This years project list~~

Here it is ~~ (were you holding your collective breath?)

1. Add more insulation to the attic to bring it up to code (and up the warmth factor) - This project begins today. We were going to have it blown in, but we got a great deal on some leftover insulation from a local job......so we're doing it ourselves ~ Craigs List is awesome~~.

2. Insulate, refloor, rewall the Harry Potter Cupboard (aka the cupboard under the stairs!) - we knew this little room needed to be done, but it wasn't until I sat on the stairs to paint the risers last fall that we realized just how badly it needed doing - I could feel a draft through the risers. - The floor is still the original flooring and sits inches below the dining room flooring.

3. Insulate and re-wall the only two closets upstairs - these aren't in as bad of shape as the Harry Potter Cupboard, but they are un-insulated.

4. Apply additional insulation to the underside of the house....during last years re-plumb it was discovered that the previous owner's contractors had done a patchwork of insulation under there (perhaps helping to explain the 10 degree temperature drop between the kitchen/office side of the house and the dining/living room side.)

5. Scrape, patch and paint Master Bedroom ceiling, paint walls, insulate the floor, put in a padded rug - this room is directly above the front porch and its floor is cold...very cold....there was carpeting when we moved in, we tore it out before we were ready to work on that room and we've had cold feet ever since~~

6. Complete the fencing project, sod the back yard. We fenced in the back yard last year and soon discovered that it was too small an area for us and four dogs. The dogs have destroyed all the sod out there with their rompings and left behind only weeds; once the fence is completed, we'll re-sod and hope for the best. We're also expanding the fenced area for added security - the economy has resulted in an increase of crime in our area...I'll feel better that the dogs can guard the whole yard and not just the rear....

7. Paint the kitchen cabinets.

8. Continue last year's project of re-doing the downstairs bathroom - this one has moved down the priority list due to this year's discovery of insulation issues.....we'll see how this one goes ....

Not a huge project list this year and most of it invisible to the eye once completed....hopefully the payoff will be in largely reduced energy bills...this very very cold winter opened our eyes to all the areas that had not been properly insulated by the p.o's......

Off to work then~ have a great day my friends....

It's that time again.....

for a Project Update Post......

After months of renovation, plumbing and septic work, mudding, sanding, caulking walls and bead board, and all else that comes with a re-do....we have a bathroom again! It's not completely finished - David's working on the shelves, the new doors are curing as is the re-attached in shower towel rack; but we have running water and a toilet that flushes. Yeah! No more running down the stairs......maybe that's TMI?

Still to come - shelving above the toilet and triming out the window
with the salvaged trim from the Masters House.

The new tub doors!

The new sink, faucet, mirror and lighting fixtures....

The painting in the living and dining rooms is progressing, however, the green of the dining room became the same bronze/gold of the living room.

The bronzy-gold in the Living Room.....





Two days were spent just making the decision regarding the dining room paint color.....

First attempt at transitioning the colors......we thought that painting the dining room side of the posts would do the trick......didn't do the doorway justice.....

and we didn't like the green panels.....so we painted the panels Ben Moore's White Sands
it still didn't look just right .............


so we painted one of the posts green and left just a little bit of the bronzy gold showing
and painted the edging of the panels that same color.....

and we compared the looks....

and then expanded the paint to get a more clear idea of the final product....



After painting the trim at the end of the room which includes the dividing door to the L.R., the Harry Potter Cupboard Door (Cupboard under the stairs) and the bathroom door, David and I spent an evening living with the color...and as the evening progressed, we liked it less and less. It was just too much and despite numerous attempts at getting that dividing doorway just right, the transition wasn't working. I think part of it is that the green is not near enough to a natural wood tone and with the amount of trim and doors in that room it just didn't feel right....and it was very difficult for the eye to find a place to rest.

The decision to continue the bronzy gold from the Living Room into the Dining Room was a good one.....and five days from the start of the job, this is what we have now.....


We still have to add the new chair rail (well....salvaged new chairrail) under the the blue plate you see on the dividing wall...it's been painted and is drying as I type....and that chandelier? Well, its supposed to get a new paint job as well....black or copper....just have to make the decision! One of these days, I'll find the perfect light fixture for this room....but for now, paint will do the trick.



Then it was on to the staircase; a day was spent scrubbing and painting that....and another putting the second and third coats on.



The photo wall, which has yet to get its new coat of B. M. White Sands, now has real photos in the frames and Nikki and I are slowly making fabric mats for each one...if you look closely, you'll see the fabric mat completed in three of the photos...when completed, each photo will have either a gold, blue, green or red fabric mat......!

And the little table on the staircase wall? That one was picked up at the flea market for a very nice price.....

I just love progress! We're onto the kitchen now....the red accent walls have been primed and the first coat of the green paint is on the doors and trim....and in this room, it looks great! More photos to come.....

It's been a while~~~

since my last post.....it isn't that nothing has been happening.....life is always full in a world with three labs, one tripod, two cats, a rabbit, 3 children and an old married couple......~it's just that I've been out of commission with my back once again.....

After 7 days of almost complete bed/couch rest, I'm finally up and moving again.....I've slowly painted the living room trim the same bronze/gold as the upstairs landing and the nearly completed bathroom and am moving on into the dining room.....

The dining room is taking some time because I am having to experiment to get the look just right.....the dividing archway (not really an archway but I can't seem to come up with a better word) is causing the delay....I can't quite get the transition of the two colors (bronze/gold and green) to come out just right.

If you've been following this blog, then you'll remember that I am stepping out of my comfort zone by painting the doors and trim of each room in one of four colors....bronze/gold, green, dark blue, or autum-y red....using page 92 of September's County Home Magazine as my inspiration....

The living room looks awesome, the painted trim warms up the room. Warmth in that room has always been an issue both physically and visually - from the 1/2 inch gaps between the sheet rock and sills under the windows when we first moved in - to the gaps between the floor and the walls that a crowbar could fit through and reach the ground we found when we gutted and redid the room in 2006 - to furnishing the long narrow room for a comfy and cozy feel. When that trim was painted in an slightly off white, it still didn't quite feel warm and cozy; the bronze/gold did the trick, finally.

A second benefit of the freshly painted trim is that is draws more attention to the paint technique on the walls in that room.....the paint job I refer to as my one brilliant moment of design.....I'm equally pleased about that....

But, I'm entering day three of the experiment in the dining room and I'm still working on the wall which divides the living room from the dining room.....

I need another brilliant moment of design....

Wish me luck.