Laying It Down

After looking at a subfloor for over a month it was a welcome project to lay down flooring. We had purchased this flooring when we first moved into the house. We chose a laminate option in a pecan color. We didn't want to try and match the original 100-year-old hardwood because we knew it would never look right and knowing that the kitchen was already going to be a style changer in the house, we didn't mind such a difference.

We got our flooring at Home Depot at a great price. We chose a floating floor system for the simple install and for the fact that it can be easily removed if someone after us were to want a change. We chose a much thicker plank than what we have in the rest of the house. The original hardwood is just over 2" and runs front to back in the house. As another precaution to avoid the potential "matching" issue, we ran the kitchen floors opposite in a right-to-left direction. 

Because nothing about this house has been simple, we had to deal with a leveling issue before laying the floor. When the subfloor was originally laid it overlapped the old floor where the kitchen addition and the original house meet. Under the walkway in the photo below was the very obvious lump. With help from my Dad, the plywood subfloor was cut in place and a self-leveling cement was poured to fill the gap removing the original lump. In the picture on the left below, you can see the seam between the subfloor and cement. 

   

We thought it would be fun to leave a note hidden somewhere in the house. What better place than under a floor we hope will be there for years to come! 

 

We started along the sink wall. We made sure to put flooring under our appliances so they could easily be pulled out. We learned that was necessary when we first moved in and had to pull the dishwasher out. The original flooring was laid up to the dishwasher and it was miserably hard to get the appliance out of its cubby. We didn't want to run into that issue again, so we made sure to complete the flooring under both the dishwasher and refrigerator. 

   

We started with a full length of flooring and from there decided on a system. We didn't want it to be an every other row pattern so we did a three row pattern instead. It's still a bit more perfect and planned looking than I prefer but overall we had very little waste and it's very clean looking. 

         

You can see in one of the pictures above what the view was from standing in front of the sink through to the front of house at this point in the project. We feel we made the right decision on floor color and layout when looking through the house as a whole. As we move forward we are working on updating the entire feeling of the house. We are going from lots of warm colors and flat paint to cooler colors and a mixture of texture!

We are happy with the outcome! It makes me say "Ooooo lala, look at that pretty, hide-all-the-doggy-dirt, flooring" whenever I walk in the room!

----------------

More to come, as always! Check back in again soon!

Topping It Off

In continuation of our kitchen project (which we've talked about here and here) our next step was cabinet fronts and countertops. Believe me when I say that there is nothing simple about the initial process of building the cabinets. Now of course, it's doable with patience but it's not simple. Thankfully, Ikea gives some relief towards the end and makes the process of hanging and installing fronts very simple. It's almost a click-in system, with few screws for support, which at this point in the project was very welcome. Nothing like an easy finish. 

You can see above where we were after the first day of installation. By the end of the next working day we had closing doors and drawers. We waited to put the pulls on for quite a while because we couldn't decide exactly where we wanted them, decisions decisions. 

The next step was the countertop. It was a bit scary to start cutting because we had a certain amount of space to cover and only so much countertop. At first we were going to join the corner by butting one piece up to another. My Dad mentioned that because of the wood grain we wouldn't be pleased with that and so we changed our minds to the angled corner cut you can see below. In order to make sure we did everything correctly, we used some 1/4" plywood to create templates that we could lay on top of the cabinets to ensure we were making correct cuts! Way better to make a mistake on a $10 slice of plywood than a $100 slice of butcher block. Practice makes perfect after all. 

   

Hunter and I watched through the window with Star Wars characters cheering on my Dad and Rob as they made the scary cuts. Always best for me to stay away during these moments, I tend to be a gasper when things can go wrong. Of course they made all the right measurements with the help of their template. With all the pieces cut, they were laid out, screwed in from the underneath and glued together at seams.

