Our Portland Foursquare

Our Guest Bathroom Featured in Style1900 Magazine

2011-11-02T21:52:00.000-07:00

The Nov/Dec issue of Style1900 Magazine is out, and our guest bathroom is their 'Mission Impossible' feature.
You can check out the article and see a before and after pic online here!

Here's a rough photo of the Mission Accomplished page in print:
(I'll try to post a better one at some point)

You can check out the article and see a before and after pic online here!

Guest Bathroom: The Renovation is Complete!

2011-03-18T11:43:00.000-07:00

The purple paint is gone. The pink paint is gone. The pink tiles are gone. The laminate is gone. The shower enclosure is gone. The vanity is gone. The shelf going through the middle of the space is gone. Gone is a glorious word.

As for what is not gone, it's a short list. The original medicine cabinet was spared and received a fresh coat of paint along with a new miorror. The toilet also stayed, but was spruced up with a new handle and seat.

All the 'before' photos can be seen at this post but here's a snapshot of what the bathroom looked like when we started:

The bathroom is small and there was no option to exand. We wanted to give it an airy and roomy feel, keep it functional and restore it with period charm. We wanted to add back in a bath option for kids while keeping the shower option for adults. Below is the mood board I created as our guideline during renovation.

Here's a list of what we did:

- Demo included removing the old shower pan, enclosure and tile, removing the vanity, removing a decorative shelf than ran overhead and removing multiple layers of vinyl flooring

- Installed the used tub (you might remember it from this post as 'The Strangest Thing I Have Ever Purchased') and had it resurfaced

- Had the tub professionally resurfaced and refinished

- Built a bench next to the tub (also covered in Subway tile)

- Installed 1" hex tiles on the floor

- Put in matte white Subway tiles in the tub/shower surround

- Added white wainscoting all around the room

- Installed a Kohler Memoirs Pedestal sink with 8" centers

- Restored the original medicine cabinet with new paint and mirror

- Added a cabinet above the toilet for storage

- New hardware and seat on the original toilet

- Swapped out the original light for a beautiful Schoolhouse Electric light (Northwestern 4 with a CL-2283-09-4 shade)

We couldn't be happier with how it turned out:

Period details we brought in throughout the bathroom:

Our Kitchen is Famous!

2011-03-18T10:52:00.000-07:00

Well, maybe semi-famous. Apartment Therapy's green home site is called Re-Nest and it focuses on 'abundant design for green homes'. Why, you might ask, am I telling you this? Because today our kitchen is featured on their site as a 'Before & After: A Re-Use Inspired Kitchen'! Click here to go directly to our feature. Kind of exciting!

New Doors All Around

2011-02-27T22:06:00.000-08:00

Beautiful new 5-panel doors now live in the five doorways of our second story. We replaced four existing doors that where too short (due to removing carpet and vinyl tile) not square and UGLY! We added a door that's been missing since we moved in between the master bedroom and bathroom, and added mirrored sliding doors to the closet in the master bathroom.

When we painted the upstairs last year we took extra care to get perfectly straight lines where the walls met the doorway trim. It was only after we finished painting that we realized installing new doors would mean removing the trim and reinstalling it (which would completely destroy the paint job we slaved over). WHOOPS! Here's the state of the salvaged trim after the new doors were installed:

David tackled the touch-up work around the trim which included patching, sanding, texturing, priming and painting each blemished spot. Then he painted each door a ultra white to match the trim and added new oil-rubbed bronze hardware. Here's a look at the transformations:
(You might notice a sneak peak of the renovations that are almost done in both bathrooms--I'll be posting about those very soon!)


Guest Bathroom: Door now opens into the bathroom rather than out. (By far the worst door to begin with!)


Master Bathroom: This doorway was sans door, trim or even flooring when we moved in	.

Guest Bedroom (now Aiden's room): We were sad to see this original five-panel door go,
but we donated it to a local rebuilding center through which we hope it finds a new home.

Office (now the Office/Guest Room)

Master Bathroom

Master Bathroom Closet

Kitchen Completion!

2011-02-17T16:49:00.000-08:00

After months of planning, demolition, rebuilding, installations, painting and more painting (the cabinets took six and sometimes more coats)...the kitchen is done!

Here's a brief list of what we did:
- Demolished and removed the old partition that housed the previous exhaust duct work
- Dismantled the existing island and swapped the two cabinets on either side of the stove allowing for larger counter area on fridge side of island
- Removed a cabinet from the southwest corner of the kitchen that we just didn't need and was making the kitchen feel smaller
- Rerouted the gas line to allow space for downdraft exhaust
- Added electrical outlets and plug-in for new downdraft exhaust
- Added new duct work going down from island, underneath the kitchen floor and along basement joist to outside (for downdraft exhaust)
- Installed this Jenn-Air Downdraft Exhaust, it was the only one on the market we could find with a reversible motor box which allowed it to be installed behind a range (rather than under a cooktop)
- Rebuilt island with an access panel for future maintenance to downdraft exhaust
- Removed the old, cracked tile flooring
- Patched and refinished original Douglas Fir floors that we found underneath (score!)
- Refinished cabinets, doors and drawers (TSP wash, sanding, 3+ coats of primer and 3+ coats of kitchen enamel semi-gloss paint)
- Added new hardware to the cabinets and drawers
- Added trim (kicker board) where the cabinets meet the floor and where the bottom cabinets meet the counter top
- Added baseboard and quarter round
- Extended the wall behind where the refrigerator a few inches (the existing cabinets above the fridge used to stick out past the end of the wall...ghetto!!)
- All new appliances: Whirlpool Gold Stainless Fridge, Whirlpool Gold Quiet Partner 4 Stainless dishwasher (with hidden controls!), 30" GE Cafe Range in Stainless (love this range because it includes 4 specialized burners with a fifth large fifth griddle burner in the middle, a large convection oven and a second smaller oven below the first! It has by far the most features we could find in a 30" range)
- Re-plumbed dishwasher
- Plumbed new supply line to fridge for ice maker and water dispenser
- Painted over the bright green walls with a nice, rich blue color
- Installed beautiful matte granite counter tops (we used Black Meteorite Antiqued granite -- not polished)
- Swapped out the busted, leaking sink for a new Ticor stainless steel 16-guage undermount sink
- Installed a Price Pfister Ashfield pull-down faucet in stainless steel
- And finished it off with a matte finish white subway tile back splash

This was a mostly DIY job. We did everything but sand and finish the floors, fabricate and install the granite, and rebuild the island. Phew!

To our delight, it turned out just as we hoped -- nice and new but with a clean, period correct look.

Here are some before and afters (you can click on the images to enlarge them):

Be Green. We support that. Just not on our kitchen walls...

2011-01-08T20:38:00.000-08:00

The day finally came to paint over the green walls!

Here's an after photo of the final painted walls. We used the same dark blue color that we painted the pantry (check it out here).

And while we didn't cut corners on appliances and countertops, we just didn't have it in the budget for new cabinets. Luckily, the existing cabinets were in great shape and the plan was to paint them white. So while we were priming over the green walls we primed over the cabinets as well. What a difference already...

In every demolition an ax must swing

2011-01-08T20:05:00.000-08:00

After we removed the top portion of the kitchen's partition wall earlier this year, the base of the wall was left. Here's what it looked like:

And (of course) the wall was built to withstand a tornado and was not coming out without a flight. Here's David preparing to wage war against it.

After the partition base came down, David dismantled the island and prepared it to be reconfigured and rebuilt.

A Ghost of Kitchen's Past

2011-01-08T19:45:00.000-08:00

The kitchen has been remodeled. It's done. Finito! But I am getting ahead of myself, let me start at the beginning...

They say the kitchen is what sells a house. Whoever 'they' are, 'they' do not speak for us because we bought this home despite the kitchen. From day one we couldn't wait to tear it down and build it back up. Here is what we started with:

As you can see, everything MUST go! Earlier this year we'd had enough of the partition (complete with cabinetry) that cut the kitchen in half. So we got out the power tools and took it down! The kitchen instantly felt twice as big. It was a good start, but we had a looooong way to go. Here's a few play-by-play photos of the partition coming down (you can click here for the full post).

A Pregnant Pause

2011-01-08T16:57:00.000-08:00

Yes, there have been a serious lack of posts lately. No, the house projects have not slowed down (in fact they sped up!). This recent blog neglect was for a very good reason. On November 24th we welcomed our son, Aiden James, into the world! We're certain he'll be a natural at home improvement when he gets a little older. Until then, Aiden gets VERY sad when we tell him he's too little to run the power tools...

For those who are interested, I started another blog for posting photos of Aiden and our family. Click here to check it out. I plan to keep this blog strictly about the house and to resume posting very soon! In fact, I have so many updates, upgrades and transformations to post I don't know where to start. Happy New Year to all you in blog world!

Painting Progress: Prettying up the Pantry

2010-11-08T20:41:00.000-08:00

Next in line for a fresh coast of paint after the dining room was the pantry.

I wanted the kitchen and pantry to be the same color in an effort to help tie the two spaces together. Inspired by the Pottery Barn room seen here, I got a sample of Benjamin Moore's Newburyport Blue. After painting a test patch of color on the walls, I immediately fell in love!

Here's a look at the pantry before (so long yellow doors and linoleum!):

A while back we replaced the old, plain fixture with a lamp-post inspired pendant I picked up at an antique shop (click here for that post) .

And here's a look at the repainted, revamped pantry:

We are FLOORED - Part II

2010-11-07T18:27:00.000-08:00

Last Spring we had the original fir floors upstairs refinished (click here for that post) and always planned to have the main level floors refinished this year. After painting all the rooms on the main level, it was finally go-time for the floors.

Under tiles (many cracked), linoleum and layers of paint we found beautiful, original fir floors throughout the main level. There were a few old, improper patches that had to be addressed and patch correctly with fir. What would a home improvement project be without a few surprises?

Here's a look at the transformation:

Dining Room - Fir floor restoration


Kitchen - Fir floors under tile

Kitchen - Fir floors under tile, Old patch had to be repaired

Old patch in the kitchen...like it never happened!

Pantry -Fir floors under linoleum

Staircase to side door and basement - Fir floors under layer of paint

Entryway - Fir floors under tile

Entryway - Fir floors under file

Privacy Please!

