The "stained" glass window

I have always wanted a stained glass window, but they are pricey and where was I even going to put one?  Not, one was never on my radar for those reasons.  Fast forward to when we moved into this house.  We now live in the city limits, so houses are closer together.  We have this lovely jacuzzi tub, and it has this window over it.  We are very close to our neighbors, I mean they are great and all but do they really want to see us naked coming out of our tub? No! I didn't want to do curtains, why?  Because I wanted a beach theme, the curtains are expensive and don't really fit a beach.  So I looked at this as my chance to finally have that stained glass window that I had always wanted.  I got some supplies together and made some sketches.  First of all, I took painter's tape and taped off a 1-inch area around the edge of the window all around, this part would remain real glass so you could look out just a sliver.

I then took Aleene's acrylic spray and sprayed the window fora good adhesive surface.  It also made it look like the clear stained glass, kind of opaque cloudy.  This stuff is a great thing to have in your craft room so you may already have this or a similar product.  

 I decided to use puffy paint for my "lead" lines.  Why?  I thought if I ever did want to get rid of this I wanted to be able to scrape it off.  So I want it to stay up until I want it to come down.  I drew my sketch onto the window then I went over the lines again to make sure I had a good "lead" line.  I let that dry.  TIP*** you could tape a drawing to the outside of the window and trace those lines, but I wanted to freehand mine. I found lots of free and paid patterns on the internet if you choose to go that route, or you could even use a coloring page.  

Then it was time to make the color parts of the glass. I used regular acrylic paint (because I have tons of this) and mixed it with a little clear Elmer's glue and dabbed it on the window within the lines designated for that color.  TIP*** use a brush you don't love as you dab on the window you will ruin your brush.  

It looks like the rippled part of stained glass as you are filling in the lines.  I love the look!  It looks just as cute from the outside of the house too.  I did spray it again with the Aleene's after it was all dry. I just felt that would help make it more durable.  This is a very forgiving artwork to make.  I don't think you could really screw it up.  

TIP*** if you screw up on the design or painting, a razor blade will scratch off the incorrect part.  Just scrape it off and then let the areas around it dry.  Take the Aleene's and spray over the "messed" up area, it will be just like it was when you started after the Aleene's dries.  

We now have some privacy and a very unique piece of art.  

The backsplash of my new kitchen

So my kitchen is a little outdated, I do love the cabinets, but not so much the flooring or backsplash.  We don't have it in the budget to fix up the kitchen (there is a priority list), so I had to do what I could for t

he "right now".  I saw this white wall as a blank canvas to try something cool/new. I decided that the glass blocks were out of the budget, but I could paint anything so why not paint "glass" blocks?  First of all,I cleaned the wall and let me dry overnight.  Then I woke up and measured off 1-inch tall blocks on the whole wall.  This took forever, but it was worth it.  I used a level constantly to make sure my lines were straight and even. Once I got all the lines up there I taped it off with 1/4 inch wide painters tape. Again, I took my time and used the level to make sure my lines did not move.  All of this took about 4 hours, but once this is done it is time for the fun part.  I looked at the flooring and decided to mix and get colors from my wall of paint that would match the floor because it isn't going anywhere for a long time.  I then started randomly painting the blocks with the colors.  I did 3 coats on each block.  Then pulled the tape off after I added that last coat and WOW!!! what a difference.  My advice, take your time taping off. You may not need to draw the lines before you tape, you may tape as you measure, but I wanted that extra step to make sure I got it right.  

Look at the difference. I love it! It is like a Brady Bunch kitchen wall and fits the current scheme perfectly.  I actually don't mind the outdated look right now. I feel like I am living in a sitcom.  

