2 Steps Forward, 1 Step Back: Why Do Gains Always Seem To Include Losses?

Welcome to the 788th Metamorphosis Monday! Having lived in the same house a long time, I've been through quite a few renovations and updates over the years, some small and some that were pretty big. I don't mean this to sound pessimistic, and I say this with a big sigh accompanied by a very big eye-roll, but with every single update I've ever completed in my home, it seems like something has always had to … [Read more...]




My Absolute Favorites For Spring Cleaning The Porches And The Garage

Update: Just noticed that Talbots has made their 25% off sale even better with 40% off any one item and 25% off everything else. You the code SPRING40 to get 40% off any one item. If you missed my spring favorites post, you'll find it here: Getting a Jump on My Spring Wardrobe, Everything is Currently on Sale. You'll find the Talbots spring sale here: Talbots Spring Sale. The temps here this week have … [Read more...]




A New Addition To The Garage For The Rainy Days

Welcome to the 783rd Metamorphosis Monday! Thanks so much for all your amazing and much-appreciated comments on our 800th Tablescape Thursday post! I can't wait to see what the next 15 years holds. If it's half as fun as the first 15, I know it will be awesome! If you missed the Tablescape Thursday post, you'll find it here: Celebrating 800 Tablescape Thursdays & Looking Forward to Many More. No … [Read more...]




Will The Garage Ever Be Done? Plus, A Foxtail Fern Flower Reveal

Welcome to the 757th Metamorphosis Monday! How was your weekend? Mine was very relaxing, something I really needed after the long drive home from Ohio, but things are starting to get busy this week. I'm having a new microwave installed tomorrow, mine started making bizarre noises a few weeks ago. I ordered a new one but it ended up being backordered and will finally be installed tomorrow. Since I use my … [Read more...]




Sometimes It’s the Little Things That Can Make Life A Lot Better!

Welcome to the 753rd Metamorphosis Monday! Have you ever had something annoy you for a long time, then one day that final straw hits and you realize you have to do something to fix it, or at least find something that works better? That's what finally happened to me with these super annoying tape dispensers I've been using for ages. The red one normally lives in the basement and I have another one just like … [Read more...]




Sharing 4 (Actually 5) New Updates For This Week’s Metamorphosis Monday!

Welcome to the 752nd Metamorphosis Monday! How was your weekend? I hope it was an awesome one! If you saw Saturday's post where I shared Norma's recipe for making this beautiful Tarte Soleil, you may want to revisit that post and print the recipe out again. Norma provided some additional details/corrections so I made a few changes, so definitely take a moment to print it out again if you would like a copy … [Read more...]




Epoxy Flooring In The Garage: Would I Do It Again? A 6-Month Update!

Welcome to the 732nd Metamorphosis Monday! A few months back, my garage got a really substantial makeover. The walls, ceiling, and the inside of the garage door badly needed painting. The original builder-grade lighting was not the greatest, and the floor was your typical concrete floor and very stained after 40+ years of use.   Here's how the garage looked after its makeover, definitely an … [Read more...]




Garage Art, Easy Way to Level Cabinets & Such a Cool Tool–I Bought it Twice!

Welcome to the 710th Metamorphosis Monday! Hope your Labor Day weekend is going amazing! I've been goofing off and relaxing a bit, something I find hard to do. lol I always feel a bit guilty if I'm not being productive. Anyone else have that problem? There was one thing that I got done here in the garage, something that's been bugging me since the garage makeover was completed.   See that … [Read more...]




What’s Inside All Those Storage Cabinets? I’m Throwing Back the Doors!

Welcome to the 727th Tablescape Thursday! For this week's Tablescape Thursday, we're taking a peek inside the nine storage cabinets I have here in my garage to see what's stored inside and how it's all organized. I hope this little storage tour offers up a few ideas for your storage needs.   Let's start with the cabinets here on this side wall of the garage. Before we throw back the doors … [Read more...]




Is it True? Will LED Light Fixtures Cause Your Garage Door Opener to Malfunction?

Over the past few weeks as I've shared the updates I've been making here in the garage, one question I've been asked in the comments a couple of times was if the new LED lighting I had installed would create any issue with my garage door opener.   During the renovation process, one of the things I had done was the replacement of the original seal on the garage door. Sometime over the past 40 … [Read more...]




It’s Done! The Cabinets are Back and All Systems are GO!

Welcome to the 709th Metamorphosis Monday! It was a long time coming but I finally have all the cabinets back in the garage and filled back up. Before I share the "After" here's a little reminder of where we started. The garage walls were in need of a fresh coat of paint and much better lighting than the builder-grade lights that had been here for 40 years.   Previously, I had 6 dish … [Read more...]




Garage Storage Cabinets, Progress Has Been Made But There’s Been a Few Glitches

Welcome to the 708th Metamorphosis Monday! As I type this, I'm waiting for the second garage door repairman to arrive. Hopefully, I can get this post up before he arrives. I will have to create a post sharing all the things that have had to be done and redone multiple times so you'll know life isn't all rainbows and unicorns up in here. Ha! Seems like every project I embark on has had a major glitch (or … [Read more...]