2010-11-07T15:45:00.000-08:00

One of the first items on our to-do list upon buying this house was to add a privacy hedge along the North and East side of the property. But as timing, weather and the seasons would have it, the hedge didn't go in until recently. We opted for well-established English Laurel bushes and found a supplier out of Canby, OR that had amazingly low prices (although it did take almost three months to fulfill our order). We bought 27 4-6 ft Laurel bushes but in order to fill our large order with same-size plants, the company gave us 6-8 ft Laurel instead. We certainly can't complain about that! Here's the first few bushes as they arrived:

Our handy man, Enrique, got to work and after two days of digging the 27 bushes were in the ground. The hedge instantly gave us more privacy in the yard and became a much-needed separation from the sidewalk and street. Within a few short years we should have a very solid hedge that reaches 10-12 feet high. David has already put his hedge trimmer to work sheering up the sides of the bushes and we'll let the top growth aim for the sky until next year's trim.

Here's a few shots of the new hedge:

Here are a few before-and-after comparisons to the property as it looked when we first bought it:

To complete our quest for privacy in the back yard, we extended the existing fence out to the property line. After a year or two of weather exposure the new section should look just like the existing portion.

Painting Progress: Dining Room Complete

2010-09-08T15:56:00.000-07:00

We've been painting like mad over the past few weeks and have made some major progress. The latest room to be transformed is the dining room. The red walls and gold metallic ceilings were begging us to paint over them since the day we bought the house. The ceilings are now white and the walls are a rich, flat-finish tan. The beautiful wainscoting and box beam woodwork were painted glossy black at some point in the past and we decided to keep the black (anything else would have been SO much more work!). In the end I'm so glad we did--the glossy finish of the black reflects the lighter wall and ceiling colors and doesn't feel as dark as it originally did.

We also swapped out the old (read 70's gaudy and tacky) chandelier for the new model we purchased a while back. When the new chandelier arrived we were surprised to see it was quite a bit more red than was advertised. But over the past few months the red grew on us and now I absolutely love the unexpected, rich pop of color it gives to the room.

Here's what the dining room looks like now:

Here's what we started with:

Before and after shots:

Master Bathroom Progress

2010-08-18T11:27:00.000-07:00

While we've been busy painting downstairs, a steady stream of contractors have been working their magic upstairs in our master bathroom. Here's a quick run-down of what's been going on:

Electrical Progress:
- Added breaker to the electrical box for new whirlpool tub
- Wired and installed an outlet for the new whirlpool tub to plug into
- Added a second electrical outlet to the wall that will be home to our double vanity
- Wired the new air vent (complete with additional light and heater)
- Added a second double-light switch to control the air vent, light and heater (given that there will be four light switches for the bathroom, it may take me a while to figure out which switch does what!)

Plumbing Progress:
- Pipe adjustments were made to the tub/shower area to accommodate the new tub
- The new whirlpool tub was installed
- The previous single-faucet plumbing was split into two faucet connections
- The toilet to floor connection damaged when the old toilet was removed was replaced

Shower Window Upgrade:
- Old, damaged window (that didn't open) was replaced with a brand spanking new window that actually opens

Tile Prep Work
- Cement board was applied to the shower area and the floor

Wall Repair Work
-The wall that was opened up for plumbing work has been patched

Here's some snapshots of the progress:

My dream come true...two faucets!

Drywall repaired around the new faucets.

Our new whirlpool tub in all it's glory!


David couldn't resist testing out the new tub after a long day of working on the house--beer in hand! He didn't mind having to turn the water on and off with a wrench.


Before: Water damaged wood window that didn't open. After: Beautiful new vinyl window that will resist water damage and OPENS!

Inspector Poof checking the cement board progress on the floor.


Cement board installed in the shower area.

Next up the drywall repair will be sanded and textured, and the room will be ready for paint! We've picked out a beautiful light blue color and I can't wait to see up on the walls! Stay tuned. :)

Just for fun, here's a comparison of what we started with and what it looks like now. Even the unfinished bathroom looks a million times better than it did before!

More Painting Completed: The Living Room

2010-08-09T14:45:00.000-07:00

Next up in the long line of rooms to paint this Summer was the living room. The walls and ceiling started out the same dirty, tan/beige/yellow, dull color. We couldn't wait to paint the ceiling white which really opened up the room. We painted the walls the same fresh, brighter yellow that we used in the entryway and did some major touch-up to the black trim. Overall the transformation wasn't shockingly huge, but the room looks so much brighter and feels so much more open now!

Here's a glimpse of the new living room followed by some before and after breakdowns:

The entry and stairs have been painted!

2010-08-03T13:39:00.000-07:00

Here's what the space looks like now:

A Before & After breakdown:

Click here for the DIY curtains post.

The next step will be to remove the tile flooring and restore the original wood flooring underneath.That will begin as soon as we finish painting the other rooms on the main level.

Marathon Mulching

2010-08-02T11:57:00.000-07:00

We had one unit (7.4 yards) of mulch this delivered this past Friday. The before photo doesn't really do justice to how massive the pile of mulch was to begin with--it was as deep as it was wide. And after three days of shoveling, dumping and spreading mulch we only have a few wheel barrows full left.

Adding mulch to the slopes and garden areas was pretty straight forward but the parkways required a lot of work. They were overflowing with dirt, grass and weeds which all had to be removed and both sides of the parkway had to be edged. Unfortunately, the dirt was beyond rock-hard and even the edger we borrowed from our neighbor wouldn't make a dent in it. David ended up using a shovel and some serious brute strength to get the edging done. One shovel broken in half mid-way through the job! That gives you an idea of how hard the dirt was (or how crappy our shovel was).

The "pile" -- before and after

David edging the parkway right before the shovel broke.

The mulching is done!!

The last two pieces of the puzzle in the back yard are adding the veggie garden and extending the fence all the way to the retaining wall.

We used the left over mulch to cover all the garden areas including this newly landscaped spot.

After much manual labor, our yard finally looks presentable! We lost count of how many neighbors and passer-bys stopped to comment on how great the place looks. It's always nice to hear that others are enjoying the fruits of our labor as much as we are.

The final phase of landscaping is to plant the laurel hedge. That should be delivered and planted very soon (famous last words...)!

Guess what we finally have....

2010-07-30T10:02:00.000-07:00

After 473 days of living in our home we finally have a back yard with grass!!! The hardy, drought-resistant sod was delivered and installed yesterday. In my opinion, this is the most glorious moment in our home improvement adventure so far. There is something about not having a back yard to escape to that leaves me feeling unsettled. I can't wait to spend a few hours sprawling out in the grass and relaxing in the sun this weekend.

The new sod doesn't come without responsibility--twice daily watering will be required for the next three weeks. David took on the first morning watering session today.

The dirt patch you see on the right will become our veggie garden!

The West side "yard"

The East side yard

Phase Two of Interior Painting Begins

2010-07-27T13:22:00.000-07:00

After our four-month long stint of painting the upstairs last Summer, we took some time off to enjoy life without a paint brush or roller in our hands. Now we are back at it and taking aim at the main level of the house. I'm beyond excited to paint over the mauve stairway and entryway, the yellow/beige/tan in the living room, the red walls and metallic gold ceilings in the dining room and the bright wasabi green color in the kitchen.

First up is the entryway and the staircase leading to the second story. The walls, ceilings, staircase risers and front door are all getting a fresh coat. Here's a few before pics and some updates on progress we've made so far.

Before pics of the entryway and landing:

Here's a before shot of the staircase leading upstairs next to a photo of the staircase primed. What a huge difference already!

Here's a preview of the progress we've made in the main entry area. The first photo shows the space primed and the second shows it after the first coat of paint was applied. It's amazing how much larger and brighter the space feels!

The goal is to finish painting the space this week and move on to the living room next week.

Project Backyard: Flat-Out Fantastic

2010-07-26T21:16:00.000-07:00

We made major progress in the backyard this past week. There is, for the first time ever, level ground on the side of the house, level ground in the back yard and an evenly graded slope of dirt from the level yard areas down to the retaining wall.

It took some doing to achieve all this. A massive weed forest had sprouted in the bare dirt left behind after the cement work was completed. Waist high grasses, dandelions on steroids, thistle thickets and vines were well on their way to taking over the yard in just three short weeks! It took David, his trusty weed whacker and a little aid from (nasty) chemicals to reclaim the yard. Next, our handyman Enrique and a 15-yard dirt delivery entered the picture. Enrique tilled, flattened and graded the dirt, and added a layer of landscaping fabric under the dirt on the slopes. The base for a back yard had been created!

Next up, the flat areas will be topped off with sod, the slopes will be mulched and a row of English Laurel will be planted where the mulched slope meets the retaining wall to create a hedge. Eventually, there will also be a veggie/flower garden added to the mix.

Here's how it looks as of now:

Master Bathroom: Smashy! Smashy!

2010-07-22T15:51:00.000-07:00

David showed our master bathroom who was boss over the past week! He ripped out the shower tile, removed the shower doors, removed the bathtub, removed the toilet, removed the floating shelf that cut through the room and (apparently) used to be in style, removed the vanity and mirror, chipped away the tile flooring and opened up the wall where plumbing and electrical work will be done. It was quite the task but David accomplished it in record time! He's pretty much a pro at destroying rooms in our house by now. :)

It wasn't a surprise to find the original douglas fir flooring underneath the tile as we've found it in every other room of the house--although a portion of the flooring near the (non-existent) door was removed and patched with plywood at some point. It was a surprise to discover a fairly level base flooring surface on which to put cement board and new tile! Our guest bathroom floor situation did not prove to be so user-friendly.

The room is now ready for electrical and plumbing work which will begin next week!!

Click here to see the bathroom pre-destruction.

The word Vain cannot actually be found within the word Vanity

2010-07-20T15:41:00.000-07:00

(A friendly fact for our friend Paul who couldn't resist making a joke about how 'vain' we were anytime this project came up in conversation.)

Despite the fact that we just started the remodeling phase of the master bath, many pieces of the puzzle have been in the works for quite a while now. Back in February I spoke to our favorite local furniture shop, Tropical Salvage, about making a custom double vanity. They make stunningly beautiful furniture out of salvaged wood from Indonesia. We have purchased a few furniture pieces from them over the last few years and were thrilled when they agreed to do a vanity for us at an incredibly reasonable price.

