Drapes in the stairwell

I have been wanting to change the curtains in the stairwell for awhile and the other day at Ikea I found these panels on sale two for 5 francs. I am pretty happy how they turned out. They are very long so I just folded the ends and tied them with some cotton yarn I had on hand. To make them look like tassels I just folded a long strand and then clipped the loops.

Painted kitchen

I have been wanting to paint this wall in my kitchen for awhile. It is a it odd with the vent in the middle. Also the wood around the window wasn't too pretty so I painted it too. Around the window is navy and the wall is the same color I used on the little chest of drawers ( in another post). I love the was the wall has a lot of texture that shows when you put color on it. I have the green light to paint the master bedroom too. Everyone liked the kitchen so I am all excited to start elsewhere. The kitchen now needs some new curtains but I think I will wait until this summer and get some in the states.

A new machine and a bit of woman power!

Well, my 15 year old washing machine konked out and like a big girl I went on the Internet and ordered another one on a discount site. I got the same brand so the same maintenance  man could come fix it if the need arises. But this time I got one that has a really big capacity ( 8 kilos).  When I ordered I was able to pay for the installation of the new machine and hauling away of the old one. Well, I was feeling very happy since is was all so easy.  Then they called to say that they didn't have any one in my area to install the machine, so they refunded the money and I was stuck with looking for a way to get it installed.  The problem around here is that most people who do that kind of thing also sell machines too. So I felt a bit strange calling to say I just needed an installation and to get rid of the old machine. Pierre told me it was going to cost me a fortune and that I would have a hard time finding someone. Well after I lost a bit of sleep on that I said my rosary asking for help and decided to ask my father in law to do it. We also have a dump here in the village that we can bring the old machine for recycling. Everything was set, then my father in law called and said he was sick. So they delivered that machine, I read the installation manual and hooked that thing up all by myself!  Marc- Antoine was here and he helped move the machines around with a dolly.  So far there is no water squirting everywhere....

Christmas Decorations

I used the empty toy chest for the creche this year.  

 

 



 

I missed out on the free trees given by the village, I was supposed to reserve one by Nov. 30th. I just can't remember things like that. So I bought a live one to plant later.  The prettiest tree we have  in our yard is a Christmas tree that we planted.  I used a knitted scarf for the garland.  The doilies are supposed to be snow (less messy than flour).  I also thought, "hey, why not decorate the house plant?"

Refashioned Entry

 

I have had this in the entry for a few years but it isn't that great becasue it doesn't have very practical storage space. So....

 

 

I went into the boys' room and took this. I painted a smaller book shelf, the one from the kitchen, and put that in their room.  I will post a picture once the room is clean.  This blue wooden book shelf from Ikea is perfect for the entry but was too big for their room.  It's smaller in size than the wardrobe but has much more storage space. I found some cute baskets (the only things I've bought in this whole redo of the house, besides paint) for scarves and the top one has the towels and stuff for the bathroom.  The bottom shelves are for shoes.  I even hung a key hook inside it.  The edges of this book shelf got a bit of light blue paint too.

 

I think it gives us a bit more room in the entry. The little sign says "Vivez bien, Riez souvent, Aimez beaucoup" !  Can you believe I caught Pierre sleeping in the background of this picture :-)



My "new" livingroom part 2

 

Come and have a seat at the game table!  I needed something to balance out this side of the room because the chest of drawers is quite small.  So I went outside and pulled in this cute garden table, put a quilt  on top and used some quilted pillows as cushions for the chairs.  The girls have already used it.  It really is inviting!

 

 

Bridgit and Chiara

My "new" livingroom

 

This chest of drawers belongs to our bedroom set but isn't very big for putting clothes.  I put it down stairs to store sheet music and craft stuff.

 

 

This used to be in the girls' room for toys and books. I moved to downstairs to store magazines and DVDs.   As you can see both of these furnitures needed my help!

 



 

I lightly brushed on a light blue acrylic paint, I didn't even sand it first.  Then I sprayed it with a clear varnish.  It looks really nice and aged. I moved it over on the other side of the room and decorated  the top so no one can put their junk on it.  The blue looks neat with the Gulf Coast print on the wall.

 

 

I painted this one dark blue then wanted to put orange, green, and light blue accents.  I must admit I wasn't very patient and didn't want to put all the coats of paint required for the "perfect" look, so I rubbed some dark blue across each panel and then did some sanding.  It looks pretty good, you can see the grain of the wood really well. I also got rid of all those magazines (threw some away and moved others) and am only using the wicker baskets to hold DVDs.  I have watching movies sometimes during the day then if they aren't great I toss them in the trash!  

So do you like the changes?  Stay tuned for the next episode....