New House DAY 29

Well, since we both went back to work, we haven't been making such huge strides in changing the house. I tried to put my books away, but I need more shelves. We plan to build some custom ones in the garage/workshop, but we don't know WHEN yet. Probably this spring or summer. Also, a custom desk for Jason's office, including storage space for all his computer language books.




The front room looks different, though it's still not done being painted.
Here it is before, looking down from the loft:



And during:



The light grey on the left is Secret Passage, our most-used color in the house. The darker grey in the middle is Silver Charm. The yellow on the right is Cornmeal. I've had seconds of doubt about choosing so many different colors, but it doesn't feel like a Clown House around here yet. (Is there such a thing as a Clown House? Like a Clown Car, but 49 clowns have to live there together, sleeping in some wild bunkbed set?)

We have a different, non-brassy light to hang above the front door. Brassy isn't really our taste, so we've had to replace light fixtures, doorknobs, door hinges, and even those springy door stoppers. We have more to replace. All those details add up, in money and in time. It's incredible how many details I would like to change! This house seemed so clean and simple before we moved in. Now it seems filthy (don't look too closely in any unpainted room, or you'll see dirt and hair and dust and stains in the corners, and on the doors, and on the walls) and it seems just inundated with BRASSY.

Anyway, we've also been moving rocks off of our garden plot, and Jason mowed the lawn, and we've unpacked and organized and now we only have 3,052 more things to do before we can have a housewarming party. :) It's still coming along.

New House DAY 16

Outside, I planted 5 rose bushes and 3 raspberry bushes. The before and after photos don't look that much different, but imagine a few months from now! Or a couple of years! Hopefully our yard will fill in with greenery and look like a garden that's not mostly a rock garden.

I would like to see a lot more plants and less fence. My plan is to use mostly plants that make food or flowers, but it may evolve over time to include plants that look good all year long.





Inside, I put a first coat of light grey on the lower parts of two walls in the front room. I'll cover the tops and do a second coat on Day 17.

New House DAY 15

I finished the big yellow wall and also took the yellow around the corner and up the stairs. The tricky part is getting the very top of the wall, above the lowest stairs. You can't reach up very high from those low stairs.



I reached part of the wall by leaning around the corner from the big yellow wall. I could reach some of it by using the ladder safely on the stairs. But there was a triangle of white that was left, that I couldn't quite reach. I became very stubborn and determined to finish that whole wall!

Dad, don't read this: I found a painting tool with a handle on it so I could stretch farther, took some long, slow breaths, and stood completely on top of that ladder, on the stairs, balancing carefully. I s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d out my left arm with that corner-painting tool and ever-so-carefully covered the last white spot! I said aloud, "I'm doing it!"

And I only got a tiny bit on the ceiling, but I still had to climb back up to the top of that ladder with my ceiling paint to touch up the ceiling.

It was all worth it: the heart palpitations, the terror of some lawn-maintenance company ringing the doorbell and startling me off the ladder, the unnatural contortions to reach farther than a body is made to reach. It looks pretty good, and I didn't even come close to falling off or tipping over.

Man, my leg muscles were sore that night from tensing so much to keep my balance!

Isn't that ladder cool? It straightens out to be 16 ft tall (in that form it can only lean against a wall), or it can be 8 ft tall and stand alone, or it can be like 5 feet tall for easier storage, or it can be staggered to use on stairs. I couldn't have done it without that ladder.

New House DAY 14

I painted the narrow walls between the kitchen and the front room, making them look finished. I also started painting the big yellow wall. It's 17 feet tall, so it was a little scary to climb up high enough to reach the top. But I got used to being on the ladder, once I felt sure that it wasn't going to tip backwards or slide out from under me.

This shows the small ladder since I was too focused on not falling to my death to take a photo of the big one.

New House DAY 13

I painted the little hallway between the TV room, laundry room, basement door, and garage. Now the TV room really seems finished.

Let's look at a before and after of the kitchen, since that's more fun than a bunch of doors.






Pretty good!

