How you doin’?

No how YOU doin’?? ;)

I’ve been planning this post forever, because there’s lots of projects that I do up in here that I’ve been meaning to update you on. When I see projects out in blogland, I love hearing how they work in real life and how they hold up. It’s like those extreme makeover shows when they show the person a year later and you’re all like, ohhh, they look GREAT. Or ohhh, that’s just too bad…

This is the house version.

And so here. we. go.

First up – the beadboard backsplash in the kitchen:

I cannot express how much I LOVE it. It looks fresh and clean and it’s been way easier than I thought it would be to take care of. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve even had to wipe anything off of them in almost two years -- mainly by the sink. The grooves aren’t exactly easy to wipe down, but I figure at least I can wipe them down – I don't have to deal with cleaning grout or anything like that.

If you remember, I glued those suckers right over the tile. And I have no doubt they’ll be there as long as I want them to be. ;)

There was one little spot that wouldn’t stay put, so I tried a nail gun (yeah, into tile, not the best idea), and it left a not-so-perfect part.

Nothing a fern can’t fix:

Ta DA!!! No mess up. :)

Overall I’m thrilled with the backsplash – especially considering the whole thing cost less than $50 (I think? I’m pretty sure!) to do.

Speaking of the backsplash, I get asked a lot about the cereal containers we keep out on the counter:

OK, the Oats are now chocolate rice krispies and the Bran is chocolate frosted flakes (YUMMO), but whatever. I change the cereal but hardly ever the names. ;)

Yes, it stays super fresh in these (you can find them at Walmart and Target) – I swear longer than it does in the box. By the way, you can get the scoops for the cereal for CHEAP at restaurant supply stores – most of them are open to the public and they have some great stuff. (That’s a whole other post!)

Well, speaking of counters, there’s one more in the kitchen – the butcher block! Another one I LOVE:

I got a butcher block from IKEA, and had it cut down and a decorative edge routered, then replaced the old laminate counter with this beauty.

I used to baby it a bit, but now, it’s like anywhere else. It takes a licking and keeps looking beautiful. ;)

I clean it like I do the other counters, I put hot and cold on it, water sits on it, wine spills on it – it’s fabulous. We don’t have any stains or water rings and I love it.

About once a year I’ll oil it (I explained how to do that in this post), but that’s where the upkeep ends.

In the kitchen, I’d do the backsplash and butcher block again in a heartbeat!

Let’s move on to the family room – where we have our very first, post debt free purchase, the sectional we bought last spring. I researched my heart out and decided on a sectional from Arhaus:

(You can see more about that process here and here.)

This is another one I’m pleased as punch with – I am so glad I did so much research before buying. I went into it thinking I wanted a slip covered sofa, and ended up with a microdenier fabric (similar to microfiber but bunny-soft) instead. And I said I would never do microfiber. That’s what I get when I say never. ;)

The only upkeep for this one is that I flip the cushions every three or four months. It takes a few minutes cause I have meellions of pillows on there:

And yes, usually a little dog.

I take off the seat and back cushions and flip them:

Number two reason I love this sofa so much – the super deep seats! Plenty of room for pillows and tushies.

The number one reason? That these two can do whatever they want to it and the fabric is still like the day we got it:

The Nutter (the dog) jumps on with wet feet (all. the. time.), he digs into it trying to get comfy for his nap, and smushes the back cushions in two spots – one at the back window and one at the end of the sofa so he can monitor the rest of the house. ;) He also cleans his paws and licks the sofa while he’s doing it, which totally grosses me out, and he’s doing it right now. Ew.

And I don't worry about the Bub eating on there – usually it’s just a small snack, but I certainly don’t live in fear of it getting messed up. I think it still looks like the day we bought it!:

 

The sofa when we got it on the left, on the right today.

I love that the cushions hold their shape – no fluffing needed. EVER.:

Now let’s talk about the part of the room that’s not holding up so well…the lovely rug:

I got it from HomeGoods a while back – I think it’s been more than a year ago?

It is NOT doing well. It’s a complete mess actually. ;) You can’t see it well in pics, thankfully, but it’s kind of a disaster. There are small parts the dog has chewed on it, and it’s bare in those areas. But the bigger issue is just the way it wears. It’s not good.

I don’t think I would get this looped kind of rug again. It’s beautiful, and I’m looking for something I love just as much (for a similar price) and not having much luck. But it’s not good quality. For what I paid for it, I guess it’s OK.

A big one I get asked about a lot is the stair redo:

Best project I’ve ever done in our house – hands down. The fact that it was SO cheap didn’t hurt. ;) (The wood under the carpet was in great shape and I used stain and paint I already had.)

I was a teensy bit concerned about them being slippery and they haven’t been. I think we’ve had one small slip on them in two years – and that’s WAY less than we had with carpet. At least in our house, the carpet caused more spills than the wood. :) (Knock on that wood.)

There’s not much upkeep on this either – about six months ago I put a quick coat of white on the risers:

They were scuffed up just a bit, and I didn’t even tape off to paint over the scuffs. It took about 20 minutes total.

The actual treads have held up fabulously! They look like the day I finished.

We used cheap, basic pine boards from Lowe’s for the landing (this was pre-hardwoods), and this area has seen more wear:

It doesn’t bother me (obviously because I haven’t fixed it), because I think it makes it look rustic and worn (in a good way). The big scratch was from when hubs and I were taking a box spring down (or up? I don't remember) the stairs, and we we scooched it and scratched the floor.

I knew this would happen because pine is so soft – and if you wear shoes in the house this would look a lot worse! Again, I kind of like the look. It doesn’t bother me at all.

Because the stairs don’t match our hardwoods, I’m hoping to get our flooring guy out this year to sand down the treads and install our floors on the landing. Then I’ll repaint and restain everything.

Wooee. I can’t WAIT to do all of that again. Can you tell? ;)

Just a little side note – it took about 15 shots before I could get a pic of JUST the floors. Someone has to be in every picture:

       

But he won’t stay still long enough for me to get a good shot of him. Stink.

So there you go! A few updates on some of my big projects and purchases! I don’t steer you Squeezies wrong – I’ll always tell you how I feel about projects and products.

As you know it usually takes me seven years to get any major projects done and that’s because I think them out and plan them for a ridiculous amount of time. In the end it serves me well, so I don’t see that changing any time soon. ;)

Are there any projects I’ve done that you’d like to know more about? I’m happy to share – just let me know! Have any of these little projects appeared at your house? I’d love to hear!