Two For One

When we put Caitlin's graduation (and all of its accompanying festivities) on our calendar, we had no idea that we would be in St. Pete for Olivia's 8th grade "moving up" ceremony. She attends a fairly large fundamental magnet school but apparently they were expecting such a large crowd that they were holding it in the Boca Ciega H.S. gym...and that means bleachers! They were not wrong about the crowd. There was NOT ONE empty spot on those bleachers and after 3 hours of sitting on them, even the youngest and fittest of the crowd was complaining of their "aching backs"...and other parts! But, even after all of that, it is so worth it just to see the one special person you are there for walk to the front of the crowd and be celebrated! Wouldn't have missed it for the world!!

After so many busy days, we thought we would take a day off-yeah, right. All we were going to do was go out for a lovely breakfast in a historical downtown hotel and then run to Home Depot for some paint. Well, we did go to the brunch...

...and it was wonderful. I really do love the feel of downtown areas and watching all of the people as they go about their daily lives in a way so different from what mine usually is.

Then, we were off to HD...for chalk paint...just chalk paint...UNTIL! If you knew our oldest daughter, you would know that that just might be too much to hope for! We were soo close...and then it happened. RIGHT THERE on the shelf, next to the chalk paint was a can of paint labeled "counter" paint. And almost before we knew what was happening, we were getting it tinted, buying the rollers and heading home to start yet another project. That being said, remember, I am the one who LOVES projects! So, even though I gave her some grief, we were literally re-doing her kitchen counters in no time and I was loving every minute of it.

This is our daughter who is renovating her home in the historic section of Old Northeast St. Pete. She has done so much but her plans for the kitchen are kind of overwhelming and will be a large, long commitment. And so, in the meantime-as she works her way in that direction-she is updating the kitchen so she can enjoy it until the big remodel happens. She has changed all appliances, painted all of the cabinets, added a gorgeous pantry-which will stay even after the reno-and added an office area. The real eye sore remaining was the laminate counter top in a fleshy peach color. I wish I had taken a picture of the counters. She chose a middle gray color. It was super easy to do and then we chose to sand them lightly to knock down the shine giving them an almost cement counter feel. They will not be her forever counters but sure will look better until that happens.

We also hung two lighting fixtures over the bar area to cover some not so attractive eyeball lights. This was supposed to be as easy as changing a light bulb, but as happens frequently when dealing with old homes, things are not always as they seem!

Even though these took WAAAYYY too long to hang, I am glad we hung in there because they look fabulous in her kitchen!

And, just when I thought it was time to pour a glass of wine and put our feet up, she reminded me of the reason we started our day at Home Depot. We were going to finish the headboard for Liv that we started back in March.

So out came the raw wood headboard-soon to be coated in an ebony colored stain.

Next, we kind of taped off boards and randomly painted them with the oh so easy chalk paint in three shades of gray and white linen.

 Then she sanded a bit between the boards so it looked like we were using found wood of different colors.

We bought a french cleat for hanging and before we knew it, Liv's room looked like this. Now she is searching for the perfect bedding and other furniture to make it just what she wants. We were all thrilled with how this turned out!

I am still trying to finish up my part of the bathroom. The granite people were here yesterday to template the top. As soon as they set the granite, everything else can get finished! I can't wait!! Then, it is on to 4th of July decorating. This year's new treasures...so far!

I found this arrangement at Julies. I love that it is in a blue striped Mason jar and it didn't hurt that it was 50% off!

I found these goodies at Pier 1.

 And, of course, the only thing I have crafted for a holiday in ages! Never enough hours in the day lately!! Can't wait to deck the halls in red, white and blue. Stay tuned.