I've gotten quite a bit done although you may not be able to tell.  We (meaning Dear Hubby) had to paint the bookcases on the right of the former fireplace to match the new trim color.  In the meantime, all the "stuff" that was on the shelves was either stuffed onto the new shelves on the left or in boxes on the floor.  I spent all day Friday arranging the shelves.

Still some empty spaces but I'm okay with that for now.  The bottom three shelves on both sides will be covered with something.  Ideally with custom made, raised panel doors made by Dear Hubby someday but in the meantime, maybe some osnasburg curtains.

I also cleaned, cleaned, cleaned everything in this room.  I think I swept up an entire dog  worth of hair from these two. (picture from last fall)

I'm just about finished painting the bathroom.  Just have to roll the walls one more time.  And I have two coats on the new bathroom vanity.  This picture is after one coat.  I'll check in the morning to see if I need another coat.  I doubt it since I will be antique-ing it anyway.  No sense putting on three coats just to sand one off!

Hopefully I can show more pics in a day or two.  I have the lights off in the bathroom and am painting by lamplight.  A little too dark for picture taking right now.

Blessings, Cathi
13620

He done good . . . . .

After a few little "under his breath" comments, the floor is down, grouted and he waited the mandatory 3 days to put the grout sealer on.

In the meantime, he sanded a cabinet that we will be using for the sink.  We bought a base cabinet at the big box store.  It didn't have the finish we wanted so Dear Hubby sanded it down.  We will paint it to match the one in the kid's bathroom.  First we are on our way to Annapolis, MD for quilt show where I will be a vendor.  Then he will be going to New Orleans for a convention for a week.

Hopefully I will be able to surprise him (good thing he doesn't read the blogs!) and get the walls and the cabinet painted.

Blessings, Cathi
13328

They are finally gone ! . . . . .

Five weeks of the endless drone of the cidadas but they are finally gone!  I can hear birds again.  All kinds of birds!  I knew the other night that it must be near the end because I could hear the bullfrogs down near our creek.  Finally on to other things! 

A few little other things have been happening around the house.  During the great remodel last summer, the guest bathroom had to be gutted because of the height of the floor with the new floor.  Not to worry, it needed it.  This is how it has looked for a while.  Now that school is out, Dear Hubby can get to work again.  All the parts have been bought.  Dear Hubby is laying tile today.  Whoohoo!

We did finally decide on sconces for the living room.  I don't know why it is so difficult for me to make a decision.  When you have precious little money, you want to make the right decision the first time.  I hate returning things.

 Note the crown molding is up!  Boy, are we slow.

The bookcases on the right have been painted.  They were built over 10 years ago.  The ones on the left were to be built right after that but it never happened.  Now I have both to decorate.  We have plenty of "stuff" to put on them.  I just don't want them to look junky.  In an ideal world, I would have a collection of pewter dishes.  Can't afford them right now so I will have to decorate with what I have.

Thanks to those who have stuck with this blog even though I don't post much on here anymore.  I hope to rectify that soon.  After all, it is summer and I do have Dear Hubby around until high school football starts!

Blessings, Cathi
13127

Paint colors . . .

Some people asked about the paint colors and one of them is a no-reply blogger 

If you are fairly new or not as proficient at blogging as others, you need to manually go in to blogger and change a toggle to let us know what your email address is.  To find out how, click here.

The colors we used are from Lowes Valspar Paints.  Why Valspar?  Because it's only 5 minutes to Lowes and Home Depot is all the way across town.  And I like the paint.

The wall color is called Lyndhurst Stone . . . . .

And the trim is LaFonda Sagebrush . . .

These paint chips were taken off the Valspar website and look a little redder than the actual color but you get the idea.

We also splurged for a new couch.  I had really wanted a Johnston Benchworks couch but the closest dealer was 3 hours away.  We wanted to keep our money in our county so we opted for something that would work as an okay substitute.

Notice that the color is about a perfect match to the trim color.  The corner round that is on the floor behind the couch is actually up on the wall like it should be now.  The surface area of the seats are the same as our former couch but because the profile of the arms are much smaller, it makes the couch look smaller.  And I love that no one can put drinks precariously on the arms anymore!

We've narrowed the sconces down to these three . . . . .

 

We will have two between the bookcases.  You can see one of the boxes in the post below, top picture.  Dear Hubby likes the first one but it may be too wide.  I have to check dimensions but haven't gotten around to it.  The middle one I will have to buy a lamp shade for.  Another decision.  And the third one will be harder to clean.  We have several punched tin lights and lots of dust.  But if I put in 25 watt bulbs, who will see the dust?

Any thoughts?

