The Case of the Missing Merlot - A Velveteen Lounge Kitsch-en Mystery

Cousin Glendora is back in today's episode, "The Case of the Missing Merlot!" Perhaps if she bought it by the case she wouldn't lose it. Join us for gin cocktails, bourbon cheese balls, a cast of shady characters and hard-hitting intrigue. Will Glendora and her wine be reunited? Tune in and find out!

IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE BAR!

Are you attending Tiki Oasis? If so, don't you DARE miss our symposium! The hideous freak from the sea DEMANDS that you attend! Candy and cocktails will be served! Click here to purchase your ticket and click here to see what you're in for!

IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE BAR!

Powder Room Redo: We Have A Sink!

After several weeks with no sink, the third sink we tried in our powder room worked! Paul valiantly installed it today, solving some plumbing problems along the way, and I'm so thrilled to have a sink again!  I will never take sinks for granted again.  All that's left to do in the powder room now is more tile cleaning, paint touch ups and decorating!  I'll definitely be giving thanks for the end of this project this Thursday!

Our wonderful, beautiful, fabulous, WORKING sink!

Powder Room Redo: Wall Tile

All of this tile is about to go onto our walls! Wish us luck!

Breakfast Nook and Apple Salsa

Our breakfast nook renovation is practically done and I'm so happy! I made the curtains for the new pantry today:

And Paul installed our new light fixture:

I love that fixture so much! I've dubbed it Flintstones Modern, since it looks like something Wilma would have chosen if she'd moved into a mid-century modern home.

All that's left is the finishing touches - putting stuff back on the shelves, hanging pictures, etc. I'm glad to have something done!

Paul has been busy filling holes in the bathroom walls that had to be cut out to install electricity. I guess that's why they add electricity when the house is being built. They had to cut out huge chunks. More wall patch!

In other news, I quickly improvised this salsa last night and it turned out to be really good! All you do is chop an apple, half a cucumber and a few jalapeño peppers (I was using what I had) and toss with fresh lime juice, salt and pepper and a little garlic and red pepper flakes, if you like. It was great with salmon and today we're having it with chips!

I Can't Handle All This Improvement

If you thought our powder room looked bad last week, with exposed wallboard and holes in the walls, wait until you see it today:

Lovely, isn't it? Paul and the electrician opened up walls and ceiling for our new fixtures and it rained insulation. It was so messy I was coughing two rooms away! The good news is that we DO have power in there now. The bad news is that none of the fixtures are actually in place yet, so we don't currently have lights. SOON, I hope!

Bit By Bit

That's what Paul keeps saying about our home improvement projects: "Bit by bit."

My cookbooks are housed! Not all of them, but the vast majority.

I'm going to make covers for those ugly-yet-get-the-job-done bookends, probably out of the fabric we bought to make the curtains for the pantry. Right after I make the curtains for the pantry. I'd do it tomorrow, but hopefully our power will be out tomorrow - the electrician is supposedly coming to wire up our powder room! I say "supposedly" because I'm a little skeptical after the false starts. Please send good electrical thoughts our way!

Breakfast Nook: Light At The End Of The Tunnel

After an anxiety attack, which involved our new shelves NOT bearing the weight IKEA promised, we're back in business! Paul shored two of them up with supports that claim they'll now hold 200 pounds of weight and now I can move the food back into its rightful pantry (right, which currently harbors cookbooks). Next up: our new light fixture, our new utility cart, curtains for the front of the pantry and, eventually, more painting.

If  you're ever home improving, I recommend watching the film Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, on a continuous loop, if possible. There is no better inspiration or, frankly, antidote for delays and other frustrations. 

Progress

Slow, slow progress.

Our breakfast nook is painted!

Breakfast nook: painted!

Paul is currently assembling the new "pantry" that will live in there. IKEA calls it a shelving system, but with the new fabric I purchased today (70% off at Jo-Ann Fabrics - make sure you're on their list for coupons and be sure to give them your phone number, so they can text them to you), it will be a mid-century modern fantasy, particularly when Paul installs our new light fixture!

He works so hard.

Lest you think I've been idle since finishing the paint in the breakfast nook, I've been helping to patch walls and I think the holes may finally be covered. Paul made a fascinating discovery today: a former rodent's nest (RIP - he excavated the remains) inside one of the walls that had been feathered with a hot pink feather boa. I don't remember any pink boas disappearing, but I have so many that who can tell? UGH. However one might feel about rodents (I'm not a fan), this one was definitely a kindred spirit!

Our Lives Are So Glamorous

The powder room and breakfast nook here at the Velveteen Lounge Kitsch-en are in the awkward, "ugly duckling" stage of their development, but they will be gorgeous swans when they're done. At this point that date seems far off, but the good news is that I finally got a coat of paint on the walls of the nook! The paint prep was a six hour nightmare and the priming wasn't much better, but there is light at the end of the tunnel! Another coat and we should be in business  to hang our new shelves and put together our new "pantry" (IKEA didn't consider it a pantry, but we do!)! Here is the first coat. It looks more green than it is in this shot, but you get the idea:

Breakfast nook. Can't wait to have our kitchen back!

The prep for the painting was so awful that, when I was at Lowe's buying the paint, when the woman asked me if I wanted Valspar's "Signature" paint, or the more premium "Reserve" line, and explained that they claim the Reserve gives better coverage, I went for it. Best $10 I've ever spent. That paint went on like a dream! Thank you, Valspar Reserve!

In other news, the powder room looks distressingly like it did last week, but work IS getting done in there. I patched some walls today and Paul has been cutting out bad sections of wall and floor and adding new. This is the dirty, unrewarding part of the project, but we'll be glad we bothered when our walls don't cave in.

Mudding walls. It's good to learn a trade.

Should I be worried?

Powder Room: I'm Obsessed!

Here's a little more from our powder room demolition, to give you the idea of the scope of the destruction. I love the paint sample taped to the wall. It feels so optimistic right now. Eyes on the prize, eyes on the prize!

Here's what taking out your frustrations looks like!

Ex-wall board.

Powder Room: DESTRUCTION!

I have taken my frustrations of yesterday out on the powder room by ripping out the tile board, taking down all of the stuff on the walls and generally getting it ready for the electrician, who is coming back next Thursday! We'll be ready for him this time. All we need to do is cut a big hole in the ceiling, along with cutting holes in the walls and floor, plus one to the exterior of the house.  It's exhausting and messy, but I'm keeping my eyes on the prize!

Molding above the wood tile: GONE!

Demolition. Take that!