Just about done...

We are in the final stretch...
Eight months have flown by.  In just a few days we will be putting the house on the market.  What an experience!  Besides learning so much about house construction, I also found that I am not young anymore.  Not a day has gone by where I am not sore.  I can't wait to take the summer off and enjoy the sunshine, working in my OWN yard and garden, and maybe just spend the day doing NOTHING! (that would be weird)
A few weeks ago we had about 10 days of wonderful weather.  It was 70-80 degrees in the middle of March.  We used the time to work on the porch and in the yard. 

When we bought the house, the porch was covered in carpet and it was spongy in spots.  We waited until spring to work on it.  We had to replace a 3 foot x 7 foot section,  a 2 x 2 foot and a 2 x 3 foot section of flooring.  Surprisingly it wasn't so bad.  We fixed it in one day and painted the next.  It came out great.  The last picture is the day we finished, then we started 'staging'.   I am pretty proud of the bench I made next to the front door.  Kim and I had driven  by a driveway last summer that had 2 old twin headboards out for trash.  She talked me into pulling over and getting them both.  I made the bench from them and my friend's who own the thrift store gave me the perfectly matching pillows.  It was amazing how they were the right colors.  They also had given me the porch swing last summer when I bought the house and I painted the terra cotta color.  I hung a curtain behind the swing just in case it gets hot in the summer with the southern exposure.  It doesn't work too well.  When there is any kind of breeze, it blows like a sail!  Anyway, we hope someone drives by and buys the house just cuz they love the porch!

And in the last few days, we have gotten the floors refinished and the upstairs bedrooms carpeted.  The floors are AWESOME.  Just look at the pics..

These shots are a few days after we got the house.  Amanda had already started ripping up the horrible, disgusting carpet. (and she did it in about 95 degree weather). 
and the after.....

They are even prettier in person. We were hoping for the 'wow!'  factor when someone walks in the front door and we got it.
Now here's another thing that is cool.  Cori painted the stairs and hallway to upstairs.  Here is before..

This is Mary Jo, my realtor/friend on the day we looked at the house.  One day, Amanda went over and ripped out all the carpeting.  Then Cori came along and did this.  I love it!

Enough for now.See ya..

WE WON!

Yay!  Kammy from Kammy's Korner suggested I enter the upstairs vanity in her Tuesday trash-to-treasure contest last week.  After an hour of trying to figure out how to get the before and after pictures linked to her blog, I did it.  Since this Monday was a holiday, I thought today was Tues (it's Wed) and this morning when I got on her blog I was happy to see we won!  No prize, just the satisfaction of someone else liking the hard work that Cori and I have done.
I do want to mention that besides getting a lot of good deals at the Habitat Restore, one of my favorite places to find cooool stuff is at Second Chance Thrift Store in Laingsburg, MI.  Two sisters who grew up there opened it and will be celebrating their one year anniversary next week. Laingsburg is a little off the beaten path but worth it to visit.  After shopping at the thrift store, there are some good restaurants to get something to eat.  Whenever I stop by the store,  I always find unique or vintage furniture and great accesories.  Here are a few examples...

 

They get new things in daily and right now are working on different pieces of furniture with maps on them and vintage sewing machine tables made into game tables.  It is a good idea and they look great.

See ya..

The upstairs vanity before and after pictures

 

Something to add a little color to the winter landscape...

Cori brought this rebar tree with her from San Diego and we have been adding bottles since we have started working on the house.  (They all have been drunk for medicinal purposes only :)  )..  Even our neighbor has snuck over and added a few of her own!

It's the little things....

 The kitchen cabinets got put in this week. (beautiful!)  Waiting for the countertop.  In the meantime,  here's a picutre of the built in shelves behind the upstairs bathroom door.  What a difference paint makes...

Purple room no longer purple!

 

We liked the color of living room so much (and we had leftover paint) that we painted the purple room the same color.  Definitely more subtle.  We are going to get neutral carpet for all the upstairs bedrooms because we don't want to pull out the hundreds, maybe thousands, of nails that they used to hold down underlayment.

Finally got a picture..

hello,

I finally got a picture taken today of the great bench that Cori made in the upstairs bath.  We took out the old vanity and mirrors and she built this instead.  It is awesome!