 

Once all the counters were secured we moved onto giving them a finish. We did quite a bit of research about this. We had to decide if we wanted this to be a true working butcher block or just in appearance alone. We liked the idea of a full seal which would remove our ability to stain or make water rings on our new surface but a lot of the products that we found and read about weren't food safe. While that might work for some people, we were not comfortable with a non-food-safe surface in the kitchen especially when the kiddos are involved. We ended up conditioning our butcher block counters instead of sealing them; this is something that we have to do once in a while but it's no harder than applying lotion after a shower. It makes the counters resistant and water pools on top instead of soaking right in BUT rings and marks do form. Thankfully most of those marks are easily removed with a light hand sand (read: wiping counters with sandpaper) and another coat of conditioner. While making our choice we read that wood, because it is porous, will eventually "fill up" with the conditioner and actually become waterproof like butcher blocks in butcher shops used to! We liked the idea that it wouldn't be such virgin wood forever and it wouldn't only get prettier as the time went on. 

At this point we were so pleased to have a most of a kitchen again. We still had finishing touches on the cabinets in the form of finishing sides (above cooktop and in corner) and adding pulls but the overall feeling was beginning to come together. It was so nice to have a sink on the main floor again - it's amazing how much you can miss that! 

My Dad was so helpful during the countertop process, he's awesome and teaches us so much! Hunter also LOVES when my Dad comes over - he gets to have a bit of play time in his work truck and spend time with his Buppa!

Up next is flooring! Stay tuned!

Expanding

Apologies for our delay in posting. Since our last post on Mother's Day we took a little break from house projects (after a whirlwind weekend of work on the Dining Room) and then found out that we were going to be parents AGAIN.

We made our official announcement on the Fourth of July which was pretty fun! Good timing and a clever announcement by Rob!

From the time we found out in late May until about a week ago, I wasn't feeling so hot. Nothing as severe as some women have had (thank God and bless those sweet mommas) but definitely enough ookiness to not want to tackle DIY projects.

Now that I'm over the first trimester hurdle and regaining some energy for more than everyday stuff, we are making lists again. Oh, how I love lists!! (where's the heart eye emoji when you need it!)

Here's what we have up our sleeves and what we hope to accomplish before this baby comes in January!!

• install new kitchen cabinets and countertops
• new flooring in kitchen
• shiplap in kitchen
• paint den/desk area
• paint "round room"
• paint foyer and stairwell
• replace staircase runner (if time allows)
• paint playroom attached to Big Brother's room
• paint new nursery

We will be busy but it will be nice to get a lot of this done before there is also a big baby belly in the game as well! 

we're moving up... about five inches

This weekend was chalk full of activities and projects. We spent time with both sides of our family, played games, had dinners, and really enjoyed ourselves! In between all that good family fun, we worked on projects around the house, mainly upstairs, and scored some awesome deals on items for our home!

One of the things on our to-do list has been getting our bed up off the floor. We have been waiting to either build a bed frame or find one that we liked and in the meantime (the past four months) our box spring has been right on the floor. It doesn't really make sleeping any different but the bed is lower and it's hard to vacuum close by the bed. Adding a bed frame was always in the playbook for us, we just weren't in any hurry. 

Once in a great while I check Craigslist just to see what's happening out there and what may be available. Nine times out of ten when I do this, I don't find anything but that one time of ten is when I find something that we actually need that is in great shape, for an unbeatable price. Enter Wendi and her craigslist posting for a bed, chair, night stand and dresser all for $280 bucks! We don't need a dresser or night stand because of all the built-ins in the room but the bed was exactly what we were looking for and the chair was a perfect addition that we didn't know we needed wanted. In total the bed and chair were supposed to cost $110 (according to the original ad) but she gave them both to us for $100! Both pieces (valued at around $300) are in almost perfect condition and if we hadn't said anything, you would have thought they were brand new! 

Rob managed to fit the whole bed (disassembled) into the Torrent with the chair, what a guy! It was definitely a squeeze but we made it home. After some painting [we'll fully reveal that excitement in a post tomorrow] we were able to assemble the bed and waalaa! the room was transformed. For some reason, Rob and I equate nice bedding and bedroom furniture with the idea of being a grown up - who knows where that came from - needless to say, we were feeling mighty grown up last night when we stepped back and took a look at phase three of our bedroom process! 

     

     

Rob did most of the assembly while I handed him what he needed (and took pictures of him working). It wasn't hard to put together and thankfully the people we bought the bed from had opted to separately buy the slats for under the box-spring, always a nice addition. Once the bed was assembled we tipped the box spring and mattress back down and made up the bed. 

