The Corner Lot

mismatch

2011-11-22T10:00:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure why it doesn't bother me, but nothing in our house really matches. It just "go's". It's always been the way it is and I like it. It takes the pressure off finding the "perfect" piece, because there are really unlimited options.

I also follow no rules of proportion, which might make some people crazy, but I'm ok with it.

For instance....

In our master bedroom, we have an orange chair, blue dresser and green lamp. Three different color woods, all coming from different time periods.

I also have a huge TV on top of a small dresser and a huge lamp on top of a small side table.

I dig it though.

No rules is much more interesting...at least when it comes to home decor.

Bathroom a go-go.

2011-08-30T15:25:00.000-07:00

We've been working hard on our bathrooms. With just a few dollars, we have really transformed the look. Obviously, we paid for new flooring, but that was upon move in. Everything else was stuff we had around the house and one gallon of good paint ("Smoke" by Benjamin Moore).

I am actually growing to love the pink/peach/tan marble countertops. I liked them upon move-in and I'm not willing to pull them out because they are expensive pieces of marble, but the color was tricky. Fortunately, we found a lovely blue color that accents them, nicely.

I WISH that I took better photos to show off the color, but this is straight out of the camera. Sorry!

Before:

After:

Vintage, glitter face plate:

Vintage tray with bathroom set from my mother in law:

****

Other spaces in the house:

Rumpus Room with new couches (green) from my mother in law (she has amazing taste):

Our living room with a few furniture additions and some rearrangement (I move things around quarterly):

There you have it. Happy Tuesday!

Bathrooms

2011-08-25T13:32:00.000-07:00

We are in the throws of bathroom re-do's, which (in our language) means that we are throwing on a new coat of paint and hitting the garage sales for treasures to hang on the wall.

Await pictures, my friends!

Rumpus

2011-08-02T20:33:00.000-07:00

It's amazing what moving a few pieces of furniture can do.

I relocated one of our couches all the way to the side of the room and it makes the room look HUGE. You can't even see the couch in this photo! Not to mention that when we have people over (mainly, kids), there is WAY more room to play!

Huge mirrors. Angst.

2011-06-22T12:33:00.000-07:00

I have a HUGE mirror in two of our three bathrooms. They span the entire countertop.

I don't want to spend money to make them pretty.

Any DIY ideas that are free?

Do help a sista out.

In love.

2011-06-13T07:13:00.001-07:00

Gardening is on my mind.

I love it, I enjoy doing it.

But, alas....it's expensive.

So, until that lotto check comes in the mail, I'll be scouring Craigslist for some free plants!

A little inspiration to keep me dreaming...

{via pinterest}

a room for learning.

2011-05-31T09:56:00.000-07:00

Since we decided to homeschool, I've been happy and eager to make a small space for learning.

The downstairs "office" has proved to be the best schoolroom.

We didn't need an office anyways, right?....

bringing some 1960's Palm Springs, to sunny California.

2011-05-27T11:27:00.001-07:00

I couldn't help myself.

Meet "Winifred" the pink flamingo {$4.98}.

Thanks, Lowes

blooming

2011-03-28T14:16:00.001-07:00

Things are blooming over here at The Corner Lot.

Plants are coming to life.

Leaves are popping through and flowers are budding.

I can't wait to see full trees, as I stare out my kitchen window.

I love the first signs of Spring.

Although it's always hard for me to say goodbye to Winter....the flowers and life make me so pleased.

the "era"

2011-02-11T14:33:00.000-08:00

This doesn't really have to do with our home, necessarily, but it does have to do with my favorite "era".

I have become a "regular" at local estate sales and it seems that my face is becoming more and more common and recognizable, to those on the sale circuit. I like that. We are all becoming friends (except when they try to take what I want, and then all bets are off).

I have a very particular time period I gravitate to, when shopping {as well as decorating, as you can see}. It's obvious in what I bring home.

The late 1950's and 1960's.

And I love finding treasures from that time.

And I love sending them home to a new owner, just as much.

So keep an eye out in the ETSY store this week!

thanks, Pam

2011-01-25T08:00:00.001-08:00

Pam over at Retro Renovation, gets me in all kinds of trouble.

She announced today that Sanderson is offering a collection of wallpapers, reminiscent of the 1950's.

I was instantly in love.

Please go take a gander.

I want to buy some. SO. BAD.

it's coming along....

2011-01-18T20:24:00.000-08:00

Sean and I have always loved gardening and know, firsthand, that it takes alot of time and energy to create the garden you want. We have am idea of what we would like the completed front and back yard to look like but are also totally o.k with it taking years and years.

