No More Popcorn Ceiling
The popcorn has given way to a smooth, flat ceiling, thanks to Brandon’s hard work. It came down easily enough in just a few hours (he sprayed it with water and scraped it off), but smoothing the resulting mess took a little longer. He did a rough sanding (60 grit) first, wiped all of the dust away with a damp cloth, smoothed over all of the imperfections with joint compound, and then sanded everything again (220 grit).
I’m the more handy one out of the two of us and I felt bad that I couldn’t help, but we didn’t think it was a safe job for a pregnant lady. Oh yeah, I’m also a wee bit of a perfectionist… It was really hard to not go in there and obsessively sand and smooth and do things myself. After priming and painting though, the ceiling looks really good.
The new light looks great, though we did have to run out and grab a ceiling medallion. I’m not really a fan of them, but Brandon had a hard time smoothing out the ceiling near the light, and the medallion was an easy solution to hide the remaining popcorn texture. I haven’t decided yet if I’ll leave it white or if I’ll paint it the same color as the rest of the ceiling.
Now, I know people get a bit nervous when dealing with electrical projects (we do too), but changing a light fixture is EASY. We’ve done it six times so far in this house (in the living room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, studio, and nursery). You just make sure the power is off, take down the old fixture, connect like wires to like wires, attach the ground wire to the little green screw on the mounting bar, and then attach the new fixture.
We decided to keep the room the same color (Wheat Bread by Behr), but it needed a second coat of paint. Really, it’s always needed that second coat, but I think I was too tired when working on the guest room before and I just figured ‘good enough’ (which is so uncharacteristic of me). It has bugged me ever since. So now we’ve painted the ceiling and walls, and even did some touch up work on the trim, and the guest room is officially ready to be switched over to a nursery.
New Glasses
Hooray for new specs! Our insurance covers a lot of the cost, so I took advantage of that before the year ended. I found them online too (at a discount), in case anyone is inclined to check them out.
Also, here I am at 25 and a half weeks pregnant. Getting bigger, but still feeling all right.
Graphic Bedroom (MIY: Real Good Chair)
Making it Yours (MIY) is all about using the furniture you have in new ways and taking pieces with you throughout your life. In this edition of MIY, our fictional homeowner has moved from a home with a breakfast nook and room for four Real Good Chairs to a new home where the chairs will have to be split up. We’ve already seen one of the chairs in a home office, so now we’ll see another in a modern, graphic bedroom.
I noticed that I had been using a lot of light wall colors lately, but I thought a nice deep olive green would work well in this bedroom. I think the trick to using a dark wall color is to balance it with lighter elements (like in my library), so the bedding and headboard will help with that. Then of course, we have some crazy pattern. I love Thomas Paul’s work, and the rug and pillow tie all of the colors in the room together. The Digging Up print (in a RIBBA frame) matches without being too ‘matchy matchy’. A blue silk pillow is a nice addition too (it’s always good to throw in some solids when there are lots of patterns going on, yes?). Further breaking up all of the patterns, there’s IKEA’s simple MALM dresser, and a handsome pair of swing arm lamps to flank the bed.
Next up, we’ll see the chair in a vintagey bathroom.
Style: January ‘09
A new month, a new style post. I have a lot of fun making these, so I hope you enjoy them!
I adore the huge print on this chainlink-print dress. Absolutely adore it. I often like to add colored tights but here I think I’d stick with gray. I’d also wear my inexpensive gray shoes from Old Navy (which I highly recommend as they are cute and comfortable). So things are a bit monochromatic now, yes? I’d throw on a colorful cardigan sweater (just about any color would work nicely), and grab a bag in yet another color (I’m coveting the Get-Up-and-Go Bag these days). Feminine gold and pearl earrings and simple stacking bracelets (Banana Republic makes the ones shown, but I also really like the set from LOOKAjewelry).
And now, here’s a maternity version. I have this jersey dress, and I think it’s actually quite flattering. Super comfortable and a bit casual, it’s a really nice dress to carry one through to spring.
Oh, and happy new year!
Popcorn Ceiling
Finally, after living here for almost two years, the popcorn ceiling in the guest room (soon to be nursery) will be coming down.
I’ve been careful to photograph the room and conveniently leave the ceiling out of the picture. See? Looks nice, right?
…Until you actually see what’s above your head.
We found out that popcorn ceilings sometimes contain asbestos, so we sent a sample to Western Analytical Lab for testing. Just a few days later, we had the go ahead (all clear!).
Brandon thinks he can get the whole thing done today, so fingers crossed.
The Homies: Best Home Design Blog of 2008
Ooh! Making it Lovely has made it to the list of finalists for Apartment Therapy’s blog award, The Homies!
I read each and every one of the fellow blogs nominated (Decorno, Door Sixteen, Desire to Inspire, Decor8, This Young House, SF Girl by Bay, & Design*Sponge), and I’m honored to be included in such an amazing group.
A big thank you to all of the people that nominated me – I really appreciate it! You can vote for your favorite blog right here.
Home Office (MIY: Real Good Chair)
Making it Yours (MIY) is all about using the furniture you have in new ways and taking pieces with you throughout your life. In this edition of MIY, our fictional homeowner has moved from a home with a breakfast nook and room for four Real Good Chairs to a new home where the chairs will have to be split up. First up, we’ll see one of the chairs in a home office.
The basics of the room are neutral. Soft grayish white walls, an interesting white desk, a simple bookshelf, and a handsome file cabinet make up the foundation. A graphic pencil cup adds pattern, and for color we have orangey/red carpet tiles and an orange desk lamp. Blancucha’s Monsieur III print in a simple frame adds a little more color and fun, and russel + hazel’s collator corrals clutter on the desk.
Next, we’ll see one of the chairs in a bedroom.
Breakfast Nook (MIY: Real Good Chair)
Making it Yours (MIY) is all about using the furniture you have in new ways and taking pieces with you throughout your life. The first edition of MIY followed a piece of furniture (the Borghese Dresser) through an imagined life over many years. This time I’m doing it a little differently. A set of four chairs (Blu Dot’s Real Good Chair) will be making the move from a house with a breakfast nook to a new house without. The chairs will be split up and reassigned to a home office, a bedroom, a bathroom, and an entryway.
I’m a little in love with my wallpaper at the moment, so I chose Mibo’s Clacket Lane Wallpaper in cream for this room. Wouldn’t a little wallpapered breakfast nook off of a vintagey kitchen be adorable? I certainly think so.
The room has wood floors and a wood table, so to break up all of the brown, Charcoal Fedora Flor Carpet Tiles would be nice (and inexpensive). More dark accents are added in the Metropolitan Wall Clock and 365+ Brasa Lamp. And finally, a gorgeous Large Coper Bowl from jillrosenwald is added to complete the room.
Next up? We’ll see the chair in a home office.
Love
Well Said
I know a lot of you already check out the “Well Said” sidebar on the blog, but I thought I’d point it out a few items from today in case you hadn’t seen it or usually read via a feed reader.
- Apartment Therapy is taking nominations for the best home blog: The Homies 2008. Votes for Making it Lovely are greatly appreciated (hint hint).
- The full 8-Bit Jesus Christmas chip-tunes album is now available. Judging from the lack of comments when I mentioned the first half of the album, maybe you guys didn’t appreciate this as much as I did, but I still love it.
- BarryBlog has compiled a West Chicagoland Thrift/Resale Driving Map. BarryBlog is how I found out about Jubilee, which is where I got my dining room table and all six chairs for the amazing price of $350.
And as always, check out the Well Said section every so often. Things that catch my eye usually end up linked over there.
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