Here is the mock-up of how we wanted the finished product to look:
Vanity by Tropical Salvage, French Petite White Vessel Sinks from Overstock.com, AquaSource single-handle bathroom faucets from Lowes.com

I gave Tropical Salvage this design spec...

...and four months later, we picked up our vanity! I can't wait to see how it looks when it's installed in the finished bathroom.

Master Bathroom Renovation Begins!

2010-07-20T14:47:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since the last update but we've been hard at work moving forward on many projects.

I'm excited to report that we've started work on the master bathroom renovation—the project I've anxiously awaited since the day we bought the house! The master bath was, by far, the ugliest room in the house that had to be used on a daily basis. For the past year we've been living with a bathroom that has no door, plywood flooring, a closet with no door, hideous tile throughout, not enough storage, etc, etc.

Here's a look at what we are starting with:

Poured...AGAIN!

2010-06-09T11:17:00.000-07:00

There have been a few trials and tribulations with the driveway project which has been ongoing for almost three months now. I'm happy to report it's finally close to being done. The exposed aggregate section of the driveway didn't turn out well the first time so it had to be removed and poured again. Luckily...the second time was the charm and we now we have a lovely new driveway, garage floor, stairs and side walk. After a little more sealing work and a two-week drying period we'll be able to drive up the driveway and park on the garage slab!

Here's how it turned out:

Let the landscaping begin!

Poured!

2010-05-13T22:19:00.000-07:00

At long last, today they finally poured the garage floor, driveway, stairs and walkway. Now they just have the sidewalk patch, approach and curb to go (well, and touch up and sealing, of course).

We're THRILLED with the results. The exposed aggregate concrete ties in to the house and existing wall just as we imagined. And it's so great to see the project take such a big leap forward toward the vision that's been in our heads for months.

I can't wait until it's sealed and done, but sadly, after the seal is on we'll have to wait another two weeks for additional cure time before we can drive on it. Wait wait wait wait wait. My birthday is in two weeks, so maybe my birthday present will be off-street parking, at last!!

For those not familiar, exposed aggregate is as easy as 1-2-3:

1. Form and pour.
2. Lightly spray the concrete with a retarder solution, which is essentially sugar water. The retarder will slow the setting of the very top surface layer, allowing the underlying concrete to harden while the exterior layer remains soft.
3. The difficult part... When the concrete has become hard enough to carry a worker's weight without messing up the aggregate, the surface is washed with a hose and scrubbed with a broom to remove the top layer of retarded cement. This requires a bit of technique and finesse, as care must be taken to not displace the aggregate or expose it too deeply (leading the aggregate to lose it's bond, letting stones pop out and generally messing up your finished look).

Here's a video showing the progress and the crew working on the aggregate-exposing step 3 mentioned above...

Project Backyard: Update

2010-05-12T13:57:00.000-07:00

The backyard is continuing it's transformation! The dry well has been installed, the dirt back filled and leveled, gravel put down, the curb removed for the new driveway and the previous driveway removed to make way for a new curb.

Here's a current snapshot of the back yard. A lot of work is being done this week so we'll have more updates soon!

Guest Bathroom: Major Progress!

2010-05-12T10:53:00.000-07:00

The guest bathroom renovation is moving right along. We're getting so close to the end we can taste it! The latest task to be completed was the tile work. 1" white hex tile was used for the floor and classic white subway tile was used for the shower enclosure and bench. We are really happy with the way it turned out!

Click here to see what the bathroom looked like when we started.

Project Backyard: Now with Access!

2010-04-29T17:34:00.000-07:00

Kelly: "David, I just got home, and the house smells like gas and is full of smoke!"
David: "Um, yeah, that's because they are using a gas saw."
Kelly: "Using a GAS saw? That's a real thing?"
David: "Yeah, it's a two-stroke motor with a blade attached to it. I used to sell them."

...and that's about as interesting as I can make a post about installing a door where there wasn't one previously. As relatively un-interesting as it is, however, I am very glad to say that we now have a door from our basement to the outside world.

It's amazing what a door down there has done... We can now get into the backyard area without walking around the house. We can now move things in and out of the basement without maneuvering them up the stairs. We can now feel how the flow of the home will change once the basement is finished, usable space that connects to the outside world. And, we can now add an additional bedroom to the basement without having to add egress windows. Hooray!

One quick tip - Kwikset Smartkey Door Hardware and Locks. We used these in the new door, and it allows you to re-key the lock to any key in about 30 seconds. Waaay easier and more convenient than a locksmith.

Some before and after:

Guest Bathrom: Tub is in place

2010-04-26T13:41:00.000-07:00

We have been making solid progress on the guest bathroom renovation. The cute mini-tub was installed, the drain was moved and plumbing adjusted, and the bench that bridges the gap to the wall has been constructed. It doesn't look like much yet, but soon enough it will look like a real bathroom again. I can't wait!

A beautiful day in the neighborhood!

2010-04-25T20:53:00.000-07:00

I'm so glad Spring is finally here and outdoor projects are starting up again! Before Winter hit we had a french drain put in. This left the side yard a muddy strip of ugly land.Since then weeds, random bulbs and grass have taken over.While enjoying the beautiful day I did some serious weeding, planted hostas and ferns, and put down a thick layer of mulch. Voilà! The side yard now looks like this...

Project Backyard: Now with Footings

2010-04-05T13:43:00.000-07:00

While we enjoyed a wonderful trip to San Diego to celebrate the engagement of two beautiful people (congrats Erika & Scott!), our contractor was hard at work on the backyard.

The rest of the footings were poured:Forms for the stem walls also went up:

Project Backyard: Forming Forms

2010-03-31T10:57:00.001-07:00

Things continue to progress in the backyard. Forms for the concrete footings are beginning to take shape!

Kitchen Demolition Begins

2010-03-29T13:48:00.000-07:00

At some point someone decided it would be a good idea to construct a free-standing structure complete with cabinetry smack dab in the middle of our kitchen in order to house the vent for the range. Not only did the large and obtrusive structure make the kitchen feel much smaller than it really is, but it separated the breakfast bar from the rest of the kitchen and blocked the view between the kitchen and the dining room. It also blocked light from the two large kitchen windows from getting to the breakfast bar area and the dining room.

Here's the play-by-play:Any job that requires power tools, is a job that makes David happy. A big thanks to Sean for his expert demolition assistance and to Paul & Stacey, who know how to make crow bars and safety glasses look good.

House Tour

2010-03-28T14:50:00.000-07:00

As we gear up to do several major renovation projects, I thought it would be fun to post a tour of the entire house as it was the day we moved in. The house in this tour is about to become a distant memory and I can't wait until these 'before' pics are replaced with amazing 'after' pics. :)

Click here and enjoy the tour!

Copy Cat Chic: Veranda Round Chandelier

2010-03-27T21:03:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite blogs is Copy Cat Chic. It's a perfectly simple blog that finds cheap-yet-chic alternatives for chic-but-expensive home decor pieces. It's such a great idea for a blog and a great resource for affordable decor finds. When I stumbled upon a chic deal of my own today, I decided it was time to do my first post channeling Copy Cat Chic. Here goes...

Veranda Round Chandelier
sold by Pottery Barn
$349 + $34.90 shipping = $383.90
BVR-8W Veranda Round 8 White Shade Wood Chandelier
sold by general-lighting (eBay store)
$119 + free shipping = $119
It's the EXACT same chandelier at a savings of $264.90. And it will soon be hanging above our dinning room table!

Guest Bathroom: Less Floor is More

2010-03-25T12:37:00.000-07:00

Removing the layers of flooring which have accumulated over the past 99 years was the latest guest bathroom demo project.

In the shower area, there were two layers of linoleum and three layers of plywood to rip up. In the rest of the bathroom, there were two layers of linoleum, two layers of plywood, a surprise layer of original tongue-and-groove Douglas Fir (a sweet surprise!) and a layer of metal.

David removed all the layers down to the original fir. Our goal is to salvage the fir to use as patches for the master bedroom floor (click here to see the wall we tore out) and the soon-to-be hole in the kitchen floor.

First the linoleum was removed:
Then off came the plywood:David's saw blade was the first to meet this layer of metal:We were pretty excited to discover original fir floors:Project 'Save The Fir Floors' begins this weekend. Click here to see what the bathroom looked like before demo began.

Project Backyard: Excavation Continues

2010-03-21T11:24:00.000-07:00

The backyard is quickly taking shape! Most recently the walls of the future garage were marked and holes for the footings were created.I hope you all enjoyed the BEAUTIFUL weather yestereday! :)

Project Backyard: Excavation Begins

2010-03-17T09:22:00.001-07:00

After months of painstaking planning we were finally able to break ground on the backyard!

Here's what it looked like before:
After two dump truck loads of dirt were removed, piles of back-fill dirt were created and a somewhat level garage floor began to emerge from the mudpit, here's what it looks like now:

Guest Bathroom: Take THAT!!!

2010-03-03T19:53:00.000-08:00

Smashy smashy make David happy.

Before:
After:
Before:
After:

Guest Bathroom: The Design Plan

2010-03-01T13:11:00.000-08:00

Here's the design mood board for the guest bath remodel. The goal is clean lines, classic details and a light color scheme to help brighten the small space.
Breakdown
Light Fixture - Northwestern 4 by Schoolhouse Electric
Pedestal Sink - Kohler K-2267-0 Memoirs Pedestal Sink in white
Sink Faucet - Metropolatin Bath Facuet, widespread
Shower/Tub Hardware - Vintage Tub & Shower Chrome Faucet
Toilet - Kohler Devonshire Two-Piece Elongated Toilet
Storage - Classique Wall Cabinet
Paint Colors - (the same fantastic combo used by Jessica Helgerson in this bathroom) Benjamin Moore AF-685 Thunder at 25% (semi-gloss) and Benjamin Moore OC69 Regal Matte white
Floor Tile - 1" hex tiles in Ice White
Shower Tile - 3"x6" Subway tile in white
Shower Curtain - Essence Fabric Shower Curtain, White, Target
Medicine Cabinet - Original 1911 medicine cabinet, stripped and repainted
Bathtub - Used bathtub, resurfaced

For a reminder of what the bathroom looked like before demolition started, click here. We've got a long way to go!

