A week off from work spent agonizing over painting decisions. Doesn’t that sound like fun?

MONDAY

My first day off from work started with the stairwell. I was determined to start painting which meant (hopefully) deciding on a color.

As you can see, the walls are all looking dirty and whatever that hideous beige color is on the top plaster walls needed to go.

The small wall in the stair hallway wasn’t looking very good either.

I started brainstorming while I worked on finishing the paint in the upstairs hallway.

I also picked up some scented pinecones for the bathroom and they provide the tiniest amount of holiday spirit.

In our office space, you can look out of the interior window into the stairwell. There is a nice amount of natural light pouring through in the daytime so some color might work?

TUESDAY

My plan for the day was two fold – (1) prime the whole stairwell & (2) decide on an accent color! My thought was some sort of dark green or slate blue for the top half of the wall but there are too many options to choose from!

Once I finished priming the walls, I really started to feel like I had my work cut out for me.

The whole space was already looking so much better though!

WEDNESDAY

The day before the holiday was jam-packed! After a long decision making process (which included many cries for help via Instagram) I finally decided on Blue Fir – a lovely dark green color.

I painted the small accent wall first, loved the color and subsequently started questioning whether or not to finish painting the top part of the stair walls.

I started to become nervous that my plans to hang my art and frames wouldn’t have the same aesthetic impact that I was hoping for. I had always envisioned something like this or this when I was thinking of how I would fill out the space. But I also like the deep, moody vibes from the dark walls like this and this.

I put off painting the rest of the hallway so I could decide wisely on a color. Jason wrapped up the built in pantry and header trim installation!

We were tired but happy as we wrapped up for the night and went out to meet our favorites at Golden West Cafe for fun cocktails and Breakfast for Dinner.

THURSDAY

Happy Thanksgiving! Ellie’s favorite holiday 😉

Jason and I woke up early, loaded tools and materials up for my parents house, wrapped up a few loose ends and then headed over to Jason’s aunts house for all the good stuff.

Afterwards we stopped by my parents house and then Jason’s dad for a pumpkin pie night cap.

FRIDAY

Another early, frigid day. We were set to spend the day at my parents house so we could focus on some of our bigger woodworking projects. Side Note – I was loving the accent wall, especially in the daylight but still not sure whether or not to paint the stair walls.

Anyways, my main project for the day was patching and sanding the door we picked up from Second Chance. Thankfully, it was in decent condition so I didn’t have to do too much major work on it.

Jason finished rough cutting the upstairs floorboards and then used the planer to shape some of the wood for our butchers block.

Ellie had the best day of all, getting to hang out with the Gruesome Twosome all day long.

SATURDAY

I started my day picking up a big order from Full Circle and maybe getting a cinnamon bun treat for myself.

One of the newly renovated corner stores on my block finally opened! I was very excited to see the new home for Mount Royal Soap Co. and I’m looking forward to buying all of the soap scents.

I had a few hours to get stuff finished around the house but decided to make a break for it and meet Allison at the Station North Flea Market. I picked up two super cute dresses from the 60s/70s from Spoiled Rotten Vintage and I’m in love.

Later in the evening, Jason and I met up with some of our friends for a wonderful Friendsgiving dinner. I provided some donuts, obviously.

Thanks to Julia for this photo and for hosting such a lovely dinner!

SUNDAY

You know what they say – there ain’t no rest for the perpetual home renovators. We headed back over my parents for Woodworking: Part 2.

While we were planing our reclaimed wood, my dad showed us a huge stack of wood that he had salvaged out of an old barn. We all quickly realized that most of the wood was red oak, walnut and other beautiful species. My dad said to pick what we needed and we were so excited to see what some of the pieces looked like after we put them through the planer. Take a peek:

Absolutely goregous. These photos don’t do the wood justice. I can’t wait to seal the boards and give them new life.

It was a long day but we accomplished a good bit of work. Ellie was bummed out that she had to leave her favorite pals.