THE list

It's been over 2 months since the last list so it is definitely time for another update.

• tear out weeds in whole backyard and plant grass seed. hopefully grow grass. (we did tear out all the weeds, again, and they are slowly growing back, again, but we are rethinking doing grass. right now we are thinking of doing a fire pit area, mulch and plants...anyways that pretty much won't get started until next spring at this point)
• scrape and paint around windows and doors (all but the top two on the front)
• take out terrible broken chain link fence and replace with pretty wooden fence so we can't see into neighbor's yard (another next spring/summer/fall project)
• redo upstairs bathroom (can't wait to do this, but it's another big project)
• kitchen tile backsplash (also can't wait to do this. maybe a good winter project?)
• fix gutter in back so it slopes more 
• clean and organize basement (it's starting to look better, especially since we got the shed and moved all the tools out, but it definitely still needs a lot of work)
• clean and organize guest room (same as above)

• paint exposed brick wall inside white (still have that part of the wall at the top not painted...)
• tear out grass in between concrete strips of driveway and replace with gravel (still 2/3 done...but getting closer!)
• tear out grass strip to the left of driveway and replace with gravel/stepping stones (Jeff has this dug up we just have to put the stones in)
• make cute white flower boxes for windows
• paint back door white 
• make upstairs second bedroom closet into an office nook (can't wait to do this!!)
• replace bedroom closet doors with...something better than what's there (although i hung the curtains awhile ago, i finally hemmed them - also during sandy)
• replace baseboards and put in crown moulding in living room
• paint guest bedroom (i have the color all picked out but according to jeff, we are not allowed to start any new projects before we finish the other ones we have started...it's a good rule i guess) 
• make new house number sign for front
• paint shed (it has one coat now, but needs another)
• hang mailbox
• install carbon monoxide testers
• tear down terrible rotting shed and replace with new shed (we got a new shed!! and it survived superstorm sandy! post coming soon)
• curtains! mainly for the living room and bedroom. there is so much sunlight coming in this house, which is a good thing but also can make it kind of hot and hard to sit on the couch at times (blinds! jeff finished hanging the last ones while we were hunkered down waiting for sandy to blow through)
• paint kitchen
• install dimmer switches on kitchen lights (finally! my parents visited this weekend and my dad helped me install them. it wasn't as scary as i thought it was going to be, but i'm glad he was there just in case. thanks dad!)

that's pretty good! i mean, there are way more to do than are crossed off, but still makes us feel good to see some progress!

pumpkins & mums

Happy Halloween! As I'm writing this we are getting our first ever trick or treaters in our new house :) This has caused some discussion on whether or not you let the kids pick the candy themselves or just give it to them, how many pieces to give out, and whether or not anyone will trip over the pile of dirt in our still unfinished driveway...let's hope not. In the spirit of Halloween, I have a quick post about a quick project from a couple weeks ago.

This is how our front door has looked since the first day we moved in:

Pretty blah right? Eventually I got so sick of having the mailbox sitting on a cinderblock and all those tools hanging out that I had to do something about it. Hanging the mailbox has been on the to do list since the creation of the to do list, but it kept getting ignored because we didn't have a drill bit for concrete. I guess we just weren't really ready for that $2.75 purchase until now...

How much nicer is that?! I'm sure the mailman also appreciates not having to bend down every day also. You're welcome mailman! And I said this post was Halloween related: pumpkins & mums! The rows and rows of mums at Home Depot were taunting me every time we went there so I finally gave into the fall trend and got a few. I planted a couple in our new flower bed out front also:

i wish it still looked like this...no weeds or hurricane debris

 So just a couple more quick things that have helped the outside look a little prettier. We survived hurricane Sandy without any real damage, but I will tell you more about that tomorrow (or in a couple weeks if I keep up with my current posting pace).

curb appeal

BIG weekend. We did a little driveway makeover on what is apparently called a "ribbon driveway" where it is just two strips of concrete that you drive on and then grass inbetween. Well our grass wasn't looking too good and it was hard to mow and keep looking nice so we wanted something other than grass. If you walk around the neighborhood it's fun to see all the different ways people have filled in between the concrete. Most people just fill it in with concrete or some form of pavers. We decided we wanted gravel; I don't remember why but it is something we can do ourselves and I like the way it looks. Unfortunately I'm not the best blogger and didn't take any true before shots so all I could find is this one taken from the bathroom window during our home inspection:

So you can see the grass in between the concrete there, looking a little ragged. The next shots were taken Saturday morning and you can see all the digging Jeff had already done:

We had also already sprayed all the grass with Roundup so it has been a nice brown color for awhile. And by we I mean, Jeff's dad did it when he was here a few weeks ago. Thanks Bill! And now get ready for the after:

Oh and if you notice on the left of the picture you can see that we aren't actually done yet; there is still a whole strip left to dig up. But let's not think about that right now. This took us three trips to Home Depot and 53 bags of rocks. My favorite part is the slate stepping stones that we found while digging up the backyard and brought up to the front. There are still have 5 big ones left for the left side too.