The entryway table

Since we moved into this house I have been on the lookout for "new to me" furniture that I could turn into a work of art.  My friend, Marcia, and her husband, Bobby had a truckload of furniture.  Some of this furniture needed help.  When Marcia saw this she knew this was something I was looking for and was she ever right!!  I knew instantly what I would do.  Another friend of mine has an Americana entryway table and I wanted to do my own little version because my living room is all about America and travels. The table was a drop leaf table, one side worked perfectly, but the other not at all, I think that is ok because I am using it as an entryway table and not a regular table.  I dreamed of painting the flag on one of the drop-downs and on the other side I planned to do another painting just in case I wanted to change the decor from Americana to something else.  The first thing I did was de-gloss the table and sand it a bit. 

Next was adding a layer of white paint.  My jar of white paint was rather old and while I was opening the jar it just shattered!  I spilled paint all over my carpet and spent about 2 hours cleaning up all that mess.  After that, I painted about 2 layers of white paint on the legs and then brown paint on the leaves and tabletop.  Once all that was dry I free handed a flag. I wanted it rough looking like it was 70 or 80 years old.  Once the flag was dry I dry brushed the whole thing in the same brown paint that I used for the top and I brushed the white legs in the brown too.  On the other side, I freehanded a tree branch and a bird.  Kind of like a cardinal in color, but a completely made-up bird.  Once the bird and the tree were dry I did the same dry brush with brown on top too.  

As I was setting up the table the cat brought me an orange fish which is featured in the photos :)  

Carpet isn't my bag

(This post will be updated as we tear the carpet from our new home)



I am not really into having wall to wall carpet in my house.  First of all, it traps dust making it hard on my allergies. The pile tends to look matted and you can just feel the germs and I just hate to be barefoot on it, or even walk on it with socks for that matter because your socks will get nasty.  I had read once that chances are good when you buy or rent a house with existing carpet you get all kinds of things from previous owners/renters, like toenail clippings and I know for sure it traps all that cat hair and makes it harder to clean if they vomit.  Yeah, I am done.


 Most of the houses we looked at had carpet throughout the place.  The one we purchased was full of it.  My goal was to get rid of much of that as I could.    I had no idea what was under ours.  I only knew the main part of our house was built in 1967, that COULD be good because there possibly would be hardwood under some of this stuff.  The first addition was built in the 1980s so chances were great that there was nothing but sub-floor under there.  And the last addition was built in the 2000s, and I know what is under there because I saw photos of the construction on old realtor listing sites....all sub-floor.  The last addition didn't bother me as much because it is evident that Trevor is the only person to "live" on that floor, both by the listings and the newness smell of the room.  I think it was just finished recently.  Carpet appears to be in perfect shape.


This post will grow longer as I tear this stuff up and redo the floors under this mess.

The grossest part to me was the carpet in the master bathroom.  As of today that is still down because I have to get money to purchase new flooring for that room.  I am looking at vinyl planks online but I want to see them in person.  Right now our country is going through this pandemic so installing flooring is really not something I want to tackle at the moment.


All the bedrooms have a carpet that is obviously older looking than the main house and the 80s addition, so I wanted to start with those, plus I slept better in a room without carpet (allergies).

March 20, 2020
We started in the closet room because I wanted to see what we were about to get into.   When we started ripping it up, the carpet tore easily.  It was full of dust (and I did find a fingernail) and was hard to breathe, I will wear a mask next time.  We tore the carpet in sections and ripped it up that way.  It was easier to manage and easier to put in the trash can.  We tore it in about 5 strips, as we got to the last strip, we saw the damage.  It looks like old termite damage to four boards.  I am pretty sure I can fix this so stay tuned because as I type this, it is the first morning and we are still in a pandemic so I can't get the wood I need.  I am going to finish ripping up the tack strips and covered the bad spots with a carpet until I can finish this project.  It took about 1 hour to get the carpet out, it is (and expected) to take much longer for the strips and the staples.

New house and loads of projects

On February 28, we moved into our new house.  It was a house with fabulous potential, it just needs some updating and personalization.  What you will see below is the before and after to what we have done as of today, March 14, 2020.  Some of the "current" views will evolve and possibly change completely, they were put in place to get us in a "home" environment and not a "you have much to do" world, I will tell you when that applies next to the photos.


