A Place to Hang Stockings

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Home improvement projects have slowed significantly. Okay, they've actually come to a complete stand still. Except for me exclaiming to Hubster that I've finally found the perfect place to hang the Dustbuster.

There are still projects aplenty. The master bath needs re-tiling. The blue bathtub and tile in the hall bath have got to go. It would be nice to have closet doors, stair hand rails, and lights in the living room. Those are all on the list. For later.

There was one project, however, that I was determined to get done before Christmas.

Do you remember when we finished the playroom/family room? There was a large black box in the far wall. Otherwise known as the fireplace.


The one thing I wanted done before Christmas was a mantle. A place to hang stockings. A gathering stop for the bitter cold Iowa winter nights. A focal place in an otherwise rather bland (but always messy) room.

We started by tiling around the fireplace. We chose a beautiful travertine tile (which we could afford to do, since this particular color was on sale, and there wasn't that much to tile.)


After I tiled and grouted, Hubster installed the surround and mantle. Let me clarify. I came up with an idea in my head about what I wanted the surround and mantle to look like. Hubster then patiently listened and examined my drawings. He then made multiple trips to the hardware store and built our mantle from scratch. By himself. With me playing cheerleader and avoiding anything with a sharp edge.

(There were many pictures of all the steps from start to here, but that would have meant subjecting you to dozens of blurry photos. Which I wasn't going to do. Merry Christmas.)

(And please note Monkey's little wooden tool box at the bottom of this photo. He and his wooden hammer, nails, and screwdriver were helpful at every stage of this project.)

After the (surprisingly large) mantle was built, I then painted it the same antique white as all the trim in the house. And painted. And painted. Repeat this step several more times, turning what should have beeen a one weekend project into a two week project.

Regardless...

Two weeks later, instead of this...


We now have this...



And a beautiful mantle like this is just begging to be decked out for Christmas. Just apply stockings the boys decorated two Christmases ago, free pine branches from the local hardware store, and handfuls of pinecones that the boys are always collecting.


I think the result is just magical.


There was still something missing. Hubster rectified this with a trip to a bait-and-tackle shop by the lake, from which he returned with enough wood to fill half our shed.

Last night, we enjoyed our very first fire in our new fireplace.


It feels more like home and more like Christmas than I would have ever imagined.

Play Space

Saturday, September 26, 2009

I have a day off today, and am doing my best to not think about what happened at work this week.

So I'm going to get back to what's gone on at home. Because my life involves just as much paint, plaster, and finish nails as it does IV fluids, blood, and lab results.

Probably the biggest change in our house has been our family room.

When we first moved in, this room was terrible. Damp carpet, with moldy tack strips and carpet pad underneath. Seriously disgusting.


Now, it is probably the most used room in the house. Which is funny, considering it doesn't have any furniture.

The first thing to do was remove the disgusting carpet and seal the walls to prevent any more water from coming in. The last thing I ever want to see is more of this...

Worst new home owner surprise: Water damage and mold!

Then Hubster showed his brilliant construction skills and installed a new raised subfloor and the same Pergo that we have since installed in the kitchen. How fast this all happened was mind boggling. Less than two days from carpet out to Pergo in. Amazing.


The walls are the same creamy color as the kitchen. I thought about doing a darker accent wall on the fireplace wall. But when I mentioned it, Hubster gave me that look. So no accent wall.

However, the ceiling is blue. I love the blue ceiling. At first, you almost don't notice it, but when you do, it's hard not to smile. It adds such a playful, fun touch.

This room is truly a family room, meaning a place for the boys to play. So toy storage is a priority. The storage shelf is from IKEA. And I love the red accents.


BEFORE:




AFTER:

Notice the blue ceiling?

We plan on adding more red accents. Some red bean bag chairs for the boys. A row of Mondrian prints to the wall.

I love the idea of Modrian prints,
because of the primary colors and
the linear lines echoing the storage unit.

Oh, and a couch. We've already found one we love. A comfy chocolate brown one that even Hubster loves. Now we just have to wait for the red maple in the front yard to start growing money.

We've installed new oak plank stairs that (nearly) match the Pergo.

We are going to tile around the fireplace, hopefully next month. And add a big beautiful white mantle, perfect for Christmas stockings.

I wish I could say that the room is still clean, and organized, and full of simple lines and red accents. But like I said before, it is a true family room. A true play room. So it spends most of its time looking like two boys and no parents live here.

