The cat's bathroom and new lights

I've always had a cat so not long after Brandon and I got married we got our cat, Lucy. When we moved into our house, I didn't know where we were going to put her litter box. Unfortunately, we don't have a laundry room - just a closet - and I didn't want it out in the bathroom to have to look at all the time (and then there was the issue of it being out for guests to see, too). So, I got the idea to put it in the bathroom cabinets.

We took off the 2 middle doors under the sink. Since I still didn't want to look at it all the time, I decided to put up "curtains". So we hung the rod where it wouldn't hit any of the drawers or the other two doors and I measured what size they needed to be. We had some leftover fabric from the curtains in our kitchen (and what will eventually go in the den/office) and it was the right colors for the bathroom too.

Just some simple panels:

Now, there is a pretty fabric added to the bathroom cabinets and I don't have to look at Lucy's litter!

Since before we moved in, I have wanted to replace the light/fan in the living room. Then, while in the midst of shopping for it, the lights in the dining area started shorting out, leaving only one light working most of the time. So, we ended up buying something new for both at the same time and asked a friend to help us put them up - 4 hours later, the rooms look so much more updated!!

The dining area before (notice only 1 light is working):

The dining area after (we decided to go with just a light instead of a fan):
The living room before - I turned on the lovely globe on top so you could get the full effect of how hideous it really was!

The living room after - what a change! I can't believe what a difference the new fan makes!

It's been a while...

Well, maybe I've not been so great with updating but I have been busy. Look for several projects I've done this summer in the midst of many youth trips, trips to see family, and general summer fun.

I love HGTV and I always love the ideas on the shows - especially the low-budget ones! When I saw this tiled fabric covered cork board, I figured why not give it a try - it can't be that hard.

So, I bought some cork squares at Wal-Mart, some cute fabric to match our den where it was going at Hobby Lobby, and got Lowe's to cut me some thin board that was 1 sq in bigger than my cork (so it would have a beveled edge look).

I glued the cork squares to the board

Laid the squares out how they best fit (apparently the guy who cut them at Lowe's wasn't totally exact!)

Then, I used a staple gun to secure the fabric around the boards. I also alternated the direction of the stripe so it'd be a little more interesting.

Getting all the squares put together and hung on the wall was a little more complicated then it was in my head. We ended up using a bigger piece of the same board to put them all together. First we glued, then we stapled, and finally we...ducttaped it - no, not the most professional method but hey, it worked and you can't tell it now!