Well, I lied...

Hey All!

So it turns out that when I said I'd be done with the laundry room last week, not only was I wrong--I was terribly wrong.  Chalk it up to the optimism bias, eh?  That being said, I have made some (small, tiny, insignificant) progress around this place!


Here's where we're at!

Apparently I'm a terrible spackler.  Poor Kurt, and mom both had to slave away, sanding their fingers to the bone to clean up my mess. Oops.  Don't worry.  I've been forbidden from spackling ever again.  

Here's the painting in progress.  You can see, I stuck with the yellow family, just a less fleshy, more sunny shade of yellow!  This color is called Popcorn, by Valspar.  I'm very pleased with it.

Here it is all painted.  MUCH better, if I do say so myself.  

So you can see, that even though they sanded for hours, this wall where the cabinets used to be is still a little wiggly....I ordered some geometric wall paper samples.
Hopefully one of them will work, and will help hide the imperfections in this wall.  

Getting the last cabinet down turned into quite the chore.  Poor Kurt.  I should really make that guy a nice dinner or something.  He definitely gets all the boyfriend points for the work he helps with around the house.  I don't know what I'd do without him!  (That's not entirely true-I'd drop more stuff on my feet, yell, swear, and cry a whooooole lot more.)

In other news:  I finally found a plumber--yay!  It shouldn't surprise anyone that I'm very particular about the people I'll hire to do work.  At the end of the day, I only want to give my money to people that I think are nice.  Pushy people need not apply.  It may be silly, but it's my house!  :P

So, stuff is suuuuper torn up right now.  but, that's ok!  It'll be worth it.  The plumber was here all day, and will be back to finish up tomorrow.  The basement is also sporting brand new pipes!  But that doesn't make for a nice photo lol

Since I was waiting for the plumber, I used that time to paint the downstairs hallway off of the dining room/half bath.

Gooooooody byyyyyyyye red!  

Am I crazy, or does this just feel cleaner and brighter to you too?  (It's best to just agree with me while I'm holding a paint brush.  :)  

SO. That's where I'm at with progress!  I'm still hunting for a flooring option for the dining and laundry rooms.  Asking for something that "feels like a 50's style Formica counter top"  will apparently get you nothing but blank stares around here.  WHO KNEW?! If anyone has any suggestions for where else I should be shopping, I'm all ears!  It may be time to try shopping outside of Warsaw.

Finally, after many, many trips to "the barn" in the lumbar yard at Menards, I snapped this picture of one of my favorite signs ever.  I can't help it.  A worker came over and asked me if everything was ok. I couldn't believe he didn't think this sign is as funny as I did.  Apparently I have the maturity of a teenage boy or something.  Whatever.  It' funny.  It's a big hat.  Or a sign that sounds dirty to me.

I can hear you groaning while you read this.  What did you expect form me?!  You know me! 

Hopefully tomorrow I'll have more pictures to show of the completed plumbing, the sink put back in place, and maybe even the cabinets hung back up!  We'll see if my poor foot can take it, or if I can recruit some help!


K


MGMT - Electric Feel
I know I promised you a classic rock sound track, but we started this post declaring that I'm a  liar! This song is too catchy not to share.

Junior Brown - Highway Patrol

This is what happens when you leave me unsupervised...

Hi All,

So we've been making some progress on some little things around the house: finishing touches on stripping the woodwork in a few rooms, final sanding, and lots of clean up.  But, you know me, my appetite for destruction must be fed....

This weekend, Kurt and I are heading to Cincinnati to see Katelyn, and pick up a new (to me) washer and dryer.  Obviously, this has me in a panic over the state of the laundry room.  Here's what it looked like before.  Please just ignore all the stuff.  This photo is from when we were at the house for the inspection, so now all this junk is gone, and I've replaced it with my own...which I conveniently failed to take a photo of.  Sorry y'all.

Before

You can't really tell in this picture, but all of these cabinets are metal.  I think that this room used to be the kitchen in the original house, so these would've been the kitchen cabinets.  Anyone who knows me should know immediately just how much I LOVE these metal cabinets. 