Loving: Restoration Hardware's New Garden Collection

2010-02-28T22:07:00.000-08:00

My heart stopped! The only thing more beautiful than this furniture, is the garden behind them. Perfection.

Accidents Happen...

2010-02-27T13:06:00.001-08:00

It was just like any other Thursday morning... until the unmistakable timbre of car vs. car jolted us from our peaceful slumber and started our day off with a bang. I drearily lumbered downstairs as the muffled shouts of strangers drifted through our walls. Peeking through the front window, what did I behold? This...
Turns out a three-car accident in font of our house ended with one of the cars jumping the sidewalk and coming to a not-so-gentle stop when it encountered our front retaining wall. Luckily for the drivers, no one was hurt. Unluckily for us, we're left with a retaining wall with a cracked concrete foundation, buckled blocks, cracked capstones and streaks of Hyundai.
The damage spans about 15 feet of the wall, so I'm guessing that a good portion of the wall will have to demolished, excavated, formed, poured, blocked, capped and back-filled. Our biggest concern is how this very old wall will be rebuilt and finished in a way which matches what's existing and doesn't stick out like an obviously-bandaged sore thumb. Let the misadventure of getting our wall fixed or replaced by an insurance company begin...

(P.S. This situation is totally weak, but we still do our best to keep our sense of humor. In that spirit, we had to channel our friends over at FailBlog and snap this picture - PARKING FAIL!)

Mailboxs Etc

2010-02-25T16:18:00.000-08:00

I was recently lucky enough to be the big winner of a super cute mailbox (pictured below) by way of a fellow Portland house blogger, Joe of 1916 Portland Bungalow. Being someone who loves to coordinate, I was beyond thrilled to find out the mailbox I won has the EXACT same square pattern design as this one that I got for the house last year. Since I don't really need two mailboxes, my current plan is to paint the new one oil rubbed bronze (my fav color) to match the exterior details on the house and used it as something other than a mailbox (currently loving the idea of it as a wall-mounted planter). I hope that doesn't go against the rules of what you can do with items won on blogs!?!

I also want to mention Joe's new venture, NCD Interior Design, which I think is SUCH a great idea. NCD Interior Design is meant to provide inspiration and interior design ideas to anyone with an older home who wants to undertake a respectful remodel of their bungalow, foursquare, cottage, or other classic American home. And the kicker? You could be a part of it! HCD Interior Design is currently looking to expand their site. Whether you have a high-end (finished) interior room or are an interior designer looking to get more exposure, drop Joe a line to be considered for the site.

I can only hope that, one day, my finished rooms will make the cut! And a big thanks to Joe for the killer mailbox!

A little Monday retail therapy...

2010-02-22T18:38:00.000-08:00

Meet our new entry bench by way of Overstock. I love the graphic quality of the slats, the natural element of the seat and the character of the arm rests.

Pantry Overhaul: Organization

2010-02-17T18:59:00.001-08:00

Inspired by my obsession with vintage jars and the popularity of all things chalkboard, a pantry organization idea was born. I used chalkboard contact paper on jars of various sizes to create a vintage inspired pantry fit for an old house. And the best part is you can just wipe off the chalk writing and change it when need be.

Here's a before pic:And here's what the pantry looks like now. (Try to look past the yellow doors and tired paint that will be revived this summer.) Surprisingly, everything in the jars was already in my pantry. It's amazing how nice food looks when you take away the packaging.With a little help from Poof, my ever-growing collection of pretty turquoise glass has a new home in the pantry as well.

Inspiration circa 1744

2010-02-17T09:39:00.000-08:00

The latest issue of Lonny Magazine is live and I'm swooning over the showcase of an updated 1744 home in Connecticut. The blend of old and new is perfection. The rustic details including exposed wood ceilings and beams, fireplace stonework, wood paneling, brick walls, wide-plank flooring and distressed finishes feel like a peek into the home's 266 year history. And who wouldn't want to curl up in front of that fireplace?

The strangest thing I have EVER purchased

2010-02-13T22:51:00.000-08:00

We hit the ground running with our next wave of renovations by doing some serious window shopping today. I previously posted about the guest bathroom spacial dilemma. Ideally there would be a bathtub AND shower, but the open space available wasn't boding well for the tub option. While browsing around The Rebuilding Center today (which was jam-packed with great used building and remodeling materials), we stumbled up the perfect second-hand solution to our problem.

And here it is--officially the strangest thing I have ever purchased:
There she is, spouting whales and all. At 42" x 35 1/2" it fits perfectly in our beyond small space and, being a used tub that was 25% off, it fit perfectly in our budget. The tub is big enough for a child to bath in and for an adult shower in. It's a small tub-sized miracle! What will you do with the 10 extra inches between the tub and the wall you ask? Why, we'll tile in a nifty seat/shelf for our sitting/storage pleasure.

After installation we'll have the tub refinished to like-spankin'-new condition (and I'll secretly miss those cute little whales).

Guest Bathroom: The Renovation Begins

2010-02-13T22:24:00.000-08:00

Here's the current state of bathroom:

The guest bath is especially challenging because of its small size. Our general plan is:

- tile floors
- pedestal sink
- remove current shower enclosure and replace with something that gives the option for a bath or a shower
- replace toilet
- repaint walls
- strip and repaint original medicine cabinet, replace glass

The biggest challenge is the tub/shower issue. Right now there is only a shower in the room but we want to add a bathtub option for when we have kids. That is going to be a challenge given the tub/shower area is only 52" wide and about 36" deep.

Let the renovation begin!

Meet my two new best friends

2010-02-13T22:13:00.001-08:00

The old washer and dryer that came with the house have been destroying our clothes since April and will be gone come Wednesday! The new, efficient, Consumer Reports recommended Kenmore models were the winners after a serious hunt all over town and online. We got them for 30% off (25% off sale + AAA gives an additional 5% off at sears.com)!

Garage Update: No more garage updates

2010-02-13T16:37:00.001-08:00

I'll make this short and sweet. We are, once again, not building the garage. Despite a possible deal with a contractor, it would have required too many compromises in the end. On that note I will leave the garage subject alone for a while.

Garage Update: It may be built afterall

2010-02-09T20:25:00.000-08:00

We were pretty garage-obsessed until the last post when we decided not to spend the $44,000-$73,000 we were quoted to build a garage. It was simply too much cash on one project when we have so many others we want to do at the same time. And just as we settled into the idea of no garage--the garage may be back within reach!

Apparently it's hard times out there for contractors (although you wouldn't know it from the $73K bids we received) and there is now one willing to work with us and do the job within our budget. More details on this will be coming. We're kind of excited! And I am once again, dreaming of my garage with rooftop deck...

Garage Update: We don't need no stinking garage (right away)

2010-02-04T11:39:00.000-08:00

The garage saga continues:
Turns out $35K will buy most people a garage, but not us. Our garage requires a lot of site prep work and that is causing the cost to skyrocket. A serious amount of dirt excavation and moving is needed. The cost for the cement footings, retaining walls, driveway and garage slab isn't helping either. This prep work alone is half the budget. Granted, this high cost DOES make sense when you look at what we're working with:New Plan = We'll get all the site work mentioned above done now. That way we'll be able to landscape, build gardens, get our cars off the street and have some outdoor space to hang out in. We'll still punch a new door on the South side of the house allowing easy access from the back of the house/parking slab into the basement. Then, we wait. We'll live with that set-up for a few years (maybe less if we get lucky) and then come back in to build the garage and deck on the pre-prepped site.

The upside to the new plan is it will free up enough funds to redo the kitchen, redo the three bathrooms, finish the (VERY) unfinished basement including a 4th bath and 4th bedroom, refinish the floors on the main level and repaint the main level. This is all pretty exciting stuff and we can't wait start the proverbial balls rolling!

Garage Update: Where is Drew Carey when you need him?

2010-02-02T17:00:00.000-08:00

We have most of the bids in now. And I keep coming back to how they do it on The Price Is Right. The players bid on an item and the closest without going over wins. If all the players overbid a loud buzzer sounds, all the bid are removed and they have to give new, lower bids...

You get the idea. It's not going well.

The closest bid we have is still $9,000 off from fitting within our price range. My favorite bid is the one for $73,000. Really? $73,000? Incredible. We are currently trying to wrap our brains around the whole situation and decide what the next step will be.

If our hopes and dreams of a garage were summarized by a photo, this would it:CRUSHED.

DIY: Curtains

2010-02-01T20:19:00.000-08:00

Whilst out shopping for roman shade items, I fell in love with the fabric I posted about here and decided I HAD to have curtains out of it. I found this article which broke down every step and measurement to perfect simplicity. I had no idea making curtains was so easy! After a few short hours of time...
I ended up with the most gorgeous curtains EVER! Even David (who doesn't usually have much to say about things of this nature) keeps commenting on how much he loves them. These curtains flank the windows in the stairwell landing, an area which has not yet been rehabed and painted. As the space isn't finished, I'm not doing a full reveal quite yet. Up against black trim and dull mauve walls--my lovely curtains don't look their full fabulous yet. After painting, they'll POP and I'll share more.

In the daytime:
During the night:
If curtains were babies, I just had twins! I seriously love them.

Garage Update: Getting Bids

2010-01-27T21:51:00.000-08:00

There is a steady stream of contractors rotating through our door these days. Have I mentioned I'm beyond ready to break ground on this project already? We have some bids back and are waiting for more to come in. Having said that, we've now entered the phase where we freak out because (so far) the contractors think our garage will cost a lot more than we anticipated. Seems a few think it will cost TWICE as much as we expected. The garage plot has, indeed, thickened. We try to laugh it off but mostly our blood pressure rises higher and higher. Hopefully there is more good news on the way when the remaining bids come in.

Until then, I dream of a beautiful outdoor patio space of my very own...
photos from decorpad.com

Factory Sale at Rejuvenation

2010-01-15T11:16:00.000-08:00

Today marks the start of Rejuvenation's Factory Sale! I love their products but can rarely bring myself to pay their prices. When I arrived at the store this morning (with the rest of the mob) there were great deals to be had. They had an abundance of lighting hardware in all finishes and a whole rack of a personal fav of mine, their signature painted schoolhouse light shades. They also had some killer pedestal sinks and claw-foot tubs. If only we had a bathroom that could fit a beautiful claw-foot tub *sigh*. To boot, lots of rugs and furniture where also on sale.
Alas, we are in between major remodel projects right now and I didn't need anything from the sale. I did pick up a few keys (a recently developed obsession) from the salvage section to start off my vintage key collection. I might even have to get one of these just for good measure.