First of all, I will tell you that we got possession of the house around 5pm on February 26. We could not do much on that day because it was almost dark.   The movers came early on February 27 and I really only wanted to keep them 2-3 hours....so the goal was for them to move all the furniture and we would move the boxes and other stuff ourselves.    We had to be out of the house on February 28, so we had to get busy and get things done.  What a whirlwind!

Many of the first photos here are from the realtor site because I had NO time to get before photos due to the moving timeline.

the living room

the living room is very large

the living room, I loved the kitty in front of the fireplace

the living room from another angle

I call this the "foyer", it is the space between the living and the eat-in kitchen

to me, the kitchen is simply a dream, except the flooring

2 photos of the hall bath

bedroom #1, the future guest room (I have not done much in here yet)

the fabulous linen closet in the master bath, holy cow

master bath double sinks

the carpeted master bath, ewwww 

the master bedroom

bedroom #2, which I had big plans for

The Bonus areas.....

 the sunroom

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 the room upstairs

Now for the fun part, making it ours. Below you will see some of what we have gotten done in two weeks.  The first thing was to transform the bedroom across the hall from the master into a closet.  We needed this because the house had only a few closets and we have lots of clothes and shoes.  The plan was to do one side for her and one for him and on the 3rd wall add my 43 pairs of shoes and my dresser....on the 4th wall, I planned to add shelves I have not added the shelves yet), ties, jewelry and an antique mirror with handpainted elements around it.  I want the room to have one purple wall and three gray walls.  In the above photos, this was bedroom #2.

I will have to add the gray walls next....and we are planning to rip up the carpet.  

Next up was the sunroom.  I wanted this to be my studio from the first moment that I saw it.  I have tons of art supplies and my crafting is loud, the isolation of the room makes it where I can create out here at almost any time.  I still would like to paint in here, but I am not sure what color as of yet.  At least, for the time being, I can create.  On the other side of the sunroom, I made a cat perch (so they can watch the birds and play with plants) and a library/sitting area.  It is going to be nice out here. I can tell that cats like this room the best of all.  

 the cats on the second day, you could tell they loved this room

Next up was the utility room.  I had just a small amount of turquoise paint left (the bath color from our last house) and I wanted to use it somewhere. I decided to lighten up the utility room so that I could use all my old laundry room signs I had made.  I would like to get crown molding for all the rooms.  

 the utility room before

Next up, the eat-in kitchen.  I wanted a square table here because the light fixture was at a weird angle and because the area was my gallery/command center area.  Olive has already fallen in love with the stools. I still have to find room for the trash and recycle cans.  I have changed out the fall flowers and put on display the spring flowers.  

 the was before we got the table

 The was the way it looked on the realtor site

 how it looks right now, I have to paint that cart if it is going to stay, but I really don't want it to stay.  I desperately need a coffee bar.

 looking from the kitchen to the family room and dining areas. It is a very nice area, and currently has Bobby Ewing on the tv.  The curtains are coming down as soon as we can figure out what we would like.   

Moving right along to the next steps done...I have not painted anything else, but I do have every frame up that I wanted to get up on the walls. I still have no idea what color I want to paint things. I have tons of swatches but have yet to commit to a thing.  Anyhoo, the next photos are just us living in the house until we figure out the next steps.  

 right as you enter the front door, there is oak floor under SOME of this room.  I am not yet sure how much.  Pay attention to the front door, it will one day be a different color or a different door, we are not sure yet.  I think I will paint it first.  

 the corner near the front door

 the master bedroom, this will soon be a green shade, I just don't know which one.  We do have new curtains up in there.  We placed some over the bathroom doorway too (there is no door), I plan to put a barn door there.  

 the Cat Room, the room under the stairs.  They stayed here the entire first day we lived in the house and it is the perfect spot for litter and cat food.  

 door leading into the cat room

 the walls are very scuffed, the room needs to be painted. 

I will be back later with more updates.  Hopefully, soon the bathroom carpet will be GONE!