   

We like how the light wood offsets the darkness of the room and with the addition of the chair, it has something to match. Currently the built in drawers and railing around the staircase are a sort of dark cherry colored wood, but eventually those will be repainted and the natural wood look will be gone for good! Also the carpet, the purplish blue "elephant in the room", is being completely ignored during this process because it isn't going to last very long - our color scheme is designed with a wood or cork floor in mind. 

   

We are very pleased with the "final product" for stage three of this bedroom makeover. The chair and the bed tie together with their light wood, the fabric on the chair goes perfectly with the color scheme of the room (it's a burlap-y tan), the paint is working exactly how we wanted it to - here's your sneak peak at tomorrow's big reveal, and because I can't just leave a corner without flourish I added some empty gold frames for interest! All in all a successful weekend and a great deal! 

Did any of you snag some awesome deals this weekend? Take on a fun house project? Share what you are up to with a comment on this post! 

Until next time,

Lindsey 

*** In case you were wondering, our nosy pups were safe in their cages during this process so they didn't get into something they shouldn't. "How happy were they about that?" you may ask. Well, let me just say that Oswin is in fact not sleeping in this picture. When I got near her to take a picture, she closed her eyes in protest. Yes, she is that dramatic! As soon as she heard the camera noise she perked right back up and looked straight at me. WHAT A GOOBER. 

adding a kitchen shelf

When we retiled the kitchen to make way for the hood, we were left with a big open space between the counter and the newly installed hood. It looked much nicer than it had before we took the giant microwave out, but it was still missing a little character (and storage space). Lindsey keeps the oils, salt and pepper, etc. in a wooden box behind the cooktop but it has to be moved every time we cook so it doesn't burn... not a great situation. So she came up with a solution: since the inside of the cupboards had to be painted white anyway, she wanted to make a little addition of a shelf between the cupboards. Now, when she first suggested this to me I was worried about a full shelf over the cooktop, thinking that the heat wouldn't be a good idea under the shelf... understandable right!? (Lindsey says: "He often acts as my common sense, ha!") Once she made it clear that it was only to be about 4 inches deep I was on board!

It's fun to make something out of nothing even if it's a really simple project like this one. We felt somewhat more proud of this project than others because it was an idea that started in our minds and came out exactly as we wanted!

I started by measuring and using my awesome miter saw to cut the pieces that the shelf would rest on. Because it isn't a very wide space and the wood we were using was good quality we didn't need to anchor the middle of the shelf. The shelf is 3 3/8 inches deep (quite a random number but it was half of an existing scrap of wood) and about 34 inches long. 

         

I used a drill bit to make pilot holes in the wood blocks as well as the adjoining cupboards in order to make screwing in the screw a bit easier. My first block install went fine until I put the screw in - the wood split, proof that even "easy" projects can be a bit frustrating. I was thankful that this happened on my first go-round because I could start fresh! 

       

After I got the blocks flush to the bottom of the cabinets and attached with no splitting, it was smooth sailing. We had planned to just attach the shelf with liquid nails (our favorite adhesive so far) and start painting. The plan would have worked brilliantly had we not run into a slight leveling problem. It wasn't any measuring or installing on our part, the cabinets are actually about 1/4 inch off from one another and when you are looking at a long "straight" shelf that isn't straight - it's quite noticeable.

All we had to do was add a scrap of wood with the liquid nails, wait for that to dry and then putty in the gaps! Not really a whole lot of extra work, just some unexpected problem solving! 

  

 

Far left: liquid nails to hold left side of shelf, Middle left: liquid nails with added piece of scrap,

Middle right: caulking the gaps, Far right: the side with the added scrap has been filled and caulked

Once everything dried and the shelf was set into place, it was time for the first layer of paint. As you can see, Lindsey does all the "make it pretty" work as she is a bit better at it than I! We used Glidden eggshell white paint which matched the kitchen cabinets. After one layer of paint, it was very clear that more than one layer of paint was required and the "unfinished" edge of the shelf needed to be sealed between the first and second coats of paint. 

