Finally finished with the Fireplace

I am so happy to be done with this project. It has taken almost 3 years from start to finish. I am waiting for a day with a little more available light to get some good shots, but here she is. Still a little naked until I can find the right accessories to dress her up, but she is beautiful.

Can you see the hutch on the left of the first image and peeking out on the right of the second image? That's right I painted that with a gorgeous robin's egg blue color. I still need to distress and add the glaze but she is already stunning.

My current project is scrapping the popcorn texture from the ceiling in the entryway. I will then give it a new skim coat of plaster and a coat of white paint. It really is a simple process but oh so messy. After that we can install the yet to be purchased light fixture. We still have not come to an agreement on which style we will be getting.

My dear hubby has been nursing an injured arm all week so he hasn't been able to help out on any projects. At first we thought he strained it while cutting out all the shrubs and the tree on Sunday. As the week progressed it became more swollen and he is not able to make a fist or grasp objects with it. I have tried to get him to go to the dr. but he keeps holding out. We'll see how the weekend goes, but if he can play the Xbox I'm almost certain it isn't broken!

Spring cleaning

The first day of spring was the perfect day for cleaning out the flower beds, which turned into removing the bushes and tree from the front yard.

After a little bit of this...

Some of this...
Lots of this...
Even more of this....

The front yard went from this...

To this...

We still need to pull out the stumps but that will wait until we can borrow a truck. I can't wait to redo the front garden.

While raking out the gardens we uncovered these!!

Nothing says SPRING more than new crocus popping up!

Building a built-in

I always felt that our entryway was lacking, missing that something to give it the Victorian Era charm it deserves. The staircase and stained glass window are a good start but it feels like it should be even more dressed up. I convinced my husband of this and he began building the built-in bench that I designed. The bench is in this little corner in front of the the second set of stairs. I wanted to move the duct work and grate off the floor and into the bench, and he didn't disappoint. Next to the grate is an area to add baskets for storage. The next step is for me to add the boards for the seat, trim it out and paint it up. I am reusing as much of the wood and trim work as possible. The top of the bench will be made from the planks that were once the landings on the staircase. We had to remove them once we realized that there was no sub floor under them, they were supported by one 2x4 in the middle and much smaller boards on the sides. They are not made of oak, but much softer pine, so it didn't take much discussion before I agreed to allow Bryan to replace the landings also.

The stairs and landings were covered with layers of glue, linoleum, and gunk, which I sanded off.

Before the sanding:

After sanding:

I love the distressed patina of the wood and will be leaving it.

New White Coat

The finish line is in sight!! It feels like I have been working on the fireplace since the day we moved in. The trim is all installed, I have caulked and puttied, and now everything is getting a pretty new coat of white paint. I am in love with this mantle, the hand carved details are amazing.

When ever I am in the middle of a project and have to stop I cover the paint tray with Press 'n Seal. It fits perfectly and sticks to the edges even if there is a little bit of paint there. Seals it up tight even for a few days.

Putting it back together

The walls and trim have received a fresh coat of paint so now I can start putting the Living Room back together. I still need to find lamps, make the curtains, and finish decorating but I already love how it is coming together. The lamp on the table will probably stay, it is one of the few items I was able to get at the auction of my long time neighbors. The glider was a hand-me-down from Bryan's grandma and I made a slipcover for it from canvas drop cloth. The tables all came from the curb, they have great bones and cleaned up beautifully.

The weather has been in the 60's all week and is expected to reach 70 today so I am taking advantage of it by airing the house out. I would like to wash all the bed clothes, I think I will ask my neighbor if I can use her clothes line for the afternoon.

Why is it so hard to hit the BUY button

We need to purchase nails for the flooring, but not just any common nail, no I had to request special nails. 3" square head nails that can only be purchased online! Why is it so hard to hit the BUY button to purchase 50 pounds of these nails? The $170.00 price tag would be the reason!! Well at least we get free shipping!

Dust Corners

Have you ever heard of dust corners? Supposedly they will make sweeping the stairs easier since dirt can't get into the corners on the steps. If you have them in your house I would love to hear if they actually work or if they are just for decoration.

Here is a very sloppy rendering of what I am hoping the stairs will look like in the next couple weeks. We still need to strip a small section of banister, install the trim, construct the built in bench, install the flooring in the entry, stain and poly the stairs and flooring and then paint.

New landings and some hidden treasures

My amazing husband spent his 4 days off this last week working on the stairway project. He was able to get all of the stair treads, some of the risers, and the landings replaced. We used 3/4 inch oak plywood cut into 4" planks nailed down with antique square head nails for the landings, same as what we will install in the upstairs hallway and front entry. The squeaky, creaky, and splinter ridden boards are no longer. Even though I balked at the idea of replacing them I do love the way everything is coming together.

While removing the old boards we were able to uncover some very special treasures under the staircase. We found some pictures, although they were all curled up, very dark, and dirty, they are now something that I will proudly showcase in the new stairway gallery.
We also found a wedding invitation from 1896 and a baby card.
Here is the best treasure that we uncovered. It shows our house in its glory days. I have tried unsuccessfully to scan the image in and clean it up a bit, but if you look closely you can see a woman and two small children in front of the porch. It also gives us an idea of how the original woodwork looked on the lower porch and the windows that have been closed off. We also know now that the bay window in the dining room was an addition.

Inspiration

We are discussing whether or not to put either board and batten or faux wainscoting in the stairway. I love the look of the chair rail and trim in this first image.

