I did it myself!

Mark was away for 10 days so I had a lot of home projects that I wanted to accomplish while he was gone.  I'm really handy after being his assistant for 29 years I'm managed to pick up a few skills and utube fills in anything I might have forgotten.  I started with a little shopping, a lot of ironing, painting and finally the fun part putting it altogether.  Best of all no injuries which is always challenging for me especially when it involves ladders. LOL!  So without further ado the unveiling

Master bedroom was painted, changed ceiling fan light fixtures and new curtains along with some small changes.

Before

After:

Now for the big project....the living room.....let's see changed ceiling fan lighting, removed track lighting (shudder), removed extra wooden pieces from mantle and painting....lots and lots of painting.  I used cabinet paint which was the correct choice but dang it took forever to get to dry.  I still need to wax it but it's suppose to "cure" for a month before I do it.

Before:

After but still not quite right.  Mark hated it because it was so dark according to him.  Then my neighbor stopped by and in discussing it he suggested adding some up lighting to the back of the cabinet.  That might work so off I went to the home improvement store the next day.

Instead I found this black art lighting and knew it was the perfect solution.  It provides down lighting, blends perfectly so it's really not noticeable and best of all, I could install it myself.  I just had to make some modifications to the mounting brackets but with the right tools that was no problem.

Finally I had bought this amazing crewel work piece from my friend Rhonda and my original plan was to make a valance for the stair case landing windows.  Instead I realized the colors were perfect for the living room so I folded it for right now and draped it on the sofa.  Now to paint the living room  next month when Mark leaves again.  He actually likes this pale green color and the darker green accent wall but I hate it. 

You can't even see most of the changes I made but I see them everyday and I'm really pleased with them.  So that's it guys and gals for now so do something today that makes you happy!