Once the putty sealed fully we were able to finish off the painting and "set up shop" with our new shelf; so far so good! 

We have had a busy weekend - just wait and see what we have coming up next. 

Thanks, as always, for reading and following along with Lindsey and I as we refinish and set up our home! 

Until next time, Rob

I just had to add on this picture that Lindsey took while I was cleaning some duct tape off our front window. Our dogs are so fun!

It's hard to see, but that is Oswin's silhouette and Harlee is down in the darkened left corner. 

ding dong

Well here's the truth, we have a door bell that doesn't work at all. I don't know when this happened or if the people before us disconnected for a reason unknown (crazy dog, annoying noise, etc) or if one day the door bell just stopped working... all I know is that it surely doesn't work now.

This isn't a post to tell you how we got the doorbell to start working - hopefully one day we will be able to figure that out - but instead how we made the inside pieces a little more bearable to look at day in and day out!

When we moved in, the door bell was exposed in the hallway with no cover. After looking through all the closets and basement shelves, we did find the cover but it was discolored just like the thermostat we just replaced.

We figured that it was a silly thing to have missing but also silly to re-buy since the one we found in the house was perfectly useful, but unfortunately suffered from being the wrong color.

Nothing a little paint can't fix!

In retrospect, we should have taken a picture against something white because the cover doesn't look that bad here, but you'll have to believe us that it was ugly! Lindsey just used white acrylic paint and a sponge brush to paint over the plastic cover. It took about three coats for it to be smooth, without streaks.

Here you can see the difference between the top that Lindsey already painted and the original color on the sides.  She was using some old mail for her drop cloth since sometimes she says her actual drop cloth creates more of a mess than it's worth.

After three coats it was looking mighty fine and dried very quickly because she used acrylic paint; we always suggest going with acrylic for quick and easy projects - cuts drying time in half!

Once the cover was dry, all we had to do was hang it back on the wall. It simply hangs on the black chime box (as seen in the first picture) so it was no trouble at all to hang. Boy, what a nice change for the chime to be "hidden" on the wall instead of an eye-sore.

So simple and free, our favorite type of project!!!

Just a simple task that changes a wall.

Until next time, Rob and Lindsey

out with the old

For a while now, every time we would walk by the "Nest" display at any store Rob would express his intense interest in having this new thermostat for our home. I mean, yeah the thing looks a LOT better than the old yellowing one that we have on our crisp white wall in the hallway but who needs a thermostat that learns your patterns? Well we did I guess.

After receiving a generous gift to the Home Depot from one of my (Lindsey's) aunts as a housewarming gift, we went to the HD to buy some salt and a new snow shovel (without-a-huge-crack) to deal with the recently fallen snow. Well we weren't the only ones who thought to do the same thing that day; when we got there this past Sunday evening, there were no shovels left. So on our way out with only some puppy friendly ice melter, we passed by the Nest display once again. It didn't take long to weigh out that since we had the gift card (that would take care of practically half the cost), the updated look would give the hallway a quick pick-me-up, and not to mention the Nest would save us money on our energy bills - it was a good time to finally get the Nest. The nerd inside of Rob was pleased.

Sometimes when I look at something that is small but can do so many things, I get overwhelmed thinking that the task is going to be hard. Thankfully, I was totally wrong this time. Everything you need is in the well-designed package and it installs with no problem. You even check the compatibility with your system before you break the plastic seal on the package so there will be no problem returning the unit, very thoughtful Nest team, thanks!!

As you can see here the lovely unit that we had before was sparkly and shiny dull as can be. It may have been cool back in it's day but those days are long gone. The dingey color didn't help the poor thermostat one bit; honestly, it just didn't stand a chance of lasting too long in the house.

After shutting off the power to the hallway and the HVAC unit, Rob detached the wires. Ours were color coded which made life really easy. Once the old unit was down, it was just a jumble of curly wires sticking out of the wall. To attach the nest, you use two screws (provided) and the level that is built into the unit's base (we thought this was so clever!!). Once attached to the wall you insert the wires into the correct latches and away you go.

I wanted to give you a visual of how the wires pinched into the appropriate places. Obviously, the wires were bent to fit into the rectangular area, but we didn't take a picture of that step so here is just a representation. Forgive the quick edit!

