Miss Liv and the new hood

A few of my more dedicated readers/fellow blog stalkers may have come across the cute blog of my dear friend, Mrs. Livia Taylor. If you haven't had a chance to check it out, you should. I probably have more pleasant memories of Livy than I have any right to, given that our friendship was of the every-other-weekend variety. We spent many ridiculously late nights perfecting the sign game, fixing sloppy Christmas tree lights, and sucking down LimeAid that neither of us were sure we liked. We got along famously, notwithstanding her serious infatuation with Brian from the Backstreet Boys. Liv deserves a gold star for saving me from even one weekend spent curled up in the crawlspace fruitlessly trying to learn the guitar.

Maybe that's why I have been enduring nagging guilt for neglecting to address her tagging me nearly two months ago. My guilt was compounded when I saw her recent post noting the contents of her purse; one quick glance to my own countertop littered with paint color swatches reminded me just how much fun we'd have sharing an HGTV obsession with our crazy pups if we but lived a little nearer one another.

I digress. The time has come to address the tag issue. The thing is, I've already listed fancy facts about myself, and I'm way behind on blogging. I'm thinking that instead of facts, I should post 5 pictures of the new house in the pre-remodel stages. I think Liv will approve of the compromise. Oh, and a shout out to the hubby for remembering to snag the camera and snap a few quick ones.


Our living room, complete with that saucy little table and lamp left by the previous owners. Please note the floor to ceiling, slightly textured silver-on-white wallpaper. It's now piled on the floor in tiny, soggy strips following many hours of furious scraping. Who knows where I'd be without the patience of my adorable pre-mission brother who carefully peeled layers off long after I'd stomped off to 7-Eleven for a Dr. Pepper. The popcorn, non-asbestos ceilings featured here and elsewhere have also been safely removed.



I saw a really neato trick on (what else?) HGTV for toning down this slightly orange fireplace without the tacky look of painting over the rock. We'll let you know how it goes. We're also planning on a wood mantle. To be honest, that's mostly because when we ripped down the wallpaper on that wall, we found paneling. When we ripped down the paneling, the existing brick mantle sort of came off. I figure it's a great way to try out my rock treatment without messing up the whole thing right off the bat. Also, I plan on taking that cute Husband hidden behind the flash in the mirror home with me.



It's a litte unfortunate that this picture doesn't quite capture the true vibrancy of the pink tiles in this bathroom. It's a bit of a bummer that the burgandy and pink floral border near the ceiling isn't visible. It's truly a shame, however, that you miss out on the three cylindrical ceramic lights strung on a brass chain from a hook in the ceiling as the sole source of light. Don't worry too much, though. Bathrooms are expensive and the tiles are in great shape. That means the Pepto Bismol is hanging out for a while and everyone is welcome to come check it out. We'll even let you use the potty if the need arises.



Pictured above is the most colorful of the many storage areas the house boasts. The wall paper is simply too great to come down, and we got that bonus freezer for storing all our dead bodies.



La cocina. What you are viewing there is the oven/rotisserie cooker on top of the range. But, you may protest, I don't see a range. That's because you haven't pulled it out like a drawer. Yeah, it's that cool. On that built in cutting board is the original owners manual for the cooktop, and featured is a delicate sort of woman in a poorly fitted satin dress ready to prepare a piping hot meal for her Prince Charming. Someday, we're hoping to get some dollars for this on KSL.com. Oh, and see that brown translucent plastic above the cupboards? Well,there were lights back there, and when illuminated, the whole kitched radiated neon green. Well, except the backsplash. That can't ever radiate anything but electric orange. Spicy.


I know this equals 6 pictures, but it was simply too cute to pass up. Three cheers for the downturn in the housing market pushing this into our price range.

P.S.- Livy, I'm only about 35 pages into Three Cups of Tea but so far it's fabulous.