One of the saddest parts of leaving our old house was saying goodbye to our yards. We had lived there almost 7 years and things were just starting to look the way we wanted to. It takes years to fully mature certain things, but it's all part of the process.

Since we don't have lots of liquid cash to start dropping in plants (like we did when we moved into our old house), we are being as savvy as we can with little money.

Examples:

Two beautiful hanging ferns from my mom:

Double potting with ivy and tropical color. We love using rocks (found in our new sideyard):

Our four new Phoenix Palms. (9.99 each at LOWES!!) This is the beginning of the "wall coverage plan":

A re-purposed cedar Christmas tree that I got as a gift in the hospital from Shanna (they are evergreens, smell great and require little maintenance):

Container gardening:

No plants for this whisky barrel, so Kensington is using it as a home for her snails:

A beginning:

My tip to cheap gardening:

*Take your time and don't be in a hurry to get a completed look. It will almost always end in dead plants.

*Go get a copy of SUNSET gardening. It will be your Bible.

*Take ALL hand outs when it comes to plants. You can make almost any plant look lovely with a little TLC.

*ENJOY. Better to have one flourishing plant than 15 dead ones.

Happy planting!

before the new year....

2010-12-30T11:30:00.000-08:00

I like to organize.

That way we enter in the new year with a clean slate.

Plus I'm a little crazy when it comes to cleaning.

Here are the recent two projects we have worked on (when up at all kinds of crazy hours).

Office/Workspace/Library for Sean and I:

(which had become a catch-all in the frenzy of birthing a baby)

Before:

After:

Downstairs Rumpus Room:

Before:

After:

Happy Organizing and Happy 2011!

tree.

2010-12-06T12:57:00.000-08:00

My Christmas present from my parents is a BEAUTIFUL Jacaranda tree for our backyard. It was planted today and I am so excited. It's going to be so pretty when in bloom.

It's all coming together, piece by piece.

a little rearranging.

2010-11-27T13:33:00.000-08:00

We have been acquiring some new furniture, here and there. Many pieces are given to us and several have been gifts. I love getting new furniture because it allows for free rearranging! I love trying new things in new places.

Here are a few pictures of some recent changes and additions (Sean's had to do all the heavy lifting).....

little by little

2010-11-08T15:21:00.000-08:00

sure, it's a slow start, but even a few plants and some lovely green grass makes me so very happy.

i love every inch of it.

just give me 20 years and it will be the garden oasis of our dreams!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Some more after pictures

2010-11-04T14:08:00.000-07:00

We feel so "at home" here. It's wonderful.

However, what IS it about moving into a new home that begs the question from people, "so...what's your first project?"

What do they mean?!

Our first project is to PAY OUR NEW MORTAGE and relax.

It will be a few years before we are done with all the small things we have to still finish, let alone start new projects.

NOT TO MENTION the money that it takes.

Anyways...

Here are some more pictures.

Some more downstairs:

Master bedroom reading nook:

Master Bedroom specifics:

Bathroom:

Upstairs "art" on the bathroom wall (and by art, I mean I got it from Pier One):

Kensington's room:

Baby's room. Sad:

Grass is almost all here!:

I just love our new home. It's nice to sit and enjoy. Sure, there are things to "be done", but when isn't there? We all need to sit and enjoy our space, instead of always thinking about what we can change......

slow and steady.

2010-10-26T13:12:00.000-07:00

It would have been much quicker to lay sod in the backyard, but there is something more gratifying (and cheaper) about laying seed.

Seeing those little green strands pop up is a daily highlight!

wall decor on the cheap (and meaningful).

2010-10-20T15:34:00.000-07:00

Our new place has tons of wall.

Rachel and Sean don't have tons of wall decor.
Enter problem.
What I DO have are tons of pictures. I save any picture I print or am given. I love pictures of the past and how it triggers such emotion in me. Nostalgia.
When I bought this metal fencing 4 years ago, I intended to use them at craft shows (which I did), but now they have turned into a fabulous place to display art, photos, letters and other mementos. I am asked all the time where I find them. Scour vintage yards, stores an sales. They were well worth the money I spent ($70.00 for both) and I have used them in a numerous amount of ways.
I decided to use one of the grates to display photos of our families. One area is Sean and I, one area if pictures of his family and one is mine. What is beautiful about this idea is that it can rotate as new pictures are discovered, taken or downloaded.
Each time I walk by, I look at a different picture and reminisce.
There is such power in memory and it feels wonderful to have a daily reminder of where we come from.

two levels down....

2010-10-18T14:03:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

Here are some pictures I snapped today of our progress. I took pictures of the downstairs and the mid level. Upstairs will have to wait for next week!