Room For Boys

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

One of the things I felt I missed out on raising the boys in apartments was the chance to decorate an nursery. Bug's "nursery" consisted of his crib at the foot of our bed in our first one bedroom apartment.

I did give in once, and painted a beautiful room at one of the places we lived when he was nearly three years old.

Bug's 2 year old bedroom, at apartment #3

It was promptly painted over the minute we moved out. (I knew it would happen...but still...)

So the chance to create an amazing boys room at our new home was exciting. For everyone. Bug had no shortage of ideas.

I want my walls painted like a tiger. I want really, really, really dark green. I want a Batman room. Can I paint one wall orange?

I'm all for letting children have input into the design on their own room. But some of these ideas were just a little too bold for me.

Then one day, Bug announced he wanted a red room. Once he decided that, there was no changing his mind. Although I wasn't sure I wanted an entirely red room.

So I told Bug we would do a red stripe in his room. At first, he was incredibly disappointed. He'd been counting on floor to ceiling, all four walls type of red. Even trying to sell the stripes as "racing stripes...you know like race cars have" didn't make him happy.

Until we found the bunk bed. We weren't even looking for one, although we had discussed it, since Bug and Monkey were going to share a room. We walked into a wholesale furniture store, looking for a coffee table. And there it was. A red bunk bed. It was beautiful. I fell in love with it immediately. So did Bug. I said that we couldn't have red walls and a red bunk bed, because then we couldn't see the bunk bed very well. "That's okay. Maybe we could just do a red stripe instead."

Just like it was his idea all along.


The BEFORE: Just a typical bedroom



The AFTER (part 1):
We used the same warm tan in all the bedrooms. The trim got the same antique white color as found in the living room and kitchen. We installed new darker brown (clean!) carpet. And then, of course, there are the stripes.


The red bunk bed makes its appearance.

A home for Monkey's entourage

Bug's art desk

The boys' room is the most finished in the house. I think it is a style that works well for two little boys now. And hopefully for two bigger boys in the year to come. And while the walls are not head to toe red, the room definitely is Bug's much wanted red room.

An Entry Way

Saturday, September 12, 2009

The entry way to a home sets the stage for what else is to come. It is just a taste, an introduction to the rest of the story.

I'm not exactly sure what ours is saying, but I like listening.

I don't have any good "before" pictures, because who thinks to take pictures of their unpainted front door before hand?

I have always wanted a red front door. And it's not (just) the Feng Shui tradition of a red door bringing luck. A red door says home, welcome, and happiness lives behind there. I'm sure other door colors could say the same thing, but a red door just seems to say them a little bit louder.



I found the mirror at an antique store years ago, and it appeals to my Jane Austen shabby chic side. It was dark brown when I bought it, and I repainted it white and then antiqued it with a raw umber glaze.


The shelf came from IKEA (custom fit courtesy of Hubster) and appeals to my clean, simple side.

The pears...well pears make me happy. They are such a pretty, artistic fruit.


(All the pears are turned with bite marks towards the wall. Because sometimes, three year old little boys just can't help themselves.)

I still imagine a large turqouise vase with tall curly willow branches in it on the shelf. And maybe a apple green and blue glass bowl for keys and spare change.

(I found this one on Etsy, here
The turquoise vase was also on Etsy,
but it is sadly sold out)

But since currently everything in the entry way is unbreakable, we may just leave things how they are. For now.

Big Reveal, Part 2: The Kitchen

Thursday, September 3, 2009

When we first saw our home, we loved the Pergo that was in the living room.

The adjoining kitchen has blue linoleum, which we imaging being replaced by the same Pergo that was in the living room. We thought it would make the main floor feel more open and light having the same flooring throughout.


However, given our limited budget and time, we were never that serious about replacing the kitchen floor.

Until the home inspection revealed some rot underneath the kitchen floor by the back door. The subfloor needed to be replaced, which meant tearing out the existing kitchen floor. While we knew this would be a labor intensive project, we were still excited, because it gave us the perfect excuse to extend the American Beech Pergo flooring of the living room into the kitchen...just like we had imagined.

But before any of that could happen, the popcorn ceiling had to be removed. That involved days atop ladders and stools, wearing masks, equipped with spray bottles, scrapers, and sanders. We've tried to completey shut that portion of the home renovation out of our mind. It was more miserable that I will ever be able to convey. But worth it. Now, a home that had popcorn ceilings through out (and when I say through out, I'm including closests and bathrooms and every single other surface that could be interpretted as a ceiling.) Like they say, things must get worse before they get better.