Loving: Jessica Helgerson Design

2010-01-12T14:47:00.000-08:00

By far my favorite interior designer right now is Jessica Helgerson (she is a local for you Stumptown dwellers out there). I am blown away by everything that she does and would absolutely die to have her do just one room in my house! Her lines are clean, her use of color is perfection and her sense of style is an understated chic that just screams my name. And the kicker? She specializes in environmentally sustainable design. Do you think she would work for an IOU?

Here's a few of of her rooms that are inspiring me right now:

Image credits: 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 & 8 - Jessica Helgerson; 4 & 6 - Lincoln Barber Photography

Is she fantastic or what? If you have a favorite designer I'd love to know about them. You can never have too many design ideas

Pantry Update: The Light

2010-01-12T12:48:00.001-08:00

The poor, sad pantry hasn't been touched since we moved in and most notably the light in the space was lacking. See for yourself (cob web and all):
During my recent vintage outing I picked up an old pendant light with the pantry in mind. I touched up the paint, swapped out the chain (painted to match), fixed the frame so the beveled glass inserts stayed in place and painted a basic ceiling plate to match.
David used his handy electrician skills and voila—a pretty new light! I like that an outdoorish lamp-post style light is brought indoors and that the clear glass allows light to reach all the nooks and crannies of the pantry.
Now all the pantry needs is new paint, a window and a major organization overhaul (using my new jars). Baby steps...

DIY Resolution #1: Roman Shade

2010-01-11T14:35:00.001-08:00

I'm no Martha, but sometimes I pretend I to be.

A variety of greenery provides privacy in our master bathroom throughout most of the year but come Winter, a few neighbors can probably see more than they bargained for. Enter the need for a Roman Shade. I wanted the shade to have a sheer quality without compromising privacy, an organic quality to the pattern sans anything that felt cookie-cutter, white on white, a little sheen and of course, sized appropriately to fit the window of interest. As you may have guessed, I didn't find it. So, I decided to make my own.

I'll spare a detailed write up of the process and just post a photo montage. If you're interested in making a shade, just let me know via comment and I'd be happy to forward links of the sources I used.

In a nutshell:The finished product:
And here is the shade in all its glory—filtering a beautiful glow of morning light. You can see the Winter chill in the air...Total Cost = $24.95
Breakdown: pulley hardware $3.95, cord 79¢, cord rings 30¢, dowels $1.26, Velcro $1.99, backing fabric (muslin) $2.25, shade fabric $11.42, ceiling fan pull (adapted as the cord pull) $2.99

Not too shabby for a custom shade that I absolutely love. This DIY resolution of mine might turn into an obsession. I like getting exactly what I want!

Vintage Allure

2010-01-10T21:36:00.000-08:00

It started with a mishap that landed David's SUV (and us) in Sellwood with a broken drivers side windshield wiper transmission during a (seemingly endless) rain storm. After an amazing meal, a cab ride, a lift from a friend and a good nights sleep, I found myself back in Sellwood (sans rain) to drop David off at the car. He was eager to get it home and try out the DIY repair he'd researched. I, on the other hand, was enjoying being out and about so I decided to pay a visit to the Stars Antique Mall (a popular Sellwood destination). I was prepared to find a store full of old things that smelled bad and cost a lot, but I ventured in anyway.

Needless to say, It was love at first sight. I found so many inspiring objects and ideas I could hardly contain myself. I got to a point more than once where my arms were so full of items I had to do a front counter drop-off and go back for more. I was practically skipping through the aisles by the end of the first building knowing there was an entire second building yet to go!

All of a sudden everything old was new again and seemed a perfect fit for my circa 1911 house. Most surprising of all, the price tags were incredibly reasonable. I got items with vintage character for much less than I could have bought them new. With a little doctoring up, vintage is so vogue!! My finds were all items for the butler's pantry which is currently a much-neglected spot in our home. And they are...

An old-school lamp style pendant light (that needs some TLC) for only $20!
A collection of large canning jars, small canning jars and a token milk jug. All of which will be used to organize the pantry shelves. (More on that when I actually do the re-org.) And, of course, a few token jars to put pretty flowers in this summer.

I like to think that some of these jars may have graced the shelves of my home 80 years ago and are now finding their way back home. *smiling sigh*

Happy New Year Blog Buddies!

2010-01-05T19:09:00.000-08:00

2010 marks the year our home turns 99. And boy do we have have plans for the year! Our house to-do list includes a new 2.5 car garage with rooftop deck, a kitchen remodel, new paint and floor resurfacing on the main level, a master bath remodel and possibly finishing the basement. It's shaping up to be a year full of drastic home improvement projects and I can't wait to share the adventure with you all.

We have a few projects nearing completion that will be popping up on this blog very soon including our HVAC system replacement (horror) story and the master bedroom patch-up after the wall tear-down. I have a plethora of decorating ideas and mucho renovation inspiration from some serious time spent browsing blogs over the holidays. I can't wait to get started!

That said, my New Years Resolution is to take the DIY decor bull by the horns and I'm excited to report the follow through already began at the precise moment this fabulous damask fabric materialized (no pun intended) in front of me. I knew I could not leave the store without it and 6 yards later, I will soon have the perfect DIY curtains in my stairway landing (after months of searching online for a killer curtain at a reasonable price to avail)! Wish me luck. :)

First Snow in the New House!

2009-12-29T18:14:00.001-08:00

Nothing brings out my inner child more than a snowfall followed by a snowball fight! I am loving the winter wonderland outside and the warm fire inside!
You can see Poof's cute little paw prints on the deck :)

In the closet? Out of the closet? I say all that really matters is that there's a door on that closet.

2009-12-11T13:47:00.000-08:00

And our office closet now has a door. We ordered the thing FOREVER ago and it just arrived. The guy at Lowe's apologized for it taking so long and claims there was a 'holiday rush'. Hmm...a holiday rush for closet doors? Riiight. I think they just forgot about our order until David called to check on it a few weeks ago.

Here's a look at what the closet looked like when we moved in (eww):
Dave installed the new shelves and racks in October and we were just waiting for that door to arrive...
The closet opening needed to be lowered slightly for the closet door to fit:We decided on a mirrored door with trim the color of the floors andd here's the finished product:

And the wall came tumbling down!

2009-12-07T16:18:00.000-08:00

One of the many mysteries of our house was a wall we presume to have been built along with a permanent staircase up to the attic. The stairs take up less than 1/2 the length of the room yet the wall continues along the entire room cutting off much needed space and a window from the master bedroom. This weekend it was time for that wall to go!!

Here's a few before pics:

Our handy friend Sean came over to help us with the demolition and he quickly discovered another old house mystery. Not only was there a lathe & plaster wall but there was sheet rock over the lathe & plaster...double the strength, double the fun?
David having a manly power tool moment.
Here's where we crossed our fingers. While we knew the wall wasn't structural, we didn't know if any pipes or electrical were housed in it. Lucky for us, it wasn't hiding anything unexpected in that department!
We saved the trim and door from this wall to use between the master bathroom and bedroom which the house was missing when we bought it. I'm so ready to get this door reinstalled in its new home so we don't have to use a blanket as a bathroom door anymore.
I haven't seen David this happy in photos since our trip to Panama. He is REALLY happy to be removing this wall!

And here's the wall all gone:

We ended up with around 36sq ft of additional space but it feels like twice that! The next phase will be to patch the ceiling and walls, and trim it all in. When we have the floors downstairs resurfaced, we'll have the gaps in the floor left by this project filled in.

Thanks again to Sean and to Paul who also came over to help us with this project. You guys are the best. :)

A little more home in our house

2009-12-06T21:02:00.000-08:00

I finally got some of our family photos up on the walls in the hallway. I have always been a fan of white frames haphazardly hung so I bought all different frame styles and went to town. I love the way it looks.

Now I just need a perfect console table for the far wall under the photos. The work is never done. :)
And just for the record, this is what the hallway looked like when we bought the house in April. My how far we've come...

Pretty Things in Pretty Spaces

2009-12-06T19:22:00.000-08:00

Spent some time looking for design inspiration online and am currently obsessing over these Sally Conran designs:

I am loving these curtains in contrasting damask-ish fabrics. Curtains couldn't be that hard to make, right? Maybe I'll try my hand at something like this...
I LOVE dark navy/charcoal spaces. Also loving these flowers, might have to grow them in my garden...that doesn't exist yet.
I have never been a fan of wallpaper in the past, but lately I've been digging large patterned wallpaper in subtle colors. I think it would look fantastic above the woodwork in our dining room.
Loving the shelf idea in this bathroom because it creates so much more 'counter' space which would be great in our small master bath! This crib is incredible.

(images: Sally Conran)

Project Insulating the Attic

2009-12-04T17:51:00.000-08:00

We embarked upon another winterization project over the past two days which was to insulate the attic. We wanted the space up there to remain usable in the future (I'm hoping for an art studio for mwah!) so we opted to have the insulation put in under the floorboards. We weren't too keen on the idea of dealing with the insulation ourselves so we hired our trusty handyman Enrique to do the job for us.

The attic floor only has 7" of dead space which meant the highest rated insulation that would officially fit is R-19. However, we decided to squeeze in R-30 which officially needs about 9". By condensing it we will lose some effectiveness but it should still give us more insulation than R-19 would have. We were hoping to get some Energy Trust credits for this project but that doesn't apply unless you install R-38 or higher which wouldn't fit.

This project was SO anti-climatic because you can't see anything is different. The attic floor looks exactly the same as it did before. The only proof was the rolls of insulation that were in our entryway and are now gone. Hopefully more proof is coming in the form of lower heating bills!

These are a few of my favorite things...

2009-12-01T15:57:00.000-08:00

Pottery Barn velvet curtains and white faux-fur throws...
As we'll be knocking out a wall and gaining a window in the master bedroom, we needed to match the third window treatment to the other two we already finished. Pottery Barn to the rescue...got one more velvet panel in pewter. I also had to have the coziest throw EVER in white to keep me warm this winter. I can't wait to curl up in it by the fire with my babes.

