A Year In Review & Powder Room Progress

We just celebrated our first anniversary in the "new" house. I probably can't keep calling it that, it's not so "new" to us anymore. I think we have all finally settled into to thinking of it as our house and not the new house. Over the past year, D and I have said again and again now much this move was really a good choice for us. You just never know 100% if you're making the right decision when you're taking that giant leap and spending lots of hard earned cash on something as big as a house. This past year has really proved to us that we made a good decision for our family.

When I look around the house at the unfinished or work-in-progress projects it's really difficult to see how much we have accomplished. But if I list it out, we have done a lot in a short amount of time without sacrificing fun family events. 

A brief recap: 

• Boys bedrooms x2: painted walls with decorative stripes, new blinds, added new closet doors, new bedroom doors (one still to paint and complete final installation)
• Loft: painted, patched, added new blinds, made artwork. 
• Upstairs Hall: added recessed lighting, painted.
• Laundry Room: compete overhaul... new cabinets, paint, lights, doors. 
• Upstairs: fixed squeaks, added flooring screws, new carpet through out including stairs.
• Family Room: complete built-in cabinet wall around fireplace with new stone work, wood mantle. Painted fireplace surround and added new hardware.  (Crown molding is finished! Photos soon) 
• Front Room: Painted bay window, added blinds on all windows, mounted TV
• Garage: Epoxy floor (unfortunately needs to be removed and re-painted) and painted door. 
• Outdoor: complete front yard landscaping overhaul. Removed overgrowth from each side of the house. Painted shutters. Added a vegetable garden. Added a shed, made kayak stands, made a new side-table (see photos below). Many weekends of TLC on the lawn to remove years of dandelion growth in the backyard. 

That's a lot in one year when you take into account that we had to unload boxes and get settled in...plus still make time for this....

Still making time to enjoy the summer! 

Our vegetable garden has taken off and the plants are two, maybe three, times as large as they were in at our old house. I'm not sure if it's the southern location (although protected from the late afternoon heat) or the sandy soil (vs clay) or if the house can feel the love we are putting into everything.  :)  But hey, whatever works!  

It's hard to tell here, but if I stretch the tomato plants up they are taller than me!
They quickly out grew our tomato cages and have fallen over the fence, spilling
out on the grass. Garden expansion is in the works for next year.  

Check out this great little side table that D made to go just outside the patio door. It's cedar that I stained in "chocolate" semi-transparent stain. It is perfect for holding drinks, resting dishes, and holding trays to free your hands to pull open the sliding door. It will now be the template for our larger outdoor dining table, coming soon. 

The next project in the works is the powder room. You probably never noticed (I know I didn't) that the ceiling was lower in this room versus the rest of the first floor. It bugged D a lot. Probably because he's a lot closer to the ceiling than I am. When he tore down the drywall, he confirmed that the ceiling was lowered to accommodate recessed lighting above the sink. Why?...I'm not sure. It's not a very nice fixture. Cost savings perhaps. 

Move in day

The bathroom is tight. It's made worse by the medicine cabinet over the toilet. It was a cheap cabinet and when I removed it, the room felt immediately better. The walls were unable to be salvaged because they had a faux plaster finish that we never would've been able to sand evenly. We chose to remove the trim and wainscoting because it is not in our style. 

Hard at work

The amount of ceiling we gained

Wainscoting removed

The majority of the new drywall is up. D added more insulation, especially on the exterior walls. Next we'll be tearing out the floor and replacing it with tile. We are also replacing the toilet for a more efficient dual flush version with a smaller footprint. We also purchased a new pedestal sink with a more narrow bowl which will give us more space in the doorway area. Last, we'll replace the door with a six panel style to match the ones we've replaced in the rest of the house.

Drywall progress. We currently have all the drywall up. 

With school starting soon we've decided to put a pause on projects. The bathroom is at a point where we either need to tear out the rest and move forward immediately, or leave it for the time being. Since it's safe and functional for now, we've decided to enjoy the last few weeks of summer and finish up the odds and ends remaining on the other projects....the boring little pieces we've put off.
Enjoy the rest of the summer! 

Loft Reveal

The upstairs is progressing with only a few rooms left to do- the master bedroom, the master bath and the boys bath. Meanwhile we've been working on a smaller project...the loft. It will be used primary as a play area while the boys are little, and perhaps a study area when they are older.

Here is the picture of the loft on move in day. There is a small, but deep closet to the right. A cheap white fan was mounted near the window, off center and close to the corner. A very unusual location. The wall color was a mint green. 

In this photo you can see how the fan was oddly placed. Very weird. 

The final product! We removed the oddly placed ceiling fan and patched the ceiling. Added recessed lighting. Painted with Sherwin Williams Magnetic Gray. We also replaced the broken window blinds and painted the window trim. The whole upstairs got new carpeting last fall. 

