Artsy Fartsy

This past week has been a blur of activities!  There's lots going on at the house but it's a little here, a little there--maybe not as thrilling as it should be to earn a blog post...however, people are grumbling to me, at me, about me and my bloggy absence.

The absentee concrete guy finally showed up to rip out the remaining stumps and posts with a bobcat that we weren't able to manhandle on our own.  By absentee, I mean I wrote him a check THREE weeks ago on the day he was supposed to show up.  So this past week he did tear out some things and hauled one load away.  He ended up leaving two of the largest stumps (that touch the house) and a huge pile of debris in my postage stamp back yard, but that's okay because he was coming back the next day to chainsaw down the stumps and haul everything away...

I should be grateful this much was done

That was Tuesday.  He should stick to concrete and not demo.  On the plus side, I never gave him the check for the extended delay, half-work he's done.

Tom and I had artsy fartsy day when the yard was being demoed.  Remember the ugly exterior door that went to the dilapidated-porch-turned-fab-bath?

Old kitchen exit door

I decided I needed to save every bit of the old house that I could and that a sliding pantry door would be a perfect purpose for this gorgeous, dust and grime covered piece of history. We Tom took an hour or so to scrub it down.

Eww--the outside was cleaner than the inside

The door is white...those aren't shadows

Next I slapped on contact paper and free handed a Louisville staple, fleur de lis.  It took another hour or so to cut away the design.


I heart X-acto blades!

 Then we sprayed it down with frosted glass paint.


Not too shabby

Nick and his helper, Cameron, installed the finished product over my newly finished pantry and chalkboard wall in the kitchen.


The hardware was epoxied in place and there's tape covering it here.

Lots more happened last week, but I'll leave you with the thought that the countertops have been installed and they're being stained and finished today!



Chicken Dance

I finally got my Kentucky drivers license! Two years isn't too long, right?! Well, Tom's in town for an extended visit and I thought he'd enjoy nothing better than a trip to the DMV to watch me get new tags on my car. Yeah, the state trooper said, "No way, Jose!" to my window tint. What the heck?! Guess I'm keeping Okie tags for longer.

The good news? The kitchen is well underway...

The Bobcat even installed a cat flap for the feline babies this weekend. 

The butcher block countertops are scheduled to go in tomorrow. Love!

They're also making progress with the front bathroom. Grouting tomorrow.

Tom's been a trooper with the construction mess. We learned how to make microwave coffee mug omlettes that are surprisingly good. We also did and "interesting" dance to the bathroom/kitchen to clean and prep a whole chicken for a great crockpot recipe yesterday.  He held the can while walking backwards as I walked and juggled wet chicken bits over the trash bag. 

Dish doing has been fun too...

Tired Is as Tired Does

It was a really loooooooong weekend. After the moving debacle (the moving truck driver showed up and his helpers never did...) I haven't been able to catch my energy back.

Surprise! Nick finished the back bathroom today. I get to take a hot shower in the morning!

So, with zero energy, I served leftover chicken gyros for dinner and prepped tomorrow's chicken wild rice soup. I don't ever want to hear someone say their kitchen is too small to cook well at home!

I put up the shower curtain and towels in the bathroom but they don't quite look right. You don't get pics of that until it's perfect. :)

My plan was to hang all the artwork tonight...I went across the street to the convince store for milk stout instead. I found $.17 on the walk there. How much interest did you earn on your savings today??? Beer + cash + couch = wheeeee!

It's the Final Countdown

So much getting done! I stopped at the tile store to pick up a small bit that was in so Nick could finish the back bathroom today. 

I got up at 5 am to wash the linens, pack more things, transfer the refrigerator contents, pick up the tile and schlep our hanging clothes to the new place. 

All that is done...now I'm waiting for the AT&T technician to install the U-Verse stuffs. Appointment window is 9 to 11 am and the clock is ticking. I didn't have time to make lemon bars for the technician (that's how I snagged The Bobcat) so I guess The Bobcat is stuck with me for a bit. 

The contractor agenda for the day is attic insullation and bathroom tiling. 

