Please vote for Hua Hua in the Modernica Pets on Furniture Contest!

She’s the 6th one down on the poll. She promised me she’ll stop scratching the rug if she wins…

Would you like a side of cat hair with your steak?

She’s living the American dream.

It started off like this. (Excuse my man-pajamas outfit.) Classy grapevine mirror and scones, thanks to the previous owner. You like?

Let me just say that removing wallpaper is incredibly tedious and not at all a fun, after-work activity. I’m hiring someone next time. It took us a week to finish the project, with work and life fitting in there somewhere. We used the fabric-softener mixed with water in a spray bottle technique. (I tried Paper Tiger and it didn’t really seem to make a difference so I opted out.) After the initial hours of scraping, we realized this is going to suck.

Close up of the Brain.

After many more hours of scraping and screaming, the Brain was finally banished! So much better already.

We spackled and sanded all the rough spots until the wall looked like a blank canvas. Now all we had to do was slap on the new paint…WRONG! Turns out primer and paint don’t like to stick to fabric softener and glue! Ha Ha Ha. Joke’s on us. So after more sanding, scraping, and scrubbing with damp cloth, we were finally able to prime and paint the room. Crawling around the toilet and sink was awesome! -___-

I decided on Indian River by Benjamin Moore to give the tiny room with no natural light some warmth. We also removed the extra towel bar to make room for some framed photos of succulents.

No more Brains!
Reminder of the “before”:

I still plan on getting a white hand towel and a some chrome knobs for the cabinets.

Here’s the cost and the sources:
Paint & tools: $70
West Elm Mirror: $149
2 West Elm Wall Scones: $118
2 Photo Frames & Mattes: $33 (Aaron Brothers Penny Sale!)
Hours of Labor:

Total: $370 +
Going to the bathroom without looking at Brains: Priceless!

BTW, happy Fourth of July! Don’t blind yourself with fireworks!

I didn’t want a large outdoor dining set taking up room all the time so I had to come up with a more temporary solution. A plastic fold-up table was purchased from Amazon for only $80. The best part? It’s a perfect beer pong table!

When we’re eating, all we have to do is throw on a tablecloth and it looks pretty civilized. When the night degenerates, the tablecloth comes off. The next morning, we just wipe off the spilled beer and fold up the table to be stored in the garage…until the next beer-pong/flip-cup tournament!

Beer pong photos courtesy of Alice!

As you can see, there’s also a new rug! I’ve been searching for the Nate Berkus chevron rug for a while now. It’s no longer available on HSN and seemed impossible to find elsewhere. Somehow, I got lucky last week and spotted a 8′x10′ version randomly on eCrater. The best part – it was $100 cheaper than the HSN price and brand new!

Living room + dining room combo, looking spiffy.

Just for fun, here’s a photo of the dining room as staged by the previous owner. Sorry for the poor quality, I grabbed it from the real estate listing of our house.

A picture’s worth a thousand words…let’s just say we’ve come a long way.

Are you wondering why the cat is in every photo? It’s because she fell madly in love with the new rug, instantly. She kept rolling on it and scratching it. Hasn’t she heard of playing hard to get? Geesh.

We quickly got to work. I ordered all the new furniture and accessories online. My mom and I painted the walls and ceiling. Scott channeled Chico again and installed the lighting fixture. The result? Pretty damn good! The room went through a complete transformation.

Before

Notice the yucky yellow paint and un-coziness.

After

So much more cozy, elegant, and calming! And totally affordable! Check out the expenditures below.

Cost:
Paint: $80 (1 gallon for accent wall, 1 gallon for the other walls, 1 gallon for ceiling)
Bench: $183
Chair & Ottoman set: $335
Rug 5′x8′: $134 (50% Off for Mother’s Day!)
Console Table: $230
2 Table Lamps: $180
Pendant Lamp: $114
4 Curtain Panels: $60 (I’m pissed because these look exactly like my West Elm silk ones but cost a fraction of the price I paid.)
Bedding: $100
Framed illustration over the chair: $40 from HomeGoods
Wall frames and mattes: $80 from Aaron Brothers with 30% off coupon (I shot and printed the photos myself)
Accent pillow: $12 from Target
Total Cost: $1448

Not bad considering we did everything in a week. Thanks, Internet! Couldn’t have done it without you and your sweet deals!

I decided on four dowel leg side chairs and two eiffel arm chairs. I do love the eiffel base but thought all eiffel might be too stark against the tile floor.

Here’s a shot of my Milo Baughman credenza and refinished kitchen chairs with the dining table in the foreground.

Before

After

I’m thinking next step will be painting the wall with the framed photos a dark teal to create an accent wall. That’ll really make the white chairs pop! Also searching for a 8×10 kilim rug to go underneath the table and chairs…man are they hard to come by. It has to be affordable because my cat will totally destroy it instantly.

Something to look forward to – I’ve been redoing my parents’ master bedroom. Can’t wait to share the results with you! My mom and I spent all day painting yesterday and we still have to do the ceiling this weekend. My back is going to hate me…

We followed this recipe for the crust and this recipe for the strawberry part. It turned out pretty well for our first strawberry pie ever!

strawberries – we used three cartons of these

making dough for the crust

wait till it’s crispy

simmering mashed up strawberries and lots of sugar

Tada! Strawberry pie! Mix of whole, fresh strawberries and mashed up strawberries.

The cat did not help at all.

Tada!

Started out like this…

Spray painted in the backyard.

Several cans of spray paint and a couple million staples removed later, we have this! Just in time for summer.

Speaking of summer, check out the roses blooming in our garden. They are liking the mid-70s weather and all the rain lately.