Reunion!


In case you didn't see them on Facebook, here are the photos from the reunion we were at this past weekend.

It's been an interesting month around here. There are considerably fewer mice in our house now, a rather large hole in the wall around our tub fixtures (pretty snugly covered with plastic sheeting), Isaac turned into a shark (Nooo!! I'm a fwendwy sawk! I onwy bite bad guys! I ONWY EAT BAD GUYS!!!), Daniel had a frightening fall, I had some more working evenings, and I found a group of people more Republican than I am (on average, anyhow).

Never a dull moment!!

Labels: boy talk, boys, home improvement, W and L, work

- posted by Lenise @ 9:58 PM |

 
The Good News Is, the Oven Broke Again
The bad news is, all the sales ended. Anyway, Paul went out and bought me this, which should be delivered next Wednesday. A definite improvement over this:

Labels: Consumer goods, home improvement

- posted by Lenise @ 8:31 PM |

 
Productive Day
The day started out pretty dismally. I woke up with the full-blown version of the ticklish throat I sensed starting last night & decided to take a sick day. It became clear that I was the appointed oven-buyer and that at least Daniel was coming along. Jay wanted to accompany me, and the three of us trudged out into the cold, very wet morning only to discover that Lowe's could not deliver until after Thanksgiving (which did not come as a shock, given that it's the Monday before!) and that Daniel was cranky.

Mr. Paxifist, having been consulted, recommended trying elsewhere (which was not welcome news to my ears: Papa John's delivers on Turkey Day, after all!), and so I went home with 1 cranky child, a cranky self, and 1 happy child (we get to go to more stores?!?). I decided en route to let my fingers do the walking, and lo and behold, neither Home Despot nor Best Bully was going to beat Lowe's Friday AM delivery estimate.

Enter Mr. Paxifist with the toolkit. Paul determined that the fix involved nothing more complicated than re-attaching a wire. Good news: oven is fixed. Bad news: it's the same stinkin' oven that doesn't match the other appliances and HAS NO WINDOW, and now I have no good excuse to get rid of it. *Sigh*

While he was soldering away and Daniel was napping, the big boys and I went out to rake leaves. It was still drizzling very lightly, and they got tired of the work in about an hour (which is really pretty good, considering), so we came in and had cocoa. The backyard is pretty well covered with leaves still, but the far back (in front of the brackish ditch) is mostly clear except for the piles.

Then, while the big boys worked on an art project (Daniel was still napping!), I finally plugged in the venerable clock Dad gave me last time we were in Ohio, a project which took several weeks to accomplish simply because the power strip was buried. Now we have Westminster chimes! I also took the opportunity to move the older clock off the entertainment center and onto the piano, where it is more accessible for winding & pendulum tapping.

Not bad for a sick day: now I just need some good solid sleep!

Labels: boys, Consumer goods, home improvement

- posted by Lenise @ 6:14 PM |

 
It's "Done"

At least, we're done. My feet still hurt, though they hurt much, much worse before I spent most of the day sitting in a cushy chair at work. Two hours of sleep doesn't do much for the recuperation process.

Anyway, we got rid of the icky nasty carpet & padding and the stained walls (Christina even filled in the dents!), so I pronounce it a major success. The flooring people will be here tomorrow morning (unfortunately, I can't be here on a Thursday morning!), and we'll figure out something more presentable to put down (OK, for us to have put down!)

For now, we'll take it.

(More photos here)

Labels: boys, home improvement, Old Houses, photos

- posted by Lenise @ 8:26 PM |

 
Work in Progress
I couldn't live with the carpet in the dining room any longer. While we were at it, it seemed like the scribbles and yogurt stains ought to go as well! My devoted, generous and energetic friend Chistina is ably assisting (yes, she is shooting at the wallpaper border which was also consigned to the scrapheap)! I was thankful to discover that the easily discernable lumpiness at the location of the hearth was not a disaster. Thanks to my internet informant (whose grandparents had lived here), I was not the least bit surprised to discover the hearth!

Labels: home improvement, Old Houses, photos

- posted by Lenise @ 2:30 PM |

 
Oh No!

Labels: home improvement

- posted by Lenise @ 8:55 PM |

 
Aww

Labels: home improvement

- posted by Lenise @ 8:50 PM |

 
Look Out, Daniel, Here Comes Amoxicillin!
*Sigh* It's been a CRAZY couple of weeks here. We've had a major deadline at work that's been spilling into my evenings, a two-year-old who likes to scream during the day and wander around in the middle of the night, and, most recently, a baby with a respiratory infection which has made him feverish, greatly hindered his ability to sleep, and given him a nasty cough which has led to his losing many a lunch (and midnight/wee hours snack). Add to that trying to finish up Christmas preparations, and you will begin to understand why that programmable percolator was on my wish list and has been GREATLY appreciated (anyone care to fess up?)

