What Ana Does

Do you remember the original plan for our laundry room? It looked like this ... with hooks and penny tile on the wall behind the washer and dryer. I picked the penny tile because I wouldn't need to cut it and it's a pretty simple installation. I thought it would look great! But the plan changed as the project went along -- as it always does. (And if you missed that dramatic makeover, see the details here . It's a WOW!) Ok, so just about a year later, here's the laundry room -- and it's looking GREAT -- but I have some leftover shiplap boards from the bathroom project, so I've been thinking of using it in the little nook behind the storage cubbies. A few hours would knock that project out. No biggie. But, then I was thinking ... why stop there? Maybe I should also do a quick tile project on that wall, too! The peel and stick tile, while a good substitute, looks half-done. Let's be realistic here. To do the tile, I'd need to: Move the littl...

Our powder room is done and we're so thrilled! Mostly, I'm so happy with the new vanity because I loathed our builder-grade crappy one with no storage and a $5 plastic ball faucet. BLAH. This Kohler upgrade in dove grey was a FIND on the Home Depot website and is beyond gorgeous and perfect. We're in the second month of our quarantine, and it's projects like these that are really keeping my spirits up and my hands and mind busy. As with all DIY home projects, we learned A LOT: First on the list, we learned how to install shiplap! And it's pretty simple, as long as you have a level and a nail gun. And the results are eye-popping. Crisp and classic.  I ran into a little issue with paint, so I ended up doing three coats of this "dragonfly" by Benjamin Moore color, but the moody teal was worth it. All the white POPS! We learned to calk BEFORE paint. After paint, it just looked messy, like this. I came by with a small paintbrush and touched up this en...

Dave had a vision for the garage. He's in the garage most mornings using the gym space and likely daydreaming a bit of how to better organize the things taking up space. So I reached out to our contractor to see if he was comfortable coming over and building some shelves that we could use to tidy up. I drew out a master plan of how best to organize all the crazy amount of stuff in there. It included installing the four ceiling hoists for our bikes from the ceiling! Our contractor was up for it. He built most of the 9ft shelves at his house and he came for one day to do the install (and swap the items in the powder room). Minimal contact in these weird times. Here it is! See how cool those bikes are hanging from the ceiling! We'll spend the upcoming weekends going through the junk in the foreground, sorting it into piles, and finding containers to store them in ... WITH LABELs. YAY! Final picture of Dave's vision of space and organization coming soon.

It's hard for me not to think about home improvements and DIY while we're all home for this quarantine. With work-from-home, school work, house work and puppy ... there's already a lot going on. But I'd feel like we're wasting the opportunity if we don't do some work around the house. So let's talk about the powder room. Last year, I did a quick update by adding some art ledges, removable wallpaper and a rug. Minor changes but made a big change. Here's what it looked like: Honestly, I think the phone camera makes that color look so much deeper and richer than it actually is. Anyway, I loath the sink and that faucet, especially. And Dave has been dreaming about updating the toilet. And the paint color needed to be darker. So I reached out to our contractor, Mick, to see if he'd be open to doing a few minor projects, as long as we stayed far far away. One was in the garage (more on that later) and then swapping out the pieces in this bathroom, ...

Dogs. Who knew I'd have so much fun with dogs?! Since March, we've been volunteering to foster dogs through a neighbor's rescue group -- with an eye to maybe adopting, if they proved a good fit. Through the process, we meet a big black lab mix we named Bailey and a little Yorkshire terrier mix we called Chewie (short for Chewbacca). Both were sweet and slowly, over the course of their short stays, revealed a little of there unique personality. And it was rewarding and fun. Especially during quarantine and all of us being home. But none got along with Bruce well enough to keep forever. And they just didn't "feel" like the right fit.  When we talked to Meghan, our neighbor who runs the rescue group, about Chewie not being the right fit, she mentioned she had the most adorable little puppies ... that would stay little. (Brief aside: She also thought Bruce was going to be very little, and he's pushing 30lbs! "I was so wrong about him!" she ex...