It's beginning to look...

a lot like Christmas!

Yes, I have already started to decorate our home for Christmas. I like to take my time and move things around a bit, so I needed to get started. Especially since I am planning on doing some entertaining during the Holidays! Here is a little sneak peek at what I've been up to!

This what you see as you enter through the front door...
I love Nativity scenes, and this Santos Nativity from Southern Living at HOME is one of my favorites.

Looking back in to the entry from our Living room...

We got this Santa at a craft fair several years ago and I still love him!

I love this print by Mike Capser appropriately titled "Snow Angels". I got it from Santa a few years ago and it hangs in our Dining room year round. It remind me of my Brother and I when we were kids. We grew up in Nebraska, and we made our share of snow angels!

Sorry the picture is a little blurry, my phone usually takes great pictures! I have a couple of my snowmen overlooking the table...

Here is my dining table all ready for guests! I LOVE the Filigree iron candlestand! I use this centerpiece for EVERY holiday.

A little closer look...

That's it for now! I will post more as I make progress later this week.

Home Improvement Update: Part One

I know, I promised an update on Saturday, but the work was supposed to be done by Noon too.
Neither thing happened. Joe thought they would be done in half a day, but things just kept happening and they were finally able to finish after five on Saturday. It looks beautiful and I am VERY happy with the colors we went with. I wish everything was back in it's place now, but it is not. I am trying to get a little done each night so I can finally get back to normal!

I took a bunch of photos, so I will do a Dining Room post, part two will be the bathroom progress and hopefully part three will be completed photos of both rooms!

Here is an action shot - Paint is finally being rolled on! "Notable Hue" looks a LOT darker here than it is.

You can see in this photo that the color is just a shade darker than what was there. This color is very close to the same shade of blue that our tile is.

Just a small mess compared to the rest of the house right now. They had to put stuff somewhere!

It seemed like we spent most of Saturday watching paint dry. We did go purchase a new chandelier. I'm really glad I waited to purchase this light, because I had a stained glass fixture picked out, but I don't think I would have like it once we got the paint on the walls.

I love the one we picked out! No more ugly brass with a chain that was too long!

I love this! Simple, but elegant.

See how pretty those ceilings are now? The kitchen is next on my project list!

With the money I saved by NOT going with the stained glass fixture for the Dining room we were able to replace two more fixtures that I have hated almost from the day we put them up! Yes, THREE for the price of one! The ceiling fan in the Kitchen is now gone, as is the ugly little can light that was above the sink.

Much better! Don't you think?

Bathroom photos tomorrow...

Day Three

Well they didn't get done today, but it will be done tomorrow!

I walked in the house to see this:

The light fixtures are out, so it is too dark to take good pictures. Sorry.

The dining room is taped off and ready to paint.

The ceiling got painted, but as it dried Joe saw some spots that he didn't like. So he repaired it and the mud needed to dry overnight. It will get another coat of paint and then they will do the walls!

So by noon on Saturday, we will have two new rooms! I can't wait:)

Day Two Update

Thursday's progress reminded me how I feel when I spend all day cleaning out closets and organizing cupboards, only to have the Handsome Prince come home and ask "what did you do all day?" Joe got a LOT done, but they are the sort of tasks that are not as noticeable. They got the ceiling in the Dining Room sprayed with the "Knock Down" so it and the walls are ready to paint.

The ceiling looks so much better already! I can not wait to see it completed. I think we will go tonight to pick out the new light fixture. I have one in mind, I just want to re-visit it to make sure it is the one I want.

They got the rest of the nasty wallpaper down in the bathroom. The adhesive that was supposed to be holding the mirror in place had come loose so when Joe was working on the wallpaper around it, the mirror started to fall forward! He got it down with no breaking - YAY! Now I am not sure I will put it back either...

Today the ceiling in the bathroom gets done, and hopefully painting in both rooms. Joe and Terry want to finish today but will come in the morning if they can't get done. I hope they finish today too, because I am so EXCITED! It is going to looks so much better.

These are the colors I went with. I tend to choose colors that I like the name - dumb I know, but I do! On the left is the bathroom color, Yarrow. (the one with the "B" on it) The paint chip in the middle is the "Autumn Surprise" that I had thought I wanted in there. I'm so glad I didn't go with that dark of a color! It would have been a cave in there. For the dining room I chose "Notable Hue" (the one with the smudged "D") It is just a little darker shade than what is in there now, but I think it will look SO pretty. I can't wait to get home tonight!!

Day One Progress

I am so very pleased with the progress made on Wednesday! The dining room ceiling looks so good! Joe said he thought one more round of mud and then paint on Thursday. And yes, there will be painting on the walls too:)

Progress in the bathroom is going a little slower than they had hoped. The wallpaper is being stubborn. Have I mentioned how glad I am that we HIRED someone to do this? I know we would have given up and I would have had to deal with a half done room.

The wallpaper is off, but there is still the sticky paper left to steam and scrape.

It looks so much better already!

I am so impressed with Joe and Terry. I really expected to come home to all that nasty white dust every where. Instead I came home to find the floors swept and no signs that workers had been here (other than the progress made) I can't wait to see what gets done on Day two!

More Change...

Is it just us, or does everyone have home improvement projects that just seem to snow ball?

Remember when I told y'all about the Bathroom re-do? Well, I had finally decided on a color (Valspar Autumn Surprise) and had convinced the Handsome Prince that we really needed to get busy tearing that wallpaper down. Somehow that motivation never happened.

Then my parents had some ceilings repaired at their house. The painters are a couple that go to church with them and they did a fantastic job for a very reasonable fee. So I decided I would have them come by and give me an estimate on repairing this ugly water damage in my Dining room.

We have been growing really tired of the "cottage cheese" ceilings in our house. So we thought as long as we were going to fix it, maybe we should change it. Something else that will be changed is this ugly chandelier. I am SO over it.

Joe the painter came this morning to start scraping that ugly ceiling. Which means that I spent last night clearing everything out of the china cabinet and putting it back in the spare bedroom. Hopefully I can get everything put back where it belongs, and not break anything!

What does this have to do with the bathroom re-do? That is where the snow ball thing comes in. The fish bathroom is right beside the Dining Room. As long as you are doing the ceiling in the Dining Room, you may as well do the bathroom too - Right? And, since Joe is a Painter, he could probably tear that old wallpaper down for you since he has the tools. Not that the lack of the proper tools has been your excuse to put this project off or anything...

Joe wasn't too sure about my color choice for in here. He thought it was a bit dark, and too orange. Since there isn't much light in this room, I think I have to agree with him. So now I will have to make up my mind shortly, but I am leaning towards SW Yarrow. It has more of a yellow/brown hue.

This is the view standing in the Dining room, so you see why the two rooms really had to be done at once. I just think it is funny that we started out wanting to fix a nasty stain on the ceiling and now we are scraping two ceilings, removing wallpaper, repairing and re-texturing the walls and painting, probably two rooms. (as long as everything is out of the Dining room you may as well paint it too - right?)

Progress pictures to come...