Big Weekend Plans!

What do you all have on deck for this weekend?  Any decor or renovation projects? 

At our house, in addition to the usual stuff like laundry and cleaning up the house, I will be staining and painting.

Staining this lovely piece with an espresso colored stain (snagged for free on Craigslist)

 

And painting this end table we will be using as a nightstand in our front bedroom.  Another Craigslist inexpensive find ($7). I primed it last night and now it is ready for paint. 

I may also have time to tackle a lamp from Freecycle and do a quick sewing project for the office.

Good luck in getting your projects done this weekend!

More Paint Decisions - This Time, the Living Room

I hate the colors in our living room.  The walls, the baseboards and ceiling are an awful yellow-y greenish tan.  The woodwork around the fireplace is a yellowish cream.  The carpets are a lovely sculpted light gray.  I know I am describing the room is such a vivid way. 

The room has many lovely features. The triple slider leading to the backyard.  The gas fireplace (once it is repaired and made functional).  The built ins with glass shelves.  The antique mantle (complete with secret compartment). The large size of the room.

But all are overwhelmed by poor paint choices and bad flooring.

Since we aren't tackling the flooring just yet, we are going to paint. The only problem, we have trouble picking paint.  It is a problem we have dealt with before in the office.  After perusing Ace, Sherwin Williams, Home Depot and Lowes paint sections, we decided to paint a number of swatches on the wall. 

Yes, I did tape the flooring sample to the wall for the photo.  I will admit I am a bit odd.

Unfortunately, none of these made Hubs or I say,"Yes!  These are the ones."  So back to the chips we went.

And added more colors to the mix.

 

With this last batch of samples, we had two strong contenders for the fireplace wall.  The two dark colors in the second column from the far right. 

Again, we were at a loss for wall color.  That meant another trip to the paint store where I picked out three possibilities that worked with the accent colors.  To make our final decision, I painted both accent colors on the wall, with the white trim, a sample of the flooring and a piece of our furniture.

 Using this technique, we had a winner (thank goodness!).

Accent color (to be used above the fireplace and in the back of the bookcases) Behr Ultra Perfect Taupe - the darker color found above the white in the photo on the left.

Wall color:  Behr Ultra Mineral - the light color on the far right under the Perfect Taupe sample

Ceiling color: White ceiling paint

Trim, baseboards, bookcases and mantle:  Semi-gloss white

And even better, Behr paint has a rebate at Home Depot this weekend.  

Now that we have a color decision, I better get to the store to buy the paint before we change our mind.  Then we just have to find the time to paint.  That is an even bigger challenge than picking the colors.

We also have a plan for the darker accent color we did not end up choosing (Behr Ultra Elephant Skin, in case you were wondering).  It will still show up in the room.  Keep following to see what I mean.

We Have A Winner!

We have a winner!!

According to Random.org, lucky number 9 gets the coasters. 

lshoes, a set of coasters is yours.  Congratulations!  Look for an email in your inbox shortly to get your address. 

We Are Breaking Away From Our Regularly Scheduled Renovating...

to bring you our newest endeavor:  Claim Our Space Computer Repair and Updating.

Just kidding (sort of).

As you can see from the picture above our dining room has been taken over by computers. You may be wondering "What on Earth?" 

My mother and father needed some computer support.  Mom's computer died before Thanksgiving so she got a new one for Christmas.  However, it needed to be set up, hardware needed to be swapped out of the old computer and put in the new one and additional software installed.  Dad's laptop needed some updates and new software installed as well. 

Instead of spending the afternoon at their house running up and down the stairs, we just brought everything to our house.  The end result?  A dining room transformed into a computer room.

Don't worry, all will be back to normal tomorrow. 

And there is even a chance that the Christmas decorations may also get put away. OK, maybe not that last part. 

It Was a Merry Christmas!

I got this lovely tool from Hubs. 

It is a Laser Level.

I am so excited. It will make creating photo walls, painting stripes, installing decorative trimwork, putting up shelves and any number of other tasks easier.

The best part, Hubs can tell all his buddies that he bought his wife tools for Christmas and she was happy.   Not that I didn't love the jewelry too.  :-)  But anything that will make our life of updating, renovating and getting the house just the way we want it easier, quicker or less stressful, right now that is what really makes my heart go pitter pat. 

Guess I should let him know that I already have an item to put on my Christmas list for next year.  A compound miter saw.   I see crown moulding in our future. 

On a side note, once I have used it for a few projects, I will do a tool review to let you know how it works in real world applications.

Giveaway! - Stamped Coasters

I love natural stone.  I think it adds something when it is used in a room.  I also love coasters.  They protect your furniture.  They also add another layer of detail in a room.  Plus, to be honest, I am on a mission to get people to use coasters.

To that end, we are having a giveaway. 

The giveaway is for a set of four stamped tumbled travertine coasters.  I love travetine since it is slightly pourous and will soak up the moisture that may come off a glass. 

To Enter:

1.  Become a Follower of Claiming Our Space

2.  Leave a comment letting us know you are following us and our adventures.

3.  Make sure to leave an email address so we can contact you.

3.  Do this before January 12, 2010 at 9 pm Eastern time.

We will use Random.org to select a winner.

Nothing is Ever Easy - The Ongoing Saga of Our Powder Room Reno

I think that a recurring theme in home renovations and updating projects is "one step forward, two steps back." 

Our powder room project is no exception.

After my success of installing the sink and the toilet by myself since Hubs was out of town (let's give a big hand for the internet as a resource on How To instructions), I was basking in the glow of having a functional bathroom again. 

Unfortunately that glow was short lived.  I went to use the toilet and realized that when it flushed, water leaked from the area between the toilet tank and the base.  Poo (no pun intended), that meant that the gasket failed. 

I rushed to the hardware store since it was less than 24 hours before we were hosting 27 for dinner Christmas Eve.  Yikes!  So not having a functional extra bath was not an option.  It took me a couple of tries to get everything secured and tightened just just right so there were no drips or leaks but now we, again, have a functioning toilet. 

Like I said, nothing is ever easy. 

Coming up next?  Mounting the mirror and other fixtures.