New House DAY 12

We moved more things over from our townhouse, including our bikes. Then we went for a bike ride! Our neighborhood is great for riding bikes, walking, and even jogging if I decide to try that again (3rd time's the charm, right?)

We did some unpacking, and even some relaxing.

New House DAY 11

I finished painting my office and started unpacking it.




I wanted it to be fun and creative-feeling, not just a place where I slave at my computer. Even though it turned out looking like a boy's room, I like it well enough to keep it.

The colors are Cool Blue at the top, Blue Silk in the middle, and Sea Sage on the bottom. Green is the most creativity-stimulating color, so I wanted to include it in my room.

New House DAY 10

We got our appliances!! Won't our kitchen look great once we get it cleaned up?

 

 

 

Also, I finished painting our closet and started unpacking my clothes and hanging them up in there. And I had so much fun seeing my shoes again! I have been wearing the same two pairs for 10 days now, and it was like a reunion when I got the rest out of their moving boxes.

Also, I started painting my office, but I haven't taken any photos yet. I am very excited to get my office put together! I will be able to have JUST an office/sewing room, because all my home gym stuff is in the basement, and all my books can live in the loft, and my clothes can be in the bedroom closet. I could actually put the sewing machine in the loft, too, but I like to watch movies while I sew, and I have a brand new cool TV for my office, thanks to Jason and thanks to an old TV getting broken during the move.

New House DAY 9

So, our appliances did not arrive on time. Angry, bitter, threatening words were exchanged with a salesman, and OUR salesman, who had the day off, called us from his house to work things out. *Someone* was supposed to have called us on Tuesday (Day 7) to let us know that there was a delay and we would not get our stuff until Friday (Day 10). *Someone* did not call us. We got a discount.

So, we did a few things that day with our frustration energy:

Jason painted the baseboards in his office. The color is Ancient Bog! Sparky, do you like that name? I sure do. Ancient Bog. I like saying it theatrically.

 

I received some roses and tomato transplants via UPS (plus I brought over my pepper seedlings from the old place -- there are bell peppers and three kinds of hot peppers for making salsa, plus tomatillos).

 

And I laid down the first coat of paint in our closet. It's called Blue Silk. It starts out such a pale blue that it looks off-white. But as they say on every home improvement show, It'll Dry Darker.

 

New House DAY 8

Jason grouted the whole backsplash with grey grout. He started with a bag of powdered grout and stirred in water with his power drill and the grout paddle attachment we bought.

 

Several times throughout the process, he stirred in a little more water (with the drill + paddle) to keep it pliable.

He squished the grout in between each tile, using his fingers and the grout float (a kind of paddle with a handle on it). Then he waited a little while, maybe 10 or 20 minutes, and scraped off some of the extra stuff. After a couple of hours, we wiped away more of the grout and could see how it turned out.

Then we cleaned up and cleaned up and cleaned up, but there is still grey powder and grit on absolutely everything in the kitchen. Maybe after 42 more cleanings, it will be gone.

In a couple days, we will apply the grout sealer.

 


While Jason was grouting, I painted the laundry room/bathroom. It's greyish-purple, or purplish-grey, depending on the lighting.

Even in this photo, you can see how different the colors can look.

 

Well, we were SUPPOSED to hear yesterday from our appliance deliverers and find out their estimated time of arrival today. We never got the call. Are they coming today or not? We are tired of eating out so much! (Part of the problem was having the kitchen messed up while we tiled, which we were hurrying up to finish up before they install the microwave above the oven.) We have really missed having a microwave, too. So, they better bring our stuff today or I am going to feel pretty grumpy.

Are they here yet?

New House DAY 7

We finished putting up the backsplash.

 

Jason found out what kind of tool we needed to cut the tiles in half so they would fit around the window sill. It's called a Wheeled Glass Mosaic Tile Nipper. We got it at Hobby Lobby for around $19, but you can order them online from various places if you're not in a big hurry. It's important that you get the wheeled kind for glass tiles. The regular kind will crush the glass.

 

New House DAY 6

We started to tile the kitchen backsplash!

 

We used glass mosaic tile, which I think is really fun. It's surely more work than bigger tiles, but I think it looks really cool.