And then because it was a perfect, beautiful fall weekend and I was so excited about how much better it was all looking, I kept digging. I (with Jeff's help) dug out all the grass under those front bushes so we could have a little bed to plant some flowers. Here's a closer shot:

Just imagine it with some flowers and mulch in there. We are pretty excited about it and can't wait to have it all done, but I'm not sure we will be able to walk or get out of bed tomorrow morning.

Oh and as an update to my week challenge: light dimmers are still not installed. I didn't get home from work until about 8:30 Thursday night so it just wasn't going to happen. This homeowner stuff is a lot of work and like Jeff said, it's a good thing we don't have a whole house!

day three

Wednesday's challenge: install kitchen light dimmer switches...FAIL.

But replaced with Thursday's task of installing the carbon monoxide testers! I had to work a little late today so by the time I got home and ready to do something it was dark out and it didn't seem like a good idea to turn the power off and then try to install switches in the dark. So there was that and the fact that, I'll admit, I'm scared to install them! Anything with electricity scares me so I've really been putting this one off. Maybe tomorrow?

To make up for my lack of electrical courage I busted out the white paint and finally painted the trim at the top of the stairs. It was another one of those little things that had been bothering me and is now done!

day two

Day two accomplished! Today's task was to finish painting the kitchen. This was just a little bit of a touch up, finishing the second coat above the refrigerator. Nothing exciting, but we finally got to take down the blue painters tape that had been up since Jeff's dad did the second coat back in early September. No pictures because it's really not worth photographing, but day two is done! Tomorrow: tackle the scary world of electricity and install dimmer switches on the kitchen lights.

In the world of outside home improvements, Jeff is busy digging up our driveway in order to give it a much needed makeover. I will get those pictures up this weekend after it's all done!

week challenge: day one

While at work today I decided to give myself a little homeowner DIY challenge this week. Everyday I have to accomplish one of the nagging tasks that has been bothering me, starting today. Here's the breakdown:

Monday: hang the rest of the blinds recently purchased and put them up in the bedroom & bathroom
Tuesday: finish painting the kitchen
Wednesday: install dimmer switches on the kitchen lights
Thursday: install carbon monoxide alarms
Friday: plan & shop for weekend yard work

And I am happy to report that Monday was a success! Last week we went to Home Depot and bought them out of 36 x 64 white faux wood blinds. They actually didn't have as many as we needed (14), but we bought what they had and installed the first one as soon as we got home. Then the other 9 sat in a pile in the middle of the living room and were really annoying to walk around all the time. But now the pile is gone and the blinds are up!

bedroom

kitchen

living room

This is a major improvement, especially in the living room, where anyone could look right into our house and the sun would come beaming into those windows above making it nearly impossible to sit on the couch during certain hours of the day. And it's much nicer than the sheet that Jeff duct taped over the window so he could watch football.

I think setting small goals like this is going to help us get a lot of these little tasks out of the way. I'll be back tomorrow to let you know if we met Tuesday's challenge!

a little blue

This past weekend Jeff's parents were in town visiting and they helped us get quite a few things done around the house (while still managing to relax, do some sightseeing and getting in some intense card games!) One of the big things we did was paint our bedroom a lovely shade of blue. "Rain Washed" blue to be exact. I wanted something light, tropical, breezy feeling so our room could be a relaxation spot. Well after actually painting it so it can have that feeling, I'm still a little unsure that I actually like it.

It is growing on me slowly, but it still feels a little too young/teenager/baby blue/bright.

I got that little teal pillow about 6 years ago at West Elm and was sad when it no longer went with my living room decor, but now it's back! Someday I think it would look good to refinish the dressers with a darker stain.

There's the closet and all of our clothes! I took the doors off almost immediately because they were ugly and hard to slide back and forth. We thought it would look nice to put curtains up instead of doors so when I went shopping on Monday to try and find things that would help bring this room together (retail therapy?) I found these:

Curtains! I am very excited about them and think the colors will go perfectly in the room. Unfortunately they are a little short since we want them to go all the way to the top to cover those ugly bins. I am going to sew some extra fabric I have, that just happens to match perfectly, to the bottom before putting them up. Add that project to the list!

