This is what's up(stairs)...

Things are pretty insane around here.  Eli is busy coaching basketball - constantly - we hardly see him.  We're still recovering from the holidays.  Grady was sick all weekend with a fever, cough, & ear ache.  He also starts swimming lessons today...on one of the coldest days of the year.  In the middle of all of that, Dad & I are chipping away at the attic project...slowly!

We're "this" close to being done mudding the bedroom portion of the attic.  There are just a couple of small spots that need one final coat of mud & sanding.  Most of the surfaces in there have already been primed & painted BM Simply White, though!  I should be able to finish up painting the bedroom & closets tomorrow!

Here are a few quick Instagram (@reneestarzl) shots of what we've been up to...

Prime & paint on the walls - mud on the ceiling.

Painting barn lights in "Catalina Mist" by Krylon.

Ta-da!  (Cage is from Barn light Electric, barn light from Menards.)

Gathering some bedroom textile inspiration.

What's next?

• finishing up the last coat of mud
• prime & paint ceiling
• hang lights (eek!)
• hang paneling on window wall & paint
• repeat above bullet points in landing
• paint & install stair rails
• paint floor
• trim, trim, & more trim
• closet systems
• storage doors
• DECORATE!

Mini Makeovers: Entry way light, caulk, & painting trim

For years I've had a list of small, inexpensive or free fixes/repairs/tweaks that I'd like to (or need to) make to our house.  Guess how far I've gotten on that list - not very.  For some reason it seems like those tiny, 15 minute projects are the hardest to tackle, even though a lot of times they make a huge impact.  That's about to change friends.

I've challenged myself to cross an average of one item off the list each week.  Some weeks I might finish one, some weeks I might not get to any of them...just so my average is one per week.

So, here's where I'm at after week one, with help from my mom & Grady.

Mini Makeover #1: Ugly entry way light fixture.
I know that gold is back, but this here ain't no pretty gold.  I actually like the globe on the original light, so thought I'd put a quick coat of ORB spray paint on the base to freshen it up a bit.  After taping up some newspaper on the ceiling, the whole shebang took 5 minutes...if that.  Easy peasy.

Mini Makeover #2 & 3: Cracked bathroom trim & hallway/dining trim retouch.

After a too hard door slam in the bathroom a couple of months ago, our trim inside the bathroom got popped away from the wall a little bit.  I had to cut away the old caulking & nail the trim back down, resulting in a gap between the trim & tile.  Before I had a chance to nail the trim back down, the door started rubbing against the wonky trim & peeled some paint off.  So in addition to caulking, we now had to paint the trim, too.  (While we were at it we gave all of the door trim in the hallway & dining room a fresh coat of paint too since there were a few dings here & there.)  Caulk = 1 minute, trim paint in bathroom & hall = 1 hour (with two people working).

Mom & Grady painting the newly repaired trim.  (I wish I looked that cute in my undies!)

Future Mini Makeovers:

paint small strip of wall that was missed in kitchen

paint 1 piece of trim in kitchen

stair railing in basement

wallpaper side entry ceiling

paint exterior doors

paint dining room built-in

threshold by patio door

patch old curtain rod holes

patch cracks in living/dining rooms

repaint living/dining rooms

lay wood floor in hall closet

new smoke alarms by bedrooms

new doorknobs on entry closet & our bedroom door & closets

patch cracks in bathroom & repaint

new shower curtain

art for bathroom

kitchen window treatments

touch up trim in front entry

paint front entry ceiling

I'm sure I'll think of a few other things to do, but this should keep us busy for a while!

Here's to getting stuff done & crossing items off lists!