The Chrissy agenda is moving, meetings, rental house showings, cleaning and, as previously mentioned, schlepping. Yay!

Check out the progress:

It's almost 10 am...still counting down.  Wanna place bets on arrival time?

Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough

Friday is fast approaching! Things are getting packed up at the rental and tidied up at the new place.

Nick called yesterday evening to tell me he went to pick up the tile we ordered for my front bathroom flooring and back bathroom shower floor. It was supposed to be in Saturday. They told him it was on back order...until the END of September. Why, you ask, didn't they tell him that when he ordered it two weeks ago?! (Oh, but they could give him five pieces to start. WTH is Nick going to do with five pieces?!?)

You might also ask why I ordered from that place, against Nick's recommendation? Because the tiles were perfect...and I couldn't find them anywhere else!

Delightfully difficult to obtain marble

See?!? Anyhow, I marched right up there to "take care of business". The tiles...all of them...will be here Thursday. Sometimes it pays to be assertive. <insert smirk>

So now I won't have a finished bathroom by Friday, but at least I'm not waiting until OCTOBER!

The hardwood floors are finished and the awesome COIT duct cleaning guys are here doing disgusting work.  They were a bargin for $265.  Where's Mike Rowe when you need him?

Back bedroom

Front bedroom

I don't know if I'm glad about the amount of rocks and drywall that they pulled out of the ducts. It clearly covered up the repulsive yuck that was there before we started renovations.
 

Disgusting vent findings

Ehem, Nick just called to say his PREFERRRED tile store also dropped the ball on tile ordering and that the remainder of what we ordered from them will also not be in until Thursday. So there! Every tile shop around is mediocre at best.

I'll be back this afternoon for A/C installation!

Oh. My. Gawd. Becky...

Moving day is fast approaching!  I'm not even a tiny bit prepared at the rental house.

I spent last night touching up the sconces for the living room and the thrifted fixtures for the dining room and hallway.

I had to try something with these monsters.  Lime green seemed appropriate.

These sconces were a disaster.  They were two-tone faux bronze and the century of living in that house was not kind to them.  At least with a funky paint job they can have a kitschy story to tell of their history.  Right?

I scrubbed them with TSP solution and sanded a few rough spots before I sprayed them with Rust-Oleum Key Lime in gloss.  They still turned out sorta sketch, but I don't hate them.  Just don't examine them too closely.

This nod to mercury glass is pretty tame compared to my other light .

I bought this guy for $8 at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore.  This got the same scrub down as the sconces and two coats of nickel semi-gloss with a final coat of Looking Glass paint.  It's supposed to look like mercury glass...I'm interested to see how this looks in the hallway when it gets wired.  Thoughts?

1 TSP scrub + 4 coats Mambo Pink + 2 coats high gloss poylurethane = Barbie Fixture

Remember the 1980's special?  Who can resist polished brass swoops with yellowed lampshades?!  I must have search five different stores looking for a good coral color spray paint.  Everything was too red or an orange-y puke mess.  Finally, at store number 782 six, Hobby Lobby, there were still no good coral contenders.  The Bobcat suggested...Mambo Pink???  Sure!  Who doesn't want a Barbie chandelier?

Nick text today to show me the finished back steps:

Way more substanial  than I thought they'd be.  Nick is da man!

Then he sent this.

No.  

Wait for it.  

It's a HOLY MACKEREL moment.

You're not very patient.

It's worth the wait.

Promise...

Hence: Oh. My. Gawd. Becky...

In Living Color...

Did I mention that the plan is to move into Beauty next week???  Sorry Nick.  (((big hugs)))  Sad for me...I haven't begun packing!  I'm starting to stress a bit, but it'll work out, right?  Right.  Packing party, anyone?

I did call all the utilities to transfer service and whatnot and for the first time in over two years, I will have television service!  Yay for cheapo AT&T U-Verse!  :)

Painting has begun!

Living room looking into dining room

Dining room looking into living room

Hallway - I just love that built in wall mirror!

Front bedroom - Spa-la-ahhhh!

Back bedroom - door glass to be frosted!

