Progress?

My mom always told me that to be beautiful, you must endure pain; only she said it in dutch and it rhymed. I guess the same holds true for home improvement projects too. I am making progress and my sweet hubby is helping me but oh boy, what a MESS. We are getting closer to being able to put things in order in my office. Since it's laundry day in a couple of days, we have to have the machines in place by then.


The counter is relatively clean compared to a few days ago but it's still frustrating to see it this way.
Don't trip over the stuff that used to be on the counter but is now on the floor just outside my office door.

UPSTAIRS, I have finally been able to get my railing to the color I like. This took about 5-6 coats. It's called cherry mahogany. I still have to put on the polyurethane coat. That will happen tonight and tomorrow. As you can see, it clashes with my floor. Ummmm, I guess I will have to re-do my floor too!
This is the color it used to be. I call it Boring Oak.
YES, I did use the electric sander IN MY FRONT ROOM to sand the hand rail. It went throughout the entire house. I went downstairs and thought it was all dusty there too until I took off my glasses!
And, just to show that I am making progress, here is a flower arrangement that I put together for my new kitchen. I know, it's not symetrical and professional looking but I like it, although for the money I spent on everything, it would have been cheaper to buy a pre-made one.