What Ana Does

While in Paris, I spent an insane amount of time thinking about updating my laundry room. I spent hours looking at Pinterest and imaging the different ways to use]the space. As our move grew closer, I started settling on ideas and drawing out plans and a budget. In my Post Paris Plan, that laundry room was a priority for a renovation. Wonder why? Here's a quick look ... Laundry Room Before: Glorious, NO!? This room (and it's a room and not a glorified closet, as it looks like now) is near the garage door and I know it could be 100000% more useful and productive with a little time, money and energy. Just adding a few built-in cabinets will improve the room. Or take a look at this space near the garage door. I consider it a "mud room" since it's where shoes get kicked off and where I leave my grocery bags, etc.  The Laundry Room "Mud Room" Area. It's Empty Because I Took This Picture Over the Summer. Now can you just imagine it with som...

You know what I'm talking about ... those rugs you get and toss on the floor in your bathroom or office or living room. And, if you're like me, you don't get the under-pads so the rugs move constantly (or you DO get the pads and they don't work ... argh!). And then there was that one time we washed a bathroom rug and it fell apart and broke our washing machine and I'm pretty sure we had to replace it. The rug AND the washing machine. See, my loathing of these scatter rugs runs deep. This week I've been spending a bit more time in my kids' bathroom than usual (we had company) and the two scatter rugs in there -- that I found on sale at who-remembers-where? store -- are just a mess. And I'm pretty sure I haven't decently washed them in an embarrassingly long time (because of the unfortunate washing machine incident mentioned above). They don't match (charming!) and I'm pretty sure they are not made for bathrooms. Total fail. So guess wh...

We're down to our LAST WEEK in the basement. Everybody dance now!  Because of the terrible weather, my fabulous contractor's son was able to come by for two days and lay the floor in the massive 900 sqft room. That was a huge task checked off the to-do list. Yippee!  In the bathroom, we're down to the finishes. The contractor sanded and installed the vanity "shelf" and it's up to me to stain and poly it this weekend before the plumber arrives on Tuesday to hook up the faucets and toilet. The electrician will be by next week to complete all the switches and hang the scones in the bathroom. And the carpet install is happening on the stairs and in the bedroom on Monday.  This weekend, while we get hit by more snow and sub-zero weather, I'll be attempting to get all the finish paint on the walls, so there won't be anything holding up the trim install. Oh, and that trim needs to be painted, too.  Feeling thankful the kids will...

We're talking lots and lots about flooring, as today starts the DRYWALL portion of our basement work. Wohoo! We set the flooring budget and I did a bunch of research on all the options out there. And there is a lot to think about. The most important consideration was the stairs -- we wanted the stairs to look professionally done, so that first impression of our basement isn't my DIY disaster. I looked at (and priced out) installing a runner, painting the treads, carpeting, etc. And we just decided paying for the professional carpet installation on the stairs was what we wanted most. And it only ate up 1/3 of our budget (we tacked on the bedroom, too). Here's what I picked: Very Neutral Carpet For the Stairs This company (Empire) also had laminate flooring that looked like what we found at Floor & Decor, but their all-in estimate blew my budget out of the water. So, I picked a carpet color that would match that laminate we're considering and we can delay t...

When we started talking about this flooring, way back on Friday, I would have said no to more carpet. Having a dining room table on carpet is odd. But after discussing with the floor guy and looking at some samples, I got pretty comfortable with it. Ideally, we would continue the hardwood floors from the house into the living room/dining room but unless I discovered an elf with magical flooring powers that can match the 15-year-old wood, it's not going to happen. So, we got new carpet that's designed for the traffic and use of this room. It's low pile (but not berber, that snags!) and very family friendly. And it was installed in about 2 hours. Obviously, the dogs are very happy on it. New Carpet Now that the furniture is moved back, and not the clutter, it is making me rethink all the junk that sits on those white shelves. Do we really need it? Also, that coffee table really should be white, right? Related links: More posts about the Living Room