Paint Colors!

My last post was a post of GREAT lamentation, so I thought I would post only of happy things here today!
For example, my favorite sub-contractor:

Now, the house is still a mess, but floors are being added and walls are being painted and, plumbing is being installed. For all of this to happen, you need to have a very large workbench:

Back to paint colors! We had a good bit of leftover paint from our old kitchen wall color, so we reused it! The color scheme we will the same in this kitchen. No marble counter tops, but you can't have it all!


We'll change out the light fixture in the dining area to the one in my current art studio. It's an antique crystal one. My dad gave it to me. I love it!
The window below is in the kitchen and has a very wide sill, like a window seat. I plan to put a birdbath and feeder on this tree so that Scout and Henri can watch the birds for hours.

This is the main room of the house, minus the paneling and crazy colors - doesn't it look SO much better?!

I really like the light that streams in from this window. We will be able to sit and watch the sunset over the barn from it as well. I can't wait!
Here's the master bath - it has a LONG way to go, but it is getting there.

I told some of you about the paint color controversy in the master rooms... turns out the yellowy-orange cast was from the light hitting the orange-brown deck and reflecting back into the room. It looks much better now! :o) Everyone is happy.

We chose very light colors for our house because the rooms are so much smaller than what we are used to (and the ceilings), so we knew we would need that light look to help create the feelig of more space.

I know I've shown you the two guest rooms before, but here they are again!

See how the light can create different hues out of one color?

Here's the guest bath - purple of course! I have to have some purple!

And last, but not least... my art studio with the beginnings of a floor!

Yay!!!!!! Once the tile is grouted those dark lines will be much less visible. The room is purple, too. :o)
It is starting to come together - can we get it done in less than a week?!

House Tetris

You know how in Tetris you start off doing really well, enjoying the game and getting rid of those little lines one by one and quickly advancing to the next level? Then, at the next level, the tetri (plural?) start coming faster and faster and you have those long, skinny pieces that go anywhere less and less? Things start piling up. The space between the pieced tetri and where they drop becomes much smaller. Now the shapes are coming way too fast - crunch crunch crunch - they begin to slam into each other before you can get them placed. Then - GAME OVER . I think that's about where I am right now. Close to game over...

It's been a tough week at home (old house) this week. The process of moving and selling the house has had a few train wrecks. Add to all of that coordinating renovation, selling furniture, cutting pastures, moving horses, packing things up, saying goodbye, working this job and that job, day to day life stuff...... and we are a little worn out at the end of the day. I've been feeling guilty about been tried and short tempered when SO MANY that I know have it much more difficult than I do, but it is what it is.
I am very grateful for the new adventure and excited to see what life is like on a small farm, but I forget about that when I am frustrated. Forgive me if I've hurt your feelings or seemed distant. I am hoping to be a better friend and/or relative soon.
I almost reached the breaking point last night. I told Sam that I was overwhelmed and felt I had no one to help me... even he couldn't because he is so busy (and rightfully so). He gently reminded me that I haven't asked anyone for help (SO hard to do and quite humbling). So, here's my cry for help:

HELP!

I need it in the form of packing, cleaning and reassuring, mostly. The barn needs to be cleaned and ready for my sweet ponies, the pasture needs to be cut, the farm house needs to be cleaned, what the heck am I going to do with that kitchen and so on and so on. Most of these things are projects that I need to be working on, but I need buddies to come hang out and keep me focused and motivated while I pack and clean and plan. I need someone to bounce ideas off of. I need a friend!
It would most likely just be an hour here or there. It's hard to ask because it is something I know no one wants to spend time doing. I'm also afraid that no one will want to help. Plus, three out of my four readers live out of state... and the other reader is my husband. :o) I guess what you could do for me is pray that God will send me some friends to help. or give me superhuman powers for a few days!
On a happy note (a much needed happy note!), we have some new floors and they look GREAT!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAY FLOORS! YAY YAY YAY floors!!!!!!!!!!



