So fresh and so clean

So fresh and so clean! That's exactly what I think about my bathroom now that its paint colors have been updated. Previously, it was outfitted with Pepto pink walls and a purple gray ceiling.

Some of the bathroom's floor tiles are pink which partially explains why the previous owners thought that that particular shade of pink was good for the walls. But, there's no good reason for that purple gray ceiling. No good reason whatsoever.

The walls are now a nice neutral stone color (Behr's Chocolate Froth) and the ceiling is white, white like a ceiling should be.

Before. Pepto pink + purple gray = umm, no.

After. Neutral walls + white ceiling = yes, please!

I've got my shoes in a row

A lot of my things ended up temporarily displaced this weekend as my brother and I painted the entryway, hallway and bathroom (more to come on those later). Among the displaced items were several pairs of shoes from my entryway.

I thought they looked pretty sweet all lined up on a rug in my living room! They are completely in the way, but a part of me really wants to leave them there for awhile. Perhaps I could turn this into some kind of rotating art installation to give all my shoes the love and attention they deserve. Or perhaps, I could just be a bit neater about things when I take off my shoes, setting them neatly in the entryway instead of quickly tossing them into a pile.

I've got all my shoes in a row. Brian's too.

Chair redo

I reupholstered a chair! This was another freebie from the curb that's been in my garage for a long time. I decided a couple weeks ago that it was as good a time as any to breathe new life into it. Here's my step by step process:

1. Unscrew backrest. This particular backrest consisted of two pieces of wood pressed together and held in place by screws.
2. Flip chair over to unscrew seat.
3. SCREAM!
4. Have my brother remove the giant spider and her eggs that are suspended under the seat.
5. Unscrew the seat.
6. Use flat-head screwdriver and needle nose pliers to pry up and remove the staples holding the upholstery in place.
7. Stretch new fabric over the backrest and seat. (I got upholstery-weight fabric from Hancock's. I followed Amanda's lead and just went to their remnant section to get fabric on the cheap.) Staple in place with staple gun on the underside of the pieces.
8. Screw the seat and back rest back in place.

Before

After.

Please appreciate how well the fabric is stretched around the corners. I spent way too many hours obsessing over those.

Rock Out with Your Caulk Out

There seems to be a lot of caulking that goes on around my house. By my count, last Saturday I took on caulk project #5: Re-caulking the outside of my tub. It went something like this in case you are inclined to follow suit:

1. Use box cutter and flat-head screwdriver to pry up and scrape off all of the old caulk.
2. Wipe down the surface with rubbing alcohol. Allow surface to dry.
3. Put painters tape on either side of the seam to create a straight line for the caulk.
4. Apply the bead of caulk.
5. Use wet finger to smooth the surface of the caulk. Have a bunch of paper towels or rags available to wipe off excess caulk.
6. Peel off tape while caulk is still wet.

Before. Don't look too close; it's gross.

After. Still don't look too close. It's better than the before, but bathroom floors are gross by nature.

Marine scene

I've spotted a couple marine blue rooms around the blogosphere lately and have since developed a small, but persistent crush on that color. In particular, I want it for my bedroom. I hadn't planned on painting my bedroom any time soon, but now, I want to abandon all other projects and put that at the top of my list! That's what happens when you have a crush; you act all crazy-like.

From Apartment Therapy

From a Browner Brown

Overstock out-of-stock

Overstock.com is one of my go-to sources for stuff. The selection is good and the price is right. Plus, until recently, it used to be relatively easy to dig up an additional 10% off my order by googling "Overstock promo code". Lately, I think Overstock must be feeling the recession; they aren't as free with the XX-percent-off love anymore.

Here's why I like Overstock this week: If a product is out of stock, you can have an e-mail alert sent to you when the inventory has been replenished. I did this to snag some curtains for my bedroom. It was kind of like a little game to see who, amongst Internet strangers, was fastest on the draw.

The one kind of stupid thing about this inventory notification feature is, once the product is out of stock, you can no longer search for the product on Overstock's site. If you had bookmarked that particular product page, you can get to it that way, or you can go to Google and type in the name as best you remember it along with "overstock". And if you never even knew the out-of-stock product ever existed, I guess you may be out of luck.

Want these curtains? You gotta work for 'em!