The "New" Deck!

So...we got out in the crazy heat today and starting staining the deck. We're using a solid paint stain, so it's not as hard to paint as I thought it would be. This kind of stain doesn't leave brush strokes....so one coat and it's done :) We got the whole top part of the deck (minus one itty bitty area) and all of the upper railings done. We hope to get the outside railings, underside of the deck, and the steps done in the next day or two :).

I was scared when we bought the stain that the color was too brown and dark for me after seeing the dot of paint they put on top of the can, but after seeing it on the deck...I LOVE it :)

Here are some before and after pics!

Before

After!!

Wish Us Luck!

Tomorrow we plan to get a LOT done around the house!!! Today I spent a good portion of the day working on trimming most of our bushes around the house (we have too many). So, first thing I need to do tomorrow is pick up all of the trimmings. THEN we're planning on cleaning the deck, letting it dry, and then staining it. I hope we're able to get it all done tomorrow. In between cleaning the deck and actually staining it (while it's drying), we're hoping to go down in the garage and finally paint the dry-lock paint on the cement blocks that are underground. We've had water issues in the past that we're hoping will be solved with the new paint :).

Hopefully this will look much different tomorrow!!

New Dining Room Set :)

Today, I went to Chattanooga with my best friend Jonathan to look at new living room furniture for his new condo that he just closed on this past week. I had recommended him checking out Furniture Row since we had been so happy with all of our purchases there (our living room set and our bedroom set are from there). I had planned on just "looking" at dining room sets to see if there was anything that I liked. I've been wanting to get a set for our dining room but have been having a hard time finding a set where I like both the table/chairs and the matching hutch/china cabinet/server. So, we get to chattanooga and a few hours later, we are the proud owners of a new china cabinet, table, and 8 chairs (plenty of room for friends and family). The best part is that it includes a 20" leaf, so we can leave it small for just us (seats 6) or expand it to make room for 8 people. I FINALLY found a set where I like everything in the set AND is affordable! :)

The best part is that not only did I get $120 off the regular price for the table and chairs, but I also got the china cabinet for HALF price! Yes...I said HALF price :) (can you tell I'm excited???). They had a china cabinet in the showroom that said final clearance and was marked down about $250 off the orignal price. The three display lights aren't working (but we're hoping are an easy and quick fix). I found a few very minor marks on the wood and asked if the clearance price reflected those. He told me he could come down about another $150, but when I went to check out...he discounted it another $100 on top of the other discounts...giving it to us for $500 off!!! I can't wait to get it :) :) I will finally have a place to store and display all of our wedding china, crystal, and a few decorative pieces :)

Here are some pics from the website and the store!!

This Weekend's Project...

My sister's bachelorette party and bridal shower are being held at our house in a week and a half and we still have a ton of things we hope to get done. I'll try to post as many pictures of the small projects we have lined up. The big project that we're hoping to tackle this weekend is building a cornice box for our dining room windows. Here is a picture of what we're hoping to make. We'll most likely use white sheers behind the cornice box.

We Have New Cabinets!

Yesterday, my dad came over and helped Tom and me install our new laundry room cabinets! They're sooo pretty :) We still have one cabinet to install but that is only because when we went to unpack the last cabinet, we noticed a huge crack in the side. Since Home Depot no longer carries these particular cabinets in stock, they have to special order us a new one...which will be 3-4 weeks before we can pick it up :(

See the crack?? :(


Here are some before and after pics...

Before....all of our junk out for everyone to see...

More junk out in the open

Now the junk is gone...but time for the shelves to come down.

YAY! New cabinets!

I think they're so pretty :)

New Cabinets!

For those of you following our blog (our few loyal readers...lol), Tom and I have a list of projects around the house that we hope to accomplish this year. We ended up buying the cabinets that we talked about in our last blog, but we haven't had a chance to hang them. We're pretty busy for the rest of the month, so we hope to finally transform our laundry room at the beginning of May. I can't wait to just open a cabinet and get out what I need rather than getting a chair to reach the box on the top shelf and have to go through the box to find what we need. PLUS...our laundry room won't look so messy and cluttered!!

Here's a look at the cabinets we bought. Stayed tuned for more Harlin House updates :)

This is a picture of the cabinets from the website

We're BACK!!!

So, it has been about 6 months since my last update. I guess after doing a 5 month renovation to our new house, I was done with renovations for a while. Well...today was the first day of spring and I have spring fever....not the kind that makes you want to clean...but the kind that makes you want to do new projects around the house.

So...for tiny project #1...Tom replaced the rotted wood on the gas grill on the deck. We just need to stain it to match the deck (which we hope to stain in the next few weeks). We also have heat resistant spray paint to re-paint it.





As for project #2, we found kitchen cabinets on clearance at Home Depot tonight. They're about the price of unfinished ones...so they're a really good deal (about 50% off). If we can work out the measurements to fit right, we're going to replace the wire shelving in the laundry room with the new cabinets!!! I'm hoping another local Home Depot has a selection so we'll have more to work with.

Well...that's about it for today...but stay tuned to hopefully many new projects for this year :)