The boys spend a lot more time at the train table than they did at the old house. I think it's because it's in a convenient location- upstairs near me so they can play while I get ready in the morning versus in the (finished but quiet) basement. In this view you can see my homemade photo canvases. I saved upwards of $100 dollars by getting large poster prints made of my two favorite little peanuts and using modpodge to adhere them to the canvas (an idea found on Pinterest). I used the same lettering around the photos as I did with my gallery wall in the hallway (more on that in a bit).

Closer view of my canvases. 

Much better...wouldn't you agree?

While I'm posting photos, I should show you the rest of the hallway. It also got a facelift with recessed lighting (and an increase in the actual number of lights), new paint and new white six panel doors. Turns out I took the before and after photos from opposite ends of the hallway, 

but I think you get the general idea. 

View from the master bedroom, laundry doors on the left. 

View towards the master bedroom, laundry on the right.

At the top of the stairs I added a black and white photo wall of my favorite little people- my boys and our nieces and nephews. It fits perfectly on the small wall beside the boys' bathroom and makes me smile every time I get to the top of the stairs. The sayings are wall stickers that came in a preset arrangement which I cut apart to make my own design. I put several in the loft area around the canvas prints as well. 

Well, that's it for the upstairs for now. The last few areas (bathrooms, master bedroom) will be longer projects with more demo. It will not surprise you to hear that we have already begun demolition on our main floor powder room. D had a few days off from work and when we got home from vacation, he was in the mood to demo. I'll post photos of the mess soon...we're in no hurry because we want to enjoy the beautiful summer weather while we can!

Fireplace: So Close To Completion

We've been working on the fireplace for a while now and it's almost...almost....almost done. Since it's our main room and since the scope of the project has expanded, it's taken a while to complete. But I looks so good I can't wait a minute longer to post. If you'd like to refresh your memory about our fireplace progress, you can find my other posts here and here.

A quick view of the room on move-in day. We saw potential. 

Our family room: June 2015.

It's so pretty, I almost can't believe it was all DIY. 

You almost don't notice the blue carpet...almost. 

Now for a few close up photos and some more before & after's. 

With the hearth tile removed during the gas line installation

Our final stone choice

I am very pleased with our stone choice. It did take more time, energy and prep-work to install than other products on the market but I love the authentic look. It has weight and varied shapes that I love. We painted over the brass accents on the fireplace with black heat paint and switched the handles to a brushed nickel. 

Side view on move-in day

Here you can check out the new paint color- Sherwin Williams Versatile Gray. It's a nice mix of tan and gray. When wet it's reminiscent of a melting Wendy's Frosty. Yum! 





I purchased this mirror off Overstock for the space over the couch. I was looking for something to reflect the light coming in from the windows on the opposite wall but I didn't want a solid mirror. When we finish the touch ups on the wall, we'll be able to hang it up. That sucker is heavy!

We were able to salvage the ceiling fan by purchasing a new light insert and new fan blades in a walnut color. 

The shelves took a long time to complete. D measured and built them. I did several coats of paint and several coats of polyurethane. With dry time in between coats plus limited work time, the shelves alone took several weeks. They're so beautiful...completely worth it! 

Little fact: the cabinets we used on the built-ins and not base cabinets but upper cabinets. D added a small platform to turn them into base cabinets. We didn't want the cabinets to dwarf the fireplace hearth or make it appear recessed, so the depth of an upper cabinet was a better fit. :) 

Still to do: paint and install the crown molding which will cover the surround sound speaker wire; install the cabinet door pulls; second coats of paint around all the windows and 

in the dining area (not able to be seen in these pictures). 

We're looking at new couches to better fit the scale of this room and we'll 

decorate the shelves with books and photos. 

So far the room looks larger and more modern. I LOVE IT. Is this even the same house??!!

Can't wait to post the final final reveal. 

Mailbox Part Deux

With the weather warming up, the house progress has moved toward outside projects. The first was replacing our mailbox...again. I really loved our salvaged and re-painted mailbox but the winter was hard on it. The paint started to chip, especially around my Michigan sticker. If you'd like to refresh your memory and check out what the blue mailbox looked like, you can find my post here. Our mail carrier seems pretty reliable at this house, and I was feeling bad that the mailbox post was so low. Actually, I checked the postal guidelines and measured the height of the box...it was a good 12 inches lower than the standard.  I felt bad that our carrier had to lean way out of her truck to use our box. Plus she wrote us the nicest thank you note at Christmas after we left her some treats, so I felt good about fixing the dumb mailbox.  We decided on a plastic post cover, and a plastic box. No maintenance! D was able to trim the existing wood post so that the new plastic sleeve would slide over the top. The house numbers cracked in my hand when I tried to remove the screws, so there was no re-using them. New house numbers and a different Michigan sticker....done!

New box and post  (address edited)

Our happy little post was in place for about 3 weeks when it was hit by a car...or maybe a golf cart...we're not sure which. (Some people in our neighborhood use golf carts to get down to the beach).  *Heavy Sigh* That ugly box was there for years without a problem. We get 3 weeks. The neighbors were really nice about the whole thing (since it was their guests' fault) and they bought us a new post. Hopefully that will go in this weekend....and be there a long time!!

