We're officially open for business

I promised an update on the guest bedroom so here goes:

Removing Noah's Ark and painting seemed easy enough, so you would think that getting window treatments up wouldn't be so hard, right? Wrong. Where does time go? The great deals I snagged on window treatments (2 blinds, 2 curtain rods and 4 curtain panels for less than $100. Yes, please.) didn't seem to give us enough motivation to actually hang everything.  Finally on the most productive day of 2010 (Dec. 30th in case you were curious), we got to hanging. Except hanging sounds like we were doing something exciting like rock climbing when really I'm blogging about curtain rods. Wow...
So here it is in all of its guest-worthy glory:

Newly on display is this beautiful antique letter press that Mark gave for Christmas.

I'm not a fan of the orange lamp or the outdated fan, but both will have to wait while we tackle the larger projects in our home. Namely the sudden leak in our kitchen ceiling. Yes, that's right over our bathroom sink. No, I'm not going into details in this blog post. Yes, I will get around to it once I meet with the granite counter estimator tomorrow. It's a fun story full of hangovers and ebay, quite possibly the most incredible combination ever.

The guest room budget breakdown:

• Paint and Primer: $50 at Ace Hardware
• Bedding: $90 at Target.  The coverlet was on sale!
• Bed and Dresser: Given to us by my parents.
• Side table: Given to us by Scott and Katie (Mark's brother and his super talented wife).
• Window treatments: $100 at Target and Home Depot
• Chair: $32.50 ($3 at Goodwill for the chair, $18 at Target for the pillow case, $5 foam, $3.50 for staples and $3 for upholstery tacks that I didn't use but opened and therefore can't return. I already had the spray paint.) Read more about this project.
• Rug: $120 from OneKingsLane.com. If you aren't a subscriber, you really should be. We actually store our clothes in closets outside the master bedroom to avoid waking each other in the mornings. This room is mine and stepping on this super plush rug each morning is a total treat.
• Picture Frames: I purchased the yellow frame at Target to match the pillow and the portraits on the wall for only $3 in their dorm decorating section, the other two frames were gifts.
• Antique portraits and frames: These were inherited from my maternal grandmother and I love them.
• Grand Total: $395.50. Considering this budget included paint and blinds, I'm not terribly disappointed. I'd like to squeeze in a bit more style for $400, but the room looks clean and comfortable and it has a very "guest room" feeling. Not that I would know, since I'm not one. Which brings me to my next point: when are you coming to stay with us?

Next up I'll be sharing with y'all how my husband actually tried to take his eyes out just for this blog and how we knew it was time to call the plumber.  How does every small project (like calling a plumber) lead to a larger, more expensive project (like new bathroom counters and faucets)? Thank goodness we love our home.