Ta Da! What I Did On My Summer Vacation...

It was a busy summer. One minute I was wiping away tears (joy & sadness) at my trio's high school graduation and the next I was tool belt deep in Bullet Hole's version of Home Improvement in the Heartland. I 'made over' five rooms in my home. The triplets' bedrooms, a room that used to be a formal dining room and the room that used to be the dining room before the formal dining room. Clear as latex caulk, right?

Ah, well. Not to fear. I come bearing pictures of what my family has termed, 'Mom's Magnificent Obsession'. And while we're not quite there yet, I thought I'd share some snapshots of what I've been up to that has kept me from being as active online as I normally am--and what's sent me off to work more mornings than not with paint in my hair. Indigo Batik Blue is SO not my color...

Our HIHT (Home Improvement in the Heartland Tour) begins in one of the triplet's bedrooms. Since they are next to each other, I decided to go with the same color scheme in both rooms. One room was a gun-metal gray while the other's walls were a 'bleah' yellow. The rooms were repainted with a nice off-whitish color on the top and a tan on the bottom. Chair rail (stained and varnished by yours truly) separates the colors. Here is a picture of one of the room's corners so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about.
Didn't know ol' Bullet Hole had it in her, did ya? Next we move to a room just off the kitchen that was added as a formal dining room along with extra bedroom sometime after the house was built to accommodate a growing family. Originally, the dining room had been off the living room (one of those 'L-shaped' numbers) and when we moved to this home, we used the formal dining room as a dining room. The picture below shows what the dining room looked like when we moved in.
However, those of you with teens know that the time spent at the dining table is basically on an 'eat and run' basis and we found we weren't utilizing the space much at all. So, when the rec room downstairs got flooded out for the third time, I decided it was time to reevaluate the situation. Since there was a perfectly good dining area off the living room, I decided that's what I'd use it for again. So, we turned the dining room into a nice, cozy, TV/Video Game room. Here's the end result:











Of course, this meant that the used-to-be-now-once-again dining area had to be updated. Naturally.
So, more paint, more chair rail, and lots of 'blue hair' later, that room was updated. Here's what it looks like now:

And there you have it. What Bullet Hole Bacus did on her summer vacation. I still need to hang pictures in all of the rooms and get knick-knacks in place, but we're getting there.

Now my agent tells me I really need to get back to writing. Uh, don't tell her, but I've got my eye on my kitchen and bathroom next.

Speaking of writing, the reviews for ANCHORS AWEIGH are starting to trickle in and I'll share some of those plus some foreign rights news of my own.

~Bullet Hole who has met the miter saw on the field of battle and bested the beast!~