Speaking of set backs...we had another. Remember our beautiful garage floor? 

 

And the week that D put into scrubbing, washing, painting, sealing....?

It's not so beautiful now. NOT HAPPY. These are the photos I submitted to Rust-Oleum to get our "money back guarantee."

I read the reviews and I saw that a few other people had complained about the same thing...the finish just rubbing right off with minimal use. But poor reviews can not always be trusted- who knows if the people followed the proper steps or did all the prep work. We had such success at the old house with the product- even after 10 years of use- that we decided to purchase it again. As you can see from the photos, they must have changed the formula because my hubby did all the prep work and followed all the steps. Even in the areas with no car traffic, like in front of the door, the floor is just rubbing right off! Soooooo not happy. After submitting photos to Rust-Oleum they gave us the choice of refunding our money or trying a new product. It was a toss up...even if we got our money back, we'd still need to repair the floor. So they sent a new kit. Not sure when we'll have a week to work on the garage floor again. I don't see that task being high on either of our priority lists.  :(

But onward to progress! Playing outside in the summer, I spend a lot of time looking at the exterior of our house. I got so I could not stand the color of our shutters. We would love to have the whole house painted in more of an updated color scheme, but that's another job for another time. For now I'm happy with small updates. 

My helpers cleaning the shutters

Final product. Perhaps a little too light in color, but overall I'm happy. Time to power wash the bricks. 

We've also been working on small projects that make a difference in the overall feel of the house. The first is burying the gutter down spouts and getting rid of the eye sore plastic drains. Not only will this help the appearance of the house but it should help with the soil erosion. 

Front yard "before." Note the green gutter extender. 

Front porch gutter "after."  Still working on the landscaping/edging. 

A few other photos of our progress. D and his father put up our new shed. It's so wonderful to have someplace to store our life jackets, toys, kayak paddles, etc. 

D also made this great kayak rack. Check our the boys' mini kayaks! 

I also cleaned up the side of the house and made room for a small veggie garden. There's room for expansion if we want it.

Now I'm trying to decide on changes to the front porch. The front door is being switched out. I don't prefer the style with the glass for privacy reasons. I'm open to suggestions on what to do with the eye sore of a utility box....got any ideas? 

Front porch today

Perhaps some sort of trellis?

I added the finishing touches (color) to this inexpensive outdoor rug and got my flower boxes planted. So, for now I'll just be enjoying the view from the deck :) Happy Summer! 

Fireplace Stones Installed

I haven't had much time to update the post here, but the projects continue to move forward. The loft painting is 80% complete (and often moved to the bottom of the project list because it's adjacent to the boys' bedrooms and we are mostly painting at night), furniture has been moved around in the front room, and the fireplace/built-ins are coming along.

Over the course of the past month or two, we installed the 8 base cabinets for the built ins. Then D made a shelf to sit atop the cabinets and added the bookcase side walls. He added trim to the top and sides and finished the top of the bookcase with drywall. He also decided to run speaker wire through the crown molding to allow for surround sound, and mounted the small speakers we had from our old house. He removed the old hearth and made a new, reinforced box. 

Cabinets installed. Hearth removed. 

The manufactured stones are heavy-- although we are using a stacked stone that does not require grouting, it still needs lath and a mortar backer. A few days before the stone installation, D added a skim coat of mortar to the lath per the instructions from the stone manufacturer. I also used high heat paint on the gold trim of the fireplace to give it a consistent black exterior, and bought new brushed nickel door pulls from Lowe's.

Black paint completed. Skim coat applied. 

D made a template of the fireplace surround and we laid out the stones in the basement. We moved the pieces around until we had a look that appealed to us. With some manufactured stone you need to watch out for "repeats" of the stone blocks but we really didn't find any in our batch.

Stone puzzle in the basement. 

We brought the stones upstairs in sets, applied mortar to the stones and literally stacked them up. D trimmed some of the stones to fit with a mason blade. We used some old flooring to provide a "spacer" under the hearth for the eventual addition of new hardwood flooring.

We completed the hearth portion one evening, and the wall portion the second evening. This allowed us to still have family time during the day and get the projects competed in one weekend. 

D made the mantle out of oak pieces and I used stain to bring out the grain. The mantle portion took several days. The first time I did the stain, I wasn't sure of the color. I tried another (darker) color on top of the original color and I really loved the look. Unfortunately, being new to using stain, I didn't realize that leaving extra stain on top really makes your project sticky. I was able to remove the sticky portion but still wasn't satisfied with the color. I re-sanded the entire mantle and re-applied 2 different colors of darker stain. It was difficult to decide on colors-- I wanted to see the wood grain (so didn't want to go too dark) but wanted to have it match the dark floors I want to eventually install. After several days of staining, I completed the mantle. It's probably the same color as the first time I stained it....oh well. 

Next up are the shelves for each side (prime, paint, install), adding the cabinet hardware and finishing trim, painting the wall over the mantle and re-installing the crown molding. Can't wait to post that "final" reveal, but this will do for now.

Move in day

Fireplace progress April 2015