 

Blessings, Cathi
10969

Slow as molasses and even slower in the winter . . . .

Dear Hubby and I are STILL working on little projects mostly in the living room.  We just can't seem to get anything finished.  

We finally made a deal that WHEN we finished the living room, dining room and foyer, we would reward ourselves with something nice. 

Dear Hubby finished the bookcase to the left of the former fireplace . . . . .

The base moulding is down . . . . .

But the crown moulding is not . . . .

Still . . . . .

But once the base moulding went down, Dear Hubby was very excited and vowed to finish this project.  He just needs a few free weekends and a Spring Break to get there.

On my end, I am having trouble with the sconces.  Thought I had something picked out but the customer service was being so difficult at the store I picked, I abandoned that idea.  I'll know it when I see it!

Blessings, Cathi
10475

You know it's Fall when . . . . .

The Pumpkin Spice Latte is at your local Panera Bread ! ! !

I'd show you the inside but it's gone already!  I know they are a little expensive but I worked really hard this past weekend at the quilting retreat where I taught.  I figured I deserved a $4.00 latte!

I'm still busy dying wool.  This past weekend was a great success.  I taught 2 wool applique classes and sold a LOT of wool.  I'm spending three days this week dying wool (it's on the stove as we speak) then I have to set up for my next show on Thursday.  Very tiring but also very satisfying.

When this weekend's show is over and I give a wool applique program for a local guild on Monday night, I hope to get back to working on the house.  I knew we would come to a complete stand still.  At least we are consistent!!

I have managed to finish this end of the room . . . . .

Before . . . . .

After . . . . .

Obviously the crown moulding isn't up yet.  If I wait until that is up to show you any pictures, it could be next spring!  Dear Hubby is a little afraid of crown moulding so that will definitely be the last thing we do.  

The copper bucket on the floor to the left is for the boys toys.  They have already learned to get them from there.  I just haven't trained them to put them back yet.  Heck, I'm lucky if I can get them to keep them inside!

The chair to the left of the doors is an old school desk that my mom and dad had forever in their house.  I'm not really sure where it came from.

I really like how this end turned out.  We have never had drapes on this end of the room.  It sure warmed it up as soon as they went up.  

The fabric is called Miss Kitty by Braemore.  The colors are just perfect for the room.  We also have drapes of the same fabric at the other end.

Hope you are enjoying this weather !!  I know I am.

I forgot to add that I am going to make some Prim sign to put between the two curtain rods above the door.  I just haven't decided on the word yet . . . . . or what size . . . . or what color . . . . or what text font . . . .

Blessings, Cathi
6287

Where I blog ..... for now . . . . .

The floors are finished!  Whoo hoo!!

Unfortunately football practice has started, the teachers have gone back and the kids start tomorrow.  Which means I don't have my right hand handyman anymore.

We have moved the couch and dining room table back into the house but all the other furniture is still stored away.  We decided that since the furniture was still out of the rooms, we might as well paint.  I know we should have done that first but we didn't.  I'm not too worried since I am usually a neat painter.

The computer has been in pieces on my bedroom floor for a week.  I decided I just couldn't do without it anymore so I have put it back ..... sort of.

Let me tell you, that stepstool is uncomfortable!  I don't plan on being on the computer long!!  I started painting the walls.  You can see the new color behind the computer screen.  The old color is at the bottom of the wall, soon to be covered with base molding.  More on the new color later.

And the other wall?  Well, another one of those Money Pit moments.  It won't take long to fix but Dear Hubby can only work on weekends now.

I hope I can back to checking out others blogs now and returning emails.  Hope you have a comfortable chair to sit on!

Blessings, Cathi
4096

Late night but the floors are moving right along . . . . .

More quick pics . . . . .

Sanding and staining went pretty well.  It was a late night but we 'gotter dun' without incident.

I'm posting with Dear Hubby's laptop and having trouble with pictures going in the right place.  You get the drift.

Blessings, Cathi

Cabinets are in . . . . . time to sand the floors . . . . .

A quick post to show the base cabinets in. 

In an hour, we will be picking up the sander.  The boys have gone on "vacation" to visit The Married One with her two little lovelies.

We will be spending the next several days staining and sealing.  For some reason, I am very nervous about this part.  Say a little prayer for us.

Blessings, Cathi
3234

Moving right along . . . . on something else . . . . .

The floors are still in the same state as the last post except we have put down red rosin paper to protect them.

The big project this past week was the kitchen . . . . still.  Friday, a week ago, we went to IKEA and picked out a new kitchen.