Here's what we did:

1. Planned to use TileMat, a double-sided tape invented to stick tile backsplashes onto walls. I loved the idea of it -- no mortar! But it just came out on the market this year, and the reviews I read mostly said things like, "my tiles fell off!" So we talked to guy in the Home Depot tile aisle. He does tiling as a second job, and he does not approve of the TileMat. But he got us set up with Quick Set mortar (premixed) and all the tools and stuff we needed for tiling. We got our tile sheets (I think they're 11-inch squares), the Quick Set mortar, a mortar tool with small grooves for the mosaic tile (smaller tiles need smaller grooves), grey grout powder that must be mixed with water, a grout float, a grout paddle for attaching to a drill and using for mixing, grout sealer, appropriately sized spacers, and a pack of giant sponges.

- 1. Jason had already picked off the old tiles using mostly a screwdriver to get under the edge and a hammer to knock them loose. We also had a tiny crowbar, but I don't think it actually came in handy much. In our kitchen, they mostly didn't use too much mortar on their mismatched beige tiles.

2. Jason used a power sander to flatten out the wall where there were lumps of mortar and, inexplicably, caulk. Where needed, he filled out a few minor divots with spackle.

3. We spread a thin coat of mortar on the wall and then scraped across the wall with the grooved mortar-scraping tool. After much fussing with difficult-to-reach corners, we discovered too late that you can (oh so obviously) apply the mortar to the back of the tile sheet if you can't reach the wall easily.

4. Now, it's a tiny bit tricky putting up the tile sheet because it's a little bit heavy and the tiles want to slump down and squish together at the bottom. So you have to align it at the bottom and then kind of stretch it upwards as you stick it to the wall. It's not super difficult, but if you want your rows to line up, you have to pay attention to the tendency to slump.

5. It starts looking pretty damn cool as soon as you get the first sheet put up, which encourages you to keep bending over in uncomfortable positions to stick up more and more tiles!

6. We got a call from Jason's brother saying he could help us RIGHT NOW with his huge truck to move our furniture from the townhouse to the new house, so we said: Okay, then.

And since he is a badass moving instigator, we now live in our new house and have a sort-of living room and everything.



And Francis the Cat has been an excellent mover once again. He was telling me ALL ABOUT IT on the drive from the old place to the new place, but once he arrived, he checked everything out and settled right in. He has already carried his toy robot all over the place, sat on all the counters, kept us company while cleaning and tiling and resting, and thrown up a few times. He's a good mover.

New House DAY 5

I don't have much to show you, but I did finish touch-ups on the ceiling and walls and I took the tape down. Jason put back up some of the blinds. We put the outlet covers back on, and it feels like a real room.

 
 

I didn't get to the fireplace and trim yesterday. We went to Lowe's and then showed the place to a couple friends. It was so nice to sit in the sunshine and talk with them for a while! But today we will be back to our normal, long day of work.

Jason took the tape off in his office, too, and it looks great. He still has to do the trim and decide whether or not to paint the ceiling (that is the worst job!) and put his doors back up.

On the agenda for today:
* mortar and affix tile backsplash in kitchen
* paint fireplace and trim
* paint hallway from garage to living room

Oh, and I went to 7-11 last night and the man working there was wearing a kilt and he rides a bike to work. I overheard him talking to another customer, and I believe the gist was: THE BRAND NEW 7-11 IS ALREADY HAUNTED!! I will have to research that plot of land and see if it used to be an Indian burial ground. Also, did you know that you can't buy lottery tickets after midnight? How long has it been since I was in a gas station after midnight?
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New House DAY 4

I painted the other wall in the living/dining/kitchen Crocodile Tears green. When I put the first coat of paint up, it looked horrible! I think it will look good in the end, though.

 

In the kitchen, I finished my work above the cabinets. I think I'll only have to walk on the counters one more time to get the remaining tape down.

 

Here is the glass mosaic tile backsplash we are going to use. It's called Urban Camouflage. We will work on that this week. We want to get it done before our appliances are delivered on Thursday.

