Full Bathroom

Our full bathroom needed a lot of help. When we removed the medicine cabinet, it was covering a huge hole in the wall. When we began removing the wallpaper, we were scraping the walls because there was particle board underneath. We had to have the walls skim coated. We opted not to get a new vanity tiles, or floor to save money. So I went with gray on the walls and a dark gray on the cabinets. The first picture is how it was when we first saw the house. 

Ottoman from Grandma Trice

On one of our visits, Grandma Trice gave us an ottoman she wasn't using. It wasn't really our style so I decided to recover and paint. I have to look up the paint, because it is a particular kind that worked a lot better than when I did the sewing machine table. It was very thick and painted smoothly. I found the fabric and G Street Fabrics. 

Stone Patio

When we first moved into the house, there was a small garden surrounded by railroad ties in front of the kitchen window. It is always shady so my mum and I filled it with impatients and it was very nice, until the deer ate them all. Then the wasps invaded and Mike had to remove some of the wood that was serving as a nest for the millions of wasps. We were all stung (even Collette and Posey) at some point. Then came the dogs, who dug up the entire space and we also lost a lot of grass in that area. Every time I sweep, I must gather a bucket full of dirt that travels in the house in the paws and fur of the animals.

So it was time to fix the problem. Last summer, we bought Tuscan paving stone and procrastinated a whole year getting the job done. I know this because the Corolla transported the stone home.

The day began with Mike renting the tamper from Home Depot at 6:45 in the morning. We had already gotten 10 bags of paving base and 5 bags of paving sand the night before. We thought that would be about half of the amount needed. (I misremembered and thought we were laying about 30 square feet of paving stone, but really we were laying 60 square feet). So we (I) underestimated by half, and that coupled with digging too deep, we need A LOT more paving base and sand. After 3 more trips to Home Depot (one to buy a wheelbarrow - oops) and then a final one to return the tamper, we purchased 34 bags of paver base and 24 bags of paver sand at $ 3.49 each. The hauling of this dirt was way worse than the price (not sure how Mike feels about that). That's moving 58 heavy bags from a shelf to a cart, from a cart to the car, from the car to the backyard, and then to empty it onto the space. And then Mike moved all 60 stones from the driveway to the backyard while I laid them. The tamper was so heavy, I was unable to help Mike lift it into the car. We were sore and exhausted by the end of the day... and we can't forget the digging for the first half of the day.

The first step, other than buying all the supplies, was digging the space. This was not easy because it was like concrete in some areas. We kept measuring the depth with the goal of digging 6 inches in depth. Then we spread 3 inches of paver base and tamped it, then 2 inches of sand and tamped. We worked on leveling when we laid the stones, remembering to keep somewhat of a slope away from the house.

We didn't want to cut the stone and there wasn't enough width for 11 across, so I centered the stones with the kitchen window and we put pea gravel around the border. We also filled the cracks with sand to serve as a dry grout.

I learned that I can drive myself crazy trying to keep it all level and perfect, and it is far from that. We'll see how it all settles. But, for now, we like the way it looks and the animals love it.

Painting the Sewing Machine Table

Anne, the previous home owner, left us a side table in the dining room which is actually an old sewing machine. It has an actual Singer sewing machine inside.

The finish was pretty rough, stained, and just not a nice color so I decided to paint it. It took a long time to pick out a color (Down Pour) and it turned out to be much lighter than I had imagined. I like it, but if I could do it all over again, I would choose a different color.

I sanded the table and cleaned it. It took about 20 coats and never did cover stains on the top. Not sure why that is, but clearly I should have prepped it better maybe with primer?

After looking at the pictures, I realize I need to do something about the wires. Another perspective is always good.

Kitchen Updates

I finally took down the rest of the wallpaper in the kitchen and painted the backsplash. Another change that I made a few months ago was the hardware on the cabinets- from brass to stainless steel. This made a big difference that isn't so noticeable in the pictures. The wallpaper was relatively easy to strip because it was newer than the wallpaper in the downstairs bathroom. There also wasn't a lot of damage; however, there was nothing on the walls behind the oven and fridge. I sanded, spackled, cleaned, and primed the walls before painting.

The color took some thought (Quench Blue), because I wanted it to look okay with the green on the opposite wall and the blue marbled countertop. The paint took 2 coats.

Here is the original kitchen as it was for the open house.

Here is our kitchen before taking down the wallpaper.

Stripping wallpaper:

Here are the after pictures. I still have to get rid of the wavy trim over the sink.

Garden Progress

I thought I would post two areas of the garden just to note the progress. One in the back has a collection of shade perennials. There are a couple of newly planted perennials that might not make it, but overall, I am happy with the garden.

The garden in the front has some evergreen, annuals, and perennials. I really like the Mexican Heather in and around the lavender. The petunias and verbena have already spread out quite a bit. I am enjoying the arrangement this year.

Finishing the Kitchen/Dining Room 'Contented' Paint

I finally finished painting the green (Contented) that extends from the dining room in to the kitchen. I will use a different color for the interior kitchen. I had to strip the wallpaper, spackle, sand, and then paint. Some tips to remember: The more spackle (thickness) used, the more sanding needed and dust to clean up. I always forget this. I used a small roller and matching tray which made this small space really easy to do. I also used the roller to touch up other places in the kitchen and dining room that needed it. Finally, I need to remember that the more paint I pour into the tray, the more I have to use or it has to get poured back in, which I don't like because sometimes it isn't as clean after sitting out in the tray, or the more that has to get poured down the drain, which isn't good. It is better to have the refill the tray conservatively than to have extra paint.