Replacing the kitchen floor turned out to be just a slightly bigger project than previously anticipated. Turns out, the previous home owners had installed the blue linoleum right over the old linoleum, which had be installed right over the original linoleum. Between the layer of blue linoleum and tan linoleum, and then again between the layer of tan linoleum and original red, orange, and avacodo green checkered linoleum, was an additional subfloor. So, if you're keeping track, that's five, FIVE, layers of old flooring that needed to be removed before we could reach the damaged original subfloor. We discussed not fixing the subfloor and just laying the Pergo right over the five other layers of flooring. However, the kitchen floor was already raised nearly 1/2 inch compared to the living room floor due to previous homeowners taking this same approach.

So, we gritted our teeth and did it right. Well, Hubster did it right. I mostly watched between naps recovering from night shifts and overbearing senior residents. I will say this. When you come home to scenes like this, it can be slightly overwhelming.



The paint color was another challenge. I had thought about doing a lighter version of the living room color. But because we had to work around the existing countertops, I thought that it would be too much blue-gray in one room. Then we thought yellow. A yellow kitchen is so cheerful and friendly. However, after we starting painting the kitchen yellow, we didn't like how it felt next to the calming blue in the living room. The contrast was too much, and even though we had chosen a very creamy yellow, it felt much too bright.

One evening, as we were sitting there, staring at our very yellow wall, I confessed that I thought it wasn't the right color. Hubster chips in with, "Well, I always thought the yellow was a bad idea." Well, thanks.

After more paint cards stuck to the wall and more discussions, we decided on a warm cream. The color reminds me of antique parchment, comfortable linen, and Florida beaches. While quite neutral, it is warm and welcoming and works so nicely with the antique white trim that we extended in from the living room.

Between the new floors and new paint, our kitchen is mostly done.

BEFORE:



AFTER:


BEFORE:


AFTER:


BEFORE:


AFTER:


This room also suffers from lack of accessories. But just imagine a giant iron clock on the wall behind the table.


And a larger table that would actually have room for guests to sit at it. I love the idea of a table in the same dark espresso wood we used in the living room, surrounded by cross-back chairs in white, to pick up the color of the trim.


But even without those, our kitchen is nice. It is bright with so much light coming in from the large back door over looking the back yard.

It is also a place where extremely competitive games of Phase 10 are played and new attempts at cooking are both enjoyed and, um, declined.

The Big Reveal, Part 1

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

The last few months since the Big Move have been busy.

It wasn't just the move, it wasn't just residency starting.

We also had a home to remodel.

Hubster and I have lived in apartments ever since we got married. I had lived in an apartment with three roommates a year prior to that. Hubster had lived in apartment for many years before that. We had spent all of our time together and our time as a family of three and then a family of four with people above us, and people below us, and people on the right and on the left.

We watched our friends buy homes and nearly made ourselves sick with envy.

But we were willing to wait until it made sense. We had thought about buying a few years ago, but then the housing market turned south, and we were grateful that we hadn't. Otherwise, we would have found ourselves in the situation we saw some of my classmates: homes for sale and unable to see before the move for residency had to be made. We moved to Iowa without the stress of selling a home.

We had spent years imagining what our home would be like. What we wanted the rooms to feel like, the mood we wanted to create. And we were sure that after years of living as a family of four in a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom 650 square foot apartment, we would appreciate our home more than anyone else ever had.

We've been working on the house since day one.

And I am finally ready to start sharing some of the work.

Well, kind of ready. We still have an lack of furniture and there are still many boxes that have not been touched. (And I would like to apologize for the slight blurriness of the photos. My camera's auto focus has gone haywire. I know what I want for Christmas.)

I wanted to have a week of reveals, but doing call every third night prevents that. So, I will have a series of reveals, done as quickly as my schedule and lack of sleep allow.

Today: the living room.


The BEFORE:




When we bought our couch three years ago, we bought a nice neutral tan sofa. I knew that this procluded me from ever painting the living room tan. Which is a good thing. Hubster and I decided that we wanted a gray-blue slate color in the living room to complement the dark wood and green and turquoise accents we love.

The AFTER:




The color is a little bluer that we anticipated, but we love it. (Also, after painting for weeks, there was no way we were repainting any room.) It is such a relaxing color.

The trim used to be brown. We painted it all a lovely antique white.

We hung the photos up last week.



Now it finally feels like we live here.