Waste not: Kitchen towels

We are sew lazy.  Long, long ago, we picked up the IKEA Trolig (a simple tension rod) and placed it in our kitchen window like this...

  

For many weeks, it sat awaiting the completion of House Project #852: hand-sewn custom curtains to frame the sun-streaked kitchen window.  The bare window just taunted me, daring me to cover it up.

One day, when I could no longer stand my own procrastination, I began rummaging through kitchen drawers like this...

                             

Eureka! An idea was born: reuse some old kitchen towels.  Within a few seconds, I had arranged the window like this:

and then like this...

Ahh. Another successful reuse, upcycle, or whatever you want to call it. I call it completion of House Project #852.

 

WEEK 27-30: Hunkerin' down

As some of our friends have pointed out, this is our longest gap between blogposts...whoops. Although Tampa has been a hotspot lately with the Superbowl and Gasparilla festival going on, we have been avoiding the tourist-trap excitement and instead hunkered down at Pacha Mama house. Each weekend I have attempted to sit down and write a blog post and then I get sucked into reading all the other house revovation blogs I love...and then I have to re-read them aloud to M. so that we can commiserate about our common experiences with others crazy diy-ers.

• DECISIONS: to install white beadboard on the walls in the MBA; to have the MBA toilet professionally installed; to get professional quotes on exterior house painting, driveway pavers and a screenroom.
• LABOR: M. worked to finish up pending projects in the MBR like installing white wide-slat blinds, finishing painting the MBR in NO-VOC “Midwest Spring” paint by Fresh Aire and finished my custom closet organization system as well as the linen closet adjustable shelves. M. also installed Ikea “LANSA” hardware on my kitchen cabinets and my outdoor tower holder. Meanwhile, I have begun work in the MBA doing drywall texturing (yay for orange peel!), priming and painting the ceiling, walls and trim in glossy white.

Here is a sneak peek of M.'s work on my contemporary coastal kitchen... new hardware in 1-2-3!