The After!

Finally, finally, finally... the office is finished.  Well, mostly.  

There's a ton of touch up to be completed, but at least the majority of the work is done and the stuff has been loaded in there...

I am so excited to have finished a room.  It is so good for my mental process!  There are so many unfinished things that I feel over-the-moon about having one thing done.  

And just a reminder of the {BEFORE}...

 
We also had a great visit with some out of town friends, which meant I got to get the guest room back in order.  And this stack of boxes... means I put away the last of the boxes!!!  Speaking of house guests, we have been having an on-going bat problem... we thought we had effectively excluded them from the living space, leaving them to circle the attic, but of course as soon as we had visitors, they returned.  One in the dining room and FOUR in the basement!  We have responded in kind by filling the attic with moth balls, which they apparently dislike, and we are running one of those sonic thingers, but I think we'll have to bite the bullet and go with an exterminator.  It's going to be crazy expensive, but I can't share my house with them.  I just can't do it.  Not to mention the moth ball smell is not really so great... if anyone else has ever successfully excluded bats, feel free to share your secrets!

We all went to the flea market, despite the crazy heat and it was well worth it... I got this great planter...

And Tim found this fantastic otter, which he re-mounted so nicely...

 
And this little number is a permit... yes, a real live electrical permit because we are having new wiring run to the first floor and a new main panel.  It's a lot of work, and fortunately Tim's step dad is helping us with it.  

And last, but certainly not least, you may recall the cute little settee that Tim brought home from the thrift store... here it is fully refurbished and painted.  Tim gave it new bottom support, added some trim, and then painted all of the non-fabric parts.  I really love it.  Here's a before and after...

{BEFORE}

{AFTER}

And if you look really carefully, you may notice that the floor is not torn up beneath that seat, and that's because Tim is working on repairing it.  It is working out much better than either of us expected, and I'll give you some before and afters once its finished.



 

Sneak Peak...

And it goes on and on and on... I keep plugging away at the office room, and it just keeps taking more time.  Here's a sneak preview, but I must say, I'm feeling very frustrated with the extra steps that are becoming necessary...

Every time I paint, the stupid tape is no good.  It is strong enough to pull away the paint, but not really effective enough to mask the way it should.  I have no idea how to combat this problem.  So, here again, I have to add a step to the process and go back over every edge that I've finished with a small brush and go over the white paint that has seeped through and the spots that the tape pulled away.  I'd love to hear any wisdom on this problem.  I've tried every type of tape and it always seems to be the same result.

That being said, I am tantalizingly close to being done.  I am motivated to be finished so I can clear out the guest room in time for our guests to arrive this weekend.  That's great motivation.  Tim's step dad is doing some electrical work for us and has said that he will need to take the paneling off one of the office walls, but I won't even get into that now.  I'm just going to stay optimistic that it won't wreck things in there... I can't wait to organize my books in color order!  Plus, I got this little gem of an over-the-door rack to add to the charm.  This weekend, I will have the final "after" pictures!  

 
I also finally finished the curtain to cover the utility closet in the kitchen, so now our mops and brooms are effectively masked.  I love Ikea fabric.  

I imagine that it will be the kind of thing that I will change from time to time to add some new color/pattern to the kitchen.  I'm also contemplating making a rug from some fabric and a drop-cloth and non-slip backing.  I saw a tutorial for it, and I'm a little skeptical, but I don't think I'll ever find the rug I'm after at a good price.  Here's the link for the DIY tutorial:
 
http://high-heelfootinthedoor.blogspot.com/2010/04/diy-chevron-rug.html

I'm a huge fan of the chevron that is everywhere, just as shown in the tutorial, but I also can't wait to go scrounge around the PA Fabric Outlet.  They have amazing fabrics, including a pretty extensive selection of upholstery fabrics, which might be a good choice since it is likely to be durable.  That being said, I'm not ruling out the 99-cent rolls, because they always give up some gems.  But I digress... stay tuned for this weekend, when I will reveal Tim's settee make-over and the final office pictures.  And please, please, if you have any advice on the paint/tape issue, so share it in the comments...

Returning to the outdoors...

{BEFORE}

So, despite the itch of poison ivy, I have returned to the outdoors.  I had to get a few things planted just to gussy up the front porch, and so I managed to get these few things together.  I also found a little plant-glamour for the patio, so now when we come and go from either the front or the back, the house looks just a little more lived-in.  

Tim did a ton of hedge-trimming too.  Take that poison ivy.  I'm not scared.  I may actually have poison ivy (or more accurately, the Prednasone the doctor prescribed) to thank for a never-ending burst of energy.  The plus side is getting some things accomplished... the down side is not sleeping at night.  This too shall pass.  For, now, I am trying to capitalize and get things done while the getting's good.  

{AFTER}

 

The office is officially sealed and primed, and now I can start painting it BLACK... black like your soul, black hole sun, I see a white room and I want to paint it black... choose your own musical reference.  I am painting it black with a creamy gloss trim called "cotton balls".  I love color names.  