"Mint" condition back bathroom

Backer board is up in the bathrooms and they're ready for tile-tommorrow.  I love the niche that's built in the front bathroom.  It'll have three compartments with marble shelves for each.

Front bathroom

Nick also installed the door he had fabricated for me in the kitchen.  It's beautiful and adds so much light to the room!

Kitchen exit door

Kitchen exit porch

I thought we were doing a couple steps down from the door, but Nick thought it needed to be up to code and would look better with a 4x4 landing.  Rails are up next.  He's a genius! Duh.

Here's the view from the kitchen to the front door - I'm in love!

In my past experiences, I would have NEVER considered anything beyond neutral wall colors that would make a home easily marketable for a quick sale.  In this case, even if I decide to move in a month, people in the Highlands expect kitsch and vibrancy.  It's gold, Jerry!  Gold!

I bought new ceiling fans for both bedrooms and another Restore fixture for the hallway.  Think nickel finish with mercury glass...

Masterpiece in the making

Tile work starts tomorrow.  Nick is also sanding and polyurethaning the wood floors to cure over the weekend.  The A/C will be installed next Monday.  The movers come next Friday.  Zanax anyone?!  Anyone?!

Houston, We Have Walls.

I've received plenty of flack for my lack of posting activity lately, but I've spent the last week facilitating for users, a new proprietary software we're rolling out at work. I'm pooped and haven't even been by the house to check progress!

Drywall, ceiling paint and all over primer are finished. 

 

Colors are picked from Sherwin Williams:



Left to right: Crystal Clear - front bedroom and bath, Swimming - dining room and hallway, Spa - living room, Reclining Green - back bedroom, Supreme Green - back bathroom, Lemon Chiffon - kitchen, Grizzle Gray - kitchen chalkboard accent wall

My hope is that these are happy, vibrant colors without being obnoxious. I want to be historically accurate with a twist--certainly don't think chalkboard walls were the hot thing in the 1920's scene. What do you think?

I'm here at the house right now, waiting to meet the A/C guy, Juan Carlos. Yay for central air!

I've been approached by three neighbors as I've attempted to write this post. They're so excited and supportive! And probably mostly curious. They all seemed to really love Bill, the elderly previous owner. 

What do I care? I love showing the progress of this place! I hope the work that's done here will honor not only Bill but this neighborhood. Cannot wait to be here forever!

It's the Little Things

Do you take the time to show gratitude in your life for the little things?  I know I certainly find other distractions from appreciating small wins--more often, I focus on the fails or bumps along the way.

From the coworker who takes on one of your daunting tasks when they see you overwhelmed to the barista that gives you a bonus espresso shot on a busy morning--good things are all over the place.

My trip to the city offices Friday was an inconvenience.  I was there with the contractor for the better part of the afternoon and I managed to leave my title work and loan paperwork portfolio on the worker's desk. #fail

Even with all the chaos, Harold, from the permit office, quizzed and verified that Nick was, indeed, a sharp tack AND I got to know lots about Nick!  We were able to chat about the house he's building for his wife, toddler and baby-to-be.  I also learned that Nick's a young hippie at heart.  He eats organic produce and grass fed meat and also makes his own kombucha and kefir.  Who knew?!

Remember the oil cistern debacle?  Removing the tank and connecting pipe left several holes in the clapboard siding.  Nick used recycled pieces from the porch demo to do this for me, just because:



Look ma!  No holes!

The Bobcat and I spent this weekend removing tape that the old homeowner used as "insulation/caulk" around ALL the millwork--thirty years ago.

Masking tape > caulk?

Crap be gone! (and look at those stains on the wall...gross me out)

We also pulled down all the switch/outlet covers and light fixtures.  I started the paint job on the salvaged chandelier...

Mambo Coral--a work in progress

Harold called me at 7 am to let me know I'd left the file on his desk and if I'd come downtown he'd be happy to bring it out to me so I wouldn't have to pay for parking.  An angel, I tell you! 

Oh, and Nick called to update.  Don't worry Uncle Guy...the project passed City of Louisville building inspection with flying colors this morning!  He also informed me that HE had gone down and picked up my missing folder.  A saint!

I am so very thankful for the little things!