Bathroom Tub Overhaul ...

So the project that we just completed at our house, is a tub to shower makeover!  I have received mixed reviews on this, and it is obvious who is a bath tub lover versus a shower lover ... it is kind of like mayo, you either love it or hate it, and everyone has their reasons why.

My reason for this conversion is this bathroom serves 2 of our guest bedrooms, and I felt bad making our guests always bathe versus shower, and so I decided prior to Thanksgiving when my house was going to fill with guests, I needed to get this done!

BEFORE:

Oh and I forgot to mention that the walls were yellow and white striped and clouds were painted on the ceiling, and there were these "princess-y" looking shelves that went around the tub - HIDEOUS!  So the tub and princess-y shelves have come down, and the walls have been primed (so the stripes are gone), but I now need to get the walls textured, and then painted!  So much work, for such a little room ...

AFTER:

Enjoy!

Why it took us 3 months to move in-

We decided that the kitchen was too '80s for us!
So we updated:

• The cabinets from blond wood to black (new fixtures)
• White counter tops to Granite
• Tile back splash to Travertine back splash
• Porcelain white sink divided to a black unmount trough (new fixtures)
• Tile floor to Travertine (thanks to Brian's hard work)
• Sunny yellow walls to a neutral
• Changed the trash compactor to a wine fridge
• Updated the appliances

Check it out!
Before:

After:

Sunny yellow walls, and chandelier:

As you can see below, the chandelier has not been changed yet ... still trying to find the perfect one.  If you find one for me, send me a message with the URL link, thanks!

Before, tile floors:

After, travertine:

It was nice to have the kitchen finished when we moved it, but there are still more rooms to go!  At least this kitchen has seen and fed many people.  Two Thanksgivings in a row now (2010 and 2011) this kitchen has fed more than 20 people each year!

Dallas We Have Arrived...

Ok so this may be a year and a few months overdue (or more), since that is how long we have been in Dallas now; however as I look at the last post, that was the day after my 28th birthday, and I am now 2 months into being 30!  So I am in a huge way overdue in posting to this blog.

WHY?

Mainly due to the fact, that this blog was called "Home on the Rangely" and I was using this platform to highlight my down to the bone remodel of my home in Houston, and when we sold it to a great couple- who ended up knowing all of our friends (I am sure I will blog about them later), I wasn't quite sure what to post on here.  What would be interesting?  I have no more remodel pictures.  Maybe none of this.

Also I have been extremely busy; with nothing in particular, just life.  No kids or anything.  It takes me about a year to become myself again, I have decided, after a move.  I never admit that to any one, but there is so much more to get in order then just your house during a move.  And since 2005, I have moved every 6 months until moving to Dallas, and landing on Krohn Court (I have lived here now since July 2010).  I have decided to keep the name of my blog the same, and the content fairly consistent with before- but moving forward, as I move, and life changes, I will just become Home on the Rangely of where ever I am!

I have a feeling Dallas will not be my last stop.  So needless to say, I am back.  We will see how consistently.  I do have major before/after pictures of this house on Krohn.  I did not take it to the studs, but it has been a room by room, slow project by slow project, grass getting laid twice, kind of house ... and if you stay with me, you will see ...

Front Door prior to Purchase

Black Door after Purchase (fuzzy- with my phone)

Super Bowl 2011 Snow Day ... Black Door open, so anyone can come visit!

Carving Pumpkins. 2 Hours. Gross Ending.

This is my ghost.
Brian carving his scary skeleton.
Look how well it turned out. True artists!


Looking good on the front porch ... sure to scare some kids!

Last Sunday Brian and I thought it would be a great idea to buy pumpkins at the grocery store, and carve them so that we could get in the Halloween spirit. We bought the 2 best pumpkins, and a carving kit. We used these templates to make the most amazing ghost and skeleton (in remembrance of the ACL skull). I truly believe they turned out wonderful! We immediately put them on our front porch, after all of our hard work, to show them off to the world. The next day Brian had some buddies over, and they commented on our scary pumpkins. So Brian and I went out to have a look, and sure enough there sat the two SCARIEST pumpkins I had ever seen! Thanks to Houston's humidity and 80 degree heat, our pumpkins had grown fuzzy, furry, gray mold. It was every where ... crawling out of all the holes we had carved ... it looked like my ghost, and Brian's skeleton had grown beards. It was disgusting! Brian almost threw up as he instantly carried them to the trash can. All that hard work just to be thrown away. We now know not to carve pumpkins in Houston. Next year we will just draw on them. Lesson learned. We still had a great time carving...

The Little Things

Brian putzed in the yard, I mean, worked very hard in the yard yesterday. Trimming bushes, removing branches that had blown in the yard, etc. When he came in the house he presented me with the following ... they were presented to me exactly how you see them below ... In a beautiful vase, with small stones at the bottom, and purple foliage to add to the color of the amazing pink miniature roses. They smelled wonderful. It is amazing that such a small flower could produce such a smell. It made my day. The rose bush (I have photographed and posted earlier) was given to us by the McNally's, and is now in a place in our yard, where it is really blooming! I have decided to dedicate the flowers below to my Papa. He loved roses, and spent many of his days tending to them. I miss you! Enjoy the pictures ...

Yes, they are in a St. Arnold's Beer glass. If you haven't been to the local micro brew in Houston, it is really worth going too.

FINALLY Organizing

I know I should be the organized one, but sadly, it is easier to organize others than it is to organize yourself. However, I got on a cooking kick the other week, and realized how disorganized my kitchen was, and how it made cooking unbareable. Poor Brian has been cooking for months with a horrible mess of a kitchen, and hasn't complained once. So I should really say I did it for him! So after 10 months of living at Rangely I decided to step it up a notch and start (key word) organizing ... it isn't any where near finished yet.

So off I went to The Container Store (oh how terrible), and came back with some wonderful goodies.

I can't believe I am showing this, but this is under my kitchen sink: What a MESS!
After: (I purchased the plastic bag container on the right hand side, so they don't fly around under there) Before: My pots and pans were thrown in random stacks...

After: I bought these pot racks that slide out (so you can see all the pots you have), and a lid holder that slides out ... Yes I had to use a drill to install these...

Before: My pantry is tall and deep, and hides many things that I may never see again...

After: I bought the Elfa Shelf drawers that slide out, and show us exactly what kind of yummy food we have ... I still need to figure out the top shelves...

Before/After of a few of my drawers ... now we can find all utensils.

So this was the start. There will be more to come! I was frightened to open up the cabinets underneath my kitchen island, but I will tackle it one day!

Beautiful Yard!

So after our initial planting when we moved in months ago, we haven't done a whole lot except water the yard and flower beds. And even watering we killed quite a few of the Rosemary plants in our front bed, and we felt very discouraged. So last Sunday was yard day!

We put on our yard working clothes, plugged the iPod speakers up, and went to work! After hunting at Houston Garden Center for a couple of hours we found the plants we thought were most beautiful, and could withstand the amount of sun that our yard would give them. The best part is that everything was on sale!

So we pulled up the Rosemary that was still alive, and planted it in a pot that would give it more sun...

Brian's mom had a plant that she gave us, so we planted it, in the pot that matched... Both these pots sit on our back porch beside our French doors.

Then where the Rosemary had been, we planted the coolest plants (I think) :) I liked the contrasting purplish-green plants, and the light grey plant. They line our front porch:

I think it looks wonderful!

I even moved our pretty rose bush from Mr. and Mrs. McNally to the right side of our garage door, and it will get the sun and rain it needs: