If you haven't had enough of my entry yet...

I know, I'm kinda obsessed with it. I decided to try a DIY stair runner. There are only 5 steps from the front door to the 1st level so I figured I could handle the installation. 

I picked a flat weave wool rug off Overstock (or, I guess it's "O.Co" now). It's about 2.7" by 10 feet, which left me about 12" of length.  It's flipped over the top step here and I think I might secure it down and leave it rather than try to cut the wool.  I also used some carpet padding on each step for softness.

As you can see, I used a staple gun to nail this baby down. Just keeping it real around here. I'm going to add some black-finish nail heads to hide the staples for a finishing touch.

Stair Runners

Stair runners are cool. I want one.  These are all super-duper.

via http://www.elizabetheakins.com

via rugsatsva.com

I smell another project a-brewin!

Stripped Banister

What I have learned recently:


Stripping latex paint from steel SUCKS. It comes off in sticky, gooey gobs and needs to be scraped off bit by bit. My simple plan to strip the banister of icky white paint turned into a 2-weekend project fraught with tears and frustration.

Also, steel is heavy.  This m-effer was a pain in the neck to work with.

But a sleek black spray paint job is much nicer than yellowing, chipping, sticky white paint applied with a brush!

Corner of my entry way. Whoops - that price tag can come off now!  Next on the docket: a runner rug!

Noteworthy Notables

I was charmed by a recent tour on ApartmentTherapy of the home of Jennifer Dyer. 

How lovely is the kitchen? This is nearly exactly what I want in my home, though the massive stove and plumbed island will be a budget buster for me:

The antique doors used to create layering and texture here are pretty and could be done affordably by picking up some vintage doors at a salvage yard.

Do you spy a coral door, like mine?

Dressing up Hollow Core Doors

Inspired by Jenny's door spruce up, I decided I try my hand at fixing up our blah hollow core doors. Actually, I need to replace all of them because they were undercut to allow for some (long gone) shag carpeting. The gap drives me nuts!

Our bathroom door, however, is the right height so it can stay. This will be my experiment! 

I used a miter box to cut my trim pieces (from Home Depot) in 16" widths and 12" height:

I used this adhesive to glue my pieces to the door:

I picked up one of the caulk smoothers to fill in any gaps:

Ready for paint!

I chose a yummy color, Martha Stewart's Terra Rosa:

As you can tell, it reads much more coral in real life than dusty pink:

Now I get to rehang it (yikes) and find some new hardware.

Weekend

My plans include:

• Watching this movie:

• Finishing my stripping project and maybe painting?
• Exploring some decorative trim for interior doors.
• More Couch to 5k! 

Happy weekend!!

Fenced In

I've been busy the last few weeks and neglected my little old blog here. Whoops!

But work continues here at little Casa HV.  We finally bit the bullet and put in a fence in the backyard.  We have a .62 acre lot and fairly big backyard for the burbs so the fence wasn't going to come cheap.  Also, fence people wouldn't return my calls -- just finding someone to come out and give a quote was next to impossible!

But all is well and we finally knocked this out. We put in flat top metal across the front of the house and post and wire along the sides, which is heavily covered by plans and vegetation. Now Mr. Burt Reynolds, the beagle in our lives, can romp free and easy! Here he is maxing and relaxing on the hammock, leash-free!

Now, it's on to my other project: stripping our bannister of icky latex paint. It's a beast.