Bark

I have an area in the house where I wanted some close ups of birch bark. (It's not my area, but I still deem it my job to decorate in such areas) so while we were out this summer in the mountains, I grabbed a few of these. I was in an area where a lot of the bark had fallen off the trees... so, I picked it up and brought it home with hopes I would find something to do with it. 

So I finally did this week. During the fall, I've gotten away from decorating with all the cutsie figurines, knicknacks etc and such for the holidays....I bring the outside in, I like to use as much from nature as I can. It seems more real. More modern. More...me. The grown up me.  This is what I did with the bark and I filled it with pine cones from the front yard that I little one likes to go and collect for me.  And since I normally have those filled with candles, I surrounded it by candles to show it off.

Rub a Dub

I kicked my husband out of my bathroom the minute he was able to shower in his new one. I guess over the years, I have been very spoiled with not ever having to share a bathroom all that much. I don't really primp. I don't really even put my makeup on in the bathroom. I just don't want boy things in there. Or giant shower curtains. Or weird shower holders. Or old spice.

So when we moved in... the bathroom was fine. Usable. Dreary.

It was painted a tanish-brownish color. Which... didn't really work for me. At all. Plus, the people before us, weren't the most detail oriented people and the paint job wasn't the best. So I would sit in my tub staring at the dirt colored walls and all the places that weren't quite painted or missed. It bugged me. (yes, I'm a little compulsive, but when something bugs you... it just bugs you until it's fixed)

So, I painted it. white. ALLLLL white. I always figure if you are going to go with something.... go all the way. (my husband seems to think that it would be cheaper for us to invest in the white paint market, rather than keep buying gallons and gallons..... he thinks I'm I little obsessed with creams and whites) And in the middle of the white, is a GIANT squared painting with every muted color of the rainbow. There is still a green stand in there. Holding a spot for a white stand. I repainted the bathtub. It was brown. I had a hard time even sitting in a brown bathtub.

I have a couple more projects to share regarding the bathroom... but didn't quite get to them. I was busy painting. Probably something white.

Song: Splish Splash, Bobby Darin

One Project Down...Thousands to go!

I know this place has been a bit quiet for the last six months or so. It seems sometimes life is hard to keep up with and it races past you without your consent or knowledge most of the time. I know I've been hard to get a hold of lately. I apologize.

I like to call this year the year of change. Everything around me has changed. Others are changing. Leaving careers for new ones. Moving. Having babies......life. That's what it is and we can roll with it or not. It's easier to roll.


This home... the home I so fell in love with even though it's on the wrong side of town. Even though there was an exponential amount of work to do...I still fell in love. We started changing it. And it has been quite the process.


We decided that one of the first projects would be to re-do....or just make the basement. Or at least a half of it. (The house is BIG... have to take it a little at a time.) There was nothing down there. Nothing but plywood, lots and lots of spiders, concrete and dirt. No ceilings. No walls. And we were suppose to go down there to do laundry. Which I couldn't get myself to so, because it was so freaky.


So we hired a contractor. Who has done an awesome job. He did the big stuff and we did what we could to keep costs of labor down. I have to say.. all the myths are true about remodeling. Everything takes 3 times longer than you think it will. Everything will cost more. But everything is totally worth it in the end.


About halfway through our little project... the water came. The previous owners did not disclose that this basement gets water. (Not cool. Not cool at all) .....and we had a huge mess. There were lots of tears and then there was just rolling with it. That's all you can do. SO...along with the basement we had excavators working outside. With about 8 inches of dirt and new concrete window wells.... we've been able to control it.


So..what we did to this old house was this:

New ceiling

New plumbing

New electrical

Lighting.

Two headed shower.

Moved laundry.

Moved closet to put in a new one.

Made room for potty.

Linen closet

Tiled the back room.

Tiled bathroom

Painted from ceiling to floor.

Carpet

New stairs (Much easier for everyone)

All new knotty pine molding

Railing

Windows.



The list could go on and on.... but those are the main things. This is my husband's area. But...that won't keep me from decorating it.



Pictures seriously do it no justice. But here are a few anyway.

One Of Those Days

So, in this little adventure of owning an old home, that I decided to partake in, I have bad days. I knew I would. I knew that this house would sometimes make me so mad and irritated that I might blow a gasket at any point in time.

Yesterday was one of those days. Where I looked around myself overwhelmed with what needs to be done but cannot be done yet, even though I desperately want it to be done. And instead of looking at all the amazing progress that has happened at this old house, I just look at it and feel tired, and worn out. Tired and worn out because the balcony isn't done. The garden has so much grass in it that it could have been mowed and the grass that grows in it has roots longer than a football field. The sidewalk has a hole in it and the tree roots are taking over the neighborhood. The GIANT trees which have red bark ALL around them is ALL over no matter how much I sweep. I really don't like red bark. Besides having giant trees I have dead ones. The outside is only 1/8 painted and I'm too sunburnt to stay outside one more minute, and then my husband calls my dad telling him that I am grumpy and probably need a time out....complain, complain, complain. Somedays, nothing is pretty to me here.

