Tearing up the Floor and Other House Stuff

We have done quite a few remodels around the house in the 6 years that we have lived here. Including scraping all of the popcorn off of the ceilings. The latest job has been keeping me very busy and moving from room to room.

This project started with the front door. We had it replaced but we did not do it ourselves.

Replacing the front door.

Before

This is almost the after. We stained the trim with a walnut stain. I will take a new picture.

When we moved in the floor in the front hallway had many cracks. Eventually tiles started popping right out.  The person that installed it just glued it to the plywood. So finally we decided it was time to replace the floor.  While my husband was at work I started tearing up the tiles. Since they were not laid correctly they came out super easily. The hardest part was carrying them to the garage.

Tearing up the tiles.

The new tiles.

Ripping up the plywood was so difficult. Moldings had to come out and hundreds of nails had to be pried up.

Hubby working hard.

The picture above, on the left, was before we move in. (not our cat). It has cracked tiles and wallpaper. The picture on the right is with the new tiles and painted walls. I have also started painting the moldings. I am not a fan of the crappy oak moldings with stain that doesn't really match around the house. I decided to paint it. :) Yes, I know now I have to just keep moving around the whole house.  I am loving the way that it is turning out.

Here is the view from the kitchen down the hall toward the front door. The picture on the left is when I just started picking up the tiles, which is why the rug is there so we could walk over it. The picture on the right is the 'after'. Loving it.

Another shot of the floor and the new moldings.

In addition to the floor, the door, and the molding painting we had to replace the floor in the half bath too because it's right off the hall and had the same tiles. So, since the sink and the toilet were being removed I thought it was a great time to repaint the room. (Hubby rolling his eyes).

The first set of pictures below are of the half bathroom when we moved in. I started peeling off the wall paper pretty quickly.

Half bath before

We painted it an orange color and put new... everything.

The first remodel

The last set of photos is how the half bath looks now. New paint new towels, new floor and white moldings. Love it.

Current look

More to come....

~Michelle

Snickerdoodle Bars

I thought I would try this recipe that came over my email from the Betty Crocker website.  I am always up for a new recipe.  It was a pretty cool evening and the boys and a friend were watching a movie so I decided to bake.  The great thing about this recipe is that the ingredients are things that I already had on hand. After I took it out of the oven I thought it was going to be under-baked however as it cooled it had a chewy, soft and very delicious texture. I also didn't use the glaze.  I wrapped some for the boys' friend to take home and took some to work the next day... Everyone loved them. Yeah

recipe from Betty Crocker

Snickerdoodle Bars

Ingredients
2 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter softened. (I used cold butter and just sliced it into tablespoons before beating)
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Cinnamon Filling
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon

Glaze - I didn't put any glaze on mine.
1 cup powdered sugar
1 to 2 Tablespoons milk
1/4 tsp vanilla

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Spray or grease bottom only of a 13x9-inch baking pan with cooing spray. In small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside

In large bowl, beat butter with electric mixer on hight speed until creamy. Beat in sugars. Gradually beat in eggs and vanilla into sugar mixture until combined. On low speed, add dry ingredients until well combined.

Spoon half the batter into pan; spread evenly. Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar mixture evenly over batter.

Dollop teaspoon size amounts of remaining batter evenly over cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

(Glaze) - In small bowl, stir glaze ingredients until smooth and thin enough to drizzle. Drizzle over bars.

Cut and serve
~Michelle