Summer in February? Yes Please!

While I hoped that the snow days we had (8 total) would be productive, they turned out to be just the opposite. We did nothing but lay around and make things more messy. This recent string of warm weather has given me the motivation I needed to get a few things done around here. I started outside!

We have one post on our back patio that was in desparate need of something. It started looking something like this:




Lots of cracks

 So I started by caulking all of the cracks and little holes. I used a latex paintable caulk and a metal putty knife.

I waited for it to dry and then painted a fresh coat of our outdoor paint.



Tada good as new!

 It was a pretty quick project, and it looks muuuuch better. Here's the before and after again...



While I was waiting for the caulking to dry, I took to the kitchen. We have a lovely glass cooktop, which I normally like.

The thing about the glass top is that if something spills on it and you cook again without cleaning it up... it's stuck. Forever and ever. So when we moved in, there were several cooked on spots.



  I tried cleaning them with everything possible. The problem is, anything too abrasive can scratch the glass forever. Sooooo... I went to Lowes and found this:

It goes on like lotion. You let it sit. And then "softly buff with a clean cotton rag"

Yeah right... it took a ton of elbow grease! But it was well worth it because check this out...



It looks so much better!!!!! I was pretty amazed.

All this motivation required a much bigger project - the "guest" bedroom. More like the "catch-all-crap" room. Since we moved in, if something didn't have a place, it landed in the front bedroom. Then one day a while ago, a friend needed to stay the night at the last minute. So I freaked out. And stuffed it all in the closet. Then Christmas rolled around and everything Christmas got dumped in the front bedroom. The poor room had been neglected long enough. Here it is in all of its finest.

From the doorway

The dreaded closet

From the other side of the room

I started with the closet because it is the biggest source of storage which is what we need this room for. I took everything out to start with. Now I feel like I need to explain something about this room... Someday (not any time soon) when we have a child this will be the nursery. So I made a decision when we moved that we weren't going to do anything to decorate this room until that time comes. So there were a few things that need to be done that I will wait to do until a later date. Okay, onto the closet.

There were several holes in that wall that I patched. The whole closet needs a fresh coat of paint - someday.

Good shelving on one side

And space on the other side

The majority of the stuff that I keep in this closet is my always growing crafting stuff. So I went shopping around the house and found some plastic drawers that weren't being used and filled it with crafting stuff.

It's so much better to have it all in one place!

Then filled it back up with everything from luggage to Christmas decorations to my sewing machine and step ladder.

Then I moved onto the room itself. The entertainment center (from our old living room) needed some TLC, and I threw away 2 trashbags full of crap! I also hung up some curtains that I had laying around.

And there's actually a floor under there!!!

Much better! So while I was in the decluttering mood, I moved next door to the office.

The major thing that needed to be done was the filing. I have a bad habit of just stacking and stacking and stacking until I can't find anything. So I took everything out of the "to file" basket and made ORGANIZED stacks :)

The "during" stage

Much better

and everything got put back in order

It's been a very productive weekend! Hope you are enjoying the beautiful weather and getting some stuff done around the house! (I am ashamed to say we just took our Chrsitmas lights down this weekend).