Casa Azul

As my Aunt Taunya so aptly named it, our house is now Casa Azul. 

We knew from day one of buying the house that the paint color needed to be changed. Badly. Peach isn't exactly my favorite color....or anywhere close. Some spots were badly faded, too. We decided on a color called mineral gray. In the samples on the Sherwin Williams app, as well as pictures online, it's definitely grey. However, what we were seeing on our own house was definitely a little more blue than we anticipated. Ok, a LOT more blue. ;)  Good thing we like blue!

Fire!

I've been wanting a fire pit in my backyard since the day we bought the house. Finally made it happen this weekend! We tore down the kids' playset because it just doesn't get used all that often anymore and we wanted to free up some real estate in the backyard. While we are waiting for the new grass to grow in, we set out to find the perfect spot for the fire pit. Many factors went into this, such as slip 'n slide placement during the summer, garden placement, where the dog poo's the most, and of course the pitching area. Couldn't be too close to the house, or under the big tree, etc. We finally settled on a spot off to the side of the patio. This weekend's weather was perfect for our inaugural fire.

 

The Family Room Remodel

This project took quite a bit longer than the other projects in the house, mainly because of the holidays and my surgery. But we finally finished it - except for the new TV/accessories that will arrive in a couple weeks. Otherwise, the room is now totally functional.

 

I didn't get a complete before picture, but the accent wall the former owners had done was this ugly maroon color. WHY they picked that color is beyond me. There were also 5 poorly installed can lights up in the ceiling that I wanted to get rid of, so we pulled those out, patched the holes, re-textured as much as we possibly could on the ceiling AND walls, and repainted the entire room.  Still saving up for the carpet adventure, so that'll be the last update throughout the entire house.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once the ceiling painted, my dad was able to put in the new fan I got for the room, and I added two new floor lamps for additional lighting. With that old maroon wall, the room really felt like a dungeon because it was so dark. The lighter paint really changed up the feel of the room.

 

 

I wanted to try a textured paint for my accent wall, so I got a brushed suede from Lowe's. I have to say, it didn't turn out like I thought it would. Though I do like the color, I don't get any textured "look" when I stare at the wall. I could have saved myself two hours of doing countless X's to get that texture and just rolled the stupid paint on. ;) Lesson learned with this one.

 

 

 

 

 

Can't wait to get the new carpet and trim in to really finish out the look of the room!

 

Again, thanks mom and dad for all of your help!

Project Complete: Master Bathroom!

This project was fun most of the time and challenging other times. I swear, the former owners had NO clue what they were doing with 99% of the stuff they did in this house. There were definitely some "WTF" moments. Ok, a lot of them. ;)  But I do have to say, being knee deep in this project with Matt and my parents was a lot of fun.

 

One of the funny moments was my "girl" hammer. Yes, I got this stupid thing at Walmart. It's a 6-in-1 tool, but it's versatile, damn it! ;) My old one broke, of course, so I ordered a new one and it arrived towards the end of this project. My dad actually used it a couple of times, against his better judgment, and it DID get the job done THANKYOUVERYMUCH. And we have picture proof that he touched the "worthless" P.O.S. ;)

 

 

Love you dad!!!

 

So here is the final product. When I moved in, there was dark sage green paint covering this entire room. Thankfully, the attached walk-in closet was a normal cream color, so we focused entirely on the bathroom itself. We lightened it up with new LED lights and lighter paint selections. I knew I wanted an accent wall, and I have lots of this teal/aqua color throughout my entire house, so it made sense to utilize this color on a smaller accent wall so it wasn't overwhelming. I found a print that was such a perfect fit, though I wouldn't normally put a print this size in a bathroom. I think it really capped off the room. We kept some of the light fixtures, for the time being, and updated the other fixtures so they all matched. For now, the tile in and around the shower, and on the floor, will stay, though that is another project that is on the list. Overall, I am thrilled with the outcome, and can't thank my parents enough for their help.

 

 

 

 

 We will be finishing up the master bedroom makeover this weekend. The paint is done, but we have the plank wall to complete. I'm most anxious to see how that turns out.

Can I Have My Weekend Back?

OMG what an insanely busy weekend!  On top of the two weddings I shot, we started the master bedroom/bathroom makeover. I got very little sleep, spent far too much time on my feet, and now feel like I need a couple more days added on to my weekend to play catch-up for everything else I needed to get done!  ;)

 

 

One of my weddings was out at the Bishop's House. It was a quiet ceremony, with one mix-up that had everyone laughing, and Matt joined me to be my assistant. It was a lovely evening for a wedding. My other wedding was downtown Boise, and we skirted around some weather and had a great day! Matt also helped with that wedding and it's so fun to have him along!

 

In between all of that work, we had my parents over to help with the master bedroom and bathroom. In addition to updating, we are still finding a ridiculous amount of things the former owners attempted to "fix" and/or "upgrade". Either scenario, no matter how you look at it, has amounted to a lot of work on our part to truly FIX/REMEDY. We seriously can't figure out what those people were trying to accomplish, but good lord they left a mess. It's all an adventure! We got the master bedroom completely painted, and now the fun project (my shiplap/plank wall) will commence. I think it's really going to finish out the room, and I'm hoping it will end up looking just like I envision (per Pinterest, of course).

 

 

We also started in on painting the master bathroom. The kids were allowed to help with this one, at the very beginning. My accent wall came out so great (final pics still to come), and getting rid of the ugly sage green that was in there before really lightened up the entire room. I am thrilled with the changes so far!

 

 

 

We also started in-depth planning for the next big foreign travel adventure. Exciting times!