Oh, and our oven is broken. The logs I baked tonight started out OK, but as the hour advanced, they came out worse and worse. No cut-out cookies tonight! It's the excuse I've been looking for- this oven is so old/downscale it doesn't even have a window, so I keep having to open it, letting out most of the accumulated heat (not that extra heat is unwelcome in the kitchen of a winter's day).

I guess we'll be hitting the post-Christmas sales!

More importantly, Merry Christmas, one and all!

Labels: babies, home improvement, illness, small appliances

- posted by Lenise @ 7:33 PM |

 
Close Enough
The backsplash hasn't been grouted (or fully installed, I don't think), but it's close enough to done that I will stop holding all two of you in suspense and will finally post photos of the transformed kitchen.
Before:





























































After:

Labels: home improvement, kitchen, Old Houses

- posted by Lenise @ 9:36 PM |

 
Still Holding Out on Y'all



The kitchen backsplash ought to be installed by the weekend (I hope), so you can wait a few more days (Mom). To tide you over, here are some photos of the bathroom with the platinum grout applied to the hex tiles and the screen across the laundry area. While it does hide the washer and dryer, it doesn't really hide the ugly. Paint is in order for the ceiling and some more decorative containers would be helpful for the top shelf. We'll get there someday... BTW, it turns out a leaky toilet can keep tile adhesive from drying even better than vinyl flooring underneath. Never a dull moment.

Labels: bathroom, home improvement, Old Houses

- posted by Lenise @ 9:37 PM |

 
By Request




Mom wanted to see bathroom photos. Kitchen photos are being held pending the installation of countertops (the counters are scheduled to be delivered Tuesday, the dishwasher on Monday), but bath photos are here. Unfortunately, the adhesive has taken a long time to dry (Steve thinks it's because it was applied over the vinyl floor), so the floor grouting did not take place today as planned. I bought the "Platinum" color at the recommendation of many housebloggers. Hopefully the grout will make the hex tile look like it belongs! (OK, I included a sneak preview of the kitchen backsplash).

Labels: bathroom, home improvement, Old Houses, photos

- posted by Lenise @ 9:27 PM |

 
Hooray!!


From this








to













this today!

Labels: home improvement, kitchen, Old Houses

- posted by Lenise @ 7:45 PM |

 
Spiralling Out of Control
So I realized it'd be a good idea to buy a soap dish to mount in the wall by the tub and one by the itsy-bitsy sink. We could also use a toothbrush holder and a toilet paper holder. The PO's had installed the folksy oak ones. *Wrinkling nose* I found ones that match the towel bar I installed the first week we owned the house- at the site that delivered my sink two days after my order. I really like EveryFaucet.com, and this time I even got free shipping. I decided we needed the towel ring, too. We'd been using a basket which was holding various hair accessories as a towel rack. Moving on up, baby.

Labels: bathroom, decor, home improvement

- posted by Lenise @ 9:21 PM |

 
It's Gonna Get Worse Before it Gets Better


So we have a few gaping holes in the kitchen at the moment. You may be able to make out the beadboard ceiling under the drywall in the missing-top-of-the-doorframe photo. I'm probably going to ask about taking down the drywall, but it's probably much more difficult than removing '70s den paneling, and much less egregiously out-of-place. Most of the beadboard looks like it's in good shape, but it's going to need a good scrubbing before it'll take a coat of paint. I'm leaning towards yellow like the one you can see in the chaos photo, since we have roughly that color left over from the "nursery" and I was liking the idea of yellow anyway. I'm not sure there's enough, though. Would it be a bad idea to mix it with white? We could always go back to SW and get some more "Jonquil", I'm sure.

So, the green paint was not a revelation, since I'd been able to spy some out in a gap between the paneling. There's some beadboard patchwork which would indicate that the windows are replacements for a 3' x 5' original, which are in all the other rooms except the bath (and there were already some minor ridges visible in the bathroom which would seem to indicate the casement window is shorter and higher than what used to be there). There's also a large hole in the beadboard towards the back of the kitchen that makes me wonder if there was a chimney there. I may share that photo later.