And that's the wall across from the bed with the beginnings of some decorations. I like how the mirror kind of looks like a porthole. The bottom right picture is one of Jean Marie's beautiful photos from our islands trip this past winter. (She's awesome, check her out here) Eventually I want to keep adding to this wall photo/art collage adding some more random stuff on both sides.

So we now have a green room and a blue room, what could be next?? I'm thinking neutrals might be a good idea from here on out, but as soon as I get to that paint aisle I want to pick a fun color!

finishing touches

About a month after the contractors finished the kitchen, we still had this hanging light pendant sitting in a box on the floor and wires hanging out of the ceiling. Well after a little reminder to the contractor they finally came and finished it and now we have this cute little dining area!

Notice that cute little white bowl with some "decorator balls" in it? I went out to Home Goods and tried to get some little accessories to make it feel more put together. Like this bird pillow for example:

It's just a couple little things that make the place feel more pulled together. Next up in here: hanging pictures!

THE list

In honor of a new month (August already?!) and since we have now owned this place about two months and lived here one month, I figured it was time to revisit THE list and see what can be crossed off and what should be added. The red is commentary and the blue is new stuff!

the must dos

• tear out weeds in whole backyard and plant grass seed. hopefully grow grass. (Jeff did tear out all the weeds and it looked amazing, but we didn't plant grass yet and in the meantime almost all the weeds have grown back. so that stays on the list)
• trim/cut down all branches/weeds and everything else that is overgrown throughout the yard (i'll cross it off because Jeff and his parents, while they were visiting, did an awesome job clearing everything out, but i do realize that this is a reoccurring task as a homeowner)
• scrape and paint around windows and doors (all but the top two on the front)
• hang mailbox
• install carbon monoxide testers
• tear down terrible rotting shed and replace with new shed (see post entitled "Seventh Wonder of the World")
• tear down terrible ugly metal awning on back of house (how do we do this?? with a giant crow bar. that's how you do it)
• take out terrible broken chain link fence and replace with pretty wooden fence so we can't see into neighbor's yard
• redo upstairs bathroom (that's pretty general and i'm sure will be a pretty easy one to check off...)
• kitchen and hardwood floors on main level are being redone by professionals
• paint kitchen
• kitchen tile backsplash
• fix gutter in back so it slopes more
• curtains! mainly for the living room and bedroom. there is so much sunlight coming in this house, which is a good thing but also can make it kind of hot and hard to sit on the couch at times
• clean and organize basement
• clean and organize guest room (these two rooms have become collecting spotsfor stuff we don't know what to do with)

the want to dos

• paint exposed brick wall inside white (like 90% done. that other 10% is pretty high up there...even with an extension roller and a ladder precariously balanced on the stairs)
• tear out grass in between concrete strips of driveway and replace with gravel
• tear out grass strip to the left of driveway and replace with gravel/stepping stones
• somehow make it so car doesn't scrape on driveway every time you back out (turn car while backing out. only took me a month and a half to figure that out)
• make cute white flower boxes for windows
• paint back door white
• make upstairs second bedroom closet into an office nook
• replace bedroom closet doors with...something better than what's there (took off closet doors - that's progress!)
• replace baseboards and put in crown moulding in living room
• paint bedrooms
• make new house number sign for front

And right now as I'm writing this, 1-800-GOT-JUNK is outside hauling away all of our trash and I'm so excited. We have had piles of junk sitting around outside for months now and I can't wait for them to be gone! 

So clearly the list got longer, but I was expecting that. At least we are still having fun doing all this stuff!

(oh and found two more dead baby birds outside, in case anyone was keeping count)

Crocodile Tears

Big moves this weekend. We painted the living room and I love it. It's been a roller coaster of emotions, going from loving it to hating it and back again, but finally ending on loving it. It just makes everything feel more like our home. Enough words, more pictures.

Crocodile Tears

That's the color! It's kind of a greenish/tanish color that looks different in every light. (and yes, the name is crocodile tears. i don't get it either.) And now for some before shots:

looking toward the kitchen

standing in the kitchen, looking toward the living room

and the after!:

looking toward the kitchen

standing in the kitchen, looking toward the living room

hi jeff

love the floors with the new color

And now to really give you some perspective here is a shot of this room from when we did the home inspection, before we painted and after:

Besides painting we also finally moved a lot of stuff that had been hanging out in this room and taking up space (like the broken cabinet the contractor might have forgotten about...) so that also makes it feel a lot better. We also got some paint for the kitchen, which is the next step. It's a much, much lighter shade of the same color so it will go with the living room but be a lot lighter. Now that I am on this earthy color scheme, or our "grown up color" as we've been calling it, I have to get some new accessories. More neutral colored throw pillows, vases, blankets etc. instead of the bright colors of my old stuff.