And then.

I go to sleep.

In a really grumpy gus mood.

And then.

I wake up.

And find a giant lilac bush blooming.

That I didn't know was actually a lilac bush.

I've never had a lilac bush.

I love lilacs.

I love the house all over again.

Sorry for being mad at you old house.

Song: Our House, Crosby Stills and Nash

Nooks

The thing about old homes is that most of them have little nooks and crannies that newer houses just don't have. I love nooks and crannies. Little places to follow the sunlight around and sit and work or read or watch. Watch a little boy run circles around me. Watch the puppies chase one another. Watch the wind blow through the trees outside and the rain or snow fall. This is another nook for me. Complete with a custom cushion and oodles of pillows.

Song: Friday I'm in Love, The Cure

About that Red Color

As I was hauling boxes back and forth from the truck while moving into my new old house... my friend, who had volunteered to help (bless her heart and will probably never ever help move again after seeing how much STUFF we have), noticed my front door and commented on how green it was...how grossly green my front door was. I hadn't noticed it as much until then but after that it was my mission to make it better, she was right... its hideousness needed to go!

It only took me four months to get to it. (There is a LONG LONG list of things to get to.) But now that's it's done.... I don't know how I lived without it!

My little one picked the color. I told him I wanted it red and he could pick the shade. I think he did an AWESOME job at picking.

This is what it looked like before and yes the previous owners really liked to decorate with computer monitors and fake leaves and you can't really see the stains on the walls or ceilings either...but believe me, they were there.

Oh, and I couldn't forget the Gaelic welcome knocker!

Song: Red Wine, UB40

Progress

My goal for the new old house I moved into a few months ago, is to make corners / spaces here and there, where I can sit with my laptop and enjoy the view while I work. Not to mention....an entirely closed in area full of windows is pretty much a natural light photographer's dream come true!!!! I was instantly drawn to the front porch of this house even though it had HORRIBLE smelly carpet, GIANT cracks in the wall, some sort of stains ALL over the walls, paint chipping and so on and so on.

The last couple of weeks have been spent working on it. Getting it to look much prettier and cozier. And now, I am able in the evenings (when it's not blizzarding and snowing and freezing cold!!!) Sit out there and enjoy the view.

My husband put his heart into the tiling job, which took 15 boxes of 16 inch tiles (it's a HUGE area). While he tiled I painted and repainted the entire area, including the ceiling. I added a couple light blue velvet chairs and a little glass table (which I will talk about later)

This is what is looked like before. The bald puppy couldn't stay out of the way!

And, even though I LOVE to paint and repaint everything all the time... I don't really love it when I spill an entire bucket of it on the ground.

I did leave one thing the same.... this light. It's original to the house. Nearly 100 years old.

And the giant hole (the heat vent)...well it was an issue the whole time it was uncovered. My son fell in it while he was helping me paint (that was the day he told me he was going to be an artist, much to my heart's delight!) and then my cat crawled all the way down the vent the next day. He came out completely black!!!

I have several more things to share regarding the front porch... but haven't quite gotten to them yet... just wanted to share a little as some have been asking how everything is going!

First Projects

When I moved into this old house of mine, there in the corner of the dining room was a huge, old built in cabinet. Now, ordinarily, I am a fan of built in cabinets. Ordinarily though, the cabinets are attractive. This was not my favorite built in cabinet. It was a cross between 1972 Rhinestone Cowboy style and Victorian. It was too atrocious to even photograph. It needed to go and three days after I moved in... it went. (If you're dying to see it, it was donated to a consignment shop.)

Instead of replacing it with more cabinets, I had my own. My 1940's hutch from a little shop in Thermopolis that no longer exists. And then we added custom molding around the whole thing. I LOVE custom molding. Chair rail. Crown molding.....etc. And for Christmas, three years ago, I was given a metier cutter. Though, I am not the one to do the cutting (goal... lean to use my own metier cutter!!!) I do come up with the ideas.

The second project I have been wanting to try for a while now. Simple. Takes about 10 minutes. I had an old frame with nothing in and so I thought putting a chalkboard in it would make it a little more desirable. It hangs in my loft where guests will be staying and I was hoping people would leave words of wisdom on it as they pass through... (there are a lot of passer-throughers.)

You can buy chalkboard paint in a spray or a can (I used the can as I think it covers a little bit better) I got a piece of scrap wood from Home Depot (fifty one cents for scrap wood of any size) Paint it, and stick it in the frame. Easy and awesome. Think the little man needs one in his room as well... another project for another day!

And I have also realized that technology has ruined my handwriting. I have reverted back to writing like I did in 6th grade.

If you can't read it, it says " Still around the corner there may wait, a new road or a secret gate." by J.R.R. Tolkein (Author of Lord of the Rings, other goal..read Lord of the Rings, then watch it) It's his birthday today.

Song : Rhinestone Cowboy Glen Campbell