Not Again! Unfortunately, yes! Again! Plus, Sharing a Handy DIY Hack

So remember when the garage looked like this?   Well, it looks like this again. Arggh! :( I'll explain more on Monday but basically, the original painter the company sent out did a terrible job of fixing a couple of places on the ceiling where the sheetrock tape that was used 40 years ago was starting to loosen in places. He really botched it. So the painting company has sent out a much more … [Read more...]




A Small Addition to the Garage That I’m Absolutely Loving

Welcome to the 707th Metamorphosis Monday! Over the last week, I've been sharing the dramatic makeover my garage went through recently. (See that makeover in full here: Dramatic Garage Makeover with New Lighting, Fresh Paint, and New Flooring.) This weekend I shared over two posts, the 2-day process of how the flooring was installed. A painter will be coming out to complete a few touchups on the back … [Read more...]




Garage Flooring Installation, Day 2–All Done and So Worth It!

In yesterday's post, I shared the first day's process of having a new floor installed here in my garage. You may remember we ended here with the garage door left a few inches open to prevent the door from damaging the newly installed floor. The flooring was left to dry and set up overnight during which time the colorful flakes that had been broadcast out over the floor, would have time to meld with the … [Read more...]




Garage Flooring Installation, Day 1–Here’s How They Did It!

Imagine that you regularly visit a gym for a full workout, but for some reason, you don't go for 3 months. After a 3-month break, you go back, but instead of starting back slowly, you dive full-in doing your old routine as if you've never missed a day. That's how I feel today, every muscle in my body feels like it's had a full workout to the max! I don't think there's a single muscle that's not feeling the … [Read more...]




Where Did You Store All Those Cabinets & Beautiful New Flatware for a Bargain

Welcome to the 724th Tablescape Thursday! Before we get into today's Tablescape Thursday, for those who have asked for it, I've added a printable version of the recipe I shared recently for these delicious Crunch Wraps to that recipe post. You'll find that post here and the printable version of the recipe is right at the end of the post: Crunch Wrap Recipe.   Soooo, though the garage is … [Read more...]




Dramatic Garage Makeover with New Lighting, Fresh Paint and New Flooring!

Welcome to the 706th Metamorphosis Monday! There are so many things I would love to share in this post but if I share everything that's happened through this garage renovation, this post would be a million miles long--and ain't nobody got time for that! Today we'll just enjoy the transformation which is pretty darn dramatic! A little back story: Does something ever needle at you and then one day you … [Read more...]




Three Days That Felt Like a Week

Welcome to the 704th Metamorphosis Monday! Choosing paint, at least for me, is one of the most stressful tasks ever! I hate it, I really, really hate it. Here was my thinking for the garage: I wanted a neutral color for the walls, definitely no red, blue, green, yellow, purple, etc... just something neutral and light, but dark enough that it would contrast with the white cabinets here in the garage. I … [Read more...]




How’s That Garage Makeover Going? Big Things Are Happening This Week!

Welcome to the 703rd Metamorphosis Monday! My home was built around 1982-83 so it's 40 years old now. I've lived here for 32 of those 40 years. Many, many years ago, sometime around the 2001-2002 time frame, I painted the walls of the garage. I don't remember now why I did that, I guess I thought they needed it. In 2010, I turned my son's childhood bedroom into a home office. At that time, I moved all … [Read more...]




Garage Sneak Peek & My Favorites from the Talbots and the Amazon Prime Sale

There are so many great sales going on right now! Talbots has a huge sale going on and here are some of my favorites. I love, love, love their linen tunics and have quite a few. They are perfect for wearing on super hot days since they keep the sun off of your arms, yet are so airy, light, and breathable. This beautiful aqua-colored tunic is on sale 40% off. It was originally $89.50, was marked down to … [Read more...]




Lots of New Upgrades, Plus I’ve Chosen New Lighting for the Garage

Welcome to the 702nd Metamorphosis Monday! Are you familiar with the children's book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie? In the book, the cute little mouse asks for a cookie. The cookie makes him thirsty, so then he asks for a glass of milk. I've forgotten now what the glass of milk leads to, but each request leads to another and another and another.   This garage project I've embarked on is … [Read more...]




Garage Flooring Has Been Chosen & A Back-Saving, Step-Saving New Purchase

Welcome to the 719th Tablescape Thursday! A few days ago I shared plans to have my garage's concrete floor prettied up. I was trying to choose between two flooring systems: Epoxy vs Polyaspartic Polyurea.   After getting estimates for both methods, I've decided to go with the Epoxy system which is also finished off with a topcoat of Polyaspartic. I know several of you asked that I share in … [Read more...]




Planning a Garage Makeover, Here’s the “Before” and the Plan!

Welcome to the 701st Metamorphosis Monday! For many, many years I've been itching to spiffy up my garage. I've always hated this concrete floor. It's so depressing to look at and never really feels clean.   Last week I got a quote for having Epoxy flooring installed. Tomorrow I'll be getting a quote for another type of flooring that is also very popular called Polyaspartic Polyurea. I … [Read more...]