Monthly Archives: January 2010
Feline Friday – Cat or Rabbit?
Look at those feet! The boy cat is sure kickin back.
Lessons Learned – Dinner for Thirty
Nothing better to light a fire under our butts to get the house together than hosting Christmas for thirty family members!
I won’t lie. It was intense. In the midst of DIY project after project, I needed to plan a menu and figure out how I was going to seat everyone.
Lesson One – Plan the menu then tell people what to bring.
Potlucks are great except with no direction guest bring odds and ends instead of substantial additions to the menu. After going through all my shelter & food magazines and websites – I put together the following menu.
Dinner
Roasted Beef Tenderloin w/ Basil-Curry Mayonnaise
Ham
Cauliflower & Brussels Sprout Gratin w/ Pine Nut-Breadcrumb Topping
Starch Dish
Potato Salad
Roasted Vegetables
Fruit or Green Salad
Bread
I asked guests to bring either a starch dish, salad, dessert or drinks. I was responsible for the beef tenderloin, gratin and bread. My mom took the ham and roasted vegetables. I prepped the gratin on Christmas Eve and did the rest of the cooking Christmas morning.
Piece of cake. It went as smooth as butter. I could not believe it! Wow this is what planning ahead can do for you!!
Lesson Two – Use what you have.
Nate and I had hours to decorate after we finished setting up the great room. I luckily had a bunch of heirloom ornaments and inexpensive decorations from years past. I divided everything by color. The beachy, muted colors went in the front room while the great room got all the jewel tones. I kept silver accessories and white candles throughout the house to keep it all together.
Lesson Three – Think about people placement.
Since we don’t have any permanent furniture in the dining area, I set up two 6 foot folding tables (borrowed from the parents) in an “L” shape for the buffet. This way the food stayed out of the kitchen and people could flow through it easily into either the great room, front room or back yard.
There was no way I was going to have a seated dinner for 30. The buffet allowed everyone to sit where they wanted.
Lesson Four – Buffet plates are awesome.
Under the guidance of my mother, I picked up 3 sets of buffet plates from Cost Plus. These were a life saver. Set of twelve nice, white buffet plates that I can easily store between parties for less than $20.00 each. (I also had a coupon, so I got them at a even better price! Sign up for the Cost Plus Explorer program to get coupons.)
Lesson Five – At some point just stop and enjoy.
About 11am on Christmas Day, I called it quits. I had just hung the white curtains in our great room with Adie’s help and I threw in the towel. My list wasn’t done, but it was time to switch gears and celebrate the day.
Finally the Couch Reveal
I wrote about the purchase of our new couch in the beginning of December, but not the actual install.
The couch arrived on a rainy Saturday morning as we were beginning to paint the great room with one small hiccup – no ottoman.
The couch I bought comes with a floating chair lounge which in essence is a long chaise cushion supported by the ottoman underneath it. No ottoman meant no chaise lounge which in turn meant no couch.
Unfortunately, after calling Macy’s and getting the ottoman delivery the following Friday, the excitement of the couch had worn off.
We covered it in blankets and continued to paint the room. The kitties found it an awesome place for an afternoon nap.
The following Friday the ottoman was delivered with no problems. I was giddy to see it finally put together.
Now after a few weeks of use, I have to say I am in love. The chaise is a great place to curl up. (I have already spent a couple evenings napping on it.)
The microfiber seems like its going to hold up great. We had a weird stain on it this week, so I pulled out the Worry Free Fabic Cleaner and whatever it was came off without a beat.
Fingers crossed – but I am very happy with the purchase.
Kitchen Floor Redo
So our kitchen floor was a mess. We ripped out the crumbling linoleum when we first moved in on a whim and was left with a gross, stained concrete floor.
At the time, we had other projects to work on so we covered it with a green IKEA rag rug. The rug looked great when it was clean, but keeping a rug clean in a kitchen was not an easy task. In fact, I began to hate that rug with a passion. Just thinking about that grubby rug makes my toes curl!
So weeks, months go by with the rug in the kitchen while I tried to figure out what to do with the floor. Do we replace the linoleum? Or just refinish the concrete subfloor? In the end I decide to just refinish the sub-floor. I would rather have the kitchen floor flow with the rest of the house.
I finally stumbled on some web posts about how to remove glue from sub-floor with an adhesive remover.
Eureka!!
During my next trip to the local home improvement store, I bought a bottle and brought it home to test it out.
Although a messy process – it worked great.
Here’s the difference.
Removing Glue from a Concrete Floor
1) Buy a adhesive remover. I used Henry EasyRelease Adhesive Remover.
2) Dilute the adhesive remover using the manufacturers directions.
3) I found it was easier to divide the floor into small sections to work with. The solution needs to stay wet and its easier to control in smaller sections.
4) Apply the solution with a squeegy (or an old paper binder!) so you get a even thin coat on the floor.
5) Leave solution on floor for 30-45 minutes.
6) Use a wallpaper or floor stripper, remove the gunk from the floor. I must warn you. It will be messy. Make sure to have a mop and rags handy.
Our floor still needs another treatment and then probably needs to be buffed, but I am very pleased to finally throw away the decrepid green rug.
Front Porch – Holidayfied!
Its amazing how a little swag can brighten up a front porch!
It all started with a little cleaning and then painting the house.
After that, I painted our front door a deep purple. The door still needs work. It is not finished. I need to spend time sanding it down so it doesn’t scrap, but there wasn’t enough time for that before Christmas. (That needed to be documented for Nate’s sake!)
Next I cleaned and painted our old mailbox silver. Its a simple fix, but makes a world of difference for just an hour of work and a can of paint.
Added a recycled artificial pine bough and wreath from our duplex with some new fun reindeer ornaments from Target.
Then I went to the local garden store and picked up two poinsettias and a bunch of primroses and cyclamen to line the front flower bed.
So chic, so fun. Don’t you love how the all the colors pop against the green house! I love it!!
Closing out 2009
The last few weeks have been a blur for Nate and I. We scurried to finish up our big projects before the holidays and then celebrated with friends and family in our lovely house.
Below are a few photo highlights. I hope to post reveals of the front and great rooms this week!
Happy New Year!!
Painting our Great Room.
Installing countless IKEA pieces.
Updating all the old electrical plugs and switches.
Installing curtains in the dining room.
Installed New Door Knobs and Locks
Spray Painting the Wood Stove
