. . . if you give a mouse a cookie . . .

. . . have you read 

that children's book? . . .

. . . if you give a mouse a cookie . . .

. . . he's going to ask 

for a glass of milk . . .

. . . when you give him the milk . . .

. . . he'll probably ask you 

for a straw . . .

. . . when he's finished, 

he'll ask for a napkin . . .

. . . and on and on and on . . . 

. . . it's an exercise 

in the domino effect . . .

. . . and i'm a pro 

at the domino effect . . . 

. . . the three rooms 

i was supposed to get done 

might have grown just a little . . .

. . . so . . . 

. . . the fumes are subsiding . . .

. . . and i'm still trying 

to clean up drywall dust . . .

{it's my favorite. and it does not discriminate. 

it goes every [freakin'] where}

. . . but i snapped 

a few after photos . . .

. . . here's a before ↓ . . .

{save your tears, mimi}

. . . suffice it to say that 

both the mary engelbreit room 

and the phoenix suns room 

now look like this ↓ . . .

. . . not terribly exciting, 

but clean and unwallpapered . . .

. . . which counts for a lot . . .

. . . sewing/laundry room 

before ↓ facing north . . .

. . . and after ↓ . . .

. . . cheto said to wait forty-eight hours

 before putting anything on those

 freshly coated countertops . . .

. . . i'm waiting at least a week . . .

. . . now, look through that doorway . . .

. . . notice anything different? . . .

. . . no more stripes . . .

{if you give a mouse a cookie!}

. . . and after pricing new light fixtures,

 i decided i'd rather 

spend seven dollars 

on a can of spray paint . . .

. . . formerly polished brass . . .

. . . now oil-rubbed bronze . . .

{i even did it myself}

. . . also ~ it's amazing 

how much improvement 

you can make 

by running the glass shades 

through the dishwasher! . . .

. . . good as new . . .

. . . laundry room before ↓ 

facing south . . .

. . . and after ↓ . . .

. . . i tried . . .

. . . i really tried 

to talk myself into a pretty 

pale aqua/blue/teal color . . .

. . . i just couldn't do it . . .

. . . i guess i'm just 

a green girl at heart . . .

. . . this shade is called 

calla lilly 

by dunn edwards . . .

. . . now ~ take a peek 

through that doorway . . .

. . . my favorite change of all . . .

{mouse ~ cookie}

. . . one more section 

of oak cabinetry gone . . .

. . . by the way ~ 

white lacquer is really smelly . . .

. . . but so so pretty . . .

. . . this is what my kitchen looks like 

in my dreams . . . 

. . . one of these days . . .

. . . new and fresh is a real nice color, isn't it? . . .