Living room update and my latest crush

Hello friends---it feels like it's been forever since I've been here. My parents were visiting for a week and besides doing lots of fun things together my Dad taught me how to use my new miter saw and my (intimidating) new nail gun. As usual, we ended up working together and he basically let me do all the measurements and cutting for the window casing and new baseboards we installed in my living room.

We also did a big plank wall in my Master bedroom which I continued to work on after he left.

And I have to tell you--- I'm soooo excited about all the projects that are now possible with my new miter saw.

Learning how to use these tools is exactly the kind of thing that makes my little heart go pitter patter.  I don't think I mentioned it, but ever since I've started visiting this young, talented DIY blogger

Jenna Sue Design

who is fearless about her woodwork--well, actually all her projects-- I've been inspired to face my fears about using tools that can cut my fingers off.

(Ok. see what I mean?--do I have to think about that?)

Although once I got past all my scaredy-cat worries I seriously started to think--hey, if this person can do it, why not me?

Here's a picture of my latest crush--

Mr. Miter Saw-- and my little work station I used when my Dad was here. 

And this is a BEFORE photo of the living room window. Kinda dark... sorry.

Before

I'm using 6 inch baseboards throughout the house.

This window is wrapped in 4 inch and 6 inch pine--and I decided to go with straight cuts for my cottage look.

The most time-consuming part is filling the holes, priming and painting--but it's also exciting to see it all come together. I plan on replacing all the door casings before I install the baseboards. If you remember we had the old baseboards removed when we got our new wood floors, so I've got my work cut out for me. But I really enjoy it.

Here's a photo taken from the entrance ---we now have baseboards throughout this room... woo hoo!!!

In this picture you can see the old wood molding on the ceiling which has been partially removed. I've decided to add planks on the two walls in here. (The third and fourth walls are the fireplace wall and bookcase wall). Although I'm not sure whether I'll go vertical or horizontal yet.

The other big project my Dad and I worked on was my plank wall in my Master bedroom.

I'm challenging myself to a 30 day Master Bedroom Re-do and next time I'll share some of my ideas with you. This is the ONE room that we've done nothing with since we moved in here.

I decided to go the more economical route instead of buying the planks that fit together. And you've probably seen this version everywhere in blogland so I won't bore you with the details. But we did use four sheets of plywood cut into 8 inch widths. I chose to go a little wider than the standard 6 inch.

Here's a photo of the finished wall--before the painting. Boy did I go back and forth on the paint color. You can probably guess what shade I went with.

My parents slept in Michael's bedroom-the official guest room--when they came for their visit. They really like this room because it has it's own bathroom and I always buy new sheets and have fresh flowers ready for them. And I can finally say that my parents have really adapted to our move now---even though it was hard at first.. over time it's working out. We now have these longer--vacation style visits which we all can look forward to.

Before I go I wanted to send out a big thank to those who read my last post. To be honest, I always feel hesitate when I hit the publish button on those kind of posts. I'm aware that some followers are here strictly for my decorating posts--and could care less about my thoughts on other subjects, and so I always expect some negative response that never comes. Thank goodness. But one thing does happen. I'm always blown away by the deep, insightful comments left by friends-- women I've never meant in person-- but whose views and experiences help me realize how similar we all are at our core.

A special thank you to my friend Laura from White Spray Paint Blog who kindly featured my post and who is such a beaming light in the blogging world.  Do you know Laura? Please visit her and tell her I sent you. She'll make you feel so welcome, she's like that.

xo

Leslie 

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The Scoop