Pardon the Absence...

It was one of those things where it'd been so long, I didn't know where to start, so I never did.  But here I am, to show you pretty pictures, torn-apart rooms and a lot in between.  Let's start with the pretty.

Remember this horrid lighting fixture? (although I always seemed to be the only one to abhor it so).

It is no more, my friends.  Check out my gorgeous new light, installation courtesy of Patrick's dad.

Hello, my precious....

And here's a shot from the other side:

Gor.geous.  It really only takes a few little things to really bring a space to life - some paint on the walls, some new lighting et voila!  We also have a few other projects lined up for the kitchen in the coming weeks...but more on that later.

Did you notice anything new in the background of the first new light shot?  Two things, actually.  We finally bit the bullet and decided to paint all the wood trim in the addition!!!!  Actually, we're painting wood trim everywhere downstairs, but we hired our contractor to do the addition since the walls and the floors were recently painted.  I am no pro at painting and know I would ruin that new floor in not time.  Heck, I even managed to fling some paint on it while priming in the dining room!  Luckily, I noticed right away and wiped it right up.  I also tracked a toe print all through the floor one night and was scrubbing on my hands and knees to get that stuff off.  Phew!  Anyway, hopefully in a day or two the trim will be finished.  I think it will really brighten up the space, which has still felt a little dark and drab to me, despite all the changes we've already made.

Speaking of brightening up the space, that leads me to our second major change today:  picture windows!  We needed to replace the windows per our inspection report (moisture had gotten in between the two panes) so we decided to put in a little extra money and go for what we really wanted (Patrick's brilliant idea, actually).  So here is the before in the sunroom:

And some after shots:

Love love love.  I can't wait to see it all put together with the white trim and curtains.

Ok, now onto mine and Patrick's long list.  We have slowly but surely been chugging along on the dining room and den.  Painting all that trim is taking so much longer than expected.  We did manage to get the rest of the stinky carpet up, which required emptying the dining room nd pulling and tugging.  With Zeph in his playpen, Patrick and I then rolled the carpet out the front door right onto the bed of the truck.  Not the easiest thing we've ever done.

And here's the dining room all cleared out and carpet-free:

Now just picture that with some primed trim and you have our present day dining room.  I have to say, this project is taking so much longer than anticipated.  At first I thought we'd have it done in no time by the end of the month, but now I'll simply be happy if we finish by the holidays.  Hopefully it won't take me that long to write again!