It makes me a little sad to think that there were probably matching bottom cabinets....it also makes me a little sad to see the baby blue paint that someone used on the mudroom off of the laundry room, but that's a project for another time.  

What I really wanted to do was to start painting the laundry room.  Mom and Kurt however had different plans.  They both forbid me from painting!  And then, they left me home alone....something tells me they won't do that again!

I couldn't help it.  I know I should've worked on a different finishing touches project, but that's not what I wanted.  I wanted destruction, and baby I got it!

I was out of control, and before I knew it, I'd taken two of the cabinets down.  I managed to only drop one on my foot. I swear they got heavier as I took them down!   

Apparently they were just held up by four screws in each cabinet, which were screwed into two 2x4s.  

And the 2x4s came out with just a quick tug with a hammer.  It really surprised me how easily they came down, but that made me optimistic for putting them back up!

I've pretty much settled on moving the other two tall cabinets to this wall.  After they're mounted, there will be about 16 inches of dead space, where the small cabinet won't fit.  I'm leaning towards adding a hanging bar on the far left! 

Apparently taking the cabinets down to move them wasn't enough to satisfy me.  No, no, I wanted more.  Sooooo I may have taken one outside to try stripping it. Ok, who am I kidding, that's exactly what I did.  And I squealed gleefully while doing it.

As always, I want to know who thought it was a good idea to paint these!  Ok fine, if they really were the kitchen cabinets, I'll accept it.  But begrudgingly. 

Personally, I really like the raw metal.  When they're painted, it's hard to tell that they're metal.  But without paint, they scream "Look at meeeeeeeee!  I'm a vintage metal cabinet, and I'm so cooooooooool!" (That's what they said, I swear!) 

I'll keep working on stripping them today after work.  If I can get them stripped tonight (Tuesday) then I can try to prime/pain the back wall tomorrow (Wednesday), and hang the cabinets on Thursday.  It's ambitious, but that's the current game plan!  What do you think? Is the raw metal too dark?  I'm thinking, as long as I pick a light color for the walls, it'll all work.  Or, worst case scenario, I paint them white.  That would still be better than the weird creamy skin color they were before! Hopefully my appetite for destruction is satisfied for the week!  Wish me luck!

K



Molly Hatchet - Flirtin' With Disaster

Jethro Tull - Thick As A Brick

Living Room Update!

Hi All!  

Ok, so I'm trying to get caught up showing you guys the progress that has been made at the house.  It's starting to feel like less of a cluster, so that's a huge plus in my mind!  And to think, it only took 11 gallons of paint to get me to the point where it's really feeling like home!  

So, here's a quick recap of what the formal living room used to look like.  If I look at that brown for too long, I'm going to start having flash backs, and have to go buy more paint to calm myself down.

I like to imagine that this paint is just leftover partial gallons mixed in a bucket, and slapped on the walls with abandon.  Surely no one would pay money for this color...

Here's a close up of what the ceiling fan looked like before.  I generally love old stuff, but damn.  This clearly had to go.
**I'd like to offer my special thanks to my friend Emily, for insisting that this room couldn't be considered "done" until this thing was gone.  Sometimes I need a little push to not leave things partially completed. 

Here's the loving room sans carpet, and with primer (and some paint from the entry way) slapped up on the walls.  I actually sang a song and did a happy dance when that brown was gone! 

So, since Emily insisted that I needed a new ceiling fan (and boy was she ever right), I picked one up, and set the boys to work!  Poor Kurt took down the old one, which was disgusting, and heavy.  Ugh, I'm sorry, dear.   When Chase arrived, Kurt (wisely) sent him up on the ladder to get it done! While most DIY things I'm more than happy to attempt myself, for this one, I was beyond thankful to have these two gents to take care of it for me.  I painted the trim while they did the hard part.  :)   Listening to them talk about which colored wires go to what part was by far my favorite version of "Who's on First" that I've ever heard. Blue, black white, yellow--I'm just glad I wasn't on the ladder for this part.

Two heads are better than one!  Again, these guys, I'd be lost without them! 

Final product, installed and functioning!  Oh yeah. 

