Filing Cabinet upgrade

 We had a LARGE metal filing cabinet that was that boring filing cabinet color, covered in stickers and dings. it needed HELP badly to look decent. First step was getting all the stickers off I found olive oil and rubbing alcohol helpful with that. I saw this metal border and decided to give it a try. It actually does look nice not sure I would do it again though, the metal border is sharp I sliced my finger with it and I had to get creative clamping it long enough for it to dry. I used Gorilla Glue to adhere the metal border to the filing cabinet. And it's a two person job at least to get it started. Big thanks to my friend Tammy for  lending a hand.

 I selected these flower knobs and found glitter paint to match.

 The metal border was probably the most time consuming part.

 I had to do one section let it dry and then do another section.

 I found a nice teal. Krylon® ColorMaster™ Matte Paint & Primer Color Surf to paint the entire filing cabinet. The drawers got special treatment, after painting them Surf I added a layer of  Krylon Glitter Blast Diamond Dust. I loved the result and if it hadn't been for all the holes from the handles, lock and card holder I would have left it at that. While I did use metal filer in the holes (very messy) I couldn't manage a smooth surface. 

 My original plan was to put wallpaper on the drawers. I had seen it done on Pinterest but alas wallpaper has gone the way of the Dodo Bird and seems to be extinct. Instead I used craft paper but I couldn't find any that would cover the entire drawer and unlike wallpaper that you could have placed side by side it doesn't line up. Hence the paint job. I know other people would have measured, but I gave up on trying to follow the directions to use math to center the paper and just eyeballed it. I briefly considered using shelf paper but was afraid it would prove to thin to hold up well. Also not a great selection of colors with shelf paper. This probably turned out to to be my favorite one as it has Teal to match the file cabinet and Dusty Lilac to match the walls in the Home Office/Study.

The other paper I found has a nice mixture of Dusty Lilac, Pink, Peach, Maroon and Yellow flowers.

The side of the file cabinet painted Surf.

The drawer just painted Surf with the Diamond Dust Overlay I left one of the original handle holes uncovered in order to install my pulls. You can see the indentions where the others were.

I used decoupage glue to put the craft paper on the drawers then I applied a coat of Krylon® Triple-Thick Crystal Clear Glaze

It was beginning to get hot here so I did a lot of the drawer work out on my porch instead of in the garage. Fenris was tasked with keeping Yin away from the decoupage glue (who knew cats were glue addicts).

Since I applied the paper by eyeballing it, it was important to make sure it all lined up.

Once the Glaze had been applied it was time to put the hardwear on and reassemble the drawers.

I choose to do the pulls in a staggered pattern.

And this is the finished product.

Laundry Room Makeover

 When we first moved in I referred to this as the utility room as it was so blah Really why do builders think we want to look at icky boxes and huge water heaters? First the Room was painted Glass Slippers

• Dusty Lilac (Lowe's: 1003-8A Glass Slippers / Ace: VR061C Twilight Bloom / Independent: V077-3 Twilight Bloom)
• Healing and peace. Looking for a sanctuary for inner peace, holistic healing and spirituality. We draw from a mix of eastern and western influences to find our balance.

 I got this idea from Pinterest.  I love Butterflies and this curtain was a lovely mixture of teal, blue and green, it's called Garden Discovery.

Hubby put shelves above the Washer and Dryer. I love them everything I need is within reach, it's very handy.

 Next I created a curtain rod out of PVC pipe.

 Next step painting it.

 A cute place to hang the dog leashes.

 While I was painting I also painted a picture frame.

 It took several coats.

 Flanges (also painted) provided the base for the curtain rod to hang.

 The Glass Slippers works well with the Flood Tide accent door and the Urban Sunrise trim. And the Garden Discovery Valence adds a nice touch. The rug is a nice mixture of Teal, Gray, Cream and white and work well with the Dust Tile.

The Tile is Tesoro Rox Series Color Dust

The Rox collection is the newest generation of digital ink jet technology tile.  The soft yet dramatic graphics give this series an authentic earthy look.

The Dust color is interesting as it is a mix of neutrals and seems to change color depending on the light.

This porcelain tile has similar characteristics found in a slab of honed granite. Large chunks of blue grey and pearly white are scattered throughout filled in with smaller swirls of speckled tan and cream. 

 Chimera approved of the Simplehuman Pet Food Cans. They are air tight and stainless steel. A stainless steel garbage can completed the look along with the gray and white shelf paper. I also found some lovely teal and gray containers to keep things in. They are so handy for taking cleaning supplies to other parts of the house.

 I found this dragonfly hanger at Lowe's it's perfect for hanging the broom on.

And now back to the curtain alcove I created.

