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!

UPSTAIRS BATHROOM

Hello!  Happy 2012!  Except for little things, the upstairs bath is all done.  We are really proud of it.  After Cori made the bench with hooks for towels/robes, I made the old dressing table we got from Habitat into a vanity.  We used  the mirror that matched the downstairs bathroom dresser vanity for over the sink.  We were lucky one day at Lowes and found the exact size remnant we needed for the flooring and saved $50.  It looks like slate but is vinyl and cushiony to walk on.  The door is one of the coolest things.  We got it free when we went to buy another door for one of the bedrooms.  We decided to 'frost' the top window.  I happened to be on the internet and found that there was spray paint that frosted glass.  We thought we would try it since the door was free.  We found some vine-looking stencils that Cori stuck in the 4 corners and then she did the spray painting.  When it dried, in about 30 minutes, we removed the stencils and it came out great.  You can't see through it other than light.  It is pretty unique. 

  The plumbing was replaced in August in this corner in the bathroom and we put some planks on the wall that we had leftover from the ceiling in the downstairs bathroom.  We love the air compressor!

 I think I had posted a picture of the turquoise tub and sink before but wanted you to see the before/after side by side shots.  The new floor is more grayish than the picture shows.  We are pretty proud of this room.  We have to stop and stare at it whenever we walk by-ha!  I was going through my pictures and can't find the final project of Cori's bench.  I will take camera over there tomorrow and get one.  
Later...

The main floor bathroom is FINALLY done!

Hello and happy holidays,

I am taking a little break from the house down in Louisville and Cori is probably working her bottom off while I'm gone.  Heading home tomorrow so I can't wait to see what she's done.
 I have a few extra minutes in the hotel so I thought I would post some pictures of the bathroom  that is finally complete.  (the upstairs bath is almost done, too!)
I am putting before pictures of the tub area that used to have 2 sinks with a built in vanity.  There is also an alcove with the toilet.  It used to have two entrances.  One came off of the addition room but Cori blocked off that door so the toilet is more private.  Before the toilet area had a rotten floor and a bad wall behind the toilet from moisture.  There also had been a yucky shelf unit and old medicine cabinet across from toilet.  We found an old glass door cabinet on Craigslist that Cori built into the wall.  If you remember the dresser we got in September from Craigslist, it is now the cool vanity.  It came out gorgeous by cutting a hole for the sink and putting on a new faucet.  The floor by the toilet was tiled by me but Cori did a great job on the tile surround by the 'relaxation' tub.  The pine floor by the tub and vanity came out beautiful after being sanded (a lot) and stained.  It doesn't even look like the same room.   We love it!

Got to go see my grandon!

Taking a break from the house for this....

Brandon was 31 yesterday so I drove to Lousiville for a few days.  And I get to see my grandson, Isaac!!  He was 2 in September and I hadn't seen him since 4th of July.  Man, has he changed.  He knows letters and colors and can walk up and down stairs and runs a lot.  I am watching him all day while Brandon is working and Nicole out of town.  He's napping, so I'm resting...

Great deals

Hello,

I have been waiting to post our finished downstairs bathroom.  But it's not finished!  We were on a deadline to get it done before Thanksgiving because Dad and Sis are coming for the holiday, but our plumber went on a 2 week vacation hunting.  How dare he!!  Anyway, since we got delayed, we started on the upstairs bath.  Again, Cori used her awesome talent and made a cool bench/cubby/towel or robe hanger in the corner (bottom pic). It's not quite finished.  We are hanging 3 hooks and painting it gray.   The original bathroom had a corner vanity  (top picure) which we pulled out and we are putting in an old dressing table as our new vanity ($30 at Habitat Restore).  We got a deal on a sink -$3.50! (again at the Restore), and $60 off a faucet at Menards today.  I finished cutting the hole for sink today but we have to wait for the plumber to finish his plumbing duties! 
Family will start coming tomorrow. I am taking a few days off to eat and relax...

My Creative and Talented Sister

Just looked at the last post.  Wow!! Time flies.  I can not believe it has been more than a month since I posted anything. 
We have been working almost everyday and making lots of progress. (We did take time off to go to my niece's wedding in the Keys ).  In a few days we got two rooms done-the back room (with the new roof) and the dining room.  They were pretty simple once we had the drywallers do the ceiling and back wall.  Cori watched them and now is better than the professionals.  She closed up one of the doorways into the bathroom because it opened right into a view of the toilet.  After mudding and sanding, you can't even tell a door was ever there.  In the photo, the door was on the right.  (the other door is a closet) .  The color is an olive green with antique white trim.  The dining room is more of an olive gray with same color trim.
We are almost done with the bathroom.  It is going to be soooo wonderful.  (I'm going to enter it in a before/after contest !). We only have a few things left to do and then I will post pictures. 

Here's what Cori did today- We had an old cold air return in living room that was falling apart.  It was large and would be expensive to get a new one, like $200 for a vintage one.  Well, Cori looks at it, grabs some wood, air compressor and steel and makes a cool perfect one.  She is awesome. She gets an idea in her head and can whip it up in an hour.   (the floors look bad now, but after they are sanded and stained a little darker, they will be beautiful.  photos on that in a few months :)  )

Back room getting done..

Good morning,
We are whittling away at projects the last few weeks, so nothing has really been completed.  I learned that when you work on a house that has sooo much stuff to be done, you can't just concentrate on one room.  There is always something that pops up that needs your attention first, or you run into problems, or you don't have the right tools, or the weather is nice and you have to get the outside projects done, etc. etc...  We have been trying to get the main floor bathroom done.  So far, we have all the drywall up and floor underlayment down.  Next, we are going to tile.  Will send pictures later... But, I have posted pictures of the addition room on the back of the house.  This room had a flat ceiling and was rotted and disgusting looking, especially after the first day when I took down the drop ceiling.    The roofers came in and took off the whole roof and put a new slope on it.  Cori and I put in insulation between the studs this week and the drywallers came to do the back wall and ceiling.  They did it and the dining room ceiling in ONE HOUR!  Then a lady 'mudder' came over to mud all the seams and corners.  It takes her 4 days because she waits for it to dry between each coat. ( She is the one that makes it pretty so her cost is 3 times the drywallers).  After that is all done, we will blow in insulation through the unfinished closet ceiling and add some paint and then that room should be done. (all except wood floors , which will be done right before we put it up for sale )
Cori just texted me-it's 8am on Sunday morning! I better get over and help her do some projects this morning..