I also have my eye on two other fantastic PB finds that are over the budget for now (here's hoping for a sale!):
-The velvet curtains in espresso for the living room. We need two 100" x 96" panels and PB actually carries this size.
-The new Cecil rug. Love it! Love it! Love it!
The design is such a unique take on the Arts &Crafts style, combining beautiful shades of greens, oranges and reds in a graphic yet sophisticated pattern.

Window Shopping

2009-12-01T14:50:00.000-08:00

We are getting closer to an overhaul of the downstairs. With this in mind, I've been looking for some fabulous ceiling fan options for the living room and chandelier options for the dining room. I'm trying to stick to the mission theme and incorporate the stained/beveled glass from the house windows (and something that matches our lamps wouldn't hurt either). I also want to stay away from the typical 'Rejuvenation' options because I see them everywhere and want something more unique. If anyone has any good sources I'd love to know about them! Here are a few I am loving right now:

57" Mission Bronze Advan Touch Ceiling Fan
Tahoe 6 Light Chandelier in Bronze
I can't get enough of House of Antique Hardware. They have the most wonderful period items and they ship from a warehouse in Portland so local buyers can pick-up their items.

Project Demudification

2009-12-01T11:18:00.001-08:00

After we had our wonderful french drain put in, the strip of property on the East side of the house became a giant mud pit. Over the past few weeks we dropped in a stone walkway, planted hostas and ground covers, transplanted a few ferns from the woods at my dad's house and spread lots of seeds from of a mystery shade-loving plant that grows at my mom's house.

I look forward to seeing how this pathway garden shapes up come Springtime!

Gettin' Some Trim

2009-11-18T14:59:00.000-08:00

Trim is another low effort high impact project, but it sure is tedious… the precise measuring to within 1/16th of an inch, the cutting 45 degrees this way and 22.5 degrees that way, the priming and painting only to have to prime and paint the trim ends again after you’ve made your cuts, the furniture moving and following your work with wood filler and touch-up paint - ugh. Lucky for us, our friend Matt owns and was happy to share his miter saw, compressor and pneumatic brad nailer, which saved us a ton of time.

In the hallway, the floor was a bit far away from the bottom of the baseboards due to some floor sag around the chimney. This gap maxed out at nearly 1 ½ inches at its worst, so we couldn’t use the standard quarter round we used elsewhere. Instead, we decided to use casing, and we selected a style that tied in to the trim above the baseboards.

Eighty-six cuts and forty-three piece installations later, we finally have finished trim in our guest room, upstairs hallway, office, and two of our upstairs closets. It really does make a huge difference – the gaps between the baseboards and the floors are gone, and the rooms finally have a clean, finished look to them. Hooray!

Down the Drain

2009-11-18T14:30:00.000-08:00

There’s some water infiltrating our basement – not a lot, but enough to hamper our future plans to finish it into living space. The cause is obvious – on the east side of our property, the drainage is inadequate, we have two downspouts, our neighbor has two downspouts, and our neighbor’s property is slightly higher than ours. As a consequence of the curvature of spacetime, water will always follow the easiest downhill path, and in our case, this path hugged the corner of our foundation. Hence the infiltration.

Enter the French drain. French drains are very effective at intercepting and diverting water, and they’re fairly simple – all you need is a sloped trench, a perforated drain pipe, and a bunch of drainage rock. For less than $90 in materials and a day of labor, we now have a 60-foot French drain and a dry basement. C'est fantastique!

Trivia note: You might think it’s called a French drain because it originated in France, but think again! It is called a French drain because it was invented by Henry French, a judge and farmer who lived in Concord, Massachusetts, in the mid-1800s. Rumor has it he also made excellent fries.

Closets!

2009-11-18T14:14:00.000-08:00

We recently took on a few smaller projects which we've been putting off for months, mostly because we'd had bigger fish to fry. The nice thing about these is that they're what I like to call LEHI - Low Effort High Impact.

The first of these was a closet remodel for Kelly and myself. When we moved in, the closet configurations upstairs were a very inefficient use of space - each had a single shelf with a dowel under it stretching the length of the closet. Given that the closets have nine-foot ceilings, they had SO much more potential. I'm a big fan of utility and options, so I decided to go with the ClosetMaid system, which is available at all the big box hardware stores. It allows easy configuration, and is pretty straightforward to install. And, best of all, kits were on clearance at Lowe's, so I picked up everything I needed for about $85 per closet.

Step one - tear out the existing stuff so you have a blank canvas to work on.

Step 2 - Find the studs and set the hang strips. Finding the studs is pretty easy in a “normal” house (where they’re spaced 16” on center), but of course our 100-year-old house has them irregularly spaced, and we have plaster walls so a studfinder wouldn’t work. I ended up rapping my knuckles around to find them and drilling holes with a 1/16” bit to confirm. Grrr.

With the studs found, enter my Hilti PML line laser. I love working with lasers. So precise, so time-saving. The laser shoots a straight line right up the whole wall, which allows you to easily hang the strips straight and even/level with each other (which is important if you want your shelves level, and if you want to make sure that the sheer load on the shelves is evenly distributed across your anchors).

Step 3 – throw that sucker up. The kits are modular, so you can configure the whole closet system however you’d like. Given our high ceilings, I was able to create two rows of hanging space and several shelves, and still have room left to push my dresser in there. Finally, no more retrieving my clothes from piles in the basement. Not bad for a couple of hours of work!

Garage plans....OFFICIALLY APPROVED!

2009-11-04T19:41:00.000-08:00

Dave spend a grueling three hours at the permit office today and we have our stamp of approval! We'd been told it could take weeks, even months, to get the city's approval but we got same-day approval. Yahoo! 2 1/2 car garage with rooftop deck here we come! Now we move on to getting bids...

Shopping Spree

2009-11-04T15:32:00.000-08:00

We finally found window treatments for the 2 office windows. Of course the windows were not the same size, one was 34" wide and the other was 32". Finding something that matched the room and fit both windows was a challenge. In the end we decided upon very affordable bamboo shades from Lowe's that matches the floors very well.
We got some killer deals at City Liquidators. If you haven't been there, they have awesome deals on furniture. We got two bookshelves that match the floor and tie in the bamboo shades.
Another City Liquidators find was new barstools for the kitchen island. They're super comfy and the brown leather matches the leather on the dining chairs. Only $45 each! Can't beat it.

Browsing through City Liquidators you find a lot of crap, but some crap can be made pretty with a little work. I found this plastic gold 24" x 36" beveled mirror for only $19.95!! I took that sucker home and spray-painted it my favorite color (oil rubbed bronze). It lives above the fireplace.

A little inspiration...

2009-10-17T16:06:00.001-07:00

Every room and space in this house blows me away and gives me some much needed inspiration! I think I'm ready to start redoing the downstairs! :)

Chimney Sloppins

2009-10-16T10:39:00.000-07:00

Chim chiminey
Chim chiminey
Chim chim cher-ee!
We are as lucky
As lucky can be

Chim chiminey
Chim chiminey
Chim chim cher-oo!
Just one more fire
And our house mighta gone ka-BOOM!
(And the cleaning was just $90
So that's lucky too)

Now as the conditions
Of chimneys ar' strung
The state of our chimney
twas on the bottommost rung

25 pounds of creosote
Seems like a lot
An' said me good sweeper
If 'at stuff gits hot

It'll blow up your chimney
And burn your house down
And out in the drizzle
You'll slap on a frown

So heed my good words friends
'Tis worth spending a buck
If your creosote ignites
You'll be shit outta luck

So call your good sweeper
Have him bring his broom
And scrape sweep and chisel
Out potential doom

Now that our house won't be reduced
To ashes and smoke
In this 'ole wide world
There's no 'appier bloke

Chim chim cher-ee
Chim cher-oo!

Out with the gold, in with the new!

2009-10-14T10:10:00.001-07:00

We (and by we I mean David) replaced the hardware on all four interior doors on the main floor this past weekend. It was one of those small projects we kept putting off in lieu of more important projects and then kind of forgot about. But while at Lowe's the idea popped into our heads and we bought the goods. After the installation was complete, we were amazed what a difference a small detail like hardware can make and wished we'd done it months ago. It looks like we put in new doors! The hideous gold knobs are gone and replaced with oil-rubbed bronze (love it!) sets that match the exterior door hardware we installed this summer.

Let the Landscaping begin!

2009-10-13T15:41:00.001-07:00

We planted our first tree at the new house, a cute 5' tall Japanese Maple. We stumbled upon the great deal while at Lowe's buying items for other projects. As it turns out, Fall is a great time to buy trees at 1/2 the normal price. Lucky for us!!

Fireplace Season! So Cozy...

2009-10-13T15:20:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of the fast approaching winter, we had a cord of wood delivered for use in our fabulous fireplace. The pile doesn't look like much, but it took two of us 3 hours to move and stack it all!

And here's Poof enjoying the cozy fire :)

I can almost taste it...

2009-10-13T15:09:00.000-07:00

We have final plans for the garage and will be applying for permits this week!! Keep your fingers crossed!! Here's the plan if you're into that sort of thing...

Relaxation & Renovation

2009-10-13T14:42:00.001-07:00

Not a lot of blogging has been going on lately, but we've been busy. We've been working on many small projects which I'll blog about shortly and we also took a two week vacation to the Redwoods, Lassen National Park, Mt. Shasta and Crater Lake. I'll post a link to our photo album soon.

Judge this book by its cover!

2009-09-01T21:47:00.000-07:00

Exterior painting has been completed! Thanks to Enrique, his associates and 60 gallons of primer/paint we have a whole new house. :) The pictures don't do justice to how dirty and damaged the paint was "before", but the yellow trim was bad enough on its own.

The colors we picked are based on historically accurate colors by Miller Paint. The house color is Rain Barrel and the accent red color was Shaker Red. We had Lowe's match the paint samples, and used December Starlight from the Lowe's brand as the trim.

For the primer we used recycled primer which we stumbled upon at Metro (in Portland) while picking up our composting bin. It worked great and is REALLY, REALLY cheap. I would highly recommend it.