These are the two guest rooms - don't you like the floors?! I do! Both rooms look similar because they have the same paint color, but they are DONE!
I'm so excited! They are beginning on the tile for the living area tomorrow! :o) Hooray!

Moving Messes

Things are progressing at the new house very nicely. The paint is on the walls (sorry - no pictures yet!) and the floors are being put down as I type! I am very thankful for the progress!
Things are the current home... well... they are slow. We had a great open house, but haven't heard back from any potential buyers. I know that God has a plan and a family that He wants in this home, so I am trying not to stress out. The house hasn't even been on the market for a month and it is a beautiful home, so I'll stop my worrying for now. :o) We'll see how that goes!
I have semi- started putting things together to pack. We don't have many boxes, so that makes it difficult. However, I haven't filled up the ones I have, either. What gets to me the most are the piles of stuff here and there. I am one of those "everything in its place and a place for everything" people so seeing things unorganized and rooms cluttered up puts me on edge. We are also trying to sell some of our furniture, so I have to move piles of clutter here and there to take pictures. Once the furniture goes, I will have even more things to box up! It looks like we are going to have to have another yard sale SOON!When we moved three years ago, I used the Flylady system and it really helped me rid my house of the clutter I did not need and kept the packing/moving process organized, sane and do-able. I will also be color coding each room for the movers (even though they didn't use it last time) and having a room name and color on each box. This was soooooooooooo helpful for me. When the movers would ask where something was going to go, I could just look at the color and point without having to think too much. I also knew about what was in each box by the color since I knew what room it came from/was going to. It sounds crazy and time consuming to color-coordinate things, but I can't emphasize enough how helpful it was.
So that's how my week is going and next week I hope to be stepping into high gear with the packing. After all, we are moving in the first week of May! Yikes!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for listening to my woes. Hopefully I will have some fun pictures for you next time!

Sheet Rocking Updates

I know that what you all REALLY want are updates with pictures, so I thought I'd deliver!
Sheet rocking and demo are still the words of the week in our school of remodleing, but I am so pleased with the changes! Take a look!


Here's the big family room without carpet, the brick planter or cedar planks. It really, really opens it up (forgive me for the ladder in the picture. I had been cleaning up debris and was too tired to move it)!

Yay for sheet rock! Hooray!

I can't wait to see the house painted in the soft colors we picked out. It is going to make everything seem so much lighter and brighter!


Here's a wider angle.... you can also see all of the dust from sanding sheet rock mud!

It's the crazy room! Much better already!

They skim coated over the old polka dots - it almost looks like some sort of modern wall decor.


These pictures are from the guest bath. We took down the old mirrors and found this wall paper behind it. It came down (wallpaper) so easily. What do you think of the pattern?


Below are pictures of the master bedroom and bathroom. There was old wall paper on one wall and it did NOT come down easily. It was bringing the sheet rock with it, so we had to stop. Our wonderful paint crew is coming up with a solution for this dilemma.

Stacked in the middle of this room is the new flooring for the bedrooms.

Here's my favorite worker demo-ing the bathroom in the middle of a snow storm!

Here's how it looks with out the tub and dust particles. We will not put a new tub in just yet. We are going to save up for another claw-foot tub! We just love ours at the old house!
And the shower..... it had to be gutted. Any ideas for decor with this bathroom? I'm so excited to have a new BIG bathroom! I have had such a small one for so long!

So what do you think? Any suggestions? Where should I look for bathroom ideas?

Signs of Life ...and Destruction

I really couldn't think of anything else to title this post. It just is what it is at this point.
When we were first working on our current home (the 1910 foursquare), this stage was the hardest. You are demolishing things and making progress, but it looks so terrible! It is very uninspiring from an artistic perspective!

However, it is Springtime, and things are coming to life at the farm. So, here's a look at the life:

There are hundreds of irises surrounding the deck areas. I have been waiting impatiently to see what colors they will all be and it looks like they will all be white. Not my favorite, so if you'd like to trade some colored ones for white ones, let me know! I love to have plants in my garden that started out in the gardens of my friends. I do have a few different colors at the current home, so I'll have to pull some up and start sticking them here and there in the garden.

The rose bushes are slowly coming back to life! I've found out that deer will go after roses, especially in late winter when there is very little to eat. It will sometimes kill them, so I've got my work cut out for keeping these alive in about 9 months.

These are a few members of a small cattle family next door (are people really next door in the countryside?). The calfs are precious! I know they are probably meat cattle, so I'm trying not to talk to them too much, but it is hard when they are your neighbors.

We went out to the farm for the evening on Monday to do some work demolishing the rest of the rough, wooden panels. I knew we would be out there for a while so I packed a dinner for us both and we had a nice meal on the back deck as shown by Sam!

Here's the destruction part:

The rough hewn paneling is GONE! Well, it is off of the walls. The drywall folks are scheduled to come out and measure and start work ASAP! :o)
The panels did not come off easily, but I am really glad they are gone. It is "nice" wood, but the style of it really bothered me and they could not be painted because of the way they were made. It probably sounds shallow that I can't stand to have them in my house, but I need to have my surroundings be somewhat pleasing to the eye. The panels also collected dust and hair (and so on) and allowed insects to pass through as they pleased. But let's move on - they are GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!


I am really looking forward to seeing what things will look like with the new walls, clean coat of paint and pretty floors!

New Beginnings and New Set-backs...

I am sure that you can tell from this post that we have begun the demolition of certain features of the house to make way for some improvements that will (hopefully) take place soon.
Before I get into that, I do need to let all of my dedicated fans know that you've unfortunately missed an opportunity. Jack Sparrow of the crazy room is gone. He will only be remembered by this picture here:

So sorry to those of you who where hoping to get a glimpse of him as he is seen here or have your picture taken with him. He is gone - reduced to a sticky pile of thin plastic on the floor by a dear friend that visited this weekend. He went without a fight, sword and all.

Now back to business.

We have an uninvited guest in our home. I was shocked upon seeing him, wondering why oh why of all of the places to live in south central Alabama I would pick the ONE house that had hairy tarantulas in it. So, I was delighted when I came back to my senses and realized I was staring at a bat.

Here's our new house guest (sorry I didn't rotate this pic for you - the white and wood parts are at the top). After we got over the shock of our visitor and decided the best thing to do was let it sleep since we had nothing to catch it with, we began taking down the rough paneling. This brings us to setback #1. There is no sheet rock or any sort of wall under the paneling. There is insulation in some spots, but the rest is open air. Though this is an unexpected expense (we knew they were hiding within the house, you just never know where), I'm glad we found it. I imagine that this was not only a haven for bugs, spiders and, perhaps, bats, but also energy inefficient. I g .

Next we decided to see what might lie behind the paneling on the top of the wall. The answer was nothing, of course, which brings us to setback #2. This set of paneling is directly next to the attic, so I am sure that hot air was easily making its way into the house in the summer and out of the house in the winter. Again, I am glad we found this out. Maybe that's why the A/C went out last summer because it was cooling the attic.

So, that's all for now. Sam had several sub-contractors come out this week, so maybe we will rip out the carpet this weekend in prep for the upgrades and find some other hidden gems!

Swing Low...

We bought a swing! My Grams had given us some money for Christmas, and we decided to put it to good use this past Saturday.
I swung on it Saturday, Sunday and Monday and enjoyed every minute of it!

My sweet husband put it together (of course, I helped - I love putting things together, but I lack the brute strength!).
Gatsby took on his usual role as the Grand Overseer of All Projects from a safe distance.

And the swing held! It's just what we wanted. It gives us a reason to get outside and sit on the front porch and get to know our neighbors and the neighborhood better.

Now, I swung on it Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Monday I sat on the swing awaiting my husband's arrival home from work. He pulled up in the drive, hopped up the stairs onto the porch and exuberantly sat next to me on the swing.
CRRRRRACK !!!!!

So sad!!!!!!

It was fun while it lasted. Guess we need to loose some weight.