 
I am using "premium" paint for the first time, and so far I feel that the primer and ceiling paint have been well worth the money.  The Benjamin Moore ceiling paint I used was incredibly thick and it covered beautifully.  I may still have acoustic ceiling tiles, but at least they are now a beautiful, clean, gleaming white.  Much better.  I may get really motivated and start painting the black walls tonight... I am eager to get it done, because the trim will take forever... I'll let you know how it goes.  We have some other projects in the works as well, including Tim's amazing DIY floor repair, so I will report back this weekend with the update.  For now, I have to go do something so I don't start scratching! 

Hiatus...

Soooooo... nothing too exciting to update, because I have been sidelined with a really wicked case of poison ivy.  I mention this not only to whine a bit in a fruitless effort to feel better, but also to do a little PSA and say that after gardening or major outdoorsiness you should wipe down with soap and water.  This attack of poison ivy took almost a week and a half to bloom, but was apparently the result of the previously blogged about yard work blitz.  I pulled bags and bags of vines, some of which were apparently poison ivy or sumac.  I would have never guessed it could lay in wait that way and take a week or more to appear, but it can.  I was also surprised to learn about a few other ivy myths:

• You can't spread it to others or from yourself to another place on yourself.  It is really a matter of direct contact with the oil that is omnipresent on the various poison plants.
• The reaction is actually an allergic reaction which is why not everybody is susceptible, or why you may not have reacted before and are only reacting now, as in my case.  
• Don't burn it; the oil can become airborne in the soot and get into your eyes and nose and lungs.  Sounds miserable.
• Even though it is not spreadable, it may seem as though it is spreading because it takes time to "bloom" and you may have a dot or two that later turns into 12 dots conspiring to drive you crazy.
• You should still not scratch it, because you can easily develop a secondary infection (like staph or strep...) or it can cause scarring.
• And lastly, my doctor said that you should never use bleach or alcohol or whatever, because although they dry out the skin they are doing damage and not really drying up the allergic reaction.  Also, she said calamine doesn't really work... who knew?

So, thus completes my public service announcement and my summer warning to all of you.  I am too grumpy and pumped on steroids to tackle my projects, so they are just laying in wait.  I have not been able to sleep at all between the itch and the side-effects of the treatment, so I am just not a happy camper right now.  Hopefully this weekend I can get back on target.  I really am dying to paint that office, but I can't say that I mind putting it off until the days when the weather drops out of the 100 degree range and back into the (relatively) comfortable low 90s before I get back to the sweaty labor.  In the meantime, I am wishing you all ice cold beverages and cool evenings...

The most amazing thing has happened...

It snowed in my office!  I know what you're thinking, it's been 90+ degrees outside so this seems pretty unlikely, but it's true.  Actually, before the weather took a hike to the melty zone, I sanded and sanded and sanded the newly-spackled walls until they were smooth... okay, relatively smooth.  okay, in the interest of full disclosure, maybe it's best to describe them as being pretty smooth in the beginning and working down to sort-of smooth at the end and in the areas you won't really notice.  I tried to make them perfect, but quickly realized it just wasn't possible.  So I am pretty excited to have just achieved completion, and we will leave it at that! I must say it felt like a workout, and now my arms look like this...

Because I did my chores, I got to go to the rock show.  Those are the rules, so I obeyed.  We also made a side trip to Ikea and finally picked up the porch lights we have been after for some time now... Tim is hard at work, installing them now.

 

We grabbed some dorky baskets to corral some mess under the coffee table.  I'm thinking about spray painting them yellow to make them a bit more interesting, but I must say that I am excited about how well they have organized the mess.  Yup, I said it.

I also picked up some fluffy ferns to make up for the hanging baskets that I neglected to death.  

 
We also re-grouted the tub downstairs, but that's not a very exciting picture.  I pulled out the old grout and started to put in the new, and then promptly threw a fit because it wasn't really working out, so Tim saved the day and smoothed it on out.  It is a temporary fix; we really need to replace the entire tub surround.  As with all things in this house, that is not quite as simple as it sounds because we need a custom surround since the tub stall has a window in the middle.  I happen to think it's lovely, but it does complicate things a bit.  Also, it turns out that the walls behind the tub surround should really be ripped out and replaced.  We'll get there, but for now the solution was to regrout the tub and clean, clean, clean.  Next up will be painting and fresh linoleum tile.  


As the end of this glorious long-weekend is drawing near, I am trying to finish up the remaining things I have started.  For example, heaps of laundry, including fabric to make a curtain in the kitchen.  I am hoping to get back up there in the office and get the ceiling painted.  It is tiled, which is non-ideal, but fresh white ceiling paint ought to make a significant improvement.  I'll report back if I get all of that accomplished!  I hope everyone has enjoyed their weekends... did anyone else tackle any projects?
 

Terror Firma

Today I tackled the yard... it has been mocking me for the past three weeks, and finally I decided that there was no point in waiting for a nice, cool day to do it.  Today was the day.  One of my favorite features of this house has been the yard.  It has really excellent and mature plantings, but it has been neglected for several seasons.  Apparently the yard is as great as I think, because many weeds have been competing with each other for real estate there. 