Here are some before and after pics (click on the images to enlarge):

Here you can see the enclosure we had built to hide the A/C unit and close up the space under the deck. It's actually two large gates which still allow access. Another Enrique special! :)
The bare South Wall of the house is where the garage will be added....hopefully this Fall but perhaps not until Spring. We do have final drawings that I'll post soon!
And our own little slice of heaven on the deck off the master. David installed our hammock we picked up in Nicaragua a few years back:

Liveable Rooms! Liveable Rooms!

2009-08-18T16:33:00.000-07:00

After nearly 3 months of non-stop work, our upstairs rooms are liveable and beautiful (if I do say so myself!). Rather than drag out all the details of the work we completed, just know the blood and sweat is buried within the postings of this blog. Without further ado, here are some before and after pics of the upstairs.

Master Bedroom:

Office:

Guest Bedroom:

Hallway:

The Built-In:

From Fail to Fabulous

2009-08-18T12:56:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite lasting impressions from our home inspection was our inspector's take on the retaining wall pillar that stood next to the crumbling front steps. He took a photo and labeled it 'Retaining Wall Failure'. It was like a potentially good FailBlog.com entry but without the fail part. The pillar hadn't failed, it was just leaning towards failure. The kitchen faucet was a fail considering it didn't work at all when we moved in, but he didn't take a picture of it and label it 'failure'.

To rectify the situation, we recently had our local handyman Enrique work his magic on the steps and the pillar. He pressure washed all the moss and dirt off the wall and steps, repaired the pillar, patched the steps and repaired the cracks. Enrique never ceases to amaze us, he did a fantastic job! He succeeded where the pillar failed.

It's a Jungle Out There!

2009-07-21T16:56:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, we attacked the garden area in front of the house. David, Susan (David's mom) and I pulled A LOT of weeds, small trees and random crap from the front garden. Under all the overgrown bushes, plants and weeds there was a cute solid brick border along the entire length of the garden.

We were surprised it only took the three of us a few hours to get the planters to a state of normalcy. The next step is to till the soil, add some nutrients to it and start planning some plants! Yippie!

Here's what we started with:

Here's what it looked like half way through:

Here's what we've got now: A real garden area ready for pretty plants!

Thanks for all your help Susan!

Rags to Riches

2009-07-20T17:38:00.000-07:00

We are ALMOST done with phase 1 of painting/redoing the upstairs, just a few windows to put back together and then I'll post some before and after pics! In the meantime, I am happy to report that we've installed all the light fixtures in the three rooms and the hallway.

We had help from Enrique (who is our new home improvement BFF...I'll post more about him later) to install all the ceiling fans. For each fan, Enrique had to install a mount, attach a 2"x4" cross piece between the joists and secure the fan bracket to that. The master ceiling fan installed easily. The office and guest room fan took quite a few installs to get them to be 'noise-free', but eventually they were in!

David turned into Mighty Electrician Man and installed the hallway fixture and the guest bedroom fixtures. If you look real close on the before pics you can see some serious classy cob webs.

Guest room before and after:
I love that the smallest room in the entire house had TWO five-light fixtures...did they really need the light from 10 bulbs in that room??

Master before and after (and the office looks the same):

Hallway before and after:

Meet My Nemesis

2009-07-18T23:09:00.000-07:00

Every day. Multiple times a day. I hear the song.....the song of the Ice Cream mobile. The song that is sure to become the soundtrack to my nightmares.

I'm sorry but a mini-mobile full of ice cream driven by someone who can stand listening to that song over and over and over and over again doesn't scream 'kid-friendly. It screams CREEPY! I wonder how much I could pay the ice cream mobile to NOT drive within a three block radius of my house ever again?? I thought we'd done well buying a house that isn't near train tracks or on a bus line...but it never occurred to me to check the daily ice cream mobile route.

A Mean, Green Earth Machine

2009-07-18T21:32:00.000-07:00

And....we're back! After many weeks of traveling, a wedding (congrats Nick & Kurstin!) and hosting company I'm back in the blogging business.

Today I fulfilled a little fantasy I've had since we moved to Portland, I'm officially a composter! In my mind this means the veggie gardens that will (hopefully) exist by next summer will be bountiful and uber-organic.

Word on the street lead us to Metro after hearing they had a great composter for $39 with a retail value of $80. And indeed, Metro had the Earth Machine at that great price and we snatched one up (ours ended up being $46 because we got the aerated bottom add-on which helps keep critters out). One of the label reads 'The Earth Machine: 21st Century Home Composting'. So...unfortunately I have to report the composter is not period-correct for our 20th century home, but what can you do? You can't win them all.

We got the compost batch off to a good start with kitchen greens, yard greens and yard browns. Yeah, that's right. I know all the fancy pants compost terms and I'm not afraid to use them.

The first compost:

I also want to say a hello to Leslie, Zack (sp?) and their adorable dog who live just up the street. I had the pleasure to meet Leslie as she was walking by the house this afternoon. Her, Dave's mom Susan and I were chatting when she realized she recognized our house from the blog. Who knew, people ACTUALLY read this! In a VERY huge coincidence, Leslie had also been to Metro today to buy The Earth Machine...happy composting Leslie!

The Fav Lamps

2009-06-15T14:28:00.000-07:00

Now that our living room is free of our giant Cal King bed, we were able to arrange furniture and get the TV mostly set up. A while back, we bought a Tiffany style Arts & Crafts floor lamp, and after arranging the furniture yesterday we realized the one floor lamp doesn't give off enough light for the big room (there are no built-in lights). I decided the best additional lighting option would be to get the matching table lamp. While at Lowe's last night, I picked it up! The lamps are an amazing deal for what you get. My favorite feature is the 4 watt candelabra bulb in the center of the stands. When the other bulbs are turned off, it gives off a beautiful low-light glow. We also have both lamps on dimmers (one of David's obsessions). They are available at Lowe's in-store and at Lowe's.com

Moving on up....Master Bedroom done (well, mostly)

2009-06-15T11:29:00.000-07:00

The master bedroom is painted and we moved our bed upstairs last night. NO MORE SLEEPING IN THE LIVING ROOM! WHOO HOO!

Master Bedroom: BEFORE

Master Bedroom: AFTER
(sans the window treatments that will be put up this weekend)

Master Window Treatments...Mastered

2009-06-15T11:16:00.000-07:00

After days and days of research, online searches and shopping, I have managed to find a window treatment solution for the two windows in the master bedroom. We wanted a double-drape set-up with a light-blocking thick outer curtain, and a sheer white inner curtain. Since the windows are set far apart from each other, we needed a panel for each window and individual drapery hardware for each window. For the outer curtain, our specifications included a 'look' that would work all year round, fit with the 'cool' color theme and coordinate with the green on the walls, not white (David's request), blocked all the light and added insulation. I looked at 'affordable' drapes all over town including Pier 1, Bed Bath & Beyond and Fred Meyer. I was incredibly disappointed in what I found as far as colors, quality and length (we needed a longer-than-standard 91-96" length).

So, I headed to Pottery Barn where I knew I would find some good options. I was pretty set on linen or cotton drapes, but after I saw the DIVINE texture and softness of Pottery Barn's velvet, I HAD to have it. They didn't have the exact drapes I needed the store, but I was able to order them from potterybarn.com in 96" length and in Pewter, a beautiful silver color that will look perfect with light green walls and add richness to the cool color theme. The drapes are currently on sale for $129/panel (down from $149/panel) and I had an additional 10% off coupon making them $116 each. Totally worth it for drapes you'll use every day and stare at as you drift off into sleep and wake up each morning. They arrive this Friday and I cannot wait to install them! Here's a preview:
The next (seemingly easy) difficult task was to find drapery hardware. The hardware had to match our oil-rubbed bronze window hardware and switch plates, have widely spaced screws on the mounting bracket to support the weight of the velvet drapes, be a double rod set, and not be ugly. Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware have beautiful hardware sets, but at $159 and $219 respectively per set (and we need 2 sets), they cost more than the drape panels! That's where I draw the line. I ended up finding the winner at Lowe's. Made by Allen + Roth, it's the double rod Meridian Bronze Drapery Set and was on sale for $39.97 (down from $50ish). I used another 10% off coupon so they only cost $35.97 each! This is an incredible price for good quality hardware and it makes up for the drape cost. :)
I originally wanted a very Arts & Crafts, square finial style, but this was the only style available in the double rod set from Lowe's, and I think it will work just fine! I was a little nervous about how 'swirly' the mounting brackets look, but when it's installed on the wall with rods and curtains (thanks Lowe's for your excellent displays) you don't notice the swirl, just looks like nice hardware.

Historical Fun Facts: Part II + A Fire

2009-06-08T21:13:00.001-07:00

We've had our target.com fireplace gear (grate, screen and tools all for $63!) for a while now just waiting for the right night to make a fire. And last night was the night! It wasn't particularly cold, but we were particularly tired from a weekend full of wedding festivities (congrats Paul and Stacey!) and decided a cozy fire sounded.....perfect.

Dave chopped some wood we found left under our porch and set up the fire. It seems the flu hadn't been opened in QUITE a while, when Dave pulled the chain he heard rattling noises followed by a few bangs and then a half rotted piece of bird whizzed by his face and plopped onto the logs. Yummy.
From the light of the fire, we noticed there was a stamp on one of the bricks inside the fireplace that we'd never seen before. I did some research and can't seem to find any reference to the specific 'N. Clay Co' from our stamp, but found info on the Portland Clay Co. established in 1892. They made a bad-ass brick back in the day.

Garage Plans Are Taking Shape

2009-06-05T10:10:00.000-07:00

Our garage plans are in the early stages still, but we have decided to do a garage attached to the house. As we progressed with the detached garage concept, it created many issues including dead space between the house and garage, losing more space on the south side of the garage for a garden area and it would have required moving our current retaining wall in order to get a car into the far south bay. The attached garage will be slightly more complicated to build (specifically the wall that butts up against the house will require more attention) but much simpler overall when you factor in the problems it doesn't create.

I never thought I could be so excited about four walls being built, but I cannot wait until this project is done. A garage to park my car in and a roof deck to park by butt on. Life will be good.

Prep, Paint and Panic. Not necessarily in that order.

