Home Improvement and Really Cool Paint

I have several home improvement projects that I would love to do. We were going to start a few of them this summer. But we have a huge dentist bill that I didn't see coming (don't get me started) and the taxman is making us pay this year. Sigh.

Here was the original list:
1. Bust down the wall between the kitchen and dining room. Add cabinetry to the kitchen side and then a countertop for eating in the dining room.
2. Add cabinetry and finish the foyer/mudroom.
3. Repaint the kitchen cabinets and kitchen.
4. Finish the basement.
5. Landscaping, which I will still do, but probably on a much smaller scale.
6. I would love to put up a fence in the front yard, but who knows how much that even costs.

Anyway, the list could be endless. But I've had to pare it down a bit. Here's the revised (and hopefully somewhat do-able) list:

1. Finish foyer/mudroom with cheaper cabinetry, paint, coat hooks, etc.
2. Paint the kitchen cabinets, kitchen walls, dining room, living room, bathrooms.

And I would loooooovee to tear down the wall, but I really don't think it's going to happen anytime soon. But in order to stop dwelling on that, I've decided to concentrate on the foyer/mudroom first. It shouldn't be too much money, and I don't need to buy everything all at once.

Here's where the really cool paint part comes in. Since I have become (essentially) a stay-at-home mom, I've been sucked into some (eeek!) daytime television. Mainly just The Martha Stewart Show. I actually usually record it, and then watch it when during naptime or whenever I get a spare minute (haha). On yesterday's episode, they had this stuff called Idea Paint. I originally intended to create a chalk board on the basement door (using chalk board paint) in the mudroom to write the grocery list on, or notes or whatever. But I actually kind of hate chalk. I really don't like the way it feels or sounds or the dust, etc. But I was going to do anyway because I think it's cute.

But I saw this stuff called Idea Paint on the show. It's dry erase board paint! Yes-the perfect solution! The only thing is that it's a bit pricey ($75 for one box-which covers the area of a door). That's more than enough for what I need, but it sure isn't cheap. And they do have colors other than white, which is nice, but if you want the cheaper at home version ($75) it only come in white. The larger kits come in colors, but I think they are kind of odd choices of colors:




I'll probably be getting the white because it's a smaller kit, but I like the gray as well. I'm going to do some drawings and pictures to show soon!

Here's a link to their website.