After all of that, it was definitely time for pizza and a break for the night.  But I went back at it the next day, and here are the results!  Now keep in mind, a few weeks ago, when I swore that I'd always use the flash on the camera, do you remember that?  Well, I was clearly lying.  I'm sorry. I'm fired from taking photos.

This fan looks much better, but the lights aren't as bright.
Lamps will be necessary, but that's ok when your fan looks this good. 

All of the woodwork in the living room is officially stripped (minus the built-ins, but their time is coming!) 

Heyyyyyyyy there's the flash.  I've gone back and fourth over whether this color is too dark...I'm thinking that it's alright in person.  I'll work on better pictures once the floor has been refinished. 

Chronologically, this picture should be further up, but I felt like it needed a special place, and note. This is what happens when  my mom says "No, just leave it, and let a man take care of it."  Nope.  Absolutely not.  My poor Women's Studies degree simply cannot accept that answer--they'd revoke it.  I'M SURE OF IT! So, even though it was dark out, up on the ladder I went, drill in hand, to hang the new curtain rod.  And at one point, as I was cursing the brackets for refusing to attach, I turned around to incessant giggling, and this pose.  My mother, my rock, and a shining light in my life....and a ridiculous goofball.  I love you.  I don't know where I'd be without you, and I hope if I grow up, that I turn out just like you!  Thanks for all your help, and I hope you're coming over to spackle tonight.  

K

PS - These songs are on albums that I've purchased on  record store adventures with Kurt.  Seven record stores in eight days...that man knows his audience!  I'm one smitten kitten--and it's not just cause I've found some sweet new (to me) vinyl!!

Neil Young - Plastic Flowers

Graham Nash - Songs for Beginners

           > This is the full album, and the whole thing is worth listening to if you haven't already!

Post Vacation Check In!

Hi All!

So it would seem that I've been doing a terrible job of staying on top of blog posts....but anyone who knows me probably isn't really surprised by that!  One of the main reasons I haven't written anything is because frankly, I haven't done that much work on the house lately.  Shameful-I know.  I'm sorry!

It turns out, I haven't gotten anything done, at least in part, because over Memorial Day weekend, I went on the best vacation ever.  Most of my friends and family have already been sent hundreds of pictures, but for anyone who just deleted my incoherent shrieks of "THIS IS THE FURTHEST NORTH I'VE EVER BEEN!", which were accompanied by photos, here's a quick recap.

This is when I really started to get giddy.  Also, nervous, exceptionally nervous, about actually leaving the country for the first time in a decade. 

It was really difficult for me to wrap my head around the enormity of the falls.  It was like, my brain couldn't process everything that was happening.  Total sensory overload-in a good way!  

It was kind of weird to see how flat the water was before it went over the falls.  Also, I can't believe anyone would consider going over this in a barrel! 

Even from the walkway at the top of the falls, you could feel the mist in places.  Apparently enough water flows over here every minute to fill 1,000,000 bathtubs.  Talk about amazing! 

We spent the evenings strolling through crowded streets, watching people, and eating dessert.  I can't think of a better way to spend an evening! 

On the boat tour of the falls!  The long line was absolutely worth it!  It was so awesome, I could've done another tour the next day.  Getting to see the falls from the bottom definitely confirmed that a barrel is a bad idea.  

Sure it's been a long time since I've been on vacation, and that might have skewed my opinion a little, but this was hands down the best trip I've ever been on.  Buffalo wings in Buffalo, fireworks over the falls, and more importantly four straight days with this guy.  I'll admit, I was pretty nervous about it before hand....it takes a special kind of person to be able to tolerate four straight days with me.  Ok, let's be honest, it takes a crazy kind of person.  But I'm so happy to say that at the end of four days--he was still willing to talk to me, and see me again!  :P

 So, I'd like to send the biggest thank you out to Kurt--you're awesome, and I can't wait to see what kinds of adventures we get to have in the future!


Finally, here are some songs from our Niagara Falls Playlist!

Eddie Money - Take Me Home Tonight

Stevie Wonder - For Once in My Life

Elton John - Honky Cat



More updates on the work I have managed to get done around the house soon!

K