2009-06-04T23:21:00.001-07:00

Tip: Don't remove door knob and backplate hardware, place that door hardware outside the room, leave the rest of the hardware installed in the door and then decide painting the corner of that room would be much easier if that door were closed.....This can result in initial panic realizing you are locked in a small, second story room with no way down to the ground level and no cell phone. Then, in a McGiver moment, you spot the oscillating pedestal fan in the corner. You realize you can unplug it, bend the two metal pieces from the plug until they touch, line up and insert this perfectly sized item into the hardware and turn.....genius. Crisis averted. My tip to you is Fan plug = door knob in a pinch. You thought my tip was not to get locked in rooms, huh?! Fat chance, locking yourself in rooms is totally cool.

We are continuing prep and prime work in the guest room. In the mean time, we have finished the walls in the master bedroom. All that's left is to paint the trim and windows. Here's a sneak preview:

A Model Remodel

2009-06-04T08:56:00.001-07:00

I am getting ahead of myself because our kitchen remodel won't happen until next year, but it's never to early to start planning. (And I need to distract myself from the painting that is STILL continuing--I, alone, have put in 23 hours of painting in the last 5 days and we're not even half way done.)

After looking through tons of magazines I've come up with a general idea of what I want, and what will realistically fit into our budget (which hasn't been nailed down yet). Here's what I have come up with:

- New appliances (stainless steel or white)
- Remove tile on the floor and refinish the original hard wood floors
- Paint the existing cabinets white (possibly get new doors)
- New counter tops. I like contrast, so with white cabinets I want a darker counter top. I'm not picky about the counter top material, but we don't want to spend a TON of benjis on it.
- Replace existing hardware on the cabinets with (oil rubbed bronze) drawer pulls (old-fashioned style to match the pantry) and round knobs
- Remove the partial wall above the island and make the island all one height while keeping seating for three on one side
- Keeping with our 'warm' color theme downstairs, I imagined the kitchen and living room to be a very warm white or light yellowish color with the ultra white trim
- White subway tile back splash

Having not seen this all combined in one place before, I was pretty confidant all these elements would look great. Then, a moment of glorious gloriousness occurred as I was looking through the Spring 2009 Better Homes & Garden's Before & After magazine. I turned to page 66 and there, staring me right in the face, was MY kitchen. Everything I had envisioned all put together!! I'm still in shock that someone else already thought of my brilliant ideas. I guess there is room in the world for two fantastic kitchens. If it ain't broke...don't fix it. This will be the model for our kitchen remodel.

Paint Colors...CHECK!

2009-06-03T15:49:00.000-07:00

Our overall paint theme is cool colors upstairs and warm colors downstairs. But for now we're just focusing on the upstairs. I wanted a color that would compliment our newly resurfaced and very orangeish Douglas Fir floors, and a color that we wouldn't be sick of after a few months. To add increased contrast and interest to the spaces, I wanted a lighter shade of a color in the bedrooms and a darker shade of the same color in the hallway and stair area.

I fell in love with two particular green colors from Restoration Hardware and could not find anything I liked better. However, I did find prices that I liked better. After doing some research and meeting with our local paint expert, DJ (thanks DJ!), we decided to go with Valspar Ultra Premium paint sold at Lowe's. I had samples of Valspar paint mixed to match my colors from Restoration Hardware and was happy to find the match was DEAD ON when I did a test painting on some old wood. Because we live on a busier street and are expecting to have higher than average dust on the walls, we decide to go with a Satin finish a slight sheen to it and will hold up to cleaning better than your typical Eggshell wall paint finish.

We decided the trim, baseboards and windows will all be painted in Valspar's Ultra White in a semi-gloss finish to help the subtle green colors pop as much as possible.

Here's the color for the bedrooms:

(Matched to Restoration Hardware's Eucalyptus)

Here's the color for the staircase and landing hallway:

(Matched to Restoration Hardware's Sycamore Green)

We have one coat on the master wall so far and it looks even more fabulous on the walls than I had imagined. I'll be posing pics soon!

The Devil is in the Details

2009-06-03T09:38:00.000-07:00

As paint progress and window rehab continues on the second floor (more updates on that soon), we've been searching high and low for switch plates, ceiling fans, bedroom lights, hallway lights, door hardware, house numbers, a mailbox and various missing window hardware...that ALL coordinates! Not an easy task by any means, but I feel confidant that we've found a fantastic combo platter of the above items that will take our house to the next level.

We found some great deals that saved us a bundle, and we also splurged on a few key items. We want to keep as much of these details historically accurate (with an Arts & Crafts spin) while fueling my fire for all things in an oil rubbed bronze finish. Drum roll please...

Bedroom schoolhouse light from lightinguniverse.com (saved, $52)
Don't even get me started on Rejuvenation's prices for lights like this.

Hunter Low-Profile ceiling fans from Home Depot (in-store) with 'schoolhouse' light kits (saved, approx $65 per fan)
Due to our low ceiling height, we decided on a very simple low-profile flush-mount style ceiling fan in white. The oil bronzed versions of these fans are beautiful, but very dark and lower the visual height of the ceiling considerably. The white fans almost disappear into the ceilings, so this will be the only hardware item NOT in the oil rubbed bronze finish. However, in the guest bedroom there will be a ceiling fan AND a second light fixture (shown above). This was a big reason we decided on the schoolhouse light shade style. Not only is it historically accurate, but it's available in both standard light fixtures and as a light kit for the ceiling fan so all can coordinate.

Upstairs Hallway Landing fixture from lightinguniverse.com (splurged, $196)
This image isn't the oil rubbed bronze finish like we ordered, but you can get the style idea. I LOVE this fixture.

Front Door Hardware from Lowe's (saved & splurged, $138)
Splurged because we could have gone with simple knob hardware we used on the side door (below) for $55. Saved because the similar hardware sets at Rejuvenation are $260-$550.

Side Door Hardware from Lowe's (saved, $55)

Replacement sash window locks from Home Depot (in-store), (saved, $2.95 each)
At rejuvenation.com you can expect to pay $18 per lock.

Replacement window sash lifts from houseofantiquehardware.com (saved, $4.29 each)
The 'old' window sash lift was 1 5/8" wide while most today are 2" wide so finding this item is stores is not easy. Since we are matching the originals, I wanted to get the correct size. Rejuvenation sells a set of these sash lifts for $14. Since we only need 3, houseofantiquehardware.com was a much better deal and is a great resource for reasonably priced reproduction parts.

Switch Plates from switchplatesuperstore.com (saved, $3.99 each)
Switchplatesuperstore.com carries this metal switch plate that has the same oil rubbed bronze look as all our other hardware. Priced from $3.99 per switch plate this is a FANTASTIC deal as most other sources were $10-$30 per switch plate for the oil rubbed bronze versions. They carry ANY configuration of plate you can imagine, including dimmer knobs. Love this site!

House Numbers from housenumbersonly.com (saved and splurged, $12.95 each)
Standard house numbers can be found for $4 each, but many Arts & Crafts style numbers go for up to $24.95 each. We really like the combination of the numbers in our address in this particular style so at $12.95 per number it was a happy medium.

Arts & Crafts style mailbox from target.com (saved, $44.95 with 5% AAA discount)
Similar mailboxes from Rejuvenation start at $139.

Front Porch light from restorationharware.com (splurged, $159 on sale)

The only thing left to find is interior door hardware. Since we'll most likely have to replace the doors upstairs, we're waiting on this until we finish painting and look into getting new doors. I can't wait to see how it all looks together!!!

Paiting = Lots of work

2009-05-30T23:42:00.000-07:00

Just last night I finished prep work on the walls and ceilings in the master bedroom. After days of spackling, sanding, spackling, sanding and adding texture, it was finally time to prime!

I spend EIGHT hours priming today. Yes, eight. That included a little more prep work of masking off the windows and removing the sashes from the windows, but other than that...it was all priming. The master is the only room in the house that still had original wood trim on two doors and the windows. Unfortunately, the room is missing half the base boards and a door frame of trim, so rather than try to match new wood replacements we decided to do the unthinkable and cover up the last remaining wood. Plus, we thought it may look a little odd if tht room was the only one with wood trim and the rest of the house has white.

Here's a before pic:
Here are some highlights of the room that had to be dealt with...
Crack in ceiling that turned into this big hole:

Art drawn directly on the wall (so long bizarre sharpie drawing, you won't be missed):

So many areas of the wall required repair that I'll probably have to do a second coat of primer on all the trim and the ceiling of the room. Since the wall color is so light, it will require two coats of paint so that should be enough over one coat of prime.

Here's the wall by the windows repaired and ready for primer.

After one coat of primer:

On the docket for tomorrow is coat #2 of primer on the trim and windows in the master. Then I'll mask off and paint the ceiling with the ceiling paint! I'm looking forward of adding a coat of paint that is final and will actually be seen. Painting primer that's just going to be painted over again is not the favorite. And this is just ONE room!! I may never be done painting.

Driveway & Garage & Landscaping, Oh My!

2009-05-27T14:08:00.002-07:00

After meeting with a few architects, we finally found one that came highly recommended and fit our budget! This is our biggest and most exciting remodel project. We originally planned to just pour a driveway this year and do the garage next year, but overall cost for building materials, labor and contractors is so low right now we're going to try and complete it all this summer/fall.

Our general plan is to:
1. Build a 2-car garage with a roof deck on top
2. Have access from inside the garage to our basement
3. Have access from the roof deck to the main level of the house (either through the current laundry room or the current pantry)
4. Have access from the rooftop deck down to a garden area on the South side of the property
5. Adjust grade of the driveway
6. Adjust grade/level of the garden area and possible add retaining walls

Our architect stopped by to take measurements last night, and we have more ideas than we know what to do with. The biggest decision we have to make right now is whether to do an attached or detached garage. Each comes with it's own challenges:
Detached - We lose more square footage of the lot to space between structures and we may have to move one side of our current retaining wall in order for a car to access one of the garage bays. The door to the main level from the roof deck will be at a different location than the door to the garage below which could look odd.
Attached - Would be a more complicated build to attach to the house and may require additional engineering tests and drawings. We would have to dig down (at least a few feet) to inspect our current foundation to see if it could support another structure. There are a few possible ways to keep most of the weight from the garage from falling on the house, but all may be more expensive to build than a detached structure.

Decisions, Decisions.

Here is how the backyard looks now: