Home Upgrades.

Lately, Matt and I have been in the mood to start fixing up our home, little by little, as we are able.  I think what spurred this movement on is the large hole that was chewed into the middle of our carpet in the hallway by our precious crazy little Baylor.  However, we can now thank her for "encouraging" us to make it better :)  

The start of this first upgrade took the expertise of my stepdad and the willing participation to do whatever was needed and learn by my husband.  Matt has turned into quite the handyman, himself…such a prize for a woman to have at her side!  It was a full two day project with glowing results! 

The Hallway.

Next…Our dining room table.  

I've had a pub height table with eight chairs (two on each side) for the last 10 years.  It has been a wonderful addition to my home while hosting many dinner parties with friends, holidays with family, and a place to pack food on top of for other get togethers.  It has served me well.  

However, I'm in the mood for a "normal" table now with elegant chairs around…a new place for gathering with a little more style :)  I found the below dining table for sale for $65.  Perfect!  (the middle leaf is laying somewhere on the floor beside it)

Then, Matt and I decided on a paint color that we wanted, and I learned how to make homemade chalk paint (though, let me say, if I had to do it all over again, I would've just bought Annie Sloane Chalk paint…way too many coats needed with homemade, and a lot more work!) Matt really wanted to go lighter in our dining room since all of our other furniture is so dark.  So we chose a light cream color. 

The Parson Chairs that I found to use with the table, I also got for a steal!  

SIX Parson chairs for $150.  They are not pictured yet because they are currently having slip covers made that look just like the ones on Pottery Barn's website…that will be a future post :)

Our Front Door.

Although I have loved having a red front door, this was another project that I was ready to have improved upon.  I found our new front door on a trading website here in Birmingham for only $100. Matt graciously took off our old door and put the new one on…(after moving two of the hinges and rebuilding a part of the door frame, and and molding the goes around the door…ahem.)  "Just a little project", I told him…

The Old Door:

The New Door!!!:

(the molding had not yet been replaced when I took this picture)

Our Back Deck.

This actually took a little more mula that what we wanted to spend…however, I think in the end, it was worth it.  I had forgotten how expensive paint is!  Then, when you choose the wrong color initially…ahem…it gets even more expensive.  

The old deck…in need of much TLC. 

You can see that Matt had to replace some rotten boards (as my stepdad did previously in the above right picture). 

Then choosing what color we would restore this precious little haven to…

First up:  "California Rustic"

In the store, this "California Rustic" is what we thought we wanted…I really wanted a paint that would make our wood look similar to redwood or cedar.  This came across more like Texas burnt orange (per Matt!)…and just wasn't doing it for us.  $40.00

Back to Lowes…

We then decided on "Mahogany".  It looked super rich and dark…we just thought it would be beautiful.

We didn't think it would be PURPLE.  :)   

We ended up singing the Barney song while we painted…(this was now another $100…not going back!)

…and Matt recited a quote from one of his favorite movies..

"My home is filled with leather bound books, and smells of rich mahogany."  

I'll let you figure out where that came from...

So we kept on…ever so happily...

And we are now pleased with our end results!! It dried darker than it looked wet, so a win win for us!

(it's raining outside today when this picture was taken)

That's it for now!!! I have an amazing husband and family…always willing to help out!

Thank you Matt and Gary and mom!