Floored! And a Winner!



When we moved into this house a few years ago, we were thrilled that it had gorgeous walnut floors.  We had Max, our 90 pound chocolate lab, who was pretty hard on them, but we decided that we loved him more than anything and would deal with the floors later.  As many of you know, he passed away a couple of months ago.  We knew it was time to have the floors redone and had a trip scheduled to see our son at college, so the timing was perfect. 

To get ready for them to do the floors, we had to remove everything from every room. We decided that it would be a perfect time to paint. We spent two FULL weekends painting, painting, painting.   The walls used to be a yellowish/sand color on the walls and ceiling. 

(WALLS AND CEILING BEFORE)

It's kind of hard to see the difference, but now the walls are now linen and the ceilings are white.

(WALLS AND CEILING AFTER)

We finished painting last Sunday and the floor guys showed up Monday morning.  When we got home Monday night, there was some sort of film all over.  It looked weird! 



When we got home Tuesday, the floors were sanded and looking fab!

We left for vacation Wednesday morning, right before they started all of the stinky stuff.  They worked Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  When we got home tonight  (Sunday), the floors looked great and the smell was horrible!  We did have a friend open a window for us while we were gone, but as soon as we got home, every window in the house got opened!  We will spend the next couple of days putting everything back together.

Thank you to everyone who entered my giveaway from Eco Natural Soaps.

Oregon Shopping Fun!

Last week when we had our floors redone, we had to be out of the house for several days.  So we headed to Oregon to see our son at school, and family and friends.  Of course there was lots of fun shopping too! 

Our first stop was Monticello Antiques in Portland.  We found this scale and really, really considered it, but ended up not buying it.  By the time we left Oregon, the truck was so full that we wouldn't have been able to fit in anyway.  But it would've been a fun project.

My friend Heather and I had a great day shopping in Eugene.  We did not buy this leather horse for $4400.  It was neat, but I wonder how big a house you'd need to have a full size replica horse in it??

Our shopping trips always include one of our favorite stores, Treasures from the Heart Gifts and the very sweet owner, Barb. 

At Barb's store, we each found a seltzer bottle.  I was surprised to find that the straw in the middle of it is glass.  I love the way it cleaned up. 

I also found this galvanized bucket.  A mum that's just about to explode with blooms fits perfectly in it.  I set it in a milk bottle delivery box that I found at a garage sale a couple of weeks ago.

Another favorite place to shop in Eugene is Colby Cottage "The Barn".  I found these pumpkins that are so cute!  I'm not a huge fan of orange, so it's great to find off white pumpkins. :)  I put them in a box I made and put them on the dining room table.  

 



Thanks for your visit!

Pam


I am linking to the following parties:

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Apothecary Jar Love

My parents collected antique apothecary jars for many years.  In the 1971 Northridge earthquake, they lost hundreds of them.  I remember being a kid and just seeing piles and piles of glass.  I'm guessing that some of the bigger ones must've been displayed away from the others, as they survived.  When my Mom passed away, my stepdad gave us her favorite jars.  This "Banjo" jar is one of the neatest I have ever seen.  I am thrilled to get to have it in my home.

These are called Dakota Globes.  I found these at antique shows and on eBay.  The biggest one here is 15" and the smallest is 10".  I've seen an 8" jar for sale for thousands on eBay, so I passed.  :)  

This enormous Dakota Globe is from my Mom.  It is 19" and in amazing shape.  

I just put it up here to show the size difference.  I wanted to keep it down low so it wouldn't be in danger of falling off the mantel.

I love the lid on this one, as it matches the Banjo lid.  

These are called Columbia Swirl.  I like how they made different shapes, but kept the lids consistent.

As kids, we were never, ever allowed to touch the candy in the jars (or the jars for that matter!)   Obviously, I had the same rule with my kids.  :)  Most of the candy is so old, that it's yucky, but it is enticing to little ones! 

I've discovered that the really big jars and the really small jars are the most valuable.    Really though, the jars that are the most valuable to me are those that have been passed down.  I am so happy to have them.

Thanks for coming by!

Pam

 I am linking to the following parties:

Debbiedoo's Newbie with a Twist Party

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Great Memories of Our Old Backyard



The other day I was on Pinterest and this picture popped up that someone had pinned from the HGTV site.  (I had originally uploaded it to the RMS site)   How exciting to see our backyard!  It was our old one that we put years and years into making our own.  We moved from there a few years ago, but have great memories of the place.

Here it was when we moved in in 2000.  Yes, a bit rough!!  :)

When we first redid this area, we had a swing set, as our kids were in grade school. They loved that thing! After they outgrew it, we put our firepit up there.  It was such a great place to relax!




This is actually after we had cleaned it up quite a bit.  I remember lots and lots of 2x6's stacked against the fence, rotting....  I think the prior owner's plan was to build raised beds.  Because the soil is clay, clay, and more clay, a lot of people do make raised beds.  We decided to rototill truckloads of compost in instead. 

Max would play for hours, chasing racquetballs. When he'd get tired, he knew exactly where to cool off. He would lay in the second level with the cool water flowing on his back. He would set his racquetball down and it would stay right there until he was ready to play some more. :)   HGTV also had this picture on their site for Pets in the Yard.  Max was a star!  :)

Thanks for your visit!

Pam

I am linking to the following parties:



Kitchen Backsplash Update

Recently, we had our floors refinished and painted all of those rooms.  After painting the kitchen,  we decided that we would like a new backsplash.

We brought home lots and lots of different choices.  Most were nice, but just too busy for us.  We love subway tiles and love travertine, so when we found this tile, our decision was made. 

This picture (kind of) shows the old 4" granite backsplash. 

There was lots of patching to make the walls perfectly smooth.

Some sections had too many cutouts to use the mesh pieces.  This is where each piece was individually hung on the wall.

 

It took my husband one evening during the week and the weekend and he was done.  Yes, he's a keeper!





 Our kitchen isn't very big, but is definitely workable for us.  I'm thrilled with it and so thankful for such a talented husband!

Thanks for your visit!

Pam

I am linking to the following parties:

Debbiedoo's Newbie Party with a Twist

Weight! Another Neat Scale Redo!



I found this old, dirty Dayton scale at a garage sale this summer. 





My husband started by taking everything apart. He said it was very complicated and he wasn't sure if he'd ever get it back together. (But I knew he would!)

He got rid of all of the paint.

 And did lots of polishing...

He painted it green.

We found water decals on eBay.

 There were LOTS of parts that had to be put back together....

He spent hours reassembling it.

I think he did another beautiful job!!

Thanks for your visit!

Pam

I will be linking to the following parties: