Sunday, August 21, 2011
New traditions
We have an awesome tradition in our family...Sunday mornings are reserved for pancakes. Sometimes we have us housefull of family and friends and sometimes it's just our little family. We have done this for about 4 years now and it's the highlight of our week! We've added a new tradition in our new house - a family walk after pancakes. This morning was our first so we thought we'd start it off with a bang. The entire family (dog included) headed to Lee Beach! It's a little stretch of beach on the bay, used mostly as a launching pad for SUPers and kayakers, but sometimes used as a late night partying ground for teenagers. So, it's a little dirty, a little jellyfish-y, but it's paradise in the eyes of a 3 year old, 1 year old and a yellow lab!
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Benjamin Moore, I love you!
So...We bought a new house. An elderly couple's house. Who hadn't done anything to it in 30 years (the words of their children). Boy, they weren't kidding. We knew what we were getting into, we had been inside the house a handful of times before the deal was closed, but I don't know that we fully understood what it means to buy a "fixer upper". We do now.
I have had many people asking for pictures of what we've done. They will come. However every time I have a minute to take a picture when it's daylight out and there is some natural light in the house, I look around and see unpacked boxes and the tornado of toys my children have thrown around. It seems like every time I get a chance to unpack and organize I find myself picking up toys and running out of time for the rest. Oh well, such is moving, right? So I figured in the meantime, I would show some before pictures.
These next 2 pictures don't do this room justice. The walls were stained and the rug pad was stuck on the floors. Yuck.
Was it livable? Absolutely. Just not liveable for...us? The house used to be heated by oil. Which means that the oil heat had left brown spots EVERYWHERE. Walls, doors, fireplaces. I wish I had a picture of it, but then again, I don't think I want to look at those brown spots again. So, step #1 was priming with KILZ, in order to keep the stain underneath the paint. But then we realized that it's an old house. Which means that oil based paint has been used. Which means it needs oil based KILZ instead of regular old KILZ. Have you ever been stuck priming a closet with oil based primer? If you have, I feel for you. If you haven't, don't ever do it.
But lo and behold, we are done. Moved in and settled down. I am sure we couldn't have done it without our AMAZING general contractor. Rich Whitney of Whitney Construction is the man. Walls were knocked out, a garage was reopened, and a brand-spanking new kitchen was installed. If you ever need anything done, call him. It took a small army to get us to the point where we could move in. In the beginning, we were really brave (a little too brave) and thought we would do all the painting ourselves. 3 weeks later and we had hired professionals to finish the rest of the house. Of the many new things I have learned during this past month, 2 things really stick out in my mind (these are very important. Read them over and over again until they sink in)
#1. If you hear the word "oil-based" connected with a paint job you are going to do, HIRE SOMEONE TO DO IT FOR YOU. It will be so worth the money.
#2. Paint can transform. You'll see what I'm talking about in the after pictures.
Throughout the process, I kept a tally (idea courtesy of my wonderful sister, who, if I'm being honest, gives me most of my good ideas). It kinda puts things into perspective.
I have had many people asking for pictures of what we've done. They will come. However every time I have a minute to take a picture when it's daylight out and there is some natural light in the house, I look around and see unpacked boxes and the tornado of toys my children have thrown around. It seems like every time I get a chance to unpack and organize I find myself picking up toys and running out of time for the rest. Oh well, such is moving, right? So I figured in the meantime, I would show some before pictures.
These next 2 pictures don't do this room justice. The walls were stained and the rug pad was stuck on the floors. Yuck.
Was it livable? Absolutely. Just not liveable for...us? The house used to be heated by oil. Which means that the oil heat had left brown spots EVERYWHERE. Walls, doors, fireplaces. I wish I had a picture of it, but then again, I don't think I want to look at those brown spots again. So, step #1 was priming with KILZ, in order to keep the stain underneath the paint. But then we realized that it's an old house. Which means that oil based paint has been used. Which means it needs oil based KILZ instead of regular old KILZ. Have you ever been stuck priming a closet with oil based primer? If you have, I feel for you. If you haven't, don't ever do it.
But lo and behold, we are done. Moved in and settled down. I am sure we couldn't have done it without our AMAZING general contractor. Rich Whitney of Whitney Construction is the man. Walls were knocked out, a garage was reopened, and a brand-spanking new kitchen was installed. If you ever need anything done, call him. It took a small army to get us to the point where we could move in. In the beginning, we were really brave (a little too brave) and thought we would do all the painting ourselves. 3 weeks later and we had hired professionals to finish the rest of the house. Of the many new things I have learned during this past month, 2 things really stick out in my mind (these are very important. Read them over and over again until they sink in)
#1. If you hear the word "oil-based" connected with a paint job you are going to do, HIRE SOMEONE TO DO IT FOR YOU. It will be so worth the money.
#2. Paint can transform. You'll see what I'm talking about in the after pictures.
Throughout the process, I kept a tally (idea courtesy of my wonderful sister, who, if I'm being honest, gives me most of my good ideas). It kinda puts things into perspective.
Days of work: 30
Number of naps my children took at other people's houses: I stopped counting at 26
Latex KILZ primer used before we realized we needed Oil-Based KILZ primer: 4 gallons
Oil-Based KILZ primer used: 14 gallons
Paint: 13 gallons, 2 quarts
Caulk: 8 tubes
Trips to Starbucks: 12
Taste Unlimited sandwiches consumed: 17
Number of naps my children took at other people's houses: I stopped counting at 26
Latex KILZ primer used before we realized we needed Oil-Based KILZ primer: 4 gallons
Oil-Based KILZ primer used: 14 gallons
Paint: 13 gallons, 2 quarts
Caulk: 8 tubes
Trips to Starbucks: 12
Taste Unlimited sandwiches consumed: 17
I'm sure that's more, but all I can think of right now! Here's a huge shout out to my entire family who primed, painted caulked and so much more. Taste Unlimited sandwiches are not nearly enough to repay you for the time you put in and the love you showed by helping us out! You helped make our house into a home!
And, I promise, the after pictures will come soon.
And, I promise, the after pictures will come soon.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Growing.
Ok, here I am, hopefully for good. This month has been....interesting, to say the least. We've been fully engulfed in a move and in a complete home renovation. Tomorrow we say goodbye to our "other house", as we've been calling it for a week or two now. I've been excited to move to our new house and my mind has been fully occupied with stressful decisions like which cabinet knobs to pick out and 'is this yellow paint color too lemony or is it more buttery? and if it's buttery, is it too buttery?' (who would have thought that decisions like that are hard?!?!) My mom even asked me this week if I was sad to leave our house and my response was a quick 'no!'. I think it was just too far away, even at T-4 days. Because yesterday, when Mike and I walked in and retrieved the final few boxes and began the finishing touches on cleaning it hit me.
We aren't just moving to a really cool new house (much more on that later..). We are leaving a very significant period in our lives behind us. It wasn't all good. Each smoke alarm battery seemed to only die in the dead of the night. Carpenter bees stalked us until Mike went outside one day with a big spatula to "take care of the problem" (my, how I wish I had a picture and video of that!). Fireworks every Wednesday and Sunday night in the summertime disturbed babies sleeping and prompted our dear guard dog to think we were being attacked each time they went off! Sometimes homeless people would walk by and say odd things...one day a man told Mike he would make a good chair. Then, there was a lady who would walk by with a golf club trailing behind her, but some days it would be a vacuum instead. But that is the stuff we will forget about in a month or two.
This "other" house was so much more than a house to us. It was our very first home after we were married. It's 4 bedrooms were way too big for the family we wanted but weren't anywhere near ready to start growing. The first thing we did was build a fence so Buxton would have a yard to run in. It's where we told my parents they were going to be grandparents for the very first time, where we welcomed home our sweet Kate and Summer and worried so much how Buxton would adjust to the newest addition to our family. It's where we painted the living room a color called "something blue" ...
...because Mike convinced me that it would look great on the walls. It's where playdates and dress up happened daily.
It's where we were when our nation elected it's first African American president.
It's where tacky Christmas sweater parties took place.
It's where first steps were taken and first words were spoken. It's where so many memories were made. It was a really happy home. We will do all we can to best ourselves in house #2. Continue the same traditions. Build new ones. Enjoy life. Worry less about the little things and focus more on the big picture.
So......goodbye first house.
My, how I loved you. I'm not sure I realized how much until just yesterday. May your new owners care for you and love you, and build happy memories every day. And...hello new house. We are 100% yours. I promise I will get all my boxes and crap out of the garage ASAP.
We aren't just moving to a really cool new house (much more on that later..). We are leaving a very significant period in our lives behind us. It wasn't all good. Each smoke alarm battery seemed to only die in the dead of the night. Carpenter bees stalked us until Mike went outside one day with a big spatula to "take care of the problem" (my, how I wish I had a picture and video of that!). Fireworks every Wednesday and Sunday night in the summertime disturbed babies sleeping and prompted our dear guard dog to think we were being attacked each time they went off! Sometimes homeless people would walk by and say odd things...one day a man told Mike he would make a good chair. Then, there was a lady who would walk by with a golf club trailing behind her, but some days it would be a vacuum instead. But that is the stuff we will forget about in a month or two.
This "other" house was so much more than a house to us. It was our very first home after we were married. It's 4 bedrooms were way too big for the family we wanted but weren't anywhere near ready to start growing. The first thing we did was build a fence so Buxton would have a yard to run in. It's where we told my parents they were going to be grandparents for the very first time, where we welcomed home our sweet Kate and Summer and worried so much how Buxton would adjust to the newest addition to our family. It's where we painted the living room a color called "something blue" ...
...because Mike convinced me that it would look great on the walls. It's where playdates and dress up happened daily.
It's where we were when our nation elected it's first African American president.
It's where tacky Christmas sweater parties took place.
It's where first steps were taken and first words were spoken. It's where so many memories were made. It was a really happy home. We will do all we can to best ourselves in house #2. Continue the same traditions. Build new ones. Enjoy life. Worry less about the little things and focus more on the big picture.
So......goodbye first house.
My, how I loved you. I'm not sure I realized how much until just yesterday. May your new owners care for you and love you, and build happy memories every day. And...hello new house. We are 100% yours. I promise I will get all my boxes and crap out of the garage ASAP.
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