House - Phase Two

I have the most amazing memories in this living room.  From hours spent with family eating cheese and crackers on the floor. A thousand Christmas' with the room close to bursting with family, wrapping paper, and stocking presents.  Nights spent with high school friends drinking illegally while my grandparents were in Florida.  In my memory it has never changed.  It couldn't have always been those plaid couches with that stencil on the wall but it feels like it has.  Changing the kitchen was hard for me but this room was worse.  It was Nana's kitchen but this was where I spent most of my time.  The plaid couches aren't really my style but I wanted to preserve the feel of the room, the memories, the happiness. 

I changed the couches but they are still in the same spots.  Ikea really is amazing (and really the only thing I can afford!)  I have yet to replace the curtains.  After all the changes I have made I can't seem to decide on curtains.  Its weird.  But for the most part, I left this room alone.  I repainted.  I refinished the floors through the entire downstairs.  I replaced and put up moldings.  But for the most part I kept the layout the same.  With the piano, the fireplace, the gorgeous arboretum, and the family as the focus.  Can we talk about the rug for a minute?!  I got the floors redone. (AMAZING!!  An incredible oak pattern in the living room and cherry in the dining room.) And then I bought these rugs on Overstock.com.  Yes, overstock.  The first one was so beautiful and plush and just incredible that I ordered another one for the dining room, and a runner for up the stairs, and a different pattern for my bedroom.  Best purchase ever.  I kept the coffee table because I always loved it.  But it turns out that a Great Uncle made it for them.

One of the big changes that I decided to make (with the encouragement of Gammy) was to switch the dinning room and den.  Originally, in the Cape style house, the den was off to the back of the house, with the staircase going up the middle of the house it was kind of hidden.  The dinning room was the bright one with the gorgeous bay window off the kitchen. 

So, after a lot of help moving outlets, I switched them.  And got new carpet installed because there was no hardwood flooring in this room which kinda seemed appropriate for a den.  I also installed 3 ceiling fans mostly myself with Dads help throughout the house.  Go me. I have to say it is a choice that makes sense.  It gets the most sun in the morning.  Its directly off the kitchen, the rooms where Wyatt and I spend the most of our time.  It is also kind of removed from the stairs so I can watch a movie without worrying about waking Wyatt upstairs.   And, clearly, this is where we spent our first night's pouf party.

Lastly, downstairs, is the den.  Ahh the deer heads and the tiny couch.  My Grandpa spent a majority of his time here.  It was cozy, manly, always very dark.  The deer heads still creep me out.  I actually had to vacuum them at one time during this process.  It was terrifying.  They now live in the basement and they love it down there until they find another permanent home. (Ebay, anyone?) 

I tried to take the exact same pictures (although the before was with my phone and after with my Nikon) and I am pretty proud of myself when I see the side by side.  First, the chair rail.  This was the first one I have ever done by myself.  I say myself but it was with the help of my friend Jon.  I pretty much bossed him around and gasped when I thought he was cutting it wrong and I nailed it up.  It is beautiful.  And even though it is my least used room, I love it the most.  I think its classic and inviting and just big enough for a dinning room; comfortable but still cozy.

 Another dining room shot just to show off the floors.  Most of the downstairs is oak that I kept very light.  But the dining room turned out to be cherry.  The floor guys recommend that I stain it to try to keep it the same as the rest of the house.  I refused.  I made them leave it natural.   Throughout the house there is oak, cherry and pine. It tells the story of the house.  How my Great grandfather took the bits that he had and made it himself.  I love the history of it, let it be.  I love the rugs but I almost wish I got a smaller size in the living room just to show the floors off.

Finally I just wanted to show a picture from the kitchen into the den. I think it really shows how far along it has come.  Yes, a lot of it is painting.  The only thing I haven't painted yet is the stairway hallway. I've painted almost every wall, ceiling, molding, and radiator in the house. I picked out three colors for the majority of the house.  A blue, a green and a white.  My thought was to have all three color be seen in each room.  So the den has three blue walls and one green looking into the kitchen that has three white walls and one green.  It sounds chaotic.  Even to me.  But somehow it works.  From every person who has been here, they say how nice the flow is.  How homey everything is.  How it just feels comfortable, like you want to grab a drink from the fridge and stay a while.  Of course that is what you strive for but sometimes it doesn't quite get there.

PS. Don't you love that Wyatt is almost in the exact same spot in both pictures. Look closely.  He's a ham.

Upstairs coming up next...

63 Months

Goose,

With Charlie

This month has been a flurry of activity.  I swear, all of a sudden, you have become way more popular then me.  Seriously.  My phone is filled with play dates and birthday parties.  You inform me when you get home from school who you are having play dates with.  You arrange them yourself!  I have become reliant on my phone in the morning to remind me of what is going on during the day.  I think you are averaging 3 play dates a week.  I also have taught you to dial my phone for "emergencies".  But you know, I was in the bathroom and you really needed some ice tea, so you just called Gammy.  Totally an emergency.  We probably need to go over what constitutes an emergency.  You ask how many nighttimes before your next play date and if there isn't one soon you demand me to call for someone to come over.  Plus baseball.  Ohhh, baseball.

