Hey there! This is my very first blog post EVER! I am way excited about this because this will be a place for me to show off all my projects I do around the house and since we live in a rental house that's constantly getting updated (which some people hate but we happen to love!), you're in for a real treat!

So you know I'm credible, I'm going to share the types of proejcts I have previously completed:

• I have redone furniture (an antique dresser, complete with paint thinner, laquer, sanding, more sanding, more laquer, and new knobs) It is now used as an end table in our living room- pics to come)
• Have another dresser waiting for a makeover-- that I pulled out of the dumpster about a year ago-- hubs was THRILLED to carry that sucker up the stairs to our apartment. I tend to like pieces in my home that have a story....
• Last Spring Break I got bored one day so I built a desk in a nook of our kitchen... without the landlords permission... but they said they liked it. MENTAL NOTE-ask next time...
• Painted walls. this might sound  lame but I'm really really talented at it (the trick is to tape it off first)
• And I like giving homemade gifts. Just recently gave a fabulous bulletin board to a fellow teacher I work with.... shoulda made one for my classrooms for next year....

And in the last year alone, our home has gone through:

• the laying of wood floors in living and dining area
• full replacement of all the siding with the concrete good stuff
• new fence posts in back
• brand new bathroom (see blog below)
• a new oven and garbage disposal
• the laying of sod in the front yard
• lots and lots of ivey removal. that stuff is a beast!
• the list goes on and on.

SO..... This will be fun! (And brace yourself since there will be many this summer since I'm off of work-- teacher perk--- and hubs is at the office everyday).

We're in the process of transitioning back into our master bedroom/bathroom because of a major water leak and 2 months of fixing, demolding (eww) and new tile and paint... The Landlord (abbreviated LL from here on out because that's how you sign it in ASL and already tend to be wordy... every bit helps...) and contractor did everything but I'll claim the painting. :)

Story Time.........
It all started when I came home one day and stepped on wet carpet (yuck) and heard water leaking in the wall in the bathroom, behind the shower tile. Plumber came out, found the hot water leak, and left us with this disaster:

Those shower faucets needed to be replaced anyway and LL is paying for it all.... So demolition begins.....

The LL picked these fabulous 6'X6' white tiles-- which I LOVE!!!

After it was grouted and faucets replaced, they were going to paint the wall cream-- which I hated. So I volunteered to paint it and pay for the new color. So after a few trips to my Mecca (Home Depot) for paint samples and then, eventually a gallon of paint.

Let's admire that shot. my photography is getting so good, thanks to Instagram, for allowing me a creative outlet to show off my skills! (@schmandie) So i brought home paint samples. My friend, Magan, suggested Idon't go too dark (especially since it's a small room)...

My cousin, Sabrina, works at the HD and recommended that I get the paint in a Satin Sheen. I didn't know what that was but the paint guy did. So I brought home the paint, taped everything up (that's the most important part),

And voila! new shower! We put up a waffle weave white shower curtain, that Santa brought us for Christmas last year (when did we get so old that having a new shower curtain was an exciting thing?!?!)

So now we are back into using this bathroom again and couldn't be more happy at the results.

Have a lovely Friday :)

----Amanda from Let's Get Handy