And now a question. Should we paint the air registers the same color? or leave them bright white? or get some other kind? Any suggestions welcome!

seventh wonder of the world

So a lot has happened in the past month since my last entry (oops), and some of them have been good and some... not so good. Let's start with the not so good first because that always makes for better stories. In about mid June the shed that we ordered from Sears was finally delivered (along with all of our new appliances, more on that later). We were so excited to finally have somewhere to store all of our tools and supplies and get all of that stuff out of the basement. One day after work Jeff started putting it together all by himself. By the time I got there he had all the walls up and we *just* had to put the roof on. Well that took about 2 more hours before we had all but the last roof panel on and then walls started coming down and we decided to walk away for the night before things turned really ugly. The next day Jeff's very nice friend, Brandon, came over to help out. It must have been the extra man muscles because they popped those things on in no time and pretty soon we had a shed! Or "The Seventh Wonder of the World" as Jeff liked to call it. We had the lawnmower and all of our tools in there and we were loving all the new room we had in the basement.

This is where I would show you a picture of the pretty new shed in the yard, but I don't actually have one. And I never got the chance to take one because the shed is already dead. Remember that big storm that blew from Ohio right through DC? It picked up our little shed and blew it to pieces. We weren't living at the house yet when it happened but when we got there the morning after the storm we saw the pieces piled up in our driveway. We now know that we have very nice neighbors who will pick up our pieces of shed from the middle of the road and neatly stack them for us.

So imagine this shed:

In this spot in the backyard:

And now imagine coming over to your house to find this:

We realize things could have been a lot worse, and we luckily had power at the house after that big storm, but it was still pretty sad/frustrating.

Here are some more pictures of the damage just for fun:

this is our neighbor's yard, with a big tree branch that fell on the furniture set she put out to photograph before trying to sell it...

So the seventh wonder of the world was gone in about seven days. And all of our tools are back in the basement!

demo & destruction

Time for an update! A lot has been happening at our little old house and I don't have pictures of everything right now, but I will take some more this weekend. Two weeks ago we made BIG improvements by getting some of our major "to do" items checked off.

Number one: the ugly shed.

Remember this ugly, scary, falling down, probably animal infested guy?

Jeff used his new crow bar and took down that guy with ease (although he may not agree that it was that easy). So now we have a nice semi clean concrete pad ready for a new plastic shed to be delivered from Sears. Any day now.... They have pushed back the delivery date at least three times already.

concrete pad ready for a new shed

The other big item on the list for the back was to take down the old maroon metal awning over the basement door. This destruction required a little more time and tools, having to take out all the bolts that were screwed into the brick. After a couple scary moments and me fearing that it was going to come crashing down on Jeff or me, or go through the windows, it actually came down pretty easily and we were able to carry it away.

basement door with awning...

...basement door with no awning!

Doesn't it already look so much brighter and happier back there with those two old things gone? The picture below shows what the brick looks like now where the awning was. Dad, if you are reading this, this is what we need help with this weekend! We need to fill in the big holes with mortar and patch up the wood panel/trim at the window that has severely rotted from water damage.

Oh and this awning removal story would not be complete without mentioning the dead baby bird we found on top of it when it came down. ew. And then the next day when we came back to the house there were TWO more dead baby birds on the concrete in the exact same spot. ew ew. There is a nest in the soffit vent directly above and we think they must have fallen out of there. Jeff called the pest control people to get this taken care assoonaspossible.

they're living in that dirty hole, right next to our bedroom

Next time I have to write about all the hard work Jeff's parents did when they were down here this past weekend. It's like a whole new backyard now!

Also, Jeff told me this is not house related and therefore, not blog appropriate, but it's too exciting not to share...we got engaged last week!! I might need to start a wedding planning blog now too :)

virtual tour

It's time for some pictures! These were all taken by Jeff during our home inspection.

first view when you walk in the front door

view from the other corner, looking at the front door. that wall to the left will be coming down, kitchen is on the other side

nothing here is staying. the wall with the fridge is coming down

gone, gone and gone

up the stairs

bedroom #1

bedroom #2 

basement

back of the house

backyard

shed

I've already got some after pictures to post soon too. Also, thanks everyone for actually reading this and all the positive comments!