Counter Balance

We had a contractor come give us an estimate to replace the kitchen counters. My parents are buying that for us as a housewarming gift. We're so sad that it's two years in and we're finally getting around to it. We got a quote for replacing the backsplash at the same time but it sounds really.effing.high. I've got to call around, but the ball is rolling...

#78 Floored!

Here's the new floor. Clean. Pretty black and white. And did I mention clean? Slowly but surely, the kitchen is being turned into a room we want to have.

The dude took this picture on Sunday, but we're still working on putting things away--we've had to clean everything in the cabinets because of the dust that was raised in the making of this new kitchen.

Say Goodbye to My Ugly Floor

#78 Replace kitchen floor

Two weeks ago we popped into a local tile store, met a salesman when we were halfway in, and practically had the tile bought by the time we hit the back of the store--a very tiny store. But I knew what I wanted and there's no sense in hemming and hawing once they show you what there is. I could have gone all over hell and highwater searching for other things, but why?

Today, our contractor comes to take up the old lino. See how dirty it is? I have been on my hands and knees cleaning that floor. Nothing in the world was going to erase the years of ground in dirt.

To facilitate this job, we had to pull up the carpet in the hallway--we want him to be able to put in a nice marble threshhold. The hardwood threshhold is pretty beat up, so better to have him cover it, than have to deal with it later. So we are one room away from having the carpet pulled up in the whole downstairs (#76).

And we've placed an order for a new door (#95)! It should be up next week.

#92 Buy filing cabinet and file patterns in craft room

I've been neglecting you over here. I have been doing things on my list but I have been keeping them secret...

I have created a database and filed my patterns in the new filing cabinet for the craft room. I also put my scrapbooking scraps in there, organized by color.

#76 Remove carpeting downstairs

Well, we put the whole gang to work! On Sunday, my sister, cousin and her husband and two kids, came and helped the dude and I rip up carpet. We decided to cut the job in half, just taking the carpet out of the living room and dining room. I thought we could do more, but it turns out the dude knew exactly how much of this we could take.When we pulled up the carpet in the living room, the pad had stuck and left color and crap everywhere. We developed an elaborate system of swiffering and scrubbing on our hands and knees to get the stuff up. Fortunately, the job was a lot easier in the dining room which had the better quality mat.

The dining room also got the treatment from my cousin. While she was occupying the kids in the dining room so we could work in the living room (the one with the TV) she painted the window trim and then hung the blinds! So that's another thing off the list, but I didn't do it. Does that mean it doesn't count??? (photo missing)

Sunday we all went to Hershey Park. I rode the carousel and nearly barfed. I haven't been on rides in ages--I think almost ten years. Then I went on the SooperDooperLooper, the Great Bear, and the Claw. So I was back on form. Before we left, I painted the trim in the living room so we can put up the drapes tonight. It's like I got a new house.And aren't the neighbors glad it's trash day. We're bringing down the property values--that pile of crap has been in front of our house since Sunday. And it's not even all of it!

#84 Paint guest room, including trim

Shakes fist at self, why "including trim?" Well because I know if we don't do it soon it will never get done. Three walls are painted. We're wallpapering the fourth wall. But it's painted. Ralph Lauren "Arrow Wood" Suede. I'd show you a picture, but it just looks like this paint sample. Because the furniture isn't going back until we've completed the wallpaper.

#86 Buy chairs for dining room

I wanted to take a picture of the new chairs in the dining room because they look so great. These came in way under budget, and the dude only had to spend a couple of hours putting them together. Even better news, my job was to break down the boxes and get them ready for recycling, which was today. So it was like the chairs have always been there. No mess waiting for trash day.

We also got the new drapes for the living room. This weekend we are painting the guest room and picking up the paint for the living room and hallways. See, the dude promised me the carpet would be out by the end of summer. And he thinks we should paint before we pull up the rug. And summer's almost over. We have a very strict schedule so that the carpet comes up over labor day weekend. And suddenly, our house is our house

#88 Hang Maps in Guest Room

I know I've done this one ass-backwards. I want to paint this room, and I went and hung the pictures first. Here's the thing. It's hot as fuck in the master bedroom (even with central a/c) so we're sleeping in the guest room. And I hate the plain white walls staring at me. So I put up the maps. And curtains (#87). It's better, but it will really be improved when we get the walls painted.

Sorry for the poor picture.

I also went crazy online yesterday and bought blinds and a filing cabinet (#79, #81, #92). Now we're cooking with gas.

Making Progress on the Home Front

This weekend I ran around to Ikea, JC Penney, Lowe's, and Joann's to start some of the projects from this list. At Ikea, I bought some curtain hardware and thought about getting something like this for the living room. We have this huge picture window which is currently dressed with vertical blinds. I hate them, but I haven't found anything I love yet. Something easy to open so that we do open them and something that will attain the level of privacy the dude is after. Penney's is having a huge sale, including the dining room chairs we so desperately need (#86). They didn't have the furniture on display, but we got a lamp and a giant picture frame. I mean giant--it holds 4x6 pictures 7 across and 5 down. This will replace the shelving we were going to get (#89). We only needed the shelving because we have a giant wall that we can't put any furniture on--it's in the traffic pattern. The only trouble was it's not the right color. At Lowe's I got spraypaint for the shutters (#97) and the giant picture frame. On to Joann's where I bought six 12x12 frames for the maps we have to hang in the guest room. We've chosen the maps and put them in the frames, but we haven't managed to put them on the wall (#88).

I've scheduled myself to complete a few of these projects during the week. We'll see...

#96 Plant something in the pot by the front door

One upped: got rid of the fading old plastic pot that the previous owner left on the lawn and hung a basket of fuschia on a shephard's hook. Nice.