Home Remodeling

With the economy in the dump and people staying in their homes instead of moving it's a good time to remodel and upgrade your home. Atlanta Remodeling offers services on remodeling jobs like kitchens, bathroom or even additions. We've done a lot of remodeling jobs and enjoyed all the work that goes into it because you can really reap the rewards. I think the kitchen project was the biggest because we totally ripped everything out right down to the studs. MM had to remove the closet/pantry because we bought a huge pantry that has swing outs shelves and use of absolutely every inch. When the cupboards were delivered we inspected everything and ordered replacement for a few doors that were slightly defective. The cupboards went up and in and we had a guy come out and measure for the new countertop. When doing a project like this you really have to budget so we ended up with laminate and not granite. MM did an awesome job on the tile work between the upper cupboards and counter. The hardwood flooring was a couples project. He nailed them in and I handed him the next board and did the cutting on the end pieces. What a team! Having done this kind of labor intensive job I can definitely see why you would hire a team like Atlanta Remodeling to help you out. There really is a lot of satisfaction in a job well done.

Decorating Done For This Season

I say 'for this season' because we all know that if you own a home it is never ending. So, back in January/February my MM created a closet over the stairs, built a cupboard around the phone/message center and put up a shelf for teapots around the dining room. And after all that was done, he did the painting. Wonder why I call him my Maintenance Man?


This closet provided an enormous amount of storage space that is really close to the kitchen area.

I love the added wall I get in the living room. The "FAITH" wall hanging was made with products from Upper Case Living home parties.



This wall in the dining area is so much neater with the message center and phone behind closed doors. Notice the new shelf going around the dining room. I love that it appears to be floating.

I've always displayed lots of family photos in the hallway.



The stencil looking wording is also from Upper Case Living. You can pick from any design or phrases they have or design your own. From the words to the font, size and color. Really cool product.

I was trying to decide what picture to put on the living room wall and remembered that we took some phenomenal picture on our Alaskan trip. I think it turned out really nice.

On another note. My niece made a comment about still having a corded phone. I do have a couple of cordless phones, but this one has always been there and I found no reason to replace it. Does anybody else still own a phone with a cord? Just checking.

Another Construction Project

I feel kind of like I do nothing - when I keep showing the projects MM is doing lol. Anyway, our paint the living room project was delayed by the new closet/pantry and now cleaning up the bulletin board area of the kitchen. It was really hard to find a picture of this bulletin board because it always looked so bad that I was careful not to get it in any pictures. The before phone wall.

Maintenance Man built a custom cupboard to house the phone, calendar and other related items. After - of course we are still waiting for warmer weather to do the staining.


Is he handy or what? I just love the work he does. He has such an eye for detail and thinks of things along the way that we'll need. There is a funny story to go along with this though. Yesterday as he was finishing up mounting the phone in the new space there was a knock on the door. He opened the door to a County Sheriff wanting to know who called 911. He says "no one". The officer says "well, someone called 911 TWICE". The light goes on in MM's head and he says "oh, come on in and I'll show you what must have happened". So he must have dialed 911 and ??? maybe hit redial. Don't know about your husbands, but mine doesn't answer the phone during the day either. So when 911 was calling back to see what the problem was he didn't answer!! Anyway, everything worked out fine. Just have to remember that he is great with home projects even if he isn't with the phone lol.

Next project... putting a shelf around the top of the dining room.

Closet Is 'Mostly' Done

Back in January MM started constructing a new closet in some 'dead space' over the stairs and I wanted you to see the progress. The staining and painting have to wait til we can open some windows. This is the view from the dining room - blank wall - wall with door.




This is the view from the livingroom.







And here you have all this lovely space just waiting to be filled. Last night when MM went to use the blender he commented on how nice it was not to crawl around on the floor trying to get it out of it's previous cramped space. I still have lots of stuff to bring up from the basement. I'm gonna love this.



Who would have thought you could get good usable space without knocking out walls? And to have it in such a handy spot for me is great. I am sooo sooo lucky to have such a 'handy man'! Thanks MM for putting a smile on my face.

