The Last 10%

Have you ever done a project, usually home improvement, and by the time that you are "finished" with it, there is usually that last little 10% that never actually gets finished?  Maybe it is just Byron and I, and the fact that our home improvement projects aren't small little projects, but it seems like every project we do, we have that last 10% that we need to finish.

We have recently decided that we are tired of having the last 10% not done....we put in the new windows in 2007 - it's almost 2012 and we still have windows that need to have the drywall installed around them; that's just 1 example of our last 10% projects needing to be complete.

So - we have gone through every room in our house and done a "punch list" (that's a term from Byron's profession - I am quite proud of myself that I'm using it!) basically, what 10% needs to be finished in this room so we can call the project done.

Here are a few pictures from what we have done:

The powder room:
Ya'll remember it - carpet, the towel rack would fall off it you touched it, etc....take a look at the newly remodeled bathroom:

Although you can't tell from the picture, we put a brick red color up on the two walls and then a creamy light tan (beige) on the rest of the walls.  We also found hardwood that matched the hardwood we already have in the main room and put that in.  I LOVE the way it turned out, and for not that much money, we have a new room!


The Kitchen:
We didn't do much in the kitchen, but Byron and I agreed that decorating is apart of the last 10%.  We are great with paint colors, but when it comes to accessories, we are lacking.  So, here is the update on the kitchen!

We found the three lanterns for super cheap at Lamps Plus, and I used my Cricut (an early Christmas Present from my parents) to cut out the letters in vinyl and put on the wall.  It says "Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much"  I am thrilled with how it turned out.


Laundry Room:
This is the room that started us on the quest to finish the last 10%.  If you remember the mater bath remodel, we had some issues with the ceiling in the laundry room and 8 months after the completion of the bathroom, we still had the hole!  So, Byron fixed the hole, did the drywall around the window and we painted everything.     We even painted the pantry shelves (which forced me to go through all the food we had up there (most embarrassing expired food - an unopened thing of Quaker Oats that expired in 2005...which means we moved it here from the townhouse expired!!!)  I must tell you, after cleaning and organizing the shelves in the pantry - I find it easier to keep the rest of the house clean - so weird.  And then we got to decorate the laundry room!

Found these functioning safety pins at Ballard Designs!  So cute!

*As a side note - there are a few other tings that need to be done in the laundry room.  I have sewn the valance fabric, but need my wonderful handy hubby to actually build the valance and then hang it.  We also need to hang a towel ring.  I guess we are down to the last 1% of that 10% project!  But I didn't want to wait to post this any longer.

Replacing Light Fixtures:
When we moved into this house there were brass light fixtures in every room of this house - UGH - so ugly!  As we have gone through and redone the rooms we have changed out the light fixtures to where the only brass ones left were the dining room, the light going up the stairs and the main entry.  Ugly brass no more!   Beautiful new light fixtures now hang in my home....

Here is the light fixture on the way up the stairs - ugly old on the left, pretty new on the right!

 The light fixture exchange in the dining room

We didn't take a picture of the old light fixture while it was still hanging in in the entry way, but it is the super tall one toward the back upper right of this 1st picture - ugh, so ugly!  New pretty one hangs in its place!

Again - love the new light fixtures and how they update the house.  We have a ton of wood in our house and it can feel a little dated, so I think adding the new light fixtures to the house makes it a little less early 90's and ugly feeling!

Byron is convinced that I just like spending money and this is my way to spend money without him having to fight too much....I simply told him that all of the fixing and updating and decorating is a win-win for us...we get to enjoy our house decorated, and it will all help when we list our house for sale!  He can't argue with that!