And don't forget cousin William

I've never played baseball with you before.  I've never thrown a ball around in the backyard.  There are a lot of things I attempt to teach you on a daily basis but these things are not in my skill set.  So I recruited Pa to be your baseball coach.  (Recruited might be soft.  I think demanded is more like it.  Actually signed him up a little against his will knowing that he would come around.)  Pa came home with a mitt and helmet.  You actually have some skill, the only thing that limits you is your attention span.  You would much rather be playing on the playground or fooling around with the kid next to you or taking a water break.  But Pa.  Pa is an amazing coach.  He always has been.  Finally after teaching 3 girls teams for countless years, he gets his chance at baseball.  You got jealous during the first practice.  He is YOUR Pa.  YOUR Pa was not allowed to fool around with other kids.  YOUR Pa was not allowed to give encouragement to anyone else.  Pa didn't really understand why you were acting up until I explained it to him when we got home.  But you've been much better since I explained to you that you need to share Pa at practice but get him all to yourself when we get home.  It has been good with the move for you to know that you have two definite days that you get to play with Pa.

You throw fairly well.  Not much aim yet.  When you concentrate you can hit the baseball off the tee very well.  The key being if you concentrate.  If not you are spinning around like a ballerina.  Pa told you that he put a little man on top of the baseball and you had to knock him off.  You hit it to the outfield.  Pa was so proud.  I don't think I have ever seen you catch anything.  During the first game you hit the ball and ran all the bases.  Like right past the runner on second and third.  Ran through home and then went back to first with all the coaches yelling and all of us laugh/crying on the sidelines.  

We finally made it into our new house!  (After lots of stress on my part and mild complaining on your part.)  I wanted to make our first night extra special.  So I told you that we could sleep where ever you wanted.  You decided that you wanted to have a slumber party; watch movies (you don't like movies this actually meant that we watched DVR'd episodes of the Octonauts and Jake and the Neverland Pirates), eat popcorn, and sleep on the couch.  You insisted that I bring the "pouf" (aka ottoman) from the other room so we would both have one on the den couch together.  You called it "our pouf party".  Just when you were about to fall asleep on the couch you asked to go cuddle upstairs in my bed.  We played hookie that next day.  Which you have now asked several times to do again.  I made "scratch" pancakes shaped as a "W" which you think are the best breakfast ever.  I made so many that you asked me to call Gammy to eat with us.  Gammy was so shaken up by the 12 hours we spent without her (we had dinner with everyone the night before) that she was over in two seconds.

Sleeping angel on our first night

It was a good night.  We have had good nights.  You proclaimed the other day that "hey mom, I think I like this house."  Which I think is the most validation from you I will get.  I am so grateful for all of this.  This house.  This support.  This family.  But Wyatt, especially you.  At the end of the day, us being together makes this house a home.  It makes all of the hard work so worth it.  You make everything worth it.  I don't think I will ever get tired of watching you get the mail after school.  Or holding your hand as we walk up the stairs to bed.  Or watching you run in the street with the neighborhood kids.  Or seeing your face light up when you bring someone in your room.  Or eating together, just the two of us and listening about your day.  I am so thrilled to be making this move, in this home, with you.

I love you infinity.
Momma

New House - Phase One

Here's my Nana's nice little kitchen.  Its cute, but I thought it could use a little updating to make it more my style.  I had about 2 and a half months before my grandparents where coming home for Christmas.  But I figured that was plenty of time.  Not so much.  There was a lot of rushing around. Some spackling with head lamps when there was no power.  Lots of organizing contractors for stuff I couldn't do and some unforeseen issues.  Like the water line for the ice maker or the black mold we found in the bathroom or when the tile guy unplugged the gas stove and started a gas leak.  Yea.  That was fun. But I totally think it was worth it.

So this is the kitchen redo.  First to come down was the drop ceiling and all the fluorescent lighting underneath.  Then we took down the wall to open it up a bit.  Reconstructed a partial drop ceiling with dimmable high hats (in love).  New countertops, new tile backsplash, added another cabinet to extend the counter space on the other side of the fridge.  I was planning on putting up an island (and pendant lights) where the table is but I kinda like the ability to move the table around.  My pet project was painting the cabinets.  I played around with one of them and it came out so nice that I had to do them all.  Holy hell that was time consuming.  And changing out cabinet hardware was the most frustrating and annoying thing I have done so far.  But, again, I think they came out fantastic.  They don't even look like the same cabinets!

 

This was the day the wall came down.  It was a little impromtu, quick decision.  Wyatt was AMAZED!  He keeps on saying "Its not ours yet, but Momma is making it ours."  I think that is the cutest way to think of it. He really is very patient and makes me tons of drawings, "comics" he calls them, to put on our fridge.  I have a feeling there are going to be a lot of good things going on our fridge.  We have fallen into a routine: I work, Wyatt draws or watches TV or makes some kind of spaceship out of blue tape and levels, and then Gammy comes over with pizza on her way home from work.  Its getting there.

 

 

This is the downstairs bathroom.  Aka "Grandpa's Bathroom".  Once I took the wall down in the kitchen, we noticed that the bathroom was a little exposed and clearly needed some updating if it was going to be more noticed then it usually was.

 

Viola!  We took down the wallpaper then painted everying a crisp white (its actually the same white in the kitchen.)  I've picked out a blue, white and green that I am going to continue throughout the downstairs.  Mom and I put down a new lineolm floor.  I would have prefered tile but I think it still looks good and cost $30.  I am OBSESSED with my new vanity.  It is beautiful.  Mom found this gorgeous mirror from Dad's Nana's house so I refinished it to match.  Top it off with a blue ceiling, new light fixtures, and a new toliet.  I would have liked to do a lot more, but I love it and really love that it was in my budget.

 

The next phase is ripping up carpet, some new moulding, and lots of painting. I really would love to be all moved in by March but don't hold me to that.  We'll see how long it all takes us! 

 

And I have to give a huge shout out to all those who have helped out so far and so generously.  Too many to list, but know I love you guys.