Bathroom Remodel

We replaced the bathroom vanity when we remodeled our bathroom. Wish we'd seen these discount bathroom vanities before starting our project. I like the simplicity of this one

The way it hangs on the wall gives you an illusion of open space. We ended up with something real similar only there’s a full drawer that pulls out from the bottom with perfect storage for more paper goods. We also ended up saving our counter top from the original bathroom. It has different shades of brown pebbles suspended in Lucite. Everyone that sees it makes a comment about it because it’s so different. We were thinking about a double vanity but that would have involved a lot of plumbing and who needs that?

I think what I like the most about our remodel job was the 10 jet Jacuzzi tub. We tried like the dickens to try to fit in a bigger tub, but the original floor plan was the best. I’ve discovered that most builders have already established the best floor plans when building homes. The other big change for me was the new ceramic tile floor (I hated that nasty carpet).

When my little Peanut comes over she loves to get into the tub. There’s no water in it, she just loves to walk back and forth and play with the buttons of the Jacuzzi. Fortunately, when we installed it MM was smart enough to put a main switch for the electricity in the closet nearby. We just leave it turned off until we’re ready to use it. Okay, once in a while I get in and discover that I forgot to throw the switch in the closet. I sit there for a while screaming and hollering, then I give it up and step out and turn it on. I hate when I do that.

Financing Our Latest Project

Now that I've spilled the beans that we're back on the home improvement path it's time to think about financing or getting a small loan for the project. With Rainbow services they search for the best loan provider specifically to meet your needs and they have great rates. The great thing about this lending service is you get your money quickly and you know I want to start yesterday. Fortunately this home improvement won't be as much as the last project, but all that trim cost money. We have lots of different wood trims in the living room and dining room so we'll have to decide what wood to use as well. I was also thinking about having a small moulding piece on the living room wall about 3 inches from the ceiling and painting the ceiling color down to this moulding. I've seen it before and it really makes the room look larger. Can't wait to start looking at the paint chips.

And with Spring just around the corner I know Maintenance Man will be looking at Car loans. Does this happen to everyone else? Spring makes my man want a new car. He's drooling over Corvettes now. He had a Corvette when I met him and we had one together til we sold the last one in 1984. He's been kicking himself ever since. Now that we're empty nesters we don't need to seat 4 anymore so this Corvette thing just might work. Who knows what the future holds. What color do you think we should get? We've had green ('67), gold ('69) and the last one was gun metal blue ('65). I think I liked that last one best, it was a coupe and MM built a cute little seat in the back for the kiddies. That worked for awhile if our oldest ducked her head a little. But that's not a worry now. We'll just have to keep our boys away from it (they like to drive FAST).

Time to Start Putting Holes in the Walls

For the last five or six years I've been wanting to paint the living room, dining room and hallways and for one reason or another there was something else to do. I think in that time frame we've gutted and remodeled the bathroom, put hardwood floors in two of the bedrooms, and not that we did the work, but the funds were going into the pole barn and then a front porch. Well, it was time to finally get around to the painting and as we were looking at it the project started snowballing. My brother's house has a recessed space that punches out to hang over the stairs going downstairs (does that make any sense) and I thought I would like that and put doors on it to make extra storage for some of my kitchen stuff. So once again the painting has to wait for the demolition. We're (I shouldn't be saying 'we're' because it's really MM) also going to put a 6-8 inch shelf around the dining room to display my 'tea for one' sets. I'm sure it'll be lots of dust and fun so come along I'll take lots of pictures of before and after.

Landscape Design

As you probably know, we put a front porch on our house this year and now the whole front needs to be relandscaped. While on vacation I kept a watchful eye out, but we were in such a different region of the country that I didn't get any concrete ideas.

Well, last night I went to the local nursery armed with photos of the whole front of the house looking for help. I was hoping they had a computer program that they could put my house and dimensions in and then plug in different plants. No such luck. The young man was helpful and suggested several different plants. Problem is I just can't picture them. A few of his suggestions were: Sweet Shrub; Clethra; Kerria; Currant and Endless Summer Hydrangia. Here are a couple of the pictures that I took in for reference.


We plan on taking out the old bushes in the front there.

I need some help here. Any suggestions? I guess I have to see it.