The biggest problem was the vines that were taking over the peony beds and the wrought iron fence.  As much as I hate weeds, I have to give vines their due.  They are incredibly clever and efficient, not to mention effective.  They follow existing plants, and then follow each other, so they can climb while hiding in something you actually want to keep.  Then, they become so engrossed in the plants that its hard to get rid of one without getting rid of both.  But, I managed to clear out the majority of the vines and weeds, and the yard looks so much better and more manicured.  I am pleased.  We celebrated with a grill feast for dinner. (Before/After)

Next project will be finishing up with spackling and sanding the office walls so I can get busy painting.  

For now, I am traveling for work a bunch, so I'll have to wait until I return.  Off to the flea market in the morning... I'll report back on any good finds. 

Last Weekend's Successes...

Hey ya'll... I know, I'm behind on my posting.  This has been a VERY busy week!  So here's a few updates... last weekend we had an awesome trip to Saturday's Market, and Tim picked up our new friend, Michael J. as pictured above.  He's quite the dapper gentleman.  In other taxidermy news, Tim also picked up the bat below at Jubilee Day; sorry, he refused not to be glaring in the photo. 

That bat was apparently a harbinger of events to come, because we have had a bat in the house three different times this week.  We knew there was a small pod of them in the attic, and I could accept them as the excellent bug-catchers that they are.  Now, they have overstepped their boundaries.  I do not need them to catch bugs for me down here in the living room.  No thanks.  It might just be that I'm a tiny bit afraid of bats.  They are so flappy and unpredictable.  And squeaky.  I am not the type to jump up on a chair if I see a creepy crawly thing, but flying creepy things is just another story... anyway... we have done a bunch of research and learned that they basically need to be "excluded" by waiting until they fly out at night and then blocking up any entrance-way that is a quarter of an inch or bigger.  In this house, there are few gaps that aren't at least a quarter of an inch!  However, compared to the VERY large price of paying a professional to exclude them, it looks like we need to think about doing it ourselves.  Yep, my skin is crawling.  I'll let you know how that goes, whenever we get up the nerve to do it. 

In other last weekend news, we made the first new-house trip to Ikea, and it was pretty successful.  I got some cute little plants and things... a few typical Ikea odds and ends, but also a new coffee table...

Some decor for my office...

a new table/desk for my office...

Cushions that totally redeem our flea market chairs...

Some new picture frames, which we put our excellent posters from our recent San Francisco trip in...

And a bunch of time spent like this...

I'm pretty pleased, though.  These pieces were really helpful in pulling things together.  I also picked up this Craigslist find, an awesome new desk chair, from an equally awesome couple.  Truly, one of the best parts of all of this Craigslisting has been the super folks that I have met along the way.  So good.  People are actually nice out there, despite my sometimes low expectations.  Hooray!

I also picked up this fantastic bar for the kitchen, a la Craigslist, that has really changed the feel of the kitchen.  I am so happy to have it!  It has resolved some of our counter-space issues, and will make it much more tolerable until we are able to re-do it the way we would really like it, complete with new cabinets and counter tops.  

Also, we (Tim) cut a hole in the basement door to allow the kitties access to their newly arranged "facilities."  We are all grateful that they now have their privacy.  Truly. 

It was a good weekend... then, we had an electrician come by and give us some estimates for replacing the knob and tube that we have running through the house.  Our house has old veins.  It is going to be a lot of cost to complete it all, but we can tackle it bit by bit, so it should be alright.  It isn't as much of an emergency as the plumbing work was, so that's a relief.  More update to follow... it has already been a busy weekend!

Super Flea Market Score Day

Every now and then, flea market magic just happens... this was one of those days. We were only there for about an hour before it started to rain like crazy and in that short hour we mega-scored.  Tim found the grinning cayman seen above to add to his collection.  We got this Pee-Wee Herman doll with flexible legs...

I got this stamp set that is pretty similar to one my sister and I used to play with at my grandparent's house.  My grandma had the best stuff to play with because she was a teacher... she had stacks of construction paper in all colors, including the manila with swirls.  Top notch.  The stamp set was one of the amazing things she had, and when I saw this one I felt like I had to have it.  Done.  It has the same smell as the one we used to play with.  I can't wait to stamp things with old-timey letters.

We got this trio of glass jars with cork stoppers.  I love them.  They will likely house some kind of tiny oddity... maybe a little blue scuba diver, or a yellow cow, or a chicken foot... it's so hard to say.  

 
Tim found this adorable little bell with a Pegasus on it (interesting... spell check just insisted that I capitalize Pegasus...)  She loves things that have a Pegasus on them... I hope she doesn't read this.  I also got an over-the-door shoe holder for $1.00!  I really needed one, so great.  

And finally, I got Rollfast!

 
I am very excited about this bike.  It is a single speed bike with coaster wheels and a leather seat... I was smitten right away.  We did a  lap of the flea market and when it was still there, as the first rain droops were landing, I pounced on it.  I will need to get new tires and tubes, more than likely, but still it was a great deal for such a cutie.  I can't wait to get it all cleaned up and pretty.  I am over the moon!

That's the story... amazing flea market success rate.  I am usually excited for one little thing that I find, but this was a bonanza.  All right, now back to the house...