We have started something and can't quit!
Since starting the closet, we decided to go ahead and dry wall the foyer (the room under the closet). So that is halfway complete. The closet is drywalled and has a ceiling. Need to mud, tape, and paint it next.
The sink in the downstairs bathroom stripped out last month. So....we bought a new sink. That started a motivation to get that room done too. We are tiling it, painting it, and putting in the new sink. That will be done soon.
We purchased stained glass side lights that fit perfectly by the front door. There used to be sidelights there, but someone sided over them at some point. They will be put in soon. (Hopefully before winter!).
The garage is now painted. (Thanks to my father in law!)
An old chimney that is not used and will never be used again (it was not the fireplace chimney) has had the bricks that were about to fall out repaired. The tiles on the roof that needed some help have been fixed.
If arranged some nice floral arrangements around the house that have added a nice fall like feel to the home. Can't wait for the seasons to pass and be summer again!
Friday, September 25, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Mad Men Casting Call Contest: Carolyn Braden!
Trying to win yet another contest. Help me out! Click on the link below and it will take you to my voting page on the AMC's Mad Men website. Click on how many stars you rate my Mad Men Style photo (5 stars please, please, please!). Do it once a day per computer until August 11th and lets' see if I can win the walk on role on AMC's Mad Men and a $1,000 Banana Republic gift certificate.
Thanks lovely readers!
http://madmencastingcall.amctv.com/photos/view/1879
Thanks lovely readers!
http://madmencastingcall.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Woooo hoooooo!
This house isn't being as scary as it once was. We have now lived in our home for one year. I felt like we weren't getting anything accomplished AT ALL, but looking back on it, we have accomplished a lot.
The economic scare forced us to put some things on hold for a while. We really didn't feel the need to spend a whole bunch of money if we were going to need it in an emergency situation, like losing a job perhaps. But, we both feel the economy downfall is now starting to head uphill. Our home plans are going uphill as well.
We bought a beautiful light to put in our foyer. We kept looking for the perfect one that was elegant but not too expensive. After months of contemplating, we found a floor model on sale at Lowe's. Lowe's has great home items at great prices. This light is the perfect size and when you turn it on, the light makes the crystals shine rainbows all over the room. It is beautiful! Glad we waited to find the right one at the right price. We've also put up a new light in one of the spare bedrooms and put a new light in our soon to be closet.
Our walk in closet is on it's way to being complete. Due to the small size of this room, we felt it should be a spacious dressing room/closet. All the insulation is complete, the wood is hung on the walls as a basis for the drywall, and some of the electrical details will get worked out tomorrow. Once this closet is complete, the closet that is in our bedroom will be torn down. Our bedroom didn't have a closet, so at some point, someone built one in the room, but it should not be there. In our attempt to get the house back to it's original form as much as possible, we feel the closet should go.
The garage has (finally) been cleaned out of anything that sat in there this past year. I figure, if you haven't seen something in a year (other than holiday items), it really should go! I called the Salvation Army and they sent a truck to pick up all kinds of huge items. We sold some things E-Bay, which is a great because some of that cash will come in handy with the renovation.
I am about to strip the paint off the front door. It has amazing wood detailing on it, but you can't tell right now due to the layers of chipping paint. Once I strip it, we will varnish it to make the wood beautiful.
We've hung stained glass windows in the dining room. They are windows that are in frames, so they are hung on hooks at the top of the tall existing windows. That way, if we move, we will be able to take them with us.
We've hung blinds in one of the spare bedrooms and on the front door.
More is happening a little at a time, but it is getting there. I can't wait.
The economic scare forced us to put some things on hold for a while. We really didn't feel the need to spend a whole bunch of money if we were going to need it in an emergency situation, like losing a job perhaps. But, we both feel the economy downfall is now starting to head uphill. Our home plans are going uphill as well.
We bought a beautiful light to put in our foyer. We kept looking for the perfect one that was elegant but not too expensive. After months of contemplating, we found a floor model on sale at Lowe's. Lowe's has great home items at great prices. This light is the perfect size and when you turn it on, the light makes the crystals shine rainbows all over the room. It is beautiful! Glad we waited to find the right one at the right price. We've also put up a new light in one of the spare bedrooms and put a new light in our soon to be closet.
