Now, Where Was I?

I'm still not sure where I was, but I can tell you where I'm at now... In total chaos! Nothing is finished, my house is a wreck and I have no business sitting down to write a post (or to even have worked on mini projects a little today). But honestly, I really needed a break from real life renos! Let me catch you up...


My last progress post I told you that Russ was in the mood to make a few improvements to our family room. This is what it has looked like for the most part over the last nearly 12 years:

Emptied and ready to change the paint color.

Russ gets to roll the ceilings because he's taller than me. I get to do the cutting in.
Notice how there is a new pony wall separating the family room from the kitchen. Now we'll have room at the new counter for four more to eat when family gathers here. There is also a gate to keep the puppies out unless we want them in.

Ceiling painted and walls primed. Part of the flooring had to be removed and then reinstalled.

The builders used a paint color on all of the walls and ceilings that I like to call Dead Skin. This ceiling was the last of that color in the house. Notice how much lighter real ceiling paint makes the room. And the soft sage-y green helps a lot, too!

What a mess! And the puppy you see is our son Ande's. Her name is Thug Rose, after the MMA fighter. Despite her name, she is a sweetheart and likes to come hang out at grandma's house with the other puppies - even in chaos!

We never liked the recess above the fireplace, and it was too high for the TV anyway. Russ closed it up and it looks much nicer. The new countertop on the pony wall will come in handy. The new wood flooring is supposed to arrive tomorrow, then needs to acclimate for a week before we can install it. So our chaos will go on for a while...

And of course, since the kitchen is technically connected to the family room, it was time for it to be painted, too. Here is what the kitchen has looked like since our first year here:

The problem is, I can't pick the color!!! No matter what, I have to make a decision by Friday, and have the rest of the room emptied out. I am leaning toward the peachy one on the left. It's called Chai Latte, which I love to drink!

Meanwhile, I just really needed a mini session. So in the midst of all the chaos and endless To-Do's, I played for a while today. I printed some fabric for the chairs in each of the roomboxes...

I used some strange looking plastic foliage from my drawer to make a couple planters for the atrium windows. They look a little like a Joshua Tree, and with a little paint and texture on the trunk, then some chalk on the leaves, they look pretty good.

I used some grapevine and some twigs from a huckleberry bush as the branches for cloud bonsai.

Secured in the pot with hot glue...

Then Tacky glue and a layer of Paperclay...

Then another layer of Tacky Glue...

Then a topping of railroad gravel...

Let set, and then the pots are ready for some clump foliage...

xxx

Apply a generous amount of Quick Grab Tacky Glue to the end of the branch, then form the clump foliage around it and hold until set.

They will look like the gardener has been slacking, but once they are fully dry and set to the branch...

You can trim and shape with small scissors. To set them, Scenic Cement works, but is kind of messy to apply. I prefer cheap super hold hairspray. A few light coats works well.

Now, I am afraid my play time is over for a bit. :O(
I must go back to work on the real life demands. I hope to be back before too long with more mini progress, and to let you know if Chai Latte made the final cut.

xo xo,
Jodi


xxx