 

Jason's office is coming along nicely (it's further along than this). He also changed all our locks so that no unscrupulous realtor can get in our house. The seller's realtor STILL has not removed the lock box from our screen door. His sign is still there, too (though we pulled it out of the yard and leaned it up against the porch). Maybe that's normal, but it is very rude. We don't want his crap at our house!


 

Today I plan to touch up the ceiling, paint the mantle, and do all the trim. Then I can take a decent photo in the daylight and we can all see how the colors look.

The work just never ends, you guys. We have to put the blinds back up, but they are either dirty or sun-stained. Should we take them all the way apart and paint each piece? And the dining room blinds have flowers on them, so we'll replace them with plain ones some day -- but should we go ahead and do it now? You can buy them at Home Depot and Lowe's. We so badly want to move forward into other rooms, yet we want everything done properly.

Also, I feel old. My body aches and my right hand is a little swollen and just wants to make a claw. Both thumbs hurt from scraping off that wallpaper border, and another finger has cracked in the corner by the nail. My legs are bruised from leaning against the ladder rungs. My feet are tired. My elbows feel tennis-elbowy. My shoulders are hunched up by my ears.

It's still fun.

New House DAY 3

First I'll go back to Day 2 for a moment and show you that Jason started painting his office. It will have a darker green color on the bottom half of the wall.



On Day 3, we painted some grey walls in the TV room (the color is called "Secret Passage"). Jason took down the old ceiling fan and dining room light and put up new ones.

Before: off-white



After: Secret Passage Grey



I painted the walls grey above the kitchen cabinets (I will do a second coat today). Jason removed all of the mis-matched existing backsplash, which consisted of two different shades of beige tiles and was sloppily done.

Before:



During:

New House DAY 2

The new house came with this wallpaper border in the kitchen and dining room. I did not, do not, and will not like it.



On Day 2, I battled with that wallpaper border and I WON! Doesn't the kitchen look nicer without it? Well, it's full of moving stuff, but don't the WALLS look better?



When our first visitors stopped by, I was crouched on top of the refrigerator to reach the last bit of wallpaper above it. The visitor were completely unfazed.



And I painted the pantry Cornmeal Yellow.



And I painted the living room ceiling. (No photo available, but imagine that it was whitish before, and now it's whitish.)

Discovery of the day: Our circuit breaker box is on the outside of the house, setting up the perfect serial killer home invasion scenario. Some stormy night, a maniac sneaks into the back yard and shuts off the power. We have to go out in the rain with weak flashlights to try to see what's going on. That's when he sneaks in the house! A game of creepy cat-and-mouse ensues. But what he doesn't know is that we are a rare breed of liberals -- the gun-totin' kind! With my Concealed Carry License, I could be packing heat almost any time, anywhere! Don't mess with my breaker box, maniacs, or you'll be sorry. Plus all the hours I've logged doing kickboxing -- surely punching and kicking the air translates into real ass-kicking abilities, right?

 

New House DAY 1

Today we bought our own house!

Here is the summary of our day:

*Closing

*Packed up cars and unloaded at new house, measured for appliances and paint, cleaned some cabinets

*Bought new kitchen and laundry appliances

*Bought tile for backsplash, mortar, grout, and tools

*From a different home improvement store, bought paint and painting tools and light fixtures

*Picked up some beers

*Cleaned kitchen and pantry and partially removed my nemesis, Wallpaper Border


Items found while cleaning:
1. Teensy bottle of nitroglycerin tablets (drink lots of water while taking these pills!)

2. Voodoo curse razor blade in drawer (the curse goes something like, "You bought our house for less than we paid for it. We hereby wish to befall you a horrible razor blade cut when you are cleaning our hair out of the kitchen drawers!") Don't worry! I waylaid the curse by picking up a lucky penny in the Home Depot parking lot earlier and I totally found the razor blade without cutting my hand open.

Tomorrow: Day 2, obviously. I plan to paint the kitchen, dining room, and TV room, which all run together, all open-floor-plan-y. First I have to remove the rest of the cursed wallpaper border, of course. I'll report back.
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