Our walk in closet is on it's way to being complete. Due to the small size of this room, we felt it should be a spacious dressing room/closet. All the insulation is complete, the wood is hung on the walls as a basis for the drywall, and some of the electrical details will get worked out tomorrow. Once this closet is complete, the closet that is in our bedroom will be torn down. Our bedroom didn't have a closet, so at some point, someone built one in the room, but it should not be there. In our attempt to get the house back to it's original form as much as possible, we feel the closet should go.
The garage has (finally) been cleaned out of anything that sat in there this past year. I figure, if you haven't seen something in a year (other than holiday items), it really should go! I called the Salvation Army and they sent a truck to pick up all kinds of huge items. We sold some things E-Bay, which is a great because some of that cash will come in handy with the renovation.
I am about to strip the paint off the front door. It has amazing wood detailing on it, but you can't tell right now due to the layers of chipping paint. Once I strip it, we will varnish it to make the wood beautiful.
We've hung stained glass windows in the dining room. They are windows that are in frames, so they are hung on hooks at the top of the tall existing windows. That way, if we move, we will be able to take them with us.
We've hung blinds in one of the spare bedrooms and on the front door.
More is happening a little at a time, but it is getting there. I can't wait.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
House Update!
We've got to get a move on!
Not too much more has been done to the house, but here's a little of what we've recently done.
--Painted the upstairs and turned a storage room into an office.
--Tore out the walls in a spare bedroom on the second floor and it is going to be a closet. Tommy just insulated it, so next is getting the lovely walls and ceiling up. He's so thrilled about doing plaster work. Ug.
Tore out a closet on the first floor. It wasn't supposed to be there.
Spruced up the outside of the home for spring. Planted some flowers and put up some fencing.
We'll be getting more done soon. Hopefully.
Not too much more has been done to the house, but here's a little of what we've recently done.
--Painted the upstairs and turned a storage room into an office.
--Tore out the walls in a spare bedroom on the second floor and it is going to be a closet. Tommy just insulated it, so next is getting the lovely walls and ceiling up. He's so thrilled about doing plaster work. Ug.
Tore out a closet on the first floor. It wasn't supposed to be there.
Spruced up the outside of the home for spring. Planted some flowers and put up some fencing.
We'll be getting more done soon. Hopefully.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Decorating Style..December 2008
We are thinking long term now....
We are starting to see some light at the end of this long tunnel. We've been in a construction slump, and now it's time to start think about what we are going to do style wise once this house starts coming together.
After looking through some home style magazines, some things are occurring to us. Here are some things we think are going to hit big in home style soon:
Wallpaper! Not exactly the kind you remember, we promise! Wallpaper is coming back in a huge way. It will be very updated. The patterns won't be as bright and busy. Look for paper with neutral colors that can be updated as the styles change. We will be using wallpaper in some of our rooms. Especially in the rooms where we can't get the walls very perfect.
Decor is going very natural. Try Gingo tree leave patterns for pillows.
Tassels...in clothing and in home style. Tassels are big!
Opalescent things. Try an opalescent lamp shade.
Mosaics. I really want a mosaic style back splash for the kitchen.
Circles. Anything circular is really current now.
Natural and tumbled rocks. Maybe a floor made of natural rocks?? Try them in the bathroom as a back splash or for your shower walls.
This holiday season...grow some Narcissus' or Paper Whites. Throw the bulbs in a tall vase that has rocks on the bottom. Add some water and let them grow tall. The tall vase will prevent the stems from falling over. Add in some red berry stalks to make them holiday fabulous!
Coming up for spring/summer2009.................................
Seashell decor. The Nautilus design stands out to me right now. As in the Georgia O'Keefe nautilus paintings. They are beautiful.
Old school lounge chairs. You know, the kind from The Great Gatsby time period. They have wheels on the back for the legs. They can be wrought iron or wooden. They should have a solid color pad on them.
Bamboo. Use it for decor or however you like.
Rainbarrels...use them to collect water to use to water your garden this summer! I am currently painting some for Edge Outreach's auction next year. I am going to the auction to buy one of them back. The money raised goes towards the Young Rembrandt's after school art program in schools.
Hummingbirds. They will now only show up in jewelry, but in home decor too. Try getting a hummingbird feeder if they are in your area. My mom has a hummingbird nest on display in her home. It feels like a marshmallow and is so tiny! They are magnificent creatures!
We are starting to see some light at the end of this long tunnel. We've been in a construction slump, and now it's time to start think about what we are going to do style wise once this house starts coming together.
After looking through some home style magazines, some things are occurring to us. Here are some things we think are going to hit big in home style soon:
Wallpaper! Not exactly the kind you remember, we promise! Wallpaper is coming back in a huge way. It will be very updated. The patterns won't be as bright and busy. Look for paper with neutral colors that can be updated as the styles change. We will be using wallpaper in some of our rooms. Especially in the rooms where we can't get the walls very perfect.
Decor is going very natural. Try Gingo tree leave patterns for pillows.
Tassels...in clothing and in home style. Tassels are big!
Opalescent things. Try an opalescent lamp shade.
Mosaics. I really want a mosaic style back splash for the kitchen.
Circles. Anything circular is really current now.
Natural and tumbled rocks. Maybe a floor made of natural rocks?? Try them in the bathroom as a back splash or for your shower walls.
This holiday season...grow some Narcissus' or Paper Whites. Throw the bulbs in a tall vase that has rocks on the bottom. Add some water and let them grow tall. The tall vase will prevent the stems from falling over. Add in some red berry stalks to make them holiday fabulous!
Coming up for spring/summer2009.................................
Seashell decor. The Nautilus design stands out to me right now. As in the Georgia O'Keefe nautilus paintings. They are beautiful.
Old school lounge chairs. You know, the kind from The Great Gatsby time period. They have wheels on the back for the legs. They can be wrought iron or wooden. They should have a solid color pad on them.
Bamboo. Use it for decor or however you like.
Rainbarrels...use them to collect water to use to water your garden this summer! I am currently painting some for Edge Outreach's auction next year. I am going to the auction to buy one of them back. The money raised goes towards the Young Rembrandt's after school art program in schools.
Hummingbirds. They will now only show up in jewelry, but in home decor too. Try getting a hummingbird feeder if they are in your area. My mom has a hummingbird nest on display in her home. It feels like a marshmallow and is so tiny! They are magnificent creatures!
What we've done so far......
Tommy and I bought our house in the Highlands this summer. It is a total fixer upper, but we know it will look beautiful when it is complete. We are working as a team to get this house up and going with the help of a few willing and wonderful people.
We are trying to get this house back to its original state. It is going to take a lot of time, patience, dedication, and of course....money....to get it to where it needs to be, but we are in it for the long haul. We heard this house calling us.....or at least Tommy did. I thought it was too much work and too expensive, but it all worked out in the end. With the way the housing market took a spiraling plunge into darkness, Tommy and I were some of the fortunate ones that came out on top of it. The Highlands house turned into a foreclosure, and we were able to not only afford the house, but we were able to start renovations immediately with the money we saved. Our prayers really came through!
So....we'd like to use this blog to record our time spent working on and living in this house.
Here are some things we've done so far:
Taken out the drop ceilings
Taken off the 5 layers of tile and plywood off the beautiful hardwood, original floors
Scraped the plaster off of the brick vent in the kitchen
Replaced many of the drop ceiling lights (the buzzing and light was awful!) with ceiling fans or lights. SAFETY TIP!!! Never sit under or by someone when they are taking a long florescent bulb out of a light. When Tommy took the bulb out of the light, the bulb came loose and broke all over me!! Luckily I was not hurt or cut.
Took the carpet off the stairs, hallway, and 2 bedrooms in the hallway on the second floor.
Put up a ceiling fan in the attic.
Put a portable heating/air conditioning unit in the finished attic. (It works great!!! We would recommend them to anyone needing air or heat in a space when they don't want a huge unit hanging out of the window.)
Put in a new central air/heating system for the 1st and 2nd floor and new ducts for the 1st floor.
