When we moved into our new house last year, we made a lot of quick decisions about what to keep and what to toss. Something my husband and I disagreed about were these old picture frames. They were brassy in color, and some no longer had the glass in them. I told him I wanted to paint them a different color and use them in the new house, but he was on a minimalist mission to throw out anything we weren’t currently using. Since I also knew our new house would have more storage space, I talked him into letting me keep my project frames. After repainting and organizing our daughter’s room, I decided what I wanted to do with the frames finally.
My daughter, believe it or not, didn’t want a pink bedroom in our new house. When asked what colors she wanted in her bedroom, she said green and blue. I interpreted that by painting her room a greenish blue called Robin’s Egg Blue, and decorating with accents of bright white, ballet slipper pink, and touches of minty green. The longest wall in her room is where I put up the frames, with a fresh coat of kilz, a spray of white, then a laquer to give them just a touch of sheen. Instead of framing family pictures, I added a little whimsy with girly words, flowers, and birds to tie in the theme of her quilt, and also for a play on the color of her walls. Repurposing old picture frames is such a simple and completely free (if you happen to have the paint already, that is) DIY home decor project that anyone can do. ..
If you have worked for a large corporation in the 21st century, chances are good that you have been, or will one day be a part of a merger or acquisition. With the volatile nature of the public stock market, companies are buying each other left and right like they are figurines at an estate sale. These multi-billion dollar transactions can have far-reaching consequences if you are an employee at either the company being purchased or the one doing the purchasing.
I have worked for two different large corporations that had a flare for acquisitions, and have been through the process multiple times. At the time that an acquisition is announced, there is typically a large amount of “synergies” between the two companies that will help offset the purchase cost. Translated, this means that the two companies will have a large number of people who will be doing the same job, and that half of those jobs will be redundant after the merger. To put it bluntly, people will be laid off. Knowing this, there are steps that you should take to position yourself well in the months leading up to closing date, to ensure that you are not one of those who become “synergized.” ..
For the past few months, one of the greatest sources of smiles for my two boys (now ages 12 and 9) has been a computer game called Minecraft. The game is basically a computerized 3D lego world, and playing it clearly gets my kids’ creative juices flowing. Strangely, my boys both spend far more time talking about the game (with each other and with their friends) than actually playing it.
Whenever my kids are really into something like this, I always try to make an effort to learn a little bit about it so that I can understand their conversations and perhaps offer some suggestions. A few weeks ago, I sat down and watched them play the game for half an hour and I was mortified to see how much trouble my home PC was having running the game. Minecraft is certainly not a very demanding game, as the graphics are very simple and retro, but my system clearly couldn’t handle it. The amount of lag and crashes that the boys were having to deal with in order to play the game was just painful for me to watch (full disclosure: I do work on computers for a living). ..
As Missouri winter kicks into high gear, this is the time of year when many Midwesterners start to check out the job and housing markets down in sunny Florida. Shorts and flip-flops sound quite nice when compared to the stinging cold face slap that we get when we step outside. I know that it was only a few short years ago when I was considering selling my home and packing the family up for warmer pastures.
But when all the cards are on the table, I know that we aren’t going anywhere. The job market down in Florida isn’t the best, and the concept of the “sunshine tax” is very real when considering moving South. In addition, pretty much all of our family is here in town, and we absolutely adore our home and our neighborhood. Sure, we do have to tolerate some annoyingly brisk days in the winter months, but all places have their pros and cons. ..
Hi friends! I have a confession. I hope that I’m not the only person that does this, but I’m really awesome at starting projects and really terrible at finishing them. The built-ins above have been mostly finished for months, but just recently did I put the finishing touches on the crown molding. This is how life goes, and I never estimate correctly how much time to allot for each project. I really think that if I were truly honest with myself (and my husband) about how much time and energy every job would take, we would never start anything. So you see, my optimism (cough: naivety) pays off in spades!
For this project, you will need:
Before beginning the built in bookcases transformation, I over-confidently decided that I would get the prep work done in one day, and the first coat of paint done by the second. If you’re laughing at this adorable burst of verve and idealism, it’s okay; I’ll assume you’ve done a project like this before. It took me the first two days to finish the prep work. Prepping is very important for this project, because if you have natural toned wood and are wanting to paint over, the wood likely has a coat or two of polyurethane, and possibly a stain as well. You’ll want to sand until the wood is completely natural and smooth. Sounds like a whole lot of work, right? Well, here’s that upper arm work out you’ve been looking for! You’re welcome! ..
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