Demolition Day 1: It Starts

Here is where we generally left off in the kitchen and office (yes it got decorated and cluttered with stuff but still serves to show where we started after emptying it out and how it looked when Day 1 began):

Kitchen


Office (to become Dining Room)


And as of Brendan's mid-day check:


Wall between the two rooms is gone and being rebuilt with entrance more towards center of the house and larger, no door, and thus creating more open feel. I can't help but a little think may be people were right about the idea of keeping it totally open, but then I think of my wine rack, and dish cabinet, and dining table, and think it's good to have a defined dining room. Also means more cabinets. However I did sacrifice cabinet and counter to keep opening 4 ft instead of 3. Worth it.

Prepare For News

So haven't updated in years, largely because we haven't done much in years. saving for the big project... will try to get some new pics up soon of current house status so that as we get to the changing you can more fully appreciate... (adding a second bedroom, putting cabinets in the kitchen and a door to the backyard, new roof, siding, gutters, oh my!)...in the mean time, check out this motivational book I made for working out (what I have been doing instead of house stuff).

Click here to view this photo book larger

Build your own high-quality photo books at Shutterfly.com.

Smartest Thing I Did

Putting in a powerful ceiling fan in the living room. Go me!

February 21, 2011

Couch Preservation:







"Hanging" Out at Home:

1rst the painting from Camilo Lucarini...



...perfect.


2nd the mirror I bought inspired by the decor in Aunt Debbie's shore house...



...a little small but looks nice. We had some issues with the fact that neither the floor, nor the ceiling is straight, so no matter how straight we hung the mirror, it was never quite right.


3rd the kitchen accents...







...making use of my black white and cream appliances by using accents in the same color. Also, did you know that a pig is on the Lucarini crest? (I found that out AFTER having a penchant for pigs.)

February 5, 2011: Beautiful Day

Wishing I had a usable sunroom. This works too!

2011 Status Update

So... going into the year I had a meeting with my financial advisor, who felt that given the projects that I wanted done by end of 2013...

-roof
-attic conversion to bedrooms
-siding
-porch
-front door to porch

...that I should look into getting them done sooner than later. Based on reasonable expectations of my future income it seemed plausible. Until it suddenly wasn't. So the thing is, these things STILL need to get done by 2013. While it is very clear it will not be happening this year, it is also very clear to me that I need to remember that nothing is a given, and I need to really save as much as possible to get ready to have this done. Yes I would LOVE kitchen cabinets, or the stairwell to be fixed up, or the bathrooms to be done asap (these will get done this year), or a myriad of other tasks. But the fact is... if I want to have a kid, I need a room for him/her. So this year there is not going to be the kinds of transformations we saw last year. This year is more about functionality. My 2010 New Years Resolution was to become more handy. My 2011 is to become a better hostess. So just a heads up that the general theme of this year will be working more to make my house a more livable home by increasing storage, functionality, and organization.

Anywho. more pics to come soon, finally got some hanging done!!! (I've had some decorations that have been waiting forever to make it to the wall).

Other things to look forward to:
- finishing the bathrooms
- making a walkway to the front of the house
- better tending the garden
- creating an outdoor "hang out" area with table and chairs, and putting in a dog run
- organizing and cleaning out the porch to make it a usable area at least in the warmer days
- window treatments that are not paper blinds

Rewind: Jan 2010, Happy Birthday Mr. Ehlers

So after two successful runs hosting dinner for friends/siblings/aka people I knew would be way understanding of any mishaps in the service, we went for a birthday dinner with Brendan's parents (and younger brother).

The whole dining table in the other half of living room worked very well:






Dessert was eaten on the couch, and again I think everyone left happy:


***Note the table "runner" is actually a collection of placemats lined up. We got so used to the lovely Christmas runner Nanie gave us that we didn't want to leave it bare again. HOWEVER, we have since gotten a red normal runner... pics to come.***

Great Success!