We had
to move our downstairs woodwork from mom's garage since she was moving. So
everything but the kitchen pieces fit into the foyer. The kitchen pieces
were put in the living room. The new year seems to bring a renewed interest in house work for us. It could also be that I'm no longer on third shift so Tim can resume banging and sawing during the day and I'm not constantly tired any more.
We had
to move our downstairs woodwork from mom's garage since she was moving. So
everything but the kitchen pieces fit into the foyer. The kitchen pieces
were put in the living room.
The desk you see is Tim's grandmothers. It's become a motivation for us to get the office done because we are excited to see how it was going to look. Its drawers were filled with old bills, post cards, books, and other odds and ends. Tim remembers being a little boy and playing in the drawers with his grandmother's treasures.
This picture doesn't do the guest bathroom paint justice. It looked electric blue. I was distraught after I got done painting the room, it was the first failed color choice I had.
We went back and forth about painting it. Tim really didn't mind it that much. Others either loved it or hated it.
I finally let laziness get the best of me and decided to go with it. Once we got the floor and other fixtures in it toned things down. I'd say the room defiantly isn't my style, but it's also grown on me. It will be a fun little room for our guests.
And
of course with the bathroom came another installation of shower doors.
This one seemed to go a little better than the last time. Our only problem
was the the window on the left was bent causing the door not to shut. We
tore it back out and returned it. Once we had its replacement the door
shut better than the one in our bathroom. We're learning anyways!
Installing
the woodwork in the office. Since there was so much water damage in this
room we decided to paint this woodwork too.
We bought a gallon of white oil paint and gave everything a couple of coats. I wasn't happy. It just didn't shine like I wanted it to. So Tim returned to the paint store and asked if they had any gloss oil paint. Ends up they don't (why don't people want glaringly white woodwork?). Tim ended up coming home with what he calls "dump truck" paint. I love it!
Every once in awhile we have a guest that asks if the woodwork is plastic, but I forgive them.
This door
connects the heated part of the house with the unheated back rooms. Up
until this point we had to leave it open so the boys (Oliver=orange and
Norman=white) could get to the facilities. That was costing us a lot in
heating bills. So we made it a priority to get this cat door installed.
I hate "defacing" our house with something like this, but to me it's the only
option. I detest having the litter box in my kitchen or bathroom, and the
little nook under the back stairs is just the perfect place for all of their
accessories.
With
me working so many hours now Tim's taken up stripping and refinishing the
woodwork. It really depresses me that this job was "taken away." I
was really proud of the job I was doing and loved pointing out to guests the
work I've done. It just made me feel like a "tough girl." Grrrrrrrrr.
But in the name of progress I'm willing to swallow my pride. Plus Tim is doing a beautiful job. He can sometime be impatient with projects like this, but he's taking his time and really making the pieces shine. I love him so.
The
office carpet is just a remnant of industrial office carpet. We of course
hired someone to put it in for us because we are not yet brave enough to tackle
carpeting ourselves.
It's a warm brown with tan, green, and burgundy flecks in it. Not beautiful, but the price was right.
We also
hired back the carpenter that put on our siding a few years ago.
I didn't want Tim any where near the kitchen trim since his angles have a habit of not quite always matching up.
The trim really finishes the cabinets well, and I'm glad we spent the extra money for the little piece under the upper cabinets. Now we just need to get the lighting bought and the woodwork refinished and the kitchen is done.
It's Our Two Year Anniversary!!!
Time for another set of up-dates. Compare these to March 2003 and 2004. You might notice some work in these photos that I hadn't reported on. We were actually out of town during the actual date of the anniversary and when we returned we were so gun-ho to get things done I didn't get these pictures taken until later in the month.
The kitchen
The pantry - notice the "new" light The dining room
Foyer stairway
The downstairs bath
Foyer- the front door is back Living room
Library Master bedroom
Master bath Laundry room
The big bedroom next to ours Guest bath
Both of these rooms have had major changes in the last month! Floors are in, woodwork is up, and furniture is moved it.
Hallway in butler's area Another guest bedroom
There's been quite a bit of work in these areas too.
Weaving room- with a coat of paint Back stairwell
Mudroom Office- with the furniture in
We also scrounged up enough to place an order to Van Dykes Restores. Here's a couple of my splurges (that's my crazy sister testing out the tub):
As you can see we've really wrapped the up-stairs up in the last month. It's time to move on down stairs. Hopefully we don't hit another wall and burn out like we did last summer.