Every time John goes out of town I try to do a project. I tiled the backsplash this weekend. Then I realized the drapes didn't match so I made new ones. If you look at the picture you can see my next project: the horrible floor. We replaced the oven hood Monday.
I am so happy that I own a tile saw. I want to tile my whole house now.
and make a wall in the basement.
maybe next weekend.
We are still wildly working on the kitchen- the painting is almost done. I really like this hardware from Anthropologie and we ordered drawer pulls from the hardware store- THRILLING! Knobs are a harder decision because John doesn't like the glass knobs that I like. Also some of them are really expensive. I love looking at them- I look online a lot. I am glad we went with a light paint color because our kitchen looks cleaner and brighter. It makes me realize that our non-functioning oven hood doesn't match our oven. Jen noticed it right away when she visited and now it bothers me. It already bothered me that the hood didn't work. I decided I wanted the freak out and call mom print somewhere in my kitchen. That happens to me so frequently in the kitchen after all...
The current countertop in all it's worn out glory. My least favorite part of the kitchen is the floor- it's original linoleum. Someone told me you used to have to refinish linoleum and that might be why the finish is so strange. I covered it up with a rug so I don't have to think of it until we get the time to put tile in. My uncle was going to come help us do the floor but my house was too messy so we backed out. As soon as that happened a little piece of my heart died. So I had to go and buy the stacking kit for the washer and dryer (in the kitchen) and three shelves. Our microwave is going to live in the closet with the washer and dryer. When I got the idea I emptied out the current shelf and took down the rod. Then I realized we had to repair the wall. Is it wrong to wait on putting things together because I want to paint the closet. Then I thought maybe I should wait until we do the floor tile. Sigh- luckily I found new homes for all of the cleaners.
Our Kitchen adventure continues. If you ever want your life to be torn up for a few days just decide to paint your kitchen. It's like being naked- everything in your cupboards is on display. Danielle kept stealing my nutella. Maybe I shouldn't have food that I hide my kids- if I have to hide it I shouldn't eat it. Of course this morning I hid in the bathroom and ate my nutella toast and banana, grateful that the cabinet door was on. I don't know exactly what we will do with the back splash- I want to do a Tiffany blue porcelain subway tile but I'm not sure if it will be universally appealing since we probably won't live here forever.
To paint the cabinets we
cleaned them-
filled the holes with wood putty (if you want to level the surface just use a wet rag rather than sanding it flat- it works great)
sanded them
cleaned them again
painted primer 3-4 coats
paint 3-4 coats (sand between coats)
I used really light coats with the detail roller which I liked- for the corners I used a paintbrush for thicker coverage.
I had touch ups after the doors were hung.
My advice if you are painting cabinets-
Get the little detail rollers- I really liked using them and felt like the painting went faster.
Primer is wonderful.
It took us like a billion coats and you need lots of space to paint that- if I could do it again I would follow the advice I read to just get a line in your garage and paint them all rather than putting them all over in the kitchen- so I would paint when it is warmer. That being said I have kids so I can't just disappear in the garage all the time.
It takes a lot longer than you think- I read some thing that said you could do it in a weekend. umm OK maybe if that is your job- I think at least a week is necessary.
Off white is not white. No white porcelain sink for me.
John doesn't like Chrome- who doesn't like Chrome. that's not related. I love projects.
It took me a while to develop New Years Resolutions. I think I have some good ones.
1. Be able to park one car in our garage. I remember growing up my parents had dog bones in our garage. In our last place we had a one car garage and you couldn't park in it and get a car seat in and out of the car. I have never actually lived in a place where you can park any cars in the garage. As soon as the cement for our fence leaves the garage I have big plans for it.
2. Be done with our kitchen redo. I will be posting more about this later. I don't like redoing our kitchen. It makes me realize why people have outdoor kitchens and dining rooms. If you are going to paint your cabinets do it in the spring.