*Oh and excuse the less than professional pictures. I did the best I can do*

Enjoy!

Upstairs living room BEFORE:

AFTER:

Revamped later in the afternoon:

Upstairs Dining room BEFORE:

AFTER:

Revamped:

Downstairs Bar area BEFORE:

AFTER:

Downstairs Office BEFORE:

AFTER:

Window ledge love:

Downstairs Bathroom BEFORE:

AFTER:

Downstair Rumpus Room BEFORE:

AFTER (please excuse the boxes and lack of wall decor. Cement walls=decor challenge and we have no more money):

Thanks IKEA for awesome couches.

If it's going to be where all the entertainment happens, then I just assume leave the games out. We could call them "decor", right?!

Backyard BEFORE:

AFTER (fresh seed was layed yesterday, thanks to my amazing parents):

Front yard BEFORE:

AFTER:

Kitchen BEFORE:

AFTER:

Things are still a work in progress. We have no art on the walls...it's just sitting and leaning on the walls. Putting nail holes in the walls still hurts me a little.

It's been so much fun moving in to our new home.

Not fun enough to make me move again......

I think we found our lifelong home.

upcoming.

2010-10-14T15:06:00.000-07:00

Sorry there has been some lag in updated posts.

We are in!

We are unpacking!

We are getting settled!

And I am so happy....

Once we get a few more things taken care of, I will post some pictures of all that has been done and how we have set up house.

Can't wait to share!!!

kitchen magic.

2010-10-10T21:33:00.000-07:00

head over HERE to see our new kitchen!

HUZZAH!

my new happy place

2010-10-08T14:36:00.000-07:00

Better pictures are forthcoming, but until then....

This is my new favorite nook of the house.

Kitchen. By the window.

I plan on spending many mornings at this table, plotting recipes, reading, reflecting and staring out the window at my trees.

God is good.

furniture is arriving.

2010-10-06T20:54:00.001-07:00

one of 8 dining room chairs:

our new kitchen nook chairs/table (we call it the "Boyer Table", because of the fabulous people who gave it to us):

5 minutes before Kensington catapulted herself off the revolving chair:

New couches. Can you spot one VERY tired daddy?:

before and after {water heater completion}

2010-10-06T20:45:00.000-07:00

My husband is my hero.

He took a large cabinet of nothingness and made it neat, tidy and quite purty. In the end, it is 1/3 the size it was when we bought the house and opens up the dining/living room so nicely. I am so happy we made the choice to remove it.

Well done, Sean!

Before (and yes, this is RIGHT when you walked in the front door):

After (we have the water heater left and one load baring post):

More (and better) pictures to follow!

Oh, and we ARE moving in this weekend. YES!

deadline come and gone. BUT baseboards!

2010-10-03T21:17:00.000-07:00

Although the house was in "move-in" condition (i.e safe and mostly clean, with running water), we decided to give ourselves a little extra time to complete some projects that we had started. I think we both liked this idea more than moving in all our furniture and then having to move it around, based on the project at hand. We are giving ourselves until this Friday to complete everything.

One of the projects that came, late in the game, was laying baseboards. We both really wanted the finishing "look" that baseboards provide, but didn't feel like spending the $2500.00 (one estimate we got) to baseboard the entire house. It's just not in the budget.

Fortunately, I have a husband who is willing to take on new challenges. We also have a friend, Brian, who has laid baseboards in his home. He was willing to help, which is AMAZING. For the last two days, they have been sawing, priming, painting and laying our lovely 6 inch baseboards.

Best part? The entire project is costing us only several hundred dollars. BOOYAH!

Brians father in law creates cabinets, so they headed to his studio to cut the wood:

Baseboards go up in the living room!

With a small portion of the money we are saving by doing it ourselves, Sean was able to buy himself a Porter and Cable Saw and table. We can now build all kinds of things!

In other news.....

For the first time in my life, I am hiring a cleaning lady to come clean the house this week. About 5 years ago, I cleaned houses myself, for extra money. I had a rotation of three houses and would spend 6 hours at each. It was HARD WORK, but I really enjoyed it.

I love cleaning and have always enjoyed scouring our place....this house is dirty. It's gotten even more dirty over the past month of construction. It hasn't been cleaned in months and the kitchen, bathrooms, windows and more need some serious attention. After 3 hours of cleaning the other day, I realized that 8 months pregnant and scrubbing scrubbing scrubbing don't work well. I was exhausted, sore the next day and high on the fumes.

I could do it, but I think I might really enjoy, just this once, having it done for me......

