As promised...

I was in Jamaica on Spring break last week--limited access to the internet and no computer.  But as I promised before, here is a finished picture of the window project.

At day:

At Night:

The pictures come out a little weird because the mirror is, well, a mirror.  It looks awesome in person and is a very unique and functional addition to the bathroom.

Two weeks of house guests....

And as a result, I've accomplished absolutely nothing. Not to mention, I promptly got a cold probably brought on by stress.

I loved seeing my family and friends and will have them stay over many more times.  But from an introvert's point of view... two weeks in a row is just too much.  I am really looking forward to this weekend of going to Lowes (which is fast becoming my new favorite store), doing house things and hanging out with my friends Beth and Luke.

I'm also glad to have my office back--which is where I blog--since it is also the "guest room."  I am happy to report that the set up works really well considering the space constraints.

But on to the actual topic of this post--before all the guests and sickness I was really productive one weekend.  Here's what I did:

1. Turned a vintage window into a faux mercury glass window.

The problem was our bathroom window.  The previous owners left behind some lovely curtains for us: 

In addition to the generic Pottery Barn floral embroidery, they really gave you a sense of privacy. 

I had an idea after reading a post on another blog about creating faux mercury glass.  I thought: what if I did it to a window and then hung it in front of this window?  Not only would we still get light, but it would look really cool and give us more privacy. 

The project was really easy and I love the way it came out.  I don't have a finished picture yet as I need to go to Lowes to buy cup hooks, but it is currently leaning in the windowsill and I will add a picture soon of the completed project.  

It was actually really easy to do, here are the steps: 

1. Assemble the supplies

You'll need a vintage window, a soft cloth or paper towels, painters tape, a spray bottle filled with 1/2 water and 1/2 white vinegar and Looking Glass paint. 

This stuff is AMAZING!  It turns glass into a mirror.  You spray it on the reverse side and voila!  Mirror.  It is really thin so you have to do many coats.  Also a tip: this can be bought in the craft store but is it in the spray paint aisle?  No... It's a few aisles down with hobby paint and such.  Probably on the bottom shelf.  They don't want you to have it. 

2. Make sure you are working on the reverse side, tape off the edges (or not. I realized that no one is going to see it.) Clean and dry the mirror and then start applying several thin coats, waiting a minute or two between each. 

This is about 2 coats, half dry.  It does this cool cloudy thing as it dries.  When the cloudy parts are gone, you're ready for another coat.  I think I ended up doing about 6-8

3. Ruin everything you just did. And love it. 

I didn't take pictures of this part.  But here's what you do: 

1. Wait about 10 minutes for everything to dry well 
2. spray the diluted vinegar mixture onto the paint gently so it forms beads
3. Wait again for about 30 seconds to a minute 
4. wet your cloth with more vinegar solution and gently rub. This will take the paint off.  The harder you rub, the bigger the area of no paint will be.  Vary the amount of paint you take off.
5. Spray one more time with a very fine mist.  Then (after waiting) rub very gently so you have tiny little holes too (it adds dimension) 
6. Finally, gently dry the glass and add 1-2 more coats of mirror spray

Pictures of final coming soon! 

2. Replace the ugly light

I'm getting very proud of my electrical skills.  Just don't call me over to do anything for you--I'm not that proud.  I also used this weekend to replace the very old, builder basic light we have outside.  Here I tell you the story of replacing the light with pictures. 

See your $4 light while at Lowes.  You always hated it, but now even more.

Pour some wine.  Because it's the weekend and you want to.  

While up on the ladder, I saw the neighbor's light.  A bare bulb.  Condo fees at work here. 

Take old light off and roll your eyes at the horribly rusted screws and incredibly old wiring you now have to deal with.  Remove this and attempt to put in the new bracket.  It won't fit.  Nothing "standard" fits in this house.

While doing this, drop the screws you need down the basement window well about 5 times.  Assess whether you can crawl down and back out on your own.  Then debate how long it would be until someone found you.... retrieve one screw but lose the other.  Now you must use one of those old rusty screws. Insist that the wine has nothing to do with this mishap.

About an hour into your 30 minute install you have a light!  Doesn't this look so much better?  In addition this light puts off brighter light and has a motion detector.  Because, clearly, safety was my #1 concern while installing this light... 

And that's what I accomplished in one day before all the (very fun) busy-ness of house guests. I love how big a difference all these small changes make.  Next project: revamping the patio! 

House Photos

As promised, here are some photos of the new house with commentary.  I really wish I had taken more before and after photos but I was so busy it never occurred to me.  Until now, when it's too late...

But first, I have to say that I am feeling great today.  I finally went back to the gym and it was wonderful  Except my new gym doesn't have all the equipment I like.  And they also have a version of something that I love, but I refused to go near this version.  I found a pic of it online and you can guess why:

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you "The Butt Blaster" The one at my gym was even older, the writing larger and in bright purple...  I'm not working out on something with the words "Butt Blaster" in large cursive font.  Luckily the gym is scheduled for a renovation starting 3/1 

Now on to the house pics!  I will start on the bottom floor, we have a small basement area with a separate office and full bath.  It is affectionately called "the man cave" even though I hang out here just as much.

This is the view as you come down the stairs.  It's a great movie room--and the leather couch has 2 reclining seats.  the most stylish?  No.  But so comfortable! And really not bad looking. 

The bar area.  I added mirrors to the back of these shelves and repurposed that bar cart.  It used to be white, so I painted it chocolate brown and then Thomas and I placed some cool coasters we got at local bars on it and topped it with custom cut glass.

On the main level.  A lot of my furniture here.  We got rid of the more girly blue and opted for a terra-cotta accent color. 

A view of the chair and the front door off to the left. 

A really cool hand watercolored engraving we got called "Washington from Arlington Heights" 

A view of the dining/kitchen area.  That orange wall used to be a kinda gross sea foam green.  The color looks redder in this pic than it really is. 

Our dining table--I love the legs!  We have a very small dining area and this table was the perfect solution.  It folds up really narrow but also folds out to a normal size that can seat 6 or maybe even more.  We bought nice quality wood and leather folding chairs that are stored in a closet upstairs for extra seating. 

The beautiful kitchen.  This is what made me fall in love with this house.  The breakfast bar is a unique feature in these models, and it is awesome.  The kitchen was renovated October 2010, so it's brand new. 

The back patio... It's a mess.  We love our fire pit and grill which are used often.  We have big plans for renovating this once we save $$ so stay tuned!  

The really cool pendant light upstairs that I hung myself :)   Was one of those blah builder basic lamps

The bedroom.  These walls were the same green as the kitchen--they loved sea foam.   I repainted it this luxurious royal blue.  It is so relaxing and royal 

And I love the way white furniture looks against it! 

And this... is my room.  My office, where I am sitting right now.  I got this amazing wallpaper with different European landmarks in a 1960s style.  it has cherry red accents as well.  I painted the walls in here this elegant grey and Thomas' dad helped me hang the chandelier (it was after watching him do this one that I was able to do the one in the hallway). The futon is queen size an perfect for overnight guests and also perfect for relaxing on while grading or reading. 

My desk area.  I got this cherry red desk that matches the accents in the wallpaper.  It is also narrow (this is a TINY room).  And I finally bought a Mac.  I am 100% Apple now and loving it. 

So that's my house!  I love it, but of course still have lots of decor plans.  It's been a lot of fun putting this all together, though I will say that with a house built in the 1940s, "simple" projects encounter strange roadblocks along the way.