Painting Palooza (1250 sq ft in 11 days)

We'll we did it! We moved in and painted the entire place! 1250 total sq ft. We are terribly sore now, and ready for our wedding vacation (we leave in 8 days, and get married in 18). Our biggest tip for anyone crazy enough to take on painting an entire house in a week and 1/2 is to make sure you don't have any furniture in the house. Because we don't have any furniture to speak of at this point, this made things a lot easier for us. We also chose to use a top of the line, low-voc, paint made by Sherwin-Williams called Duration. We now recommend this paint to everyone because it is very easy to put on the walls and it doesn't give you the dreaded paint headache, also it cleans easy!

Well now that our bank accounts are dwindling we will have to wait until after the wedding to begin the decorating (aka-the fun part!). Until then, here a few photos of our accomplishments thus far.

Sold!

Our first night, Carolina Blondes of course!

Our first purchase, the couch! This is also the main color throughout the house. It is made my Sherwin-Williams and it is called Grey Screen, we love it!

Our kitchen!

Maggie's little project...Chalkboard Paint! Our nephew now say's "Draw?" as soon as he walks in the door and he goes to town on our chalkboard wall. This was a closet underneath the stairs and it goes back pretty deep so we are converting it to an office/chalkboard/storage area.

The half-bath. This was painted the same color as the walls in the chalkboard room (Sherwin Williams, Recycled Glass.) We clearly need a different hand towel, but that will have to wait for the post-wedding decorating.

More to come,

-Maggie & Grayson

Tomato, Basil, Mozzarella Sandwich with Roasted Veggies

Pre-Roasting

Post- Roasting

Post-Roasting - YUM!

Sandwich

Makes approx 4 sandwiches

Cut large Focaccia bread in half. Spread a liberal amount of the Basil Spread (recipe follows) onto both sides (about 4 tablespoons each side). Slice 2 large, fresh, tomatoes (ours were from my mom’s garden!) and place on both sides of bread. Sprinkle with shredded Mozzarella (or slices of brick Mozarella, I find shredded melts more evenly). Place on pan and bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes or until cheese is melted. While the sandwich is still hot “smush” both sides together and cut into slices.

Roasted Veggies

Place your desired veggies on a baking sheet (we used asparagus, mushrooms, and squash). Drizzle veggies with extra virgin olive oil to lightly coat veggies. Season with freshly ground pepper and kosher salt to taste (we don’t use a lot of salt). Roast veggies for 5 minutes at 400 degrees or until veggies are tender when a fork is inserted into them.

Basil Spread

Lots of fresh Basil (I mean a lot!) Small amount of parmesan and small amount of fresh oregano. Extra virgin olive oil. Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, and red pepper flake to taste. Blend in food processor or blender.