3. Be completely unpacked and have an organized basement. I gave myself permission to avoid the basement since it is freezing cold right now. But it is a goal so I will do it.
4. Run a half marathon in May. I have already wanted to quit and I've only been running for two weeks. This is probably the hardest thing I have ever done in my life.
5. Cook one new meal a week. Well as soon as I'm done painting the kitchen.
6. Have all the pictures up.
7. Teach myself more about photography- get a book or something.
8. Figure out how to use my screen printer. Maybe I will make shirts for the family vacation this year.
9. Have a fenced yard and work in the yard at least three hours a week. I like gardening and Danielle does too. Right now it is too cold but soon we will be out there again. I just got one of my favorite garden tools and I am excited to try it out.
10. Paint the front door and re-do the entry. I guess there is a quarry nearby where they give extra pieces away- so I might get some pretty reasonably priced rock for a new pathway. Now I just have to learn how to pour concrete.
When Jen visited she seemed concerned that our house would burn down. So I made shorter drapes for the office. I actually got cafe window drapes from Target and added fabric to them- total cost of about $22.00 which is pretty good for a window treatment. Claire you will notice the beautiful orange magazine holders which I love. Thank you. And my covered books. This week's projects make me smile.
Well Mark the baby was one month old on Sunday. I thought he was going to be one month old on Monday which probably shows how he is at that point when I am imagining things from lack of sleep. Just a few more weeks and he will start sleeping through the night. (I think it was like that- I know that crazy awakes ends sometime soon...) I have had lots of help and I feel less tired than I remember feeling with Danielle. I liked the troubled look he has on his face a lot of the time. Baby Mark is a great addition to our family and I love cuddling him.
So I really like reading this blog called Rambling Renovators about home improvement. The woman who writes it has such a cute nursery and she lives in Canada. Her blog gave away an iTouch and I won. I can't believe I won. Last year I won Christmas cards from a blog giveaway. I was so excited I almost sent them out. Instead they have joined my ever growing stack of cards that I haven't sent out. Speaking of which we have birth announcements. Send me your address and I will guarantee you one. You just might get it several years late...
Maybe also tell me if you got our last easter card.
"Imaginative play is a precursor of conceptual thought – in which possibilities are explored upon the inner 'stage' of a child's imagination." – Erik Erikson
I guess Danielle is at the age where imaginary play is important. Several articles I read and also Parenting magazine tell me that it is good to pretend. It even made it into the what to expect the toddler years book so I guess it is normal. All that reading has made it easier for me to tolerate the constant stream of noise that is associated with imaginary play. Danielle seems capable of speaking about 95 percent of the time that she is awake. You just have to know if she is talking to you or talking for one of the my little ponies or lizard. Sometimes she asks us to leave her alone so she can go play. She yells "don't come" and then goes into the basement with her tea set. A few days ago she decided that she wanted to be a princess and wear her bug pajama pants all day.
Not one to stifle creativity, especially when the process involves less work for me, I let her wear those bug pants for two days straight. Maybe she will let me replace them with bug dress- people don't like toddlers who are wearing bug pants.
Thinking about imaginary play makes me realize that I still do this important developmental skill. I regularly try to have imaginary play. Just the other day I imagined that my house was really clean and organized. John likes the idea of having pink walls in my imaginary play, and we have a tiled back splash in our kitchen with granite counter tops and hardwood floors. For three hours I tried to imagine it. The house still didn't get clean though so I clearly need to work on the imagining more. I'm not sure but I think I wasn't pregnant in my imagining- would you be pregnant for imaginary play? I hope not. Danielle was coloring quietly at her table and I was rocking in my green chair that I love. Can you covet something you already own?
Now if only I could get Danielle to let me have a chance with that great hat.
