Time Well Wasted

Monday and Tuesday were both very profitable evenings in terms of work accomplished. Tonight turned at to be very profitable in other regards. It was the perfect night to take a step back, regroup, look at the progress we've made thus far, assess the necessary next steps and materials needed. In other words, we didn't do much "work" of anykind, but we did have a truly enjoyable evening. Joe spoke with Chris Williams, our friend and contractor, and together the came up with a plan for building new book cases for the living room and also a plan for how to apply the trim/crown molding around our new tile fireplace area. After this planning session with Chris we went up stairs to see how Jordan Williams was progressing with installing the new light fixtures. Well, the plan to hang the new light sconce in the upstairs bedroom went majorly awry- but not to worry! When something goes wrong, what do you do? Head off immediately to the nearest Dairy Queen and order yourself a blizzard, of course! And that's exactly what we did. Mmmm... mint oreo blizzards.

Joe has a very unique technique for removing masking tape.

(He is now applying for a patent for this new method.)

I loved this photo of our house.

From this angle it truly looks like a cozy cottage.

That's what friends are for

As the big day draws nearer Joe and I have come to the conclusion that weekends alone do not provide us with enough time to complete the necessary renovations. Therefore we have decided to jam pack our week nights with profitable work projects at the house. Of course, what better way to get alot done than invite over some friends. Afterall, what are friends for?

Tonight we decided to get a jump on things by heading over to our house right after work and eating a quick meal there at the house while we worked. Daylight hours are too precious to be spent eating long drawn-out meals. Well, not really, but for now I'm trying to convince myself that is true in an effort to stay totally focused on getting our house ready. Anywhoo... Tonight's tasks included painting the downstairs ceiling, painting the upstairs bathroom, touching up the paint throughout the upstairs and in the downstairs bathroom. --- Might I just say that painting has turned out to be the most tedious of all our tasks- its never ending, but I think I'm beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel (and that light's a good sign just so long as it isn't a train coming straight for me). --- My sisters Olivia & Bonnie, Naomi Williams, and Emily Frost made up my painting crew. Joe was joined by Jordan & Joe Williams who helped him patch some rough areas on our walls and begin replacing light fixtures.

I'm getting pretty excited now as the progress we're making is actually becoming visible and I can now glimpse how lovely our new home will be.

Tell me how your garden grows

This evening was so gorgeous; I almost thought summer had arrived. While my sisters were gainfully employed doing some clean up in our house, Joe and I finally got around to an outside project I'd been wanting to do for some time. Several weeks ago I'd purchased some plants but never got a chance to plant them because inclement weather had been proving a great hindrance. But Monday the golden evening hours allowed Joe and I a wonderful time to be together while creating a lovely garden niche. We used the rocks which had been dug out of the yard on a former day's weeding project, to create a layering rock wall which would contain our plants. So far its just a handful of colorful perennials but we'll keep adding...

Making Progress

Thomas Edison once said "Discontent is the first necessity of progress." Well, that's proven true yet again. When we first purchased our home, Joe and I were discontent with the shabby state of our living room but that has propelled us into greater realms of home improvement.
Over the memorial Day weekend Joe and my dad began the next step of our living room remodel project. The ugly brick has been overlayed with a beautiful tile. The wood box area has been reframed so that gusts of cold air can no longer seep into our cozy abode. We've also begun applying sheet rock over the existing wall so that "built-in" entertainment center that was too deep and just plain ugly, along with the cut out vents will no longer be visible. All this is going to creat a lovely backdrop for our new wood stove.

If walls could talk...

It's not been all work and no play. Mid-way through today's fireplace project we stopped for a bit of fun & inspiration. We also coined a new motto: "Home is where the hearth is."

Weekend Warriors

The days have been very busy, the weeks jam-packed, and the weekends have been our time for cranking on our house. We've been doing so much house work on Saturdays and Sundays that by the time Monday morning rolls around Joe and I are exhausted from our weekend. But life goes ever onward and by Wednesday we're usaually feeling pretty good (just gearing up for another weekend). Well, it's been quite some time since I've posted any updates, but alot has happened in the meantime. Most notably our electric heaters have been installed (hooray! we actaully have a bonified heating system now!) and the old wood fireplace torn out (what a beast that thing was). Also, our friend Jordan Williams sanded down and restained the wood in the upstairs bathroom (that turned out to be a much bigger (and messier) project than origanlly anticipated). We also tore out the old pink toilet from the upstairs bathroom and discovered hidden treasure- a pair of white gold hoop earrings which had been lost in the pipes, what a surprise! We've added a door between the kitchen and laundry room to block out the noise from the washer and dryer and also to prevent the cold air from the garage from seeping into our main living space.

Today we started our next big project: remodelling the living room fireplace area. We purchased a new wood stove to replace the huge, old, ugly, and nearly broken one. Our new wood stove is a beautiful model from Vermont Castings in a lovely reddish brown color. To showcase the new wood stove we needed to cover over the existing brick that is so ugly and has gaping vents. We decided to cover it was a nice tile overlay. But first we had to knock out some of the bricks on the bottom to make the hearth level then frame up some built-in "shelf" knooks. Once the old hearth/fireplace area was framed up and leveled, Joe, my dad, and our friend Chris began drilling hardy-backer cement board over the brick so that we can apply the tile to that. The project is not nearly finished but we've accomplished the big important step of getting started. One can now begin to imagine how lovely our living room will look once the project is complete.

Help from designer Dad

The home improvement projects continue. So far there's been a lot of patching walls, and rebuilding walls where built-in shelves have been torn out, and repainting newly patched walls. We've also done a lot of 'invisible' work- this past week we had several heating, insulation, and fireplace people come take a look at our house so they could let us know what it'll take to install a proper heating system. All very important stuff although sometimes at first glance it can seem like nothing more has happened. But we've got some great solutions lined up. And getting everything set up and in place so that everything can happen it its proper order is all part of the process of fixing up a home.

Joe and I have decided (in light of our "old house mentality") to focus on an simple overall upgrade of new paint and new flooring throughout the home- just to make it clean and livable. We have come to the conclusion that owning a home is an ongoing project and we're willing to have a five year plan. Everything doesn't have to happen at once. The one place that we've decided to focus on right away is the living room. It'll sort of be a sanctuary of sanity.

My dad has been tirelessly devoting himself to helping us come up with the perfect design for our living room. First he drew up several different sketches. then we looked at a few books together to decide on the right look for our home. Next my dad took the measurements of the different walls and features in the room, then put them into a program Sketch Up, and created a 3D model of our living room so that he can add in all the new colors and design elements. This way we can see before hand how things will look and get an idea of how all the new elements will work together with the existing room. The main feature will be the fireplace. We're getting a classic wood stove to replace the battleship boiler that's currently gracing the room. The unsightly brick will be covered in a lovely stone veneer. A couple built-in book cases on the sides of the bay windows, some comfy furniture, and window hangings should complete the look. With help from my dad, and Joe and I more than willing to work, we'll soon transform this room from dingy and drab into a haven of comfort.