One Hour Cleaning

I am the biggest procrastinator in the world.  I struggle to keep my house clean enough to be comfortable having someone drop by to visit.  I see things in very black and white.  I'm either going to work all day until everything is perfect, or, I'm going to sit on my butt all day watching TV and scrolling my home page on Facebook.           
Today I decided to just commit to one hour and see how much I can accomplish.  I wasn't going to stress out about deep cleaning... just focus on the big impact items that make my home at least look livable.  Here is what I accomplished.

All I accomplished in here was picking
Up Legos before my hour was up...but still!

Our Fixer Upper (The Pink Bathroom)

We have been in our Fixer Upper for 6 whole months!   Mike has done a whole lot of work in that short amount of time!   I haven't blogged lately because I keep thinking that we will completely finish a job and then I will show pictures of it in all its finished glory; however, what happens is we get things functional and then move on to the next priority leaving the "fru-fru stuff" for later.

At any rate today's blog is to show you some progress in the wonderful retro pink bathroom.   Remember the before pictures?

Yuck....who could forget the nasty tub?  

Pink Retro Before:  None of the plumbing worked.  Mike had to unclog and
replumb the whole bathroom.

All of the walls were peeling because of moisture.

Mike had to sand all of that peeling paint off and repair the walls

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Here is the product we used to change the color of the tile.

First, he had to clean and regrout.  It already looked
so much better.  

Revere Pewter color paint.   I could almost stick with the pink tile.  

I have fond memories of a heater just like this when I
was a little girl, but it kind of seemed like a fire hazard
so we took it out and put a school house light in.  

The pink is all gone! 

Much better!  

Notice the new flooring, toilet, light fixtures, mirror, counter top
and sink and new shower rod. We used the same
vanity but cleaned it up and painted it.
I used the decor from my old house to save some money.
Mike added new electrical outlets as well.  

The cabinet doors have yet to be redone.  One of these days we will
finish them and put them on with new hardware.  Also still to be done is
painting the trim and doors.  Pictures still need to be mounted.  We also
realized that there was not air condition/heat vent into the bathroom, and will
be adding one to help keep the moisture down and to keep it cooler in there.
I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out!  

July Spending Freeze and a New Puppy

Tonight I read a blog about doing a 30 day spending freeze written by my daughter.  Give it a read, it is very motivating!  The blog and my husband's gentle reminder to take a look at our Visa bill is enough to convince me to jump on the bandwagon!   We have had a lot of extra expenses lately with trying to renovate the house.  We have had to buy air fare and gas and hotel rooms and eating out for trips to and from TX as my father-in-law has been suffering from stage four cancer which just recently took his life.   I have two grand-babies that I am crazy about and love spending money on them....plus....I just bought a new puppy who will be joining our family in mid August.  She is a "miniature golden retriever."  It is a designer breed which is really just a fancy way of saying "mixed breed golden retriever/cocker spaniel" or "mutt." But....this dog has a designer price tag.  

Ruby (1 day old) 

Ruby (1 week old) 

We are naming the puppy Ruby....but I should probably be calling her "therapy"...because for some reason every time my husband and I must be separated due to a deployment or in this case his need to help his Mom and settle his Dad's affairs,  I get a new puppy.  I also tend to respond to times of stress and grief with...puppies. I've had Stormy, Copper, Sandy, Cibolo, Gretchen, Sango, Montgomery and now...Ruby.   At any rate....I'm looking forward to a new sweet little furry bundle; however, I really need to put a "moratorium on spending" as my husband calls it.  Puppies cost a lot of money.   

Anyone out there want to join us in the challenge?  

Our dog Sandy was a Golden Retriever/Cocker Spaniel mix and the
 best dog ever!   I am hoping that Ruby will be just as smart and sweet.
She passed away a couple of years ago at the ripe old age of 17.

Our Fixer Upper (Master Bath and Closet)

The fixer upper is coming along...slowly but surely!   This month was mostly about the master bathroom and closet, but we did accomplish a few other things too.   The front door got painted "forest gray."   I can't decide if I like it or not because it looks a lot like a color I saw a lot when Mike was in the Army...but it is fresher than it was...so for now, I like it!  We added a decal to our new mailbox that my parents bought us for a house warming gift.  The fence was finished and we are really enjoying our back yard privacy.   Mike trimmed out the opening from the living room into the dining room and the new shed is in place and now houses a lot of the stuff that we were storing in our basement, attic, and shed in the other house.   Mike has his work area downstairs organized as well.

forest gray or olive drab?  

new fence and shed

our little fire pit area

new trim around opening between living and dining room.

As I said, the bulk of the work was done in the master bathroom and closet.  

Before pictures of bedroom that Mike transformed
into our new bathroom/closet. 

Before

During (Mike and Enrique built a new wall to separate the
bath and closet area.)  

They also had to cut a new door from the master into the new
closet/bathroom.  At first we planned to have two doors.
We changed plans and Mike had to drywall one of them in.

Mike and Enrique installed all new plumbing and the new
jacuzzi tub and toilet.  

and also installed new vanities with some temporary sinks.  (after
 putting in those new beautiful floors)  

Mike tiled....

and tiled.....

and tiled some more  At this point, Mike hated the
bathroom.   

He installed the new mirrors

ran all of the electrical for the new lights

and the new GFCI outlets

new can lights

and a new exhaust fan and light,
new curved shower rod, and a pretty
new white shower curtain with a ribbon tie
back.  

new rug

Mike made the new shelves for our open
linen storage

I saw this throw that I loved and turned
it into a new window treatment with some
twine.  

And here is the after picture of the bathroom.  If you look in the
mirror you can see part of the bath/shower, and toilet area. 

Here is the finished walk in closet!  

Here is the door from the master bedroom.
You walk in and face the wall with the
1 Corinthians 13 picture.  Go right and  you
are in the walk in closet, go left and you are in
the master bathroom.   

To recap....

Before

Before

After

After

After

After