DIY in Texas

Joela and I went to Texas on the 27th of January.  We went to spend some time with Bradlee and Suzanne and see their new place and do some DIY (do it yourself) work.  This was supposed to be the trip that we took Mom on but she came with us in a different sort of way.  We felt her with us!  I could hear her voice more than once admiring what we were doing.

We did a LOT of shopping for home decor ~ did some painting ~ some sewing ~ and some picture hanging ~ some electrical work (moving lights from one room to another) ~ VERY LITTLE sleeping ~ some crying ~ some laughing and loving to be together! What we didn't get done was Bradlee's office repainted (sorry little brother) but we did get the paint for him and Suzanne promised to help him do it.  We did find a beautiful new picture to put on his wall.  We just didn't have time for the labor.

 So the first thing we did was to replace the nasty ugly counter top they had on the island in the kitchen.  We totally scored and got this slab of granite for $150!!  Bradlee and Joela, armed with liquid nails and a hammer took off the old and put on the new!  Suzanne wanted to sleep on it but we told her NO :) What a difference it made in the kitchen :)

Before

During

After

Then we worked on the back splash which had the same green tile - we sanded the tiles - primed them and then painted them a fun brown color ~ who would have thought that you could paint tile :)

Before

After

We put knobs on the cupboards and drawers...

Before

After

 We made new curtains and cushions for the window benches ~ trying to find the perfect fabric was a HUGE task but Suzanne held out until the very last store and it's a good thing because it is perfect!

Before (Ashlee in the window painting)

Before

After ~ happy windows :)

After

We added some decorations to the wall and cupboard tops and the kitchen was complete ~ well until next time when we redo the white tile floor :)

The colorful dishes (the round ones) are from Shelly Nash in Peru :)

Sitting on the new cushions :)

Ashlee and Joela

We then moved on to the family room where we added a little paint to the fireplace wall and put up a great big huge picture that transformed the room to HAPPY :)  Suzanne loved the new HAPPY feel in her home :)

Before

During

After :)

The rest of our DIY was decorating ~ the wall in the living room ~ the beautiful table Bradlee and Rebecca made Suzanne for Christmas ~ and Nathans room. I didn't get pictures of the light fixtures but Joela and Bradlee changed a couple of those as well.

He is a TOTAL Texan :)

The table (in the entry way)

Living Room wall

Entry way rug

It was so fun to transform their already beautiful home into as Suzanne would say "It's so HAPPY".  It is so fun to have a sister who eats, drinks, and sleeps DIY :)  And now the rest of the pictures...

Working on the new cushions

Ashlee and Joela

Ashlee, Nathan and Joela

DIY Sisters

DIY Siblings

The Happy family

Ashlee making us waffles on the new countertop!
On her SNOW DAY

We went from 80 degrees on Saturday to this ice storm on Tuesday and the coldest weather in 15 years in Dallas!
It was the craziest thing.
Texas doesn't know how to do snow and ice.  It shut the whole town down!

 Joela and I left on February 2nd ~ we thought for a minute that we would be snowed in but the airplanes were flying so off we went.  So where should we go for our next DIY adventure???  Maybe we will just go back to Texas to sightsee :)