Everyday Crafty Goodness

Well, I had some left over paint from painting my bedroom a few years ago and I was hoping that it would be enough for the walls but it’s not.  So the walls are not completely done BUT now that means I can get new paint and maybe this time I’ll pick something that’s a little less white.  I thought the door was white but apparently not when you compare it to the walls!

Here’s the before picture.  I think the drywall gray is more interesting than this white I have right now.

Any ideas on what color I should use for the walls?  I’ll probably go with something neutral … like the “darkest” shade of premixed white they have at the store … can you tell I’m a little afraid of picking out wall colors?  OR, I can dump all the paint I have lying around the house in a bucket and mix my own paint … that way I can use up what I have (which is what I’ve been trying to do) and get rid of all those half empty paint cans!  Decisions decisions…

UPDATE!  Someone is selling 5 gallon buckets of off white and deep beige paint on Craigslist for $10.  God I love Craigslist! 

I think I’m getting little obsessed about taping and mudding my drywalls.  I’m trying to limit sanding as much as possible so I’ve been shining a light against the wall and smoothing things out with mud.  Holding a light next to the walls is like looking at your face close up with one of those magnifying mirrors.  Holy crap!  You see all these imperfections and you just want to cover them up.  And now I’m going after the old drywall taping job I did a few years back to feather out some of the seams even more (I didn’t know about the light trick back then).  Why do I torture myself like this?  It doesn’t help that I still have all my furniture in the room but at least I can stand on some of them so I don’t have to move my ladders around as much.

I am getting better at this whole drywall finishing business but I’d love to hone my skills even more.  I actually asked my contractor who framed the walls for me to hire me if he needs help on weekends.  He said he likes my work.  I’ll have to send him some pictures when I’m done with all of this (hopefully soon).

I took some before pictures of my bedroom renovation project.  I plan to finish the drywall by the end of the year.  My room (which is an attic room) used to be open but I decided that I want to close it up.  Here’s my bedroom door that my carpenter put in!  Now I can slam the door like a teenager.  Right outside the door to the left is the staricase.

And here’s the new closet.  This used to be a little nook.

The wall between the bedroom door on the right and the closet door used to be a half wall overlooking the stairs, now it’s completely closed, woohoo!

So this is not a huge project and I’m actually psyched about the taping when I return home from visiting my family (where I am now, using god knows who’s wireless internet connection).

I’ve been busy winterizing my home and one of the things that took the most time is making these magnetic window insulators for my windows.  I used to put up those plastic shrink wrap sheets that you can tape around the windows using double sided tape but ever since I got Elliot the cat, I had to stop using them because he rips them to shreds (why can’t he be cute like other cats and just bounce off the plastic when he tries to jump on the windowsill?).  So what’s a girl to do?  Well, I came up with a sturdier version of the store bought shrink wraps that Elliot can’t scratch and made them REUSABLE (for many winters to come) and the best part is that they can be taken down and put back up in seconds so if I burn my dinner, I can just peel these off, open the windows and air out the house, and put them right back up.

I plan on making a tutorial for these but you crafty ones probably have already figured out what I did.  Isn’t it great to be crafty?

Ooooh, look at what I got for a buck at a yard sale this weekend!  This blanket is soooo warm and the colors are great … just in time for the cool nights we’ve been getting.