Showing posts with label house projects. Show all posts
Showing posts with label house projects. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

mr. sandman.

bring me a dream! make someone else do my sanding for me!

i honestly can say that sanding is my least favorite part of any house project.
i can't stand it. maybe it's because i'm a creature of immediate gratification and 
sanding just doesn't do it for me, or maybe it's all the dust getting into my whose its
and whatnots... it's both. yes. it's definitely both. 
anywho...
we have this bank of windows in the front of our house that is the same ugly wood
trim as the rest of our house. we've slowly (very slowly) been painting everything white, 
but it's taken a while (did i mention we've been doing this slowly?) to get to the dining room.
 so last week (or maybe the week before) i got it in me to start the process and today,
the window looks the exact same. in fact, i just looked over and noticed that the
sandpaper and sanding block are still sitting on the table just as they are in this picture... sad.
 now that i've aired my dirty procrastinators laundry, i'm determined
to use this post as a motivator for me to get 'er done. 
by this time next week, i will be posting pictures of the finished product!
and if i dont, i'll probably have some wicked excuse as to why it didn't 
happen, which will probably be just as cool.

well... i have to go take a nap start sanding!
wish me luck :(

Friday, June 29, 2012

side yard.

2 previous owners ago, our house was occupied by a little old lady
and her little old dog. this little old lady loved nothing more than her little dog
and her gardens, so much so that she was part of the Edina garden club. 
i'm sure that all of her landscaping was beautiful while she was keeping
up with everything, but over the years and through different owners the yard started
to become over-grown. this is where we come in. we've been doing so much
to the inside of our house and just this spring/summer have started
moving our projects to the outdoors leading me to the point of this post.
our side yard.
as you can see from the photo below, it's been very neglected and has become 
a total eyesore. 
front view
happy girl!
progress! not much, but some. we had to clear out all of the weeds
before we could really start scaping our land. it took forever, but was totally worth it.
beautiful hydrangea! we're planning on getting 2, maybe 3 more, but
these beauts will do for now.

we've cleaned everything out and planted a few other things, but that
will be a different post. we've got some major plans for our yard: lilacs, veggie garden (which
we did last year, just didn't have time this spring), lilacs, deck, fire pit, lilacs, outdoor kitchen,
did i say lilacs? so yes, big plans. big, big plans.

can't wait!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

almost.

let me just preface this post with a little boyfriend praise:
as i'm typing this... tucked into my warm bed (yes, i am lazy)...
my amazing, dedicated, motivated, and most importantly super zexxxy boyfriend
is hard at work painting all of the door frames :)
did i luck with him out or what??

so all of the construction is done!!! can i get an amen?!?!
no more drywall dust, or nail guns, or waaaaiting.
we're finally onto painting...which is a whole other monster in itself,
but I'd take painting over construction any day.
the hole for the chandelier has been drilled. we'll finally have light in this room!
whenever we've tried to eat in the dining room, we've had to turn on
the hall lights, both living room lights, and the entry light just to be able to see what we're eating.
having a light above the table just may be life changing.
the guys did wonderful work on that last night (with a little assistance from moi):
ps... Judd is going to school to be a contractor, which is pretty bad ass for us,
but also means you should call him and hire him and let him build things in your house.
he's kind of a home genius.
you can kind of see the new color on the walls in the above 2 pictures, but it's super evident below.
i have no idea what the original color was... butter yellow? cheesy grits?
...of course my made up names are food related...
the new color, which is Wheat Bread by BEHR (again... food), reads pretty grey 
next to the old color, but is different in person. of course.
it almost changes depending on what lighting you're in. 
sometimes it looks tan, like wheat bread (go figure),
but sometimes it does look pretty grey. i seriously love it. LOVE IT.
there was a happy girl chasing me and apparently boyfriend melted out of his pants.
we took out the wobbly banister that was there and added a half wall.
i was really apprehensive about this, but the privacy that it gives to us is totally worth it.
also- the nasty chandelier and the thingy above the door are on their way out.
i think i might move the thingy out to the garden or somewhere outside.
the curtains are also leaving us and the window trim will soon be white.
there are all of these little things that we inherited when we bought the house
and have just been using because they were there.
it's nice to now be really molding this place into a home that is our style and represents us.
it's so open! i seriously can't stop dancing from room to room where that nasty wall was.
ignore the pile of furniture. also, that wall is going to look COMPLETELY different in 3-4 months.
at least we have a construction break until then... happy face? 
we're currently painting the molding and are discussing possible crown molding as well.
i say... yes yes YESSSSSS, but we'll see :) 
here's a little reminder of what it used to look like:
wow. i can not believe how much the house has changed.
we still have so much to do and i'll try to keep updating the internets on our progress.
in the spirit of being truthful: it hasn't been easy. there has been yelling and crying 
and cursing, but with everyday comes growth. progress. 
we've never owned a home. we've never gone through the upheaval that renovating causes.
this has been one of the bigger trials we've had in our 4 years
and we're learning much more than just how to drywall, strip molding, properly paint, etc.
we're learning about each other as individuals and about us as a couple
and i would never take back a second of this experience.
i love you, boyfriend!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

we're getting there.

ding dong the green carpet is gone!
what green carpet?
the nasty green carpet.
ding dong the nasty green carpet is goooone!

ugh! i can't even tell you how big the happy dance the boyfriend and i have been doing is.
the nasty, pilled, stained Andes mint green carpet that has covered our 
ENTIRE FIRST FLOOR
has been ripped out and disposed of.

here are some bad, yellow, before pictures from when we had just moved in:
          
           
 note the big window in the wall and the grody carpet...

and here are some progress pictures:
jan. 5th: wall down. tree up. 
jan. 12th: i spy with my little eye... a cute kitty! and no more carpet!
linoleum! with asbestos! i know you're jealous...
jan. 14: railing gone.
jan. 15th: flooring going in! no more paneling :)
today: living and dining rooms done! hallway being finished as i type.

i can't even begin to tell you how lucky we feel to be able to
make these changes to our home.
it can be stressful, like rip-each-others-hair-out-i'm-going-to-beat-him stressful
but at the end of the day when it's just us two,
all stresses melt and everything is worth it.

2012: we're off to a great start <3