Home Improvement Update - March

Ok. I have some pictures but since I am not able to locate my USB camera cable....they are trapped on my camera for now.

But if I were able to post pictures you would see...

• the walls in the living room and hallway to the laundry area are all done....mudded, taped texturized and painted.
• that I chickened out on painting an accent wall a darker color.
• that I passed the point of no return on the flooring when I took a box cutter to the carpet and cut it out of the hallway completely and out about 2 feet from the living room walls so I could get the mud, tape and paint all the way down to the floor.
• that I have a one 12x12 ceramic tile sample that I move around here and there to look at in different light.
• that we have put up the blinds in the big living room window and that they are identical to the blinds in the kitchen.
• that I bought some curtains from JCPenney and have a valance on the hallway window and two panels on the patio doors.....but that I don't like them and am going to return them.

So that is pretty much where the project is at and where it will stay for awhile.

I did just order some vertical wood blinds for the patio doors that match the other blinds and I am pretty happy with that decision. I will still need to make some decisions about curtains but am thinking that I may just make them when I find some material that I like....we will just have to see about that.

So....the next step (after the hanging of the vertical blinds) is to finish the mudding and taping in the hallway/laundry area all the way to our bedroom door and to pull up the hallway carpet all the way to our bedroom door too. This is a project that will wait for summer when I can get a stretch of time to just get after it and get it done.

The step after that is all about flooring. I am pretty committed to the ceramic tile but still very uncertain of my ability to lay it. I think John and I can do the sub flooring part just fine...but the tile part with all the steps and curing times and designs and cutting.....AHHHHH! But I think that in order to just get over myself, I need to have a professional come out and give me a bid on what it would cost to hire it done....I think that will be just the motivation I need to carry on and go forward with laying the tiles ourselves.

I have a long list of summer projects. I think I may run out of summer before I run out of things to cross off my list but the great thing about this project is that once it is done....it will stay done. That is always a good feeling. I will post some pictures as soon as the USB cord surfaces!