Labels: home improvement, kitchen, Old Houses

- posted by Lenise @ 10:34 PM |

 
Fun With Toxic Fumes and Backbreaking Loads
I am not even kidding! Despite the fact that it was not my idea, I bought a jar of mod podge and went after the cheap world map I bought for the kids. I was going to use contact paper, but my younger brother (who is wise beyond his years) suggested I paint something on. The maps are something like 3' x 5', so contact paper would probably have been an exercise in frustration. I already checked with our local print shop- when I asked if they did laminating, the fellow said (eyeing my 4' tube with obvious doubt) "Yes, up to 12 by 18 inches." Oh well. Anyway, the podge is kinda fumey, but painting is fun!!

Earlier in the evening, #1 son and I went out looking for subway tile, bullnose tile, a medicine cabinet, and possibly a light fixture for the "new" downstairs bathroom. I called our local Lowe's, since Home Despot in B-ton underwhelmed me with their helpfulness when I was trying to order our sink. Despite the fact that subway tile is nowhere to be seen (a new favorite expression of Jay's, incidentally) on Lowes.com, the gentleman I talked to on the phone said that it was in the store and gave me the item number in case I had trouble finding it when I came in.

It wasn't too hard to find, but it was quite hard to lift and gingerly deposit in the race car shopping cart. Paul had offered to come along, and asked me if I'd be OK handling the materials, and I thought I'd be fine, but wow, that stuff is heavy! Jay wanted to help, being an extraordinarily helpful caterpillar, but I had to refuse his aid. It was hard enough maneuvering the stuff when I was in control of all the forces being applied. I cleared the shelf for them, incidentally.

We bought black bullnose tile to accent the black dots in the floor (the contractor suggested it might look nice, and I think he's right) and an octagonal beveled-mirror medicine cabinet (which I really, really hope can be sunk into the wall- the lip is resin and looks tacky, but will be hidden behind the door frame if it's mounted inside the wall), and even a more vintage-looking over-sink light (for $13!). It's got a pull-chain like the ugly fixture we have, so should not require much to install. Then I went to B-ton to pick up my special order tile, which I could have had delivered for $8 if I had ordered online, which I intended to do, but for the sink. Long, frustrating story, but I have the sink (ordered elsewhere with a $90 delivery fee) and the tile I want. I just hope it all looks good together!!!

Anyway, I'm quite pleased with the purchases, and I need to hurry and get a "before" picture! The guys are coming tomorrow to start tearing out the kitchen paneling and getting the beadboard underneath touched up. Monday, the plumber is supposed to be here, and then things are going to get very interesting very quickly. Especially since our beechwood counters from Ikea won't be shipping until maybe the 24th. *Sigh*

Maybe we'll use the 5-panel door lounging around the bathroom (taken off of the office doorway) as a temporary countertop.

Labels: bathroom, home improvement, learning, Old Houses

- posted by Lenise @ 10:14 PM |

 
Bathroom Buys
Here's my list:
White subway tile for the walls, this for the floor.
I kinda like this light fixture, but it may be too much expense to buy it & get it wired to a wall switch
I love this sink, which should work with our existing faucet, but it costs a lot more than this one. This one's nice, too, but they don't seem to have both pieces in white online. These guys do (they also have a great price and $8 shipping), but have very mixed reviews on NexTag. What do y'all think?

Labels: bathroom, home improvement, Old Houses

- posted by Lenise @ 6:13 AM |

 
I Still Like White
Like this.

Labels: home improvement, Old Houses

- posted by Lenise @ 3:16 PM |

 
Bathroom Idea- Not White
I like the tilework in this bath (though not the paint jobs so much).

Labels: home improvement, Old Houses

- posted by Lenise @ 3:04 PM |

 
Believe it or Not

I met with the guy from Cabins, Cottages and Bungalows, and it looks like we're going to be hiring him to do some work on our house! I ran my ideas past him, and he let me know what was realistic, and gave me his opinion on what would work best. Here's the plan: Steve/ his guys will be tiling the bathroom, replacing the sink with a pedestal sink, removing the water heater/ water heater closet, installing a tankless water heater (outdoors!), moving the W/D into the bathroom, installing some salvaged base cabinets and a dishwasher in the kitchen (in the space vacated by the W/D), and eventually (after his baby is born! and we do a cash-out refi) bumping out the roof along the south side of the house to re-install an upstairs bathroom!!! The photo is of a house we walked past on Tuesday with a similar style dormer (I did not take the photo- I found it on Zillow)

How's that for news? The kicker: We may be able to come in under $10,000 for all of this. We still have lots of details to work out, though, so we'll see!

Labels: home improvement, Old Houses

- posted by Lenise @ 10:10 PM |