I'm actually kinda excited.

it's the little things

2010-10-01T13:43:00.000-07:00

Sometimes the littlest things make me SO happy.

I was cleaning (read: scrubbing grout like it's going out of STYLE) this morning and opened up the dishwasher to run a few empty cycles.

Much to my surprise, I realized that the grates are turquoise blue! They match my cabinets!

You may not get excited about these things....but I do.

Is it weird that we have owned the house for a month and I am JUST NOW noticing this?!

apologies, but pictures too

2010-09-30T16:39:00.000-07:00

....for the sappy scrapbook and titles, but this is the best I can do right now to show you pics. Enjoy!

Personalize your own scrapbook design

technical difficulties

2010-09-30T14:19:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh, I'm irritated!

I took such lovely pictures of all the landscaping and inside of the home and they aren't loading to blogger! ARGH!

I want to share-will work on it and be back soon!

trees, trees and more trees

2010-09-29T11:37:00.001-07:00

Today we went tree/shrub shopping and BOY did we hit the jackpot.

We bought 4 trees for the front yard, 9 plants to cover our street wall (and create coverage for the backyard) and figs to begin covering all our walls.

Can't wait to show you!

flooring part 1

2010-09-28T19:47:00.000-07:00

Our flooring install began today! The kitchen and bathrooms are done!

I hesitate to show you a picture because all I had available was my iPhone and not a real camera.

We found this fantastic company, Amtico International that we really like and then found a vinyl flooring we thought was just retro enough to match what we were looking for. We settled on Linear Chalk and although it pictures slightly yellow, it really shows up a cream with subtle grey undertones. They are cut in 12 by 12 inch squares and we set them in mismatched form. It goes both perfectly with our blue cabinets AND our pink bathrooms.

It's much more fabulous in person. You'll have to come see!

Tomorrow=carpet is laid!

huzzah!

2010-09-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

We are T-minus 4 days and guess what begins today?

FLOORING!

piece by piece

2010-09-26T13:14:00.000-07:00

currently, my two favorite things in the house....

cabinets:

dining room chandelier:

a gutted backyard.

2010-09-23T12:51:00.001-07:00

Before:

After:

We have a blank slate. Which explains why I spent the morning at the nursery, checking out trees and plants. And perhaps spent a little time researching jacuzzi's. Maybe. I can't confirm or deny.

clocks ticking....

2010-09-22T19:52:00.000-07:00

I did find my camera and the USB cord today! I'm so happy until I realized that I was having problem importing pictures, so I need to format them, so they aren't so large. Basically, I'm really tired and don't want to format all of them, so they are going to be smaller and unable to enlarge for viewing. Sorry and I will re-format them when I have time.

I wanted to share some of the things going on.

The water heater is done!

The cutest kid (in my opinion):

A kitchen that is stripped, messy and ready for painting:

Moving along:

ANNNNNDDDDDDDD:

The windows/door install began today. I wanted to give you a sneak peek of the new windows. Excuse the iPhone picture:

T-minus 9 days left.

We still need to mud and drywall the fireplace, mud the water heater, start painting the entire upstairs and downstairs and finish the middle level, paint the kitchen cabinets, install lighting, install carpet and flooring and deep clean the house.

Phew.

glimmers of completion

2010-09-21T16:41:00.001-07:00

I found my fancy pants camera in the POD! Hooray!

I did NOT find my USB cord in the POD! BOO!

So, I have tons of really well composed/lovely lighting laden photos to show you of the house and can't! Drat.

This will have to do for now:

THAT, my friends, is the newly encased water heater. My husband and his friend Jason are genius' and built it from scratch. They did it with minimal money, using the original door, to save costs. WAIT until we paint it! It will be off the hook. As much as a water heater can be "off the hook".

I wish I could show you more/better pictures, but soon enough. The iPhone is going to have to work for now.

All I can say is when I walk in...I finally feel like it's coming all together. I was hesitant to believe that gutting a house and a renovation could take place in 4 weeks, but my husband promised. I'm beginning to think he was right. It's looking great.

Windows and a new sliding glass door get put in tomorrow!

Flooring next week!

HUZZAH!!!!

weekend edition: snapshots from a renovation

2010-09-19T13:45:00.000-07:00

Newly uncovered stairs:

Potty training stops for no man:

The result of sanding the ceilings:

Scraped, mudded and primed:

Priming with an assistant:

A leaky water heater (oh joy):

General mess:

Happy weekend!

the men in my life + a potential DIY project.

