Finally an Update

Okay, so apparently once a month was a stretch even. Oh well. Part of the reason I've been so absent is multifold. Part of it was a surgery (I'm fine) and a moratorium on house projects for a while. Part of it was snow (we've had lots of it), part of it was work, part of it was pure cussed laziness. Well, all that's over. I'm back in the swing of things.

Powder room is done with construction and is fully functional, if not fully decorated, so no pictures yet.

Upstairs bathroom has been painted finally. I used the same light blue ceiling paint I used in the sunroom. I had lots of paint, and the light blue mitigates some of the yellow a bit. But, it does not photograph well and simply looks white, so no pictures of that either.

Dining room currently in a state of disassembly as I'm trying to get some paint on the walls and the moldings. I'll finish base coat today. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to start the stencil. I'm going for a damask effect by using semi-gloss with the stencil. Hope it turns out. So far, I love the color. Painting all this trim is going to be pure misery however. Some of it will be stripped, some of it will be painted over. Oh the agony. It's going to take forever. Oh well.

Plans are in the works for a backyard fence. That will be a welcome change. I also settled on a plan for the front as well. Eventually, there will be a columned pergola dripping with grapes and wisteria. I'm going for an edible Tuscan garden feel. That will happen a long ways down the road though.

I will leave you with one photograph however. We have some crocus pop up in the front yard.










And, we had this visitor in the backyard.

Sunroom Make Over

Okay, so originally, my plan was to blog daily. Then it got pushed back to weekly. Now, I'm aiming for one monthly update. Life is too busy for regular blogging, and I think that's a good thing.

Over the two week winter break, I worked long hours to give the sunroom, just off the dining room, a complete make over. My friend Andy came and helped and so the first week was spent doing the necessary carpentry work. We put up the real beadboard around the powderroom (v board actually), trimmed out all the windows, installed beadboard panels on the ceiling (to hide the old asbestos tiles), reinstalled crown and base. Then I started priming, then painting. It was a huge paint job and it felt like it took forever. I think I painted for five days straight! So much trim in this room. I finally got the painting done yesterday in the afternoon. Found a couple of wonderful Craigslist rattan couches and voila! I love the fresh spring green against the crisp white of the trim. The ceilings are a pale shade of blue perfect for a beadboard ceiling, and so traditional.

Here's the before pic from when we bought the place:

Please note the dark paneling, dusty rose shag, and the radiators.

This is how it looked last night:


and in the daylight:




Pretty cool, eh? I'm tickled with the way it came out. I'll be back next week (hopefully) to post about the powderroom which should be installed soon!

Living Here

We are fully moved into the house now. Most of the boxes are unpacked and most items have found a home. There's still a ton of stuff to be done and I will be posting projects as they come up. We have our fave handy-woman coming in next week to work on a couple of little projects: sunroom floor, powder room floor and the beadboard walls in there, finishing up the downstairs trimwork as well as a couple of other projects. The next major push will be after tax money comes in. We need to get the two new baths fully installed and operational. We need to put up a fence and a doggy door. That's going to suck most of the money.

I am usually a list person: grocery lists, to do lists, errand list, etc. There are so many jobs left to be done in this house, I am afraid to make that list as I am afraid of its potential length. I think I'm going to start by picking one smallish project, like priming the trim and stairs over the holiday break. It's ambitious enough to keep me busy, but not so big as to overwhelm.

Living in the house is wonderful though. We have entertained frequently and have had several folks over for dinner or brunch. I LOVE cooking again. I went nearly a year without cooking on a regular basis and it feels so good to have homecooked food. Cooking in this kitchen is delightful. Very satisfying. I have more space than I realized and despite the loss of the old pantry, I still have empty cupboards and drawers. I don't even mind not having a dishwasher. It really doesn't take much more time to wash the dishes by hand than it does to rinse and stack in the DW. It's kind of soothing actually.

Part of our decision to move into the city was to live a "greener" lifestyle. One of the things we have done towards that end was to sell one car. We have taken additional steps like join a CSA farm coop, begin shopping at the local farmers markets, not driving everywhere all the time. It feels really good, I have to say.

Not much to post pictures of as the rooms are still kind of cluttery and haphazard which makes for unattractive pictures. I'll try to tidy up and get some new ones up soon.

My contractor, Tom Henning, has gotten his site up and running and there is a new link over on the right. Check it out as he is amazing and wonderful I cannot praise him high enough.

