Holly Jolly March

Tomorrow is the last day of March and I have a shameful secret to spill.

We recently broke a Bigger, Better, Best family record. Our Christmas lights are still up.

(Source) Bottoms up, St. Nick!

This was a problem last year, too.

It seems we are destined to be total hoosiers (that's hoosiers in the Missouri sense of the word, not the Indiana one), lacking only a one-eyed dog and a bad perm.

Both Hubs and I fully acknowledge our redneck tendencies. Cans of High Life spill out of our recycling bin, a good majority of the "nice things" I bought before age 20 came from a Crackerbarrel gift shop and we own a blow-up pool for Pete's sake. Still, I was shocked when Hubs mentioned that he's not itching to go outside and take them down. In fact, he's suggested leaving them up for next year.

I see his point. They won us $25 this past Christmas, so why mess with a good thing?

Can I get an amen?

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Can I get an amen?

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Can I get an amen?

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Done!

We are 99% done, which in my book is as good as done. Some plastic we bought to cover some lights isn't the right size, but that's an easy fix.

Stay tuned for all the before and afters!

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Basement Boogie: 96 hours or bust

If you follow me on The Twitter, you may have noticed that my posts as of late are few and far between, desperate chokes for above-ground air. That's because I've instituted a take-no-prisoners approach to killing this basement reno by my birthday.

Which. Is Monday. 96 hours from now.

Yes, I'll be spending my final hours of my mid-20s hopped up on Mocha Frappucinos,  covered in dust and paint, laying floor and touching up trim.

I'm manic about finishing. Example: I met Hubs at home over lunch today to paint trim and hang doors. By doing this for three days this week, we squeezed in an extra three (wo)man hours.

Here's the big weekend to-do list, in no special order, save the last step:

• Finish touch-up mudding on a weird ceiling section
• Paint touch ups on ceiling
• Touch up paint around fireplace
• Grout tile back splash on bar
• Hoe the floors to remove chunks of mud we let sit for too long
• Vapor barrier the floor
• Final coat of paint on stair treads
• Buy a TV
• Hang TV
• Electrical inspection
• Building inspection
• Paint laundry room door
• Hang laundry room door
• Trim all windows
• Trim shelves
• Put door handles on
• Hang doors
• Make bar top
• Stain bar top
• Trim bar top
• Epoxy bar top
• Seal counter top
• Finish outlet covers
• Finish painting trim
• Paint laundry room again
• Paint laundry room ceiling
• Move out trash
• Paint laundry room floor
• Spray paint bar stool wood
• Add second handrail
• Lay floor
• Lay trim
• Putty trim
• Touch up trim
• Move back in
• Beer. Me. Bitches.

Wish me luck. I'll see you kids on the other side.

Basement Boogie: Surprise

This weekend, we busted our buns to get the whole basement painted. We had bought the paint during a big sale back in January and in our heads, we were going for a soft blue, a golden accent wall and a warm brown bar. It'd look very classic.

What we saw when we started rolling on paint was NOT what we remembered. A bold turquoise, what Hubs deemed "Kidney Failure Yellow" and a warm brown bar.

I don't know what happened. Either I was wasted the Sunday morning we went to buy paint or the Home Depot employers pulled an elaborate hoax, resulting in me owning seven gallons of fugly paint.

Thanks to extreme exhaustion, I was unable to hyperventilate and we rolled on a second coat. The second coat toned down the turquoise to a more calming level, but the yellow over the fireplace was horrible. Hubs suggested we try putting the brown over the fireplace since it was the one color we actually remembered buying and with the brown bar on the opposite side of the room from the fireplace, it might help balance things.

Here's what we have right now. I'm going to put some white trim up about four inches in on all sides of the top of the fireplace so it isn't such a stark difference. 

Frankly, I love the colors now and I got a full eight hours of sleep last night, so I can really trust this color love. I know people usually use terms like "spa-like" for bathrooms, but this basement is totally spa-like and aside from the tiny basement windows, not basement-y at all.

It says, "Hey, I know it's a little awkward that I'm not beige and my walls aren't covered with sports memorabilia, but dude, this ain't no man cave. I'm a basement and I look good. Hey, everybody! Come see how good-looking I am!"



Yep. My basement is Zoolander.

How was your weekend?