 I had to get a hook to place in the ceiling to anchor the curtain rod, this was unexpected as none of the blogs that featured this mentioned it. Kudos to the nice guys at Lowe's who helped me find the things I needed.

 The curtains were a happy find as they match the colors in the rug perfectly. And it looks so nice not to see the hot water heater.

I love my new laundry room.

The Shape of Night by Tess Gerritsen (Goodreads Author)

The Shape of Night by Tess Gerritsen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A spine chilling read for Halloween. Ava Collete is racked with guilt when she arrives in the sleepy Maine town but just like Ava the town has secrets. Is the house she is renting really haunted by something or are her visions of Captain Brodie fueled by her consumption of alcohol? And is the handsome Doctor to good to be true?

Slowly Ava will come to terms with her past and learn to live with her guilt but the discovery of a woman's body (the former tenet of the house she is renting) will have her packing her bags, but when she can't find her cat (Hannibal) will Ava flee into the arms of a killer.

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No Greater Love by Danielle Steel

No Greater Love by Danielle Steel
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I actually started this book when we were on the cruise and didn't have a chance to finish it until now. The majority of the book was unbearably sad as Edwina dealt with the loss of her parents and fiancee on the Titanic while struggling to raise her siblings.

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Quantum (Captain Chase #1)

Quantum by Patricia Cornwell
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Captain Chase Callie to her friends is unbelievable, those of you who are familiar with the Scarpetta series she makes Lucy look like a slacker and an underachiever. Callie has not one but two jobs as a Cybercrime investigator she is investigating a staged suicide of an employee whose badge went missing. As a quantum physicist she has to save a top secret space mission all while trying to unravel what her identical twin Carme (pronounced Karma) has to do with the mess. We haven't meet Carme in person yet but according to Callie she is even more impressive.

The characters all seem unbelievable and unlikable. I rate this series an epic fail and will skip it. I couldn't find even one character in the book to connect with Fran (Callie's boss @ NASA Protective Services) suffers from paranoia and a fear of enclosed spaces, supposedly stemming from an incident that happened years ago when she and her son were broke down in a deserted location. Carme was apparently molested when she was six and Callie left her alone with a family friend, and Carme's boyfriend Rush felt Callie up supposedly when he mistook her for Carme. Callie and Carme's Dad always lets someone else do the tough stuff including letting them know bad news and her Mom seems to be a Pollyanna obsessed with lights and Dick sounds well like a Dick.

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At Death's Door (Deadman's Cross, #3)

At Death's Door by Sherrilyn Kenyon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Interesting facts
Madoc (Dream Hunter) is Adrian's son, neither seem to be aware of the relationship.
Jaden is Jared's Grandfather (think we already learned this in another book.)
Shadow is the son of Azura

This is Valynda and Nibo's (Xuri) book.

Valynda is getting tired of being made of straw and everyone seems anxious to give her back her body for a price. Adarian offers to return her to her body if only she'll steal Nibo's crook for him (it's made from the tree of life and can raise the dead). Of course this will mean betraying her friends...

After briefly considering it Valynda realizes she can't betray her friends and along comes Circe. Return her son (Agrios) from Hell and she'll give Valynda her body back. With Nibo's help she goes to hell and retrieves Agrios, now Nibo owes Hades a favor. Valynda now has her body back but like Sallie her soul is stored in a bottle.

(lots of sex between Valynda and Nibo, honestly we could have advanced the story more without all the sex)

During a battle the bottle with Valynda's soul in it is broken thanks to Qeenan (Nibo's evil twin) and Adarian. But never fear Acheron is around to bring her back to life, and they send the bad guys packing.

Madoc is brought to the human realm to drain Adarian's powers and everyone follows Adarian to New Orleans. Menyara puts her plan in motion to replace Adarian with Nick (a Malachai born of light and dark).

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The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy (Harold Fry, #2)

The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

It was OK and answered some questions that The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry left unanswered.

I have to say I didn't like Queenie much, she seemed to constantly get involved with married men. First there was "The Shit" who got her PG and packed her off to have an abortion. Then there was Harold and while she didn't sleep with Harold I think a part of her did want to take him away from his wife. And I think the way she treated the widower was hurtful. He was free and wanted to marry her but she turned him down because of Harold. So it was hard to feel sorry for her, she could have had a marriage and family but she choose not to and to hold on to her love for Harold.

Her relationship with David also seemed like a way of replacing Maureen, not only as Harold's wife but as David's Mother. And like Maureen she enabled David's bad behavior.

It also goes to show that Harold never saw the real Queenie. He never knew she was pg when she came to town or that the reason she was crying in the cupboard was because she had lost her baby. He never knew about her relationship with David or that she loved him.

And I still don't understand why Harold felt the need to walk to see her. Hopefully Maureen will get her own book, I think of the three I will probably like her best.

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