Moving Day

Sorry for the lack of posting updates, but we are moving in tomorrow!! I cannot wait. I am so ready for this move, I can't stand it. Kitchen looks really good and I've posted one still yet incomplete picture. I snap a good one over the weekend and try posting something Sunday. All I have to say: NINE feet of countertops....

Catching Up

Okay, so it's been three weeks since my last post. Blame it on being frantically busily, limited amount of computer time, and being plain tuckered out. But, despite the fact I haven't been doing anyone electronically, we have been making massive progress on the house. In fact, we have a move in date, November 14th. Less than two weeks from now! I cannot wait. This process started a year ago when we decided to put our old house on the market. We moved out of there five month ago and have been working on this place for four months, almost to the day when we move in.

So, what has happened since the last update? Carpentry, primer, floor sanding, and painting. See for yourself:

Kitchen being primed:


Kitchen Demo'd and Painted (Cabinets at least)


We pulled the stove and the oven out completely. We also took out the cabinets under the stove and under the bar, as well as the countertops above those counters. For now, we've purchased some white, stock cabinets and custom sized laminate. On the left hand side of the kitchen, from this view, will go a run of cabinets and NINE feet of countertop. The bar will still be bar height and the tiny remnant of yellow counter will be replaced as well. I'm in the process of painting the old handles black. The old yellow sink cabinet has gotten a fresh coat of white paint as well. The yellow walls are actually formica walls, not sure what we're going to be able to do with them. I was reading about painting formica, so that may be an option. With dark counters, dark floors, the bright white will pop and look classic, I hope. It will have to do for a few years while we build up the kitty to redo the kitchen. Then we will be gutting it to the studs and rebuilding it.

Guest Room Primed


Dining Room Being Primed



Floors are in the process of being redone right now. It was sanded and will be stained tomorrow. We're going with the dark walnut stain. I think it is going to be beautiful up against crisp, white mouldings, when ever I get to that.

Tired

I don't know when I've ever been so tired. P had surgery on Monday and her right hand is in a big old cast. She's not much use around here right now. So, in the interest of domestic peace, I sent her to Lake Gaston to spent the weekend with friends. I spent Friday night dusting down the front room. Used an entire box of swiffer wipes on that room along. Saturday, I was here by 9 and spent the day dusting the rest of the upstairs. Had some hired help for a couple of hours which helped. T washed down the floors and vacuumed the stairs. I dusted part of the downstairs before quitting and heading back to the Springs. Stopped at 5 Guys (damn they have good burgers) for dinner. Went home, showered and fell into bed at 7 PM. Was up at 6:30 this morning and at the house by 8. Spent the first part of the morning cleaning up. Washed all the dishes, the countertops and did some general de-dusting. Then finished de-dusting the downstairs. Cracked open the primer around 1ish and started priming. Got the master bedroom primed to where I can reach. I don't have the energy to pull the ladder up the stairs just now. Started priming the bathroom when my hand just gave out. Decided to take a break and try and get a post in.

Taking pictures of people washing floors or dusting walls is pretty uninteresting. So, no pictures today. Maybe after priming has happened.

Walls, At Last!

We have walls, I tell you! We have walls! Plaster guys were here all last week working upstairs putting in drywall and repairing/skim coating the plaster and I have to say, it looks beautiful! So white and clean.


First the guest bedroom:




The Hallway and Bathroom:



The drywall guys said we were going to have to pull down all the plaster in the bathroom because it was so deteriorated due to the leaking skylight. Penny started to go up and work on that on Wednesday (her day off). The guys looked at her and asked if she was going to do it now. As she is having hand surgery on Monday, Wednesday was going to be the only opportunity for her to get the plaster down. I think her pitiful hand made him feel bad so he agreed to laminate the old plaster with new drywall and box in the opening for the medicine cabinet too!

Master Bedroom:




So, what's left?

Downstairs skimcoating/plaster repair has to be finished.
Electrical is wrapping up.
Need to install sink in golden bath.
Skylight has to be fixed as it still leaks.
Downspouts need to be installed.
Need to get a new stove/range as now both the stove and the oven have crapped out on me.
Need to dust and then prime.
Then we get to call in the floor folks to fix and refinish the floors.
THEN we get to move in. I'm still hoping for November 1, but I'm thinking that is going to be pushing it. We'll see.

It won't be perfectly completed, but it will be livable. We are hoping we will be able to put in the powder room downstairs now too. It would be nice to have a house that has two toilets.

I'll be back later in the week with more wall pictures. Promise