2010-09-17T19:41:00.000-07:00

We are getting down to the "wire" here at the Corner Lot. Each time I walk in the house, I get antsy, so Sean has basically told me to "go home and relax my pregnant wife". Seriously, it KILLS me not to be there working alongside him. This is just the type of project we have been talking about for years and of interest to me. I love home renovation and want to learn all about it, but the timing couldn't be worse. I feel huge, I'm tired most of the time, everything we are doing is either dangerous, toxic or difficult for a round person, and we have a toddler that needs me.

So, I'll have to wait for awhile before I can flex my DIY muscles. That's alright-there is plenty around the house we are looking to re-do in the future!

In the meantime, I leave the house to these professionals.

My husband and his man-stilts:

My brother and the sander (and his biceps):

My wonderful father, pulling up tack strips like it's his job:

I don't know what we would do without the help of friends and family. We are so grateful.

***

Now. Anyone that knows me KNOWS that I pick things up off the side of the road all the time. Garage sales, estate sales and curbside treasures are my deal. I was so excited when I found the following desk outside the local gymnastics arena on Thursday. It was sitting by a dumpster and looked so abandoned and sad. So, we loaded it up in my car and off it went to our new house. And I love it. Not sure why, but I do.

Its off-white and has brass handles, but needs some love.

What should I do? What would you do? Who wants to re-do it for me? I'll give you creative license and money for the project. When it's done, I'll throw it up on No. 17 and brag all about you. And then take you to lunch.

Ready.....go.

discoveries and paint.

2010-09-16T14:33:00.001-07:00

When heading back to the house last night, Sean and I made two discoveries and one large choice.

We pulled up all the carpet in the rooms and realized that the wood floors underneath were in brilliant condition. Between the three rooms and the hallway, there is ONE area with slight discoloration. It looks like they never used them and always preffered carpet.

We also found a very (what I think) cool laminate tile in the master bathroom under the carpet. It's gold with shiny gold flecks in it. I want to keep it. Sean said no, since we have already ordered the laminate that will be in the toilet area of that bathroom and he thinks it will clash:

So....choices choices.

In the end, he won and we will be putting flooring over the cool laminate we found.

BUT...

We have decided not to refinish/stain the wood floors upstairs. They are in such good condition and there are several treatments we can do ourselves and they will look beautiful. Thus saving us $1500.00. We are VERY excited, since we are counting every penny on this remodel.

And....

This was bought for the kitchen cabinets yesterday:

Wanna know what color (s) they are?!

Muahahahahaha!

evolution of an encased water heater.

2010-09-14T13:34:00.000-07:00

As stated before, our water heater is staying put. It's not in an ideal location, but we are "making it work".

Sean and his friend Jason are building a new encasement for it, from scratch. These are the times I love my husband the very most. What would very easily cost upwards of about 700-1000 bucks (we got a bid), my husband and his friend will build for less than 100. I am quickly seeing how much more pride, excitement and fulfillment come from buying a home that you have to put time, energy and sweat into. It's easy (and I'm sure a lot less stressful) to buy a home that is perfect....but where's the fun in that?!!

First things first. Water heater needed to be moved off it's shady base and a new one built:

Removed from old piping and the frame of the old cabinets removed and new reinforcements put in:

New base put in, thanks to the handiwork of my good lookin' husband and his brilliant friend J. I told them, after they drywalled our old garage, that they should go into business together as GC's. They both have big brains and good hair.

Framing begins:

Framing is put up and is dry-wall ready. They are putting in an invisible door which won't need a handle and will only need to be pushed on to open. I like this idea!

And there you have it. Dry-wall goes up on it tonight and mudding will happen tomorrow, to get it paint (and fanciness) ready.

We are now 7 days into construction and I am feeling really good about it. I'm so tired and I know my husband is about 10 times more tired than I am, but we see glimpses of a finish line.

The goal date to move in is:

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1st.

This gives us 7.5 weeks until Baby #2 arrives.

And plenty of time to sit around, relax and enjoy the new digs.

That is....if the flooring arrives, and the kitchen cabinets get painted and the shower gets fixed and the A/C gets charged and the..............

check items off the list.

2010-09-13T13:30:00.000-07:00

I think everyone involved with an entire home renovation, starts a checklist (for me, mentally) of all of the things that need to get accomplished before you can move in. We are checking things off, one by one and it's really starting to come together.

We have had more than one person enter the house with a look of, "really? you are doing all this and want to be in by....when?"

But, we are determined. And we will make it happen, darn it!

This weekend we picked up compound to mud the ceilings with:

Sean and I ripped out the carpet in two levels of the house:

And we celebrated my birthday (It was fabulous, by the way).

Today, the ceilings started getting mudded (which is a relief) and they will need to dry and be mudded again later this week.