Now IKEA wasn't my first choice.  That was for Dear Hubby to build custom cabinets that I could have painted and antiqued for a nice prim look.  He does such a good job with woodworking.  If he had all summer to do them WITHOUT having to put down the flooring or repairing the holes in the ductwork under the house or help the contractor dude with under the house structural stuff, he would have done it.  Something like this . . . . . except maybe painted red . . . . .

My second choice was to buy stock boxes from IKEA and have him build just the doors.  He said, "but football practice starts in two weeks!".

So we went with the whole shooting match from IKEA.  I have to say, we made the right decision.  We had looked at some stock cabinets at the big box store that looked about the same.  The IKEA cabinets with all the fun innards were less expensive and the quality was much better. Just no comparison.  Not the prim look I want but I can monitor and adjust with the decorating.

As of this morning, the boxes are built and in and level (big whoo whoo on that one)  . . . . . .

Here is Dear Hubby working on putting in the counter top. . . . . .

With Nelson's help . . . . . Reagan is off napping somewhere . . . . .

All the drawers and inside thingys are built . . . . .

And while I've been writing this post, Dear Hubby has gotten half the counter top in.  They are a birch butcher block from IKEA.  Just love it.  They are solid wood which will be stained and finished with tung oil like the floors.

So the goal for the rest of the weekend (and I'm just telling you so we can be held accountable) is to get the rest of the counter tops in, install the kitchen sink, put the black, wrought iron hardware on the drawers and cook dinner on the stove by Sunday night.

Monday we start with sanding the floors.  The upper cabinets and the painting and the decorating are going to have to wait.  We just needed to get a working kitchen in.  Only one week of being without a kitchen was enough for me.  

Blessings, Cathi
2886

Another step finished . . . . .

So here it is, 4:00 in the morning and I can't sleep.  Maybe this is why. . . . no kitchen!

In order to put the floors in the RIGHT way, we had to remove the bottom cabinets and put in the new flooring.  We are raising the floor 3/4" by adding the wood floors and to be done the right way, the dishwasher and cabinets and countertop had to go up the same 3/4".

I know, you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet.  But we could have fed a small town with the number of eggs we have had to break!!

So far we have this, though!

Next order of business is to put the kitchen back (with a few little upgrades).  Then on to sanding, staining and sealing all the floors.  And LOTS of touch up paint.  Who am I kidding, while the downstairs is almost empty, I might as well give everything a fresh coat!

It only took us 4 days to put all the floors in . . . . .including closets and the pantry.  Not bad for a bunch of amateurs.  We didn't work the entire 4 days.  It was clear after Day 1-1/2 that we hadn't done a lot of manual labor this summer and that we were old.

Hope to post more by the end of the weekend!

Blessings, Cathi
2315

The flooring is finally here! . . . . .

Not a whole lot going on right now.  We are working all the time on something and have a few major victories but it sure seems slow going.  And nothing really blog-worthy. I can't do anything very crafty since I have no workspace and most of my supplies are packed away.

Dear Hubby and Computer Geek went to pick up our new flooring this morning.

This is supposed to be 725 square feet.

It is tongue & groove white pine.  A very soft wood but we know that.  We expect dings and scratches along the way.  While our house isn't a farmhouse, it is farmhouse style.  This will fit perfect. We have narrowed the stain color down to Minwax Early American stain (on the left) and Minwax Golden Oak (on the right).  

I know they are both close but one has a little more brown and one a little more yellow.  We are going to have to play with some more samples for a few more days.

So after letting the wood acclimate for a week, going out of town for a week or more, several days of putting the floor down, 2 days of staining, 7 to 10 days of sealer and sealer curing. . . . . well, we're looking at another 6 weeks before we can even think about putting things back where they belong.

I can't wait to see the final product and to show you!

 

Blessings, Cathi

Garden and Remodel Update . . . . .

Things are moving slowly on the remodel as it always does in our house.  Too easy to get distracted with fun stuff like sewing for me and woodworking for Dear Hubby.  That's why we wanted to hire a contractor for the big stuff.

We are now the proud owners of 8 new piers with footings, 2 big long beams and a MUCH sturdier floor.

Dear Hubby and I are in the process of putting down a second layer of subfloor, glued and screwed for added strength.  Next will be the pine floors.

The dining room has become the staging area.  The 2nd layer of subfloor is already down in here.

Now if we could just decide on the floor stain color!!  More on that later.

Garden is coming along, too.  The tons of rain seem to have stopped so it's back to handwatering every couple of days.

Here is a picture of the daylillies that I promised.

Our first harvest of bell peppers and tomatoes this morning.

We even have some raspberries.  They aren't quite ready but I'm so afraid that I will go out one morning and some bird will have gotten to them before me!

Blessings, Cathi