Replaced the bad replacement windows. We kept the wavy glass windows that still were in place, but had to replace the replacement windows that were in the house when we moved in. The new windows are really energy efficient. We got them from Window World, and despite a kind of silly name, they did a great, great job and no one else could beat their prices.
Put up a bead board ceiling in the downstairs bathroom. This had to happen immediately because the plaster ceiling fell down and made a huge mess in the freshly cleaned bathroom!
Took down some cabinets in the 2nd floor bath.
Replaced all the toilets.
Put up new wooden slat blinds on some of the windows.
Had the dryer and washer hook ups moved into the 2nd floor kitchen. When the first floor kitchen is complete, the second floor kitchen will become the laundry room.
Cut out a space for a new doorway going from the 1st floor kitchen to the dining room.
Opened up the foyer by ripping away drywall that covered the original studs to the living room. We knew that living room doorway had to be bigger, and it originally was!!!
Replaced the bathroom lights.
Cleaned out the backyard and began some minor landscaping.
Put up a reed fence to give us privacy from the alley. The reed fence also was a cheap option to cover the chain link fence. It looks really nice too. That idea came from a friend of ours that did it to his chain link fence.
I'm sure there is more, but that's all I can remember for now. We will start more heavy duty renovations after the holidays. We don't want a ton of dust flying around right now as we are trying to pretty up the home for Christmas!
Till next time...
T and C
We are trying to get this house back to its original state. It is going to take a lot of time, patience, dedication, and of course....money....to get it to where it needs to be, but we are in it for the long haul. We heard this house calling us.....or at least Tommy did. I thought it was too much work and too expensive, but it all worked out in the end. With the way the housing market took a spiraling plunge into darkness, Tommy and I were some of the fortunate ones that came out on top of it. The Highlands house turned into a foreclosure, and we were able to not only afford the house, but we were able to start renovations immediately with the money we saved. Our prayers really came through!
So....we'd like to use this blog to record our time spent working on and living in this house.
Here are some things we've done so far:
Taken out the drop ceilings
Taken off the 5 layers of tile and plywood off the beautiful hardwood, original floors
Scraped the plaster off of the brick vent in the kitchen
Replaced many of the drop ceiling lights (the buzzing and light was awful!) with ceiling fans or lights. SAFETY TIP!!! Never sit under or by someone when they are taking a long florescent bulb out of a light. When Tommy took the bulb out of the light, the bulb came loose and broke all over me!! Luckily I was not hurt or cut.
Took the carpet off the stairs, hallway, and 2 bedrooms in the hallway on the second floor.
Put up a ceiling fan in the attic.
Put a portable heating/air conditioning unit in the finished attic. (It works great!!! We would recommend them to anyone needing air or heat in a space when they don't want a huge unit hanging out of the window.)
Put in a new central air/heating system for the 1st and 2nd floor and new ducts for the 1st floor.
Replaced the bad replacement windows. We kept the wavy glass windows that still were in place, but had to replace the replacement windows that were in the house when we moved in. The new windows are really energy efficient. We got them from Window World, and despite a kind of silly name, they did a great, great job and no one else could beat their prices.
Put up a bead board ceiling in the downstairs bathroom. This had to happen immediately because the plaster ceiling fell down and made a huge mess in the freshly cleaned bathroom!
Took down some cabinets in the 2nd floor bath.
Replaced all the toilets.
Put up new wooden slat blinds on some of the windows.
Had the dryer and washer hook ups moved into the 2nd floor kitchen. When the first floor kitchen is complete, the second floor kitchen will become the laundry room.
Cut out a space for a new doorway going from the 1st floor kitchen to the dining room.
Opened up the foyer by ripping away drywall that covered the original studs to the living room. We knew that living room doorway had to be bigger, and it originally was!!!
Replaced the bathroom lights.
Cleaned out the backyard and began some minor landscaping.
Put up a reed fence to give us privacy from the alley. The reed fence also was a cheap option to cover the chain link fence. It looks really nice too. That idea came from a friend of ours that did it to his chain link fence.
I'm sure there is more, but that's all I can remember for now. We will start more heavy duty renovations after the holidays. We don't want a ton of dust flying around right now as we are trying to pretty up the home for Christmas!
Till next time...
T and C
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