Further landscaping demo has commenced in the backyard but I will wait until it's all out to show you a picture. Right now, I will leave you with a picture of Kensington. She likes to chill, eat some BBQ potato chips and watch others do the hard labor. She's no dummy.

Weekend Edition: Landscaping

2010-09-11T13:30:00.000-07:00

It's hard for me to think about living in a house for more than a few months without proper landscaping. It was THE first project we tackled in our last home and we spent every penny we had saved on plants/shrubs/a tree/soil/amendment/Round-Up and ground cover.

We love gardening and love learning about what will grow best in our current environment.

However, with our current budget being used for things like windows that actually open and carpet that doesn't smell like 30 years of cigarette smoke, there is little left for landscaping. Much to my sadness.

We are accepting the fact that if we want our house to look a certain way in 15 years, we need to wait and put in substantial plants and trees. And those aren't cheap.

Not to mention I'm not going to spend a smaller portion of money to buy filler plants "just cause" and then tear them out in a year because I didn't do my homework and wanted something immediate. Therefore, Rachel will be acquainted with the "minimal" look.

As in, we might be able to afford one tree. Maybe.

And perhaps each month we will buy a small plant and take it out of the grocery budget. Or maybe I will ask for plants for Christmas. Who wants to be my secret Santa?

That's just fine though. I'm willing to wait for what we really like and take some time to chat with Sean about what we would like to see.

In the meantime, we have been ripping out all plants. While it might break some peoples hearts, I want a 100% blank slate when landscaping, so EVERYTHING is coming out. My dad, the master landscaper/root digger, has been pulling out everything for us.

There are 3 rather large bushes/trees in the backyard that he will be unable to get on his own, and we are having someone come in this weekend to remove those. We know a guy.

For now, here is a picture of the war-wounds my dad leaves our house with. He wrestles with the rose bushes:

The front ripped out (you know what else is weird? This particular rock area and cut out design is one of my favorite parts of the house and almost everyone that visits expresses they don't like it. I think I'm alone on this, but I love it, think it's kitsch and plan on making it pretty awesome. You just wait, you nay-sayers!):

Kitchen window cleaned out (bye bye rambling rose bush):

The backyard looking cleaner after random rose bushes were evacuated:

The rest of today is being spent scraping the rumpus room and taking down kitchen cabinets in order to prep them for paint. My husbands friend Ryan came over and has been working hard remove all the cabinets/hardware etc.

I can't TELL you how grateful I am for people that are willing to pitch in. It's HUGE.

Almost as huge as I am.

On that note, I'm going to take a nap.

No work tomorrow, I'm told--It's my 30th birthday!

See you next week!

burning the midnight oil.

2010-09-10T14:03:00.000-07:00

My husband didn't get home last night until about 12:45am. He was working hard with his friends Jason and Tom.

When I dropped by at 8:30pm to drop off some measuring tapes, Sean was riding the broom around like a horse, Jason was doing a rhythmic dance to some 80's music and Tom was wearing a large black mask and was covered in, what I can only imagine, was asbestos.

Good times.

Apparently, while Tom owned the ceilings upstairs (and scraping ceilings is a serious workout, people, so Tom earned himself dinner on the Reeves' at some point), Sean and J ran around LOWES buying up drywall to load unto the LOWES truck that they had to have returned by 10pm, or they would be charged an overnight fee. Hilarious. Jason is Sean's go-to for drawing up plans and all things "building" related. His crazy mind can make cool things happen (Sean and J built the extra room in our garage themselves). Jason can build anything. He's got that brilliant piece in his brain that is missing in most people's. When him and Sean get together, it's scary cool what they come up with.

But, they did manage to scrape all the ceilings upstairs (Tom-you are the MAN), frame and drywall the wall that backs up to the kitchen and draw up plans for the water heater box. Looks like we are going to have an invisible door on that box, which will be nice for what I have planned for it (secret, secret).

New drywalled wall (I'm thinking this would be a fun wall to accent with wall paper):

When Sean left this morning to meet the cable guy at the house (it NEEDED to be installed by today in order to watch the EPL tomorrow morning with all his guy friends in the rumpus room) I gave him a kiss and told him he was the best. And, in fact, he is. When I dropped by the place a few hours later, he had framed the load-baring post I showed you earlier, in order to make it more beefy looking and told me he "has ideas to add some crown molding, to make it look more like a pillar, rather than a flimsy post". What a guy!

Framed post and water heater waiting for encasement:

The only reason I include the following picture is because, before we re-modeled our garage at the last house (our first experience with a DIY project), I had never understood the concept of drywall. So, for those of you that don't know what drywall looks like (you can come out of hiding), it's long sheets of wall (made from gypsum plaster) and they are drilled into studs (those wood pieces used to frame an area) and then a fun tape is adhered to the holes/joins. Then, someone takes spackle (kinda like paste) and muds over it. Once it drys, you can paint.

