Small Steps

So, we have lived in our house since December 2007. We haven't made too many improvements to it. It was a nice house when we moved in, just built in the 80's. So, it's got a few odds and ends that one might consider quaint or unique:
There's several light switch covers that are all similar to this lovely style, but none that are the same. Not sure why we haven't changed those out yet. This one above in in my bedroom. :-) One of the first things we did was paint the bathroom and tried to get rid of the sponge-y lavender. In the right light, it still looks kind of lavender-y. I did paint the living room, as well, not too long after we moved in (like w/in the first year). I still haven't replaced the curtains in the living room - we are curtain-less in the main room of our home. I know it sounds strange, but we don't have any houses directly across from us and we don't hang out in that room at night, so it hasn't seemed to bother me (over the last two years).

We replaced the flooring in the boys' room following some really awful vomiting episodes which penetrated the carpet pad under the carpet. I am thinking that was the dog's vomit, not the boys'. Yeah, gross! After Fischer was born, we had to move the boys to the bigger room, so when we swapped rooms and replaced the flooring in the computer room and scraped popcorn off the ceilings in two rooms.

So, the more I think about it, we have done a few minor home improvements, but there are still more to be done. The light fixture in the dining room is/was quite hideous. See for yourself. Please tell me you agree that it's awful. I suppose the deal with home improvements is that it costs money. Sometimes, it's more than I am willing to pay. So, we've been living with this UUUGGLY light fixture . . . until today!!

The new light fixture was originally priced at $230 and it was marked down to $79!! That, I think, is a great deal. It's gives off much more light and it's much more stylish!

So, we are making some small strides in improving upon the 80's style of our home.

This week, I need to put one more coat of paint on the entry way, which looks pretty good in it's new Terra Cotta Rose color. We're shopping around for some wall decor to go with the shotgun above the doorway. :-) The only things that we have so far are new switch covers in black, versus the funky, ugly ones like the one pictured above. I keep forgetting to take pictures of the entry way during day light . . . maybe soon.

We had a yard sale on Saturday - a small one. We didn't have a lot of big ticket items and people out there drive hard bargains. But, I sold my vacuum and made enough from the yard sale to pay for 1/2 of a new vacuum. Yay!! Exciting. We got a Dyson - the compact one - on sale $100 off! The people at BiMart are AWESOME! I knew I saw it on sale, but I couldn't remember when. Neil went to check and there was a sale tag on it, but it was expired as of 7/13, I think he said. This was on 7/23. They said they would honor the price since they failed to take down the sale sign. They even waited until Monday (today). Neil got there right before the store closed on Saturday and couldn't get a hold of me to make sure it was really the one I wanted since it was the small one. So anyway, they said they would honor the sale price and they went back this morning to purchase it. So, anyway . . . It's light weight, small, but has all the suction power of the original. It's perfect. We don't have a lot of carpet in the house and most of it is upstairs. It was fun and gross to use the new vacuum. I didn't vacuum with the old one before I sold it, so the carpet was uber dirty! It was amazing! And gross!!

So, moving on . . . hopefully in the next few weeks, I will get some more paint out and get some other areas painted. Now that I painted the entry way, the stairwell really looks like it needs it, so I think that is next on the list. The downstairs family room is also in need of a a fresh look.

Small steps . . .