Better Homes and Gardens

If you're wondering why we aren't paying enough attention to our blog, it's because we've been paying a lot of attention to our house.

We've decided to stay in this place another year which meant for us that some things just had to be done in order to stand it. We realised it won't be costing us a lot to do some small fixer-uppers so we've begun a tiny redecorating project.

We painted the bathroom yesterday. It was painted a horrible 70s shade of peach, which after 30-odd years has developed some disgusting stains and water damage. We painted it "soothing white" which is actually almost blue, but it instantly looked like a new room. It looked clean for the first time since we moved in. After that, we decided the old mirror, trash bin, towel rack and toilet roll dispenser (also in that shade of peach, plastic) had to go, so we replaced them with shiny chrome features, except for the mirror which we just bought an inexpensive wooden medicine cabinet instead, since the chrome ones were more expensive than we intended to spend on a rented house. I cleaned off the counter space by putting loads of crap in the medicine cabinet, and the place looks like new. Except for the 70s style pink and burgundy rose tiles in the shower, which Scott actually likes because of all the weird shapes. So to work with the pink, I added a pink vase for decoration, and voila! I'm not ashamed of the bathroom anymore.

The other big redecoration project we are attempting is to replace the disgusting carpet in the house with hard wood flooring. I know, I know, it sounds like a big, expensive thing to do to a home you are only renting. We think so a bit, too. But considering the vast difference it will make to our respiratory systems and the germ count (not to mention, our happiness) we are going to go for it. Scott's dad will lay it all for us so it's just a matter of picking a flooring out (one that isn't too dear) and moving the furniture out of his way. He'll do it while we're at work to save the well-being of Scott's lungs.

Other than that, we've just been rearranging furniture, adding "bold accents" (thank you, Ideal Home for all your ideas) and so on. I feel probably 200x happier here now. I feel like I have a home, a place where people can come visit without dying of strange 70s era diseases, a haven.

I'm a happy lady.