I never realized how easy dry wall can make life. Considering people used to have to create walls using plaster and laths, dry wall is a simple and wonderful alternative (in my newbie DIY experience). And it's cheap.

We bought all the drywall AND supplies for the kitchen wall, the water heater box, the fireplace and the post for under $200.00. Nice!

First note: I have decided to wait to show you the paint, flooring and carpet until I can grab some better pictures of it. I want to do it justice and can you believe all of the picture so far have been taken on my iPhone? I know, I know. Shame on me, but seriously...I think I packed my camera.

On a "fireplace" note: Thanks for emailing/FaceBooking/calling me with fireplace suggestions. It looks like this is where we are landing: We are going to re-drywall the area back up. I REALLY, REALLY want a fun fireplace with a actual mantle, tile and a different asthetic overall, but we are on a budget and some projects are just going to have to wait. It basically comes down to picking if I would like something fun/fancy on the fireplace, or painting the kitchen cabinets and HELLOOO-have you SEEN the cabinets? Yea. I choose painting the cabinets.

Besides....as Sean reminded me....

If we get everything done and "perfect" the way we want immediately and we don't have to wait around for anything, what fun is that? We need to be patient and create over the years. Take it slow and live in the house for a bit.

So, for right now, we are going to work with what we got and look forward to a fireplace remodel in the future.

Demo Day 2

2010-09-09T15:09:00.000-07:00

What a difference a night makes.....

First off, let's talk about the unexpected difficulties. We have popcorn ceilings throughout the house and those need to be removed. It's easy enough when it's the airbrushed textured stuff. It falls right off once soaked, but our ceilings have had 50 years worth of paint sprayed on them and it's as hard as nails. My husband and his friends discovered this last night. It's taking them SERIOUS work to get that stuff down. Not quite as simple as expected.

What does this mean? We are going to have to mud the entire ceiling after it is scraped to ensure smoothness and uniformity. More CASH out of our pockets, but hey....we knew these things would happen.

We also took a serious chance and did this:

We took down the "mystery fireplace wall" in the off chance there was rock or brick to work with. There was brick alright. The brick from the outside and then the houses wall and some wonky studs and insulation.

So, basically we are going to dry wall it back up and begin thinking about tiling over the Miami Vice marble. Total bummer, but we took a chance.

*I would LOVE your idea for working with this fireplace (remember-we are on a budget). Tile? Drywall? Have you seen mantles that stand alone? HELP!*

Sean ripped out the enormous mirrors that were setting on the back of the kitchen and we are deciding whether we want to dry wall there or just sand it down and paint. Still open for discussion.

In fabulous and fun renovation news...

We ordered carpet, flooring and paint today. Very fabulous. Very fun. Very retro (i think) and very out of the ordinary.

Can't wait to show you!

Demo Day 1

2010-09-08T15:34:00.000-07:00

Escrow is closed and we are quick to get started. Just a few shots of our first day of demolition. We have a lot ahead of us, but are excited to get started. Sean and I are doing most of the work ourselves (except installing windows and laying new flooring).

On our list to accomplish in the next 3 weeks:

*Rip out water heater box and drywall over water heater (I plan on doing something fun and funky with that box after it's finished. Stay tuned).

*Tear up all old flooring, remove padding and tack strips (carpet, laminate).

*Rip out all old baseboards.

*Scrape ceilings in entire house.

*Repaint entire house, top to bottom.

*Remove and paint kitchen cabinets.

*Tear out wall over fireplace.

*Remove all existing landscaping and re-plant the oasis front/backyard we are scheming up (my parents are master gardeners and my dad is doing most of the rip-out while my mom and I draw up plans for plants/trees).

*Tear out large mirrors on the back of kitchen wall.

*Refinish and stain the hardwood floors upstairs (we are not doing this).

*Install windows and new slider (we are not doing this).

*Lay down new flooring (we are not doing this).

Here is what we have done so far.....

Taking out the ridiculous water heater contraption. It was a beast. That beam has to stay (load baring) and the water heater is staying put for now, until we gut the kitchen and re-pipe the house (give us a few years....I got to read up on how to renovate your kitchen yourself).

Sean had this down in about 25 minutes. Lots of fire wood for our new fireplace!

Ripping out bathroom flooring.

More bathroom flooring being removed-YUCKY mold. Sick.

The demo is building up outside. The garbage bins need to come now!

