Tuesday, April 19, 2011

The Basement Painted

It is difficult for most to believe that after just over a year of living here that our basement needed to be painted. But, it did. Flat paint and 3 kids just do not go together. Period.

The overwhelming task of painting the basement had been on our "to do" list all winter. However, Chris and I just could not get to it.

So, we hired it painted. Seriously, I am getting into having painting jobs hired done! I love our painter! Really, I do! He painted it, again, in Sherwin Williams Latte. We love it! Now...for the decorating part.

And so...another job behind us. Many more ahead of us. We better get cracking on our "to do" list!



Friday, February 11, 2011

Shadow Lake in the news...

Looks like other people are taking notice of our neighborhood, Shadow Lake. Let's hope this helps us sell our crib when we decide to move.

Shadow Lake among bright spots in housing

Friday, January 28, 2011

More Painting...The Entry

Another thing checked off the list...the entry way is painted! We hired this done...and it looks fabulous! It is painted with Sherwin Williams Latte Harmony in Eggshell finish.
Now, onto bigger projects. Sigh...



Saturday, January 1, 2011

2011 Home Goals

Happy New Year!

We accomplished a lot in 2010, but we hope to slow down a bit in 2011. We are not sure how long we are going to stay in Nebraska. Chris and I are  looking at moving in a few years, far away, for a few years. Things change with the years, so we will see. But, we have found that we do not get the return on investment on the things we do to a home, so we are better off to save our money than to put in into our home.

With that said, here are are 2011 home goals:
1. Paint the interior with NON flat paint. We have a number of areas left, but we look forward to having it finished!
2. Recarpet the basement post kitty (I can not wait for this goal!).
3. Add curb appeal to the front of the house. We just want to add a few finishing touches since this home sits up on the lot...we just want it to be something to look at when we do go to sell "someday."
4. Wrought iron spindles. These were on our original check list of things to be in our next home, which is now this home, so we would like to add them.
5. Patio: This we decided against adding the patio...but we will see. We have a covered patio now...so we are not sure it would add to the value of the home when we go to sell. We will see. I WOULD LOVE ONE myself...but not sure it is worth how much it would cost to install.
6. & Maybe, just maybe, add the surround sound to the basement. Chris has the main level and music hooked up throughout. So we can now listen to music through the house. But, he would really like to get the speakers in the basement working (if we can only figure out how). We believe we need to upgrade our system first.

Guess it is time to get at it...well, maybe.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Quality Fence?

This is our "Quality" brand fence after the FIRST winter storm it has been in. Nice...Quality? Let's see what they say when I call them tomorrow.







Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Our Changing Landscape...

I last posted an update to our changing 4 corners on February 22, 2010. Want to see it now?

Looking to the West out of our patio door.

Looking to the West towards our new neighbors across the street and model home over the fence.

Looking to the Northwest out the back yard

Northwest...view from the backyard (that will soon be changing).

New Constuction - This was taken YESTERDAY...Today...Dirt pile in its place

View to the North out the back yard - New neigbors straight out (but far) and to the right in the picture)

Neighbors in the ranch moved in last April (and are super nice!).

View to the East from the kitchen window

Today's view (beside the model home is another hole being dug. Yeah.).

Lovely...dirt and more beeping

View out front to the Southwest

Out front door

View from Front door to the East

View from front

Front yard

View looking out the front door





My, how our landscape changes from day to day around here.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Painting Rounded Walls

I should not be the one writing about how to paint rounded corners. When painting our rooms from the kitchen to the family room, all I did to help was Google where to tape. Chris did the exact work (and it turned out beautifully!).

So, how do you know where to lay the tape and make the line? First off, you need painters tape...frog tape to be exact. The blue tape just will not do the trick for this project. In our home, we have what are called bullnose corners, but they come to a point at the bottom. At the bottom, it is easy to form the line between rooms. Then, we just selected the inside of the round point and taped. Sounds easy...but it really is not. It is has to be a perfect straight line or it will just look awful. The tape needs to be applied from the ceiling down in most cases.

Once the line in taped, it is time to paint. Paint away. Once both coats have been applied (let's be honest, the "2 coat paint" never seems to be quite good enough), the tape should be removed. I have found the quicker the tape comes off, the better.

And here is the result form our painting project. Kitchen: Valspar Burnt Caramel (from Lowes) and the family room: Sherwin Williams Latte.