isn't quite as blue as this picture looks (at least on my computer). Sorry, I can't share a more finished picture, but the living room is still full of stuff that needs to be sorted for storage or disposal. We also got rid of a couch and little table, so the furniture in there will be minimal until we buy some new furniture. I have always loved my horse pictures, but they don't go as well with the new wall color (they were on the darker accent wall previously).  I will probably replace them with something more vibrant - I am sure I have plenty of photos to choose from :)  Our dining room table and my grandmother's cabinet (which will be on the dining side of the room) are very dark wood and I love, love how they look with the new floor. As soon as I get the living/dining room resolved, I will post a new picture.

Command Center - Again, we love how the color of the Command Center turned out. The previous orangey color (which I also loved) just didn't go that well with the color of the desk my FIL made us. The rug is temporary to protect the floor from the rolling chair. I would like to find something that goes a little better with the wall color.

Bedroom - Our bedroom is still not quite back together, but you can see lazy Millie doesn't seem to mind. We decided to keep the brown wall color, but removed the blue curtains. To the left of the bed  we had a huge curtain that went from floor to ceiling and wall to wall - it was a storage space. I love how open it is now even if it means I have to make some tough decisions on the things that had been stored there. We  will be getting a new bed (next purchase). I am having a terrible time sleeping - it is way past time to replace the mattresses and we are planning to upgrade the size (this one is a full size). We are still debating queen vs. king. We are planning a Friday date night to test mattresses and bed sizes. Then maybe he will buy me dinner :)

My Room (I need a clever name - suggestions?) - I am super excited about this final room. My very own creative space - sewing, crafting, puzzling, photography. My husband's brother made this big table as a drafting table. The top is 3 by 5 feet - plenty of workspace. The trick will be  keeping it from becoming a magnet for everything.  I am sure you can relate to every flat space in the house becoming a dumping ground. My sewing table has a metal/enamel top, which I love. I might have to paint the legs to go with my room better, but that isn't on the top of my current priority list.

Another angle - just because I love it so much :)  I like the window that overlooks my backyard. There is nothing better than natural light.

I found this cool gallery wall idea at The House of Smiths. Check out Shelley's blog here.  I am thinking it would be a beautiful and inspiring way to display my photography. I love how the gallery is high - it maximizes space in a fun way without making the whole room overly busy.

The mountain in the living room is slowly shrinking. As my husband says, the Himilayas are slowly become more like the Smokey Mountains now. Thanks, honey :) I confess I am considering hiring 12 year olds to organize for me. Don't judge! A couple of my niece's friends love organizing and I need all the help I can get with my remaining mountain.


We have picked out baseboard, but were taking a little breather before starting that installation. Truth be told, the weather is not at all cooperating with that project. It will be pretty difficult to paint and dry trim with all the rain we have been having. When it finally stops the humidity is out of this world.

My husband has been enjoying the breather in his Command Center. I had to smile when I found him him "nerding out" watching The Quest on Hulu while putting together his newest "toy".  The Quest is a TV show that was on ABC last summer. It is kind of a Survivor meets Lord of the Rings fantasy/role playing show. He binge watched the whole season in two days. I watched a couple episodes with him - I wished I seen it from the beginning. But now that I know who won...  So about this new "toy." I decided to buy him a new Lego set as a thank you for all his hard work on the renovation.

He chose the Imperial Shuttle Tydirium.

He loves it, but is a little sad that he has already finished building it. He very much enjoys the building process. I wish they took longer too because we have to budget our LEGO purchases - they don't give those things away!

His growing collection is taking over our desk :)  I think my favorite may always be the AT-AT, but the shuttle is very cool too. Slave I is next on his list.

Now that things are setting back into routine at home, I am trying to get back to my cooking. Yesterday before work I made my husband some spaghetti for his lunches. My zucchini is going crazy at the moment so I am looking for more ways to use it. In the past I have just thrown slices into various dishes - chili, spaghetti, etc. This time I decided to grate it into the sauce. It worked great.

You can barely see flecks of green in the sauce (the bigger green pieces are olives). If you have super picky eaters that will spot the green flecks, just peel the zucchini before shredding. It will disappear into the sauce and they will never know.

I made a veggie chili one time and am thinking I could probably use the same technique for spaghetti. I diced the zucchini and seasoned it the same way I would the meat and then sauteed it. Obviously it still wasn't meat, but it added some of the texture and flavor by cooking it that way before adding to the chili pot.

If anyone has healthy zucchini recipes please share. I would love to try a spiralizer, but at the moment I am trying to downsize so I don't want to purchase another gadget - unless I know I will love it and use it often. I am thinking about trying this recipe (or variation) at Comfort of Cooking.

photo from Comfort of Cooking

This weekend I hope to get the living room resolved. My jungle, I mean garden, desperately needs my attention too. I am also gearing up for a Losing My Puppy 2.0. This regained weight has got to go!!

Thank you all for you encouragement during the long flooring process - I loved sharing it with you all :)