Oh yeah......have I mentioned we are doing all this on a budget? We are trying to save costs however we can and with Sean doing most of the work (with the help of good friends and his lovely wife), we are already saving quite a bit.

As I've said before, we will share with you the mistakes we make and the recommendations we would give.

Off to look at carpet samples!

ya'll ready for this?!!

2010-09-07T14:42:00.000-07:00

The work begins tomorrow.

GET READY.

Well, hello.

2010-08-08T17:45:00.000-07:00

Welcome!

I was going to wait until we actually closed escrow to share this "picture journal" (aka: blog), but I just can't. So, if for some reason, we fall out of escrow, you can email your friends things like, "that wasn't really the best choice to get all excited about the house before they closed escrow. That's so sad for them" and things like that.

The truth is, I am excited to move into a new place. A larger and more open home that allows us to be creative and try new things for the first time. Get some recommendations from you.

***

Speaking of recommendations....

Our real estate agent rocks our socks.

Sarah Ireland of Main Street Realtors is/was amazing.

Get her.

Sell your house.

She's dabomb.com (yep, i wrote that).

***

Ok...back to the house.

Sean and I thought this blog would be a perfect way to chronicle all of the work we plan on doing to our new home.

Here are some statistics, since I feel like I am a broken record, re-stating all these things to people who ask.

Built: 1963

Rooms: 4 and it also includes a bonus room (which Sean has dubbed "the rumpus room") and laundry room.

Bathrooms: 3

Space: 6240 sq ft. (lot), 2250 sq ft. (inside).

Details: Tri-Level Home with all original bathrooms (awesome!) and light fixtures (equally awesome). Large spaces and great bones.

We see so much potential. Sean is our resident handyman (although we haven't tackled any plumbing issues YET), so we are planning on doing most of the work ourselves (because we can and also to save money).

We have a vision for a perfect 1960's mod ranch-house.

It's in need of some innovation, inspiration and love.

That's where we come in.

Just call us General Contractors Rachel and Sean. I will play the role of bossy blonde, wearing the pink tool belt and Sean will play the role of pragmatic husband who talks his wife down from blowing out a wall with a sledgehammer at 3am because she wants to extend the kitchen to include an island.

We work well together.

Here is the house as we are getting it (which will be in the beginning of September-that is, if escrow closes, which I figure it will because I am pregnant, will have a packed house and a tired 2 year old....so it just would be a mean joke if it didn't).

The front (like that lens flare Melissa?):

We like the pink rose bushes, even though we are generally anti-rose:

All of the countertops in the bathrooms are made of this marble and pink sink:

Entry way. And WHY ON EARTH would you encase your water heater in a HUGE cabinet, directly in front of the entry? People confuse me:

Kitchen:

Living/Dining room. On the right is large cabinet MONSTROSITY:

Bottom level "rumpus room" looking up the stairs (and see that small closet? I think I'm going to make that into a mini reading-nook for the girls):

Looking down into living/dining room from top level, so you can't actually see the dining are because your view is obstructed by large water heater/storage unit (MONSTROSITY on the right again):

Stairs leading up and down:

Upstairs bathroom with original pink bathtub, toilet and wire glass (which apparently is a safety risk):

Happy Discovery! There are wood floors upstairs:

Sad discovery. The entire houses ceilings need to be scraped:

Tile in the kitchen. Might be my favorite part of the house:

"Tiki Bar" in the rumpus room with a large amount of mirrors:

Laundry room with window to the front porch. I can see the people's feet who come to the door, which means if you come visit me, I can hide in the laundry room and pretend I'm not home, if my hair isn't done:

Original privacy screen in the master bathroom. VERY excited about this:

Large black/white marble fireplace with an interestingly placed dry-wall cover over it. I'm hoping when we knock this dry-wall down, there will be cash money that will float out because someone used it as a secret hiding place:

Amazing tile in downstairs shower. I literally screamed when I opened the door. Scared Kensington:

Master bathroom:

Adorableness at our doorway (this is where your feet will stand when you come to deliver me "welcome to the neighborhood" cookies) :

Downstairs bathroom and apparently the tenants left a duffel bag for us-how nice!:

The backyard. See the windows that look into the rumpus room?

Original awning and extremely A.D.D gardening choices:

Dancing toddler just moments away from tripping on un-level backyard grass. And yes...that is an AC unit. WOOP!

I didn't photograph any of the bedrooms, because let's face it....all bare rooms look the same. Walls, windows and carpet. But they are there.

So, that's it! Our new house.

We are so excited and look forward to sharing our DIY adventures with you.

What do YOU think we should do first?

So many good things. So many things to change.

Let the games begin.