Well we tried to buy a fence from Lowes the other day. Earlier we had tried to order it but were told to come back between 6pm and 5pm. So we came in at 4:45 and Bob told us to go outside and look at what they had to special order. I guess there was a book out there. After looking I couldn't find the book so we picked something they had in stock. We went back in and Mr. Bob was gone. Then we went to the customer service desk. They said they could find someone to help us order the fence. The employee they found looked suspiciously wet. Maybe he had also been looking for fences in the 90 degree weather outside. He said he couldn't help us because the general something manager had to order the fence since it was in stock.
So at 6:00 we left and went out to dinner. I have always been loyal to Lowes over Homedepot but I think people here are determined to change my mind. Last time I tried to buy a dryer at lowes we waited for 40 minutes to not be helped.
The next day we ordered an in stock fence from Home Depot. They are delivering it this weekend. And they have candy in their store so Danielle wasn't crying. The employee walked with us to show us what he had of the fences and they took our 10% off coupon. It took less than one hour. For 59 dollars they are delivering it to our house.
and he walked outside himself. in the rain. and didn't get mad when Danielle tried to steal the rocks from his display. Why do some stores make it hard to be loyal to them? I've noticed since moving here that people regularly don't want to wait on you. the economy here isn't very good so you think they would try to help you- but we've had surveyors not show up after trying to get things done. That's Pennsylvania I guess.
I thought everyone should know that just a few hours after starting our first home improvement project with Uncle Mark we finally found the SD card for the camera. John found it. After I looked for a few hours. So I won't have before pictures for the office (when it is done that is). Mark visited even though our house is still in quite a state of disarray. He worked really hard the whole time. So hard I want to take a nap just thinking about it.
After hours of slaving away installing three ceiling fans in the bedrooms upstairs Mark wanted to shower. I guess he didn't want to use the dirty towels that John and I have been using. Danielle shares with me but I try not to shower very often. Just because I store my towel a pile on the floor doesn't mean it isn't company ready.... maybe. So finally we went to the linen closet and the only towel we could find was Danielle's hooded Valentine Towel from the pottery barn. You'll be happy to know I got it on clearance and she looks so cute in the hoods. Actually maybe it is from the outlet.
The next day when Mark pointed out that rather than look for a towel for him I fell asleep on the couch like a wonderful hostess I felt bad about not being able to find a towel.
I should have looked to this 80's house. Since the last owners, an elderly asian couple, left all the window coverings and some other special prizes we will have lots of fun adventures. This 80's house just keeps on giving, and Mark should have known that this 80's house always has towels. with lace. They're on the windows in the bathroom- especially for a situation like this. Even if I wasn't the best hostess ever, our old friends who owned the house before us are looking out for our guests. Thanks house! (I added the air freshener clip to the window- they had some really stinky air fresheners in when we moved in so it had to be changed)
When we first moved into our current townhome I wanted window coverings. There weren't ANY. Not even cheap mini blinds. Then again if you don't spring for ceiling lights window coverings probably aren't a huge priority. I didn't really want the neighbors to be able to see me at night so we bought some nice yellow drapes on sale.
Then we painted the wall brown and had to start over again. We ended up with silk ivory colored drapes and it is only now that I realized there was another option.
John and my uncle Mark disappeared for 20 short minutes to Lowes and then reappeared with "cordless" mini blinds. You just take the strip off the top and attach them to the window- the folded paper naturally comes down to cover your window in a day or two. Then the cordless feature can truly be appreciated, with just two little clips you can raise those mini blinds to just about any height (but putting them all the way up can compromise the stickiness and render them useless so use caution). Total cost? less than 5 dollars each.
My sliding glass door was a little bit trickier- but with the help of some Hallmark wrapping paper our window was usable and a little bit of happiness. Plus now Austin doesn't look out the window and bark at the neighbors.
Although I am in love with my new window coverings, I will leave them as a gift for my landlord. After all, the best part about finding something fantastic is sharing it. If you think you can't afford window coverings- think again. And you can always change the wrapping paper for birthdays.
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