This is what we have settled on for our banister and trim. The posts and handrail will be stained dark with the trim and balusters staying white.
We purchased the oak plywood to create wide plank floors in the foyer, upstairs hallway, and on the landings. The idea came from this http://quarryorchard.blogspot.com/2010/12/plywood-to-plank-flooring-tutorial.html creative couples blog. We will also be painting the walls a soft gray, which is yet to be chosen. The stairway will also boast a gallery wall with different sized frames all painted black.

Stairway paint decisions

I found this link http://www.marthastewart.com/photogallery/superneutral-decorating-ideas#slide_1 on http://newlyweddiaries.blogspot.com/ for this amazing color scheme. It is exactly what I wanted but didn't know it.

New Stair Treads

The new treads are going in, a few risers have to be replaced that were damaged while removing the original treads. The toe kick will need to be replaced also since some of them have been damaged. My hubby has taken off the weekend to replace the lower 4 treads and the landings.

I have to admit that even though I did not want to replace them it does look 100 times better.

This is taken from the 1st landing looking up to second set of stairs.This is taken from the 2nd landing looking down.

Foyer/Stairway Project Day 14

The stripping is coming along well, taking a little longer since I decided to strip the trim on the bottom also. I think someone before me attempted to strip the lower banister and quit. This left no varnish between the wood and the paint, which has made it difficult to get all the paint off. It took me twice as long to do the lower banister and post than it did to do the complete upper portion. All I have left is the areas that I will have to use a ladder, I left my least favorite for last. I have also started using Klean-Strip k-s3 premium stripper. It smells a lot worse than the CitriStrip but works at least twice as fast.

We have decided to replace the treads since they are very creaky and many of them have large cracks. I will be doing some shopping for those and the trim needed this next week.

Stripping on the Stairs

My newest project has been ripping out the old/disgusting carpet on the stairs and stripping the handrail and newel posts. After removing the 627 nails, tacks and staples, I will sand down the treads and paint them. The railing and posts will require quite a few hours of stripping and elbow grease to get them ready for staining.

Step 1: Before

Note the head start my kids got on chipping away the paint, also the reason why I decided to work on this project. Apply a thick coat of Citristrip and wait 15 minutes. The directions say to wait 30 minutes, but I found it easier to scrape before it started drying out.

Step 2:

Scrap first layer of paint off with scraper. Apply another layer of Citristrip. Use scraper and coarse steel wool.

Step 3:

Apply another layer to get the rest of the residue and stubborn paint/stain. Use medium and fine steel wool to remove stuck on paint. Wipe with Mineral Spirits.

I still have quite a bit of paint to remove in all the cracks and crevices, but I feel it is more than what the Citristrip is capable of doing.

99% complete

We have been working on our kitchen for almost 3 years...3 YEARS!!! That is 1095 days, give or take a few, that we have lived in a messy, dusty, construction zone! I am so very happy to say that we are almost done. Here is a before image, notice the beautiful mustard colored beat up oven, stove, and sink, disgusting chipped up backsplash and counter top, and the equally gross discolored ceilings. We also had huge island (wrap around bar) with carpet on the sides to contend with smack dab in the center of the room.

We still have some floor tile to regrout, finish grouting and sealing the backsplash, outlet covers and drawer pulls to install, and window coverings to make. I have also been enjoying hunting Flea markets and Antique stores for the perfect accessories.
Here's a couple old posts with images.
http://5monsters.blogspot.com/2010/05/were-getting-there.html

http://5monsters.blogspot.com/2008/12/progress-in-kitchen.html

Kitchen Makeover Take 2

We attempted to remodel the kitchen over a year ago and were never able to see it all the way through. So we (I use this word very loosely) have made a good attempt at finishing what we had started. Bryan took 6 days off hoping to get most of the new cabinets in, new countertops and backsplash, as well as recessed lights, trim, and beadboard on the lower cabinets. He made a huge dent in the to-do list but unfortunately I was unable to help him much. He gets to take credit for just about every project except the tile backsplash, which since there is no heavy lifting I am able to do. I need to make another run to Home Depot for tiles and trim and we need about 5 more days to work on it but the end is in sight! There is still a ton of work to do but here is an image that is the inspiration for the cabinets and the tiles we chose.

The backsplash is a mixture of these tiny 1" mosaic tiles, larger 4" tile, and the border, all are tumbled slate.

Summer Projects

We are really moving along on the projects that we have started. The headboard that I built has been painted and distressed, now I need to do the dressers and sidetables. Bryan is still not loving the idea of having something old next to his head while he sleeps, but I keep telling him to get use to it I'm not getting any younger either!

Miss Brainy's room is almost complete. There a few small details left to be done, installing the closet rod and shelf, mini-blinds and curtains, hanging bullentin boards and posters, but for the most part it looks like a well lived in teenagers room. You can see right behind the desk that the headboard is already painted in these pictures. I went with a very bright turquoise and I love how they turned out. I will have more pictures to share when everything is done.

The dresser and desk were purchased at the Pink Elephant, for only $50 and they delivered. While the headboard and sidetable were purchased at Hustons, which is not my favorite place to shop, but I did get a good deal on the two pieces.

Bryan has finished tiling the fireplace and I did the grout. The mantle and trim still need to be painted which hopefully I can finish this week.

Miss Brainy and two of her friends came over last month, they helped dig the holes and set the fence posts.

I then gave the girls karate lessons! "Paint the fence, Up Right Hand, Down Left Hand, Up Right Hand, Down Left Hand" Next up waxing the van and trimming the hedges to look like bonsai trees.