A Slight Change with ChalkPaint

I am new at the chalk paint trend. But I am finding it is wonderful! Lose the prime, paint, paint, protect, etc.

I wanted some decor items beside the china hutch in the dining room. Definitely not the candle sconces I have used in the past. So...a trip to Hobby Lobby in search for the perfect pair. I walked. I searched. I meandered. Nothing seemed right. It was the wrong color or the wrong size (or maybe the wrong price for my "slight change".

I finally found what I thought would work but the aged green did NOT suit me. I was looking for dark.

The center was just about perfect. I laid our my tarp and picked up the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Graphite that I had used for my kitchen project.

I did use two coats to cover the places I missed on the first coat. (I am an impatient painter).

The before of the dining area:

And the after:

The shadows it creates on the wall behind makes it look distorted!

Mr. Spouse just noticed them last night. HUMMM--they have been up for a couple of months. I guess that means that they don't look absolutely terrible!

Favorite Projects 2014

2014 has been a busy year at A Whole Latte Home. We have had a whole latte projects. I retired this year from my teaching profession.  Mr. Spouse and I decided that it was time to "fix up" our 30 year old split foyer into something we could "not worry about" and also in order to sale. Not that we plan on selling in the near, near future but update it enough to bring prospective buyers to see the joys of our house.

We began in January with an update to the living room furniture. A new sofa and loveseat was enough to send me to the new drapes, sewing a few pillow covers time! I was still working until June so this project required no hard labor!

February brought a decision I was SO excited about. I had wanted to change our kitchen countertops. for. a. long. time! I was just hoping to get a laminate that was a lighter color than the dark green I had chosen 15 years ago. Also, the kitchen doesn't get much light. The island was a bit big for our kitchen because of the overhang. A simple make the island top smaller required no demolition so we were on to choosing. We had a local craftsman give us an estimate and Mr. Spouse said let's just go with granite!  What a difference in the space and light in the kitchen!

Our next improvement was outdoors! We were surrounded by tall, towering pine trees. This required heavy duty machinery to cut and move these.

What a mess this left in our yard. We lived with the stumps for a couple of months before we had those ground up. Some of the roots that stretched into the yard were also ground. This left us a lot of scraps to rack up and move. I have worked many hours this past year with a shovel and wheel barrow. I am still trying to get grass to grow in some spots.

I seemed to live with a paint brush in my hand from June to November. Our trim had yellowed and really needed a touch of clean white paint. I repainted the family room, master bath, and doors. We also replaced all the door hinges with oil brushed ones. We will begin replacing all the door knobs with oil brushed ones.

And the last two major projects were updating our bathrooms. One was just to demo the small shower and closet and install a larger tile shower. The main bath was gutted and renovated with the existing layout. The small closet was deleted in order to make a larger closet.

It has been a busy and productive year!

Christmas Tour 2014C

Christmas is next week! How can that be? I have been baking and addressing cards and shopping and...

Decorating!

This is my kitchen tree. I use a bright green and red for this one. 

My dining room tree is a table top one. I use white and snow items on it. I usually leave it up into January until I am tired of the dreary and snowy weather before I take it down. I like the white glow it gives off.

The living room tree has some sentimental ornaments that were given to me during my teaching and are priceless.

The nativity came from Cracker Barrell this year. Oh Holy Night plaque was from Homegoods/TJMaxx. I placed it on a plate because the glitter was going everywhere. Next year I will probably stage it a bit better!

I placed just a few things in the main bath. We recently finished a re-do and I was just having time to get a few things together for it. The sled decoration was given to me by one of my aunts and I've had it for years and years. The candle came from Kohl's and was a gift from one of my first graders!

The sofa table has a beginning of my Santa collection. It will change to a hot drink station for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Everyone comes to our house on Christmas.

I got just a few "snowy" things out. I will really save my main items for cold and snowy January! These plates I have had for several years. They came from Proffitts/Belks. I recently found the mugs that match on EBAY! Lucky find. I like the way the snowmen have bird houses and stockings mixed into each scene.

 This little tree is in the foyer. I didn't get a great picture of it but I love the colors of the aqua and brown--a bit different from the red, green, and white over the rest of the house.

Merry Christmas to all!

Bath Remodeled

Yes, that is a past tense verb in the title. RemodelED. As in it is finished. And I love it.

A picture is worth a thousand words and I really don't have the inspiration for a thousand words so I'll just share the pictures!

I love the higher height of the vanity. I didn't think it would have as much storage but it has four really deep drawers which work great!

It isn't a large bathroom but it has all the necessities. I found the towels at TJMaxx and love the monogram on them. I think winter may last for a few more weeks!

And I have a full size (even though it is VERY narrow) closet. I can't wait to finally have an organized closet!

The tile goes all the way to the ceiling and makes the room seem so much larger!