Unfortunately for me and my paintbrush, the nest is much smaller than the thermostats of days gone by. When the old unit came down and the Nest went up we were left with paint drippings and holes and just a mish-mash of ugly wall (see the photo above). It would have been a short little project with some sanding and white paint etc. but just wasn't something that I had thought of prior to this install. Well, the Nest team must have known people like me wouldn't think ahead because as I was dipping my paintbrush to paint, Rob offered up a wall plate that comes with the Nest. PERFECT! A crisp white wall plate that actually made me like the Nest more than before.

All in all, I just have to say that I am most impressed with the quality of the unit itself as it has already started to learn our habits only five days after install and the thought that went into the packaging (seriously, a built in level, people!) It was also fun to finally have something that Rob had wanted since we were in the home buying process!

It's only been about a week but I would definitely recommend this product to anyone. It's so simple to set up and it feels a tad bit futuristic, making anyone feel cool! ha!

As always, we had our little helpers who just like to remind us that they are there and require mid-project "pet-me-please" breaks! ;)

Thanks for keeping up with us! Until next time, Lindsey and Rob (Oswin and Harlee too!!)

facelift

Well, when we moved in we thought that our home could not get more charming! We were convinced that it was as cute as can be. I mean look at it (through our first time homeowners eyes)!

Blue shutters, pretty trees, a white mailbox... all the makings for the cutest house on the block! We looked right past the weeds, tress planted WAY to close to the house and the minor issues that could be easily remedied and just basked in the glow of our new home! (As, we think, everyone should for a time after receiving the keys to a new house, it's big stuff people!!)

Post weeding, adding some pumpkins and mums,
adding a flag and moving the house numbers!

Shortly after the glow dimmed a bit, we started to notice that the house looked like it had been painted with a roller and only one coat was used, there were minor fixes needed to the front, the trim could use a paint job and the whole house needed to be power washed. All long term projects and we were so thankful that nothing was an immediate need; we could concentrate on the inside of the house for a while. After we opened our home to a garage sale for the first three days of owning the place, we realized that the front stairs were very steep and would be dangerous come icy weather. We asked my dad (Lindsey's dad) what the easiest fix would be... "Tear the whole thing out", he said.

He was right, if you can see in this picture - the bottom step was cracked, the wood was aged, and things were sagging a bit - all in all, not really a safe situation. And while we have homeowners insurance, we are sure hoping never to have to use it!

I'd say it was about a month after receiving the keys before I got a call from my dad...

Lindsey: Hi, Dad!
Dad: Hi, Linds! I've got a quick question...
Lindsey: What's up?
Dad: Well, I was just wondering if I could have free reign on the front of your house?
Lindsey: I mean.... sure! 

So that's how it started, a simple phone call. I wasn't sure what I had just agreed to but since my dad does the most beautiful landscape work I have ever seen, I was so happy that he was willing to work on our first home! I knew whatever he came up with would be amazing!

When I got home from Eastern Market with Mom (not more than five hours after the phone call), this is what the house looked like. Dad does not waste any time!

After dealing with rain, permits, pouring concrete before it got too cold and then tenting the whole yard to keep warmth on the stairs (and the workers), major progress was made. It took about a month from the picture above to the picture below. Once the stairs were all set and firm, the walkway was a piece of cake (or so they made it seem)!

 

Rob and I are so thankful that we didn't have to DIY this project and that my Dad has such a vision when he works. I never would have thought that our house could support this type of walkway but boy, was I wrong! The bushes that came with the house were able to be replanted, along with one of the trees (leafless on the left) which makes the whole picture so much more pleasant and I think this design makes the house look bigger!

We are so thankful to my dad who has helped us learn how to do lots of projects, both big and small. Thank you Dad! 

Once the outside is all decorated for Christmas, we'll take an evening shot with the window open so you can see the tree inside too! 

Thanks for following our renovation, until next time - 

Lindsey

If anyone loves what my Dad did outside our home and would like to contact him about working on your home - please comment on this post with your email address and we would be happy to send you contact information for his company! You know you wanna :)