My 2-year house anniversary post is very belated. Truthfully, I haven’t accomplished much this summer. Instead of painting and crafting, a lot of my time went into applying and interviewing for new jobs. It took 7 interviews, guys. It’s tough out there.
But that initial effort has resulted in a much happier, healthier blog author today. There’s even a little extra money kicking around for new projects (if I can manage to stop spending it on work-appropriate clothing!).
For this year’s entry, I’ve decided to go for honesty. I’ve made definite improvements to each room in the house, but lingering ugly spots remain. And ugly spots are entertaining, too, so I’m not gonna hide them from you.
Let’s start with The World’s Smallest Kitchen ™!
Man, every year I do this post I wish that my camera hadn’t been stolen, robbing me of all of my before pictures. These crappy inspection photos are worthless.
Anyway, that was then. Here’s where we are today:
The open shelving project has turned out to be one of my favorite things about this room. I had some concerns going in; people warned me that my dishes would get dusty or sticky, plus I cheaped out and went with some Ikea laminate shelves, so I was worried they might warp or peel. But so far, I have to say that the entire arrangement has been trouble-free.
And if you happen to have nice dishes (thanks, Mom!), it’s really lovely to see everything out in the open.
My second-favorite thing is this little window of bottles and plants. I rotate items in and out of this arrangement pretty frequently. Translation: sometimes I kill things.
I like the way the closed containers fog up in the morning.
And now for the ugly. I’ve pretty successfully rid this room of the ugly, except for one thing:
Sky. Blue. Counter tops. I’ve lived with them long enough now that I no longer wonder WHY anyone would pick this color every time I peek at them. And that scares me.
Let’s move to the dining room!
Ouch. Let’s not. I’m looking at this now and wondering if the green (?!) counter top in this room was picked to match the green chairs. I can offer no other explanation.
Today we’re a little better off, color-wise:
We still have the green and it still needs to go, but at least there isn’t any yellow for it to fight with.
That thing in the corner of the first picture is my gecko’s starter terrarium. He’s been living in this room because it has an air conditioner, and apparently I care more about moderating his temperature than I do my own.
I see you!
This is the first room I started working on, and it’s probably time to revisit it. I’d like to use this radiator cover space in a more interesting way. The room could use a rug, too.
Hulk smash green counter top! But that’s not even the ugliest bit:
Ah yes, the mouse hole that I plugged with steel wool, caulk, and a boat load of poison. Also, the electrical outlet that was stuffed into a hole far too big for it, and is therefore screwed to nothing.
I could fix most of this situation with baseboards, if I ever get around to baseboards. The kitchen had some that I saved when the floors were redone, but the living room had nothing. I don’t know if I can match the old ones so I haven’t reinstalled them.
Yeah. That’s a pretty poor effort.
Coming soon: the living room and more!