Falling back...

So, Peaches readers (if there are any left). I'm going to pretend it hasn't been three months since we've posted on this blog. We had a TON of work done on the house over the summer, but did little ourselves. Joe started his business in July, and--in August--I added a day to my workweek to start providing PT services for Lathrop School District (in part to cover the cash flow deficit from the extensive house restoration and business start-up costs). Frankly, we're short on time--both to work on the house and keep up with the blog--and we've run out of money. So there won't be any major restoration projects on the table until the piggy bank fills back up (hopefully this spring, although Joe is less optimistic). In the meantime, I hope to keep up with the blog, but I will warn you in advance that it may be less about working on the house and more about living our life here in a small town and surviving our first full winter in our old home.

Which brings me to the real purpose of this post. The changing seasons. This afternoon, I walked outside and realized I couldn't see our yard anymore (see above pic). Before this place, I've never had a yard, let alone a tree. Who knew they dropped this many leaves in the fall? I feel like there's no purpose to raking leaves--just let nature take its course and let them decompose in the yard. Joe says it is what good neighbors do to keep leaves from blowing around in other people's yards. I don't know if Joe's right or not, but I do know that we don't own a rake. And I haven't noticed him rushing off to the hardware store to buy one. Do I really need to rake these leaves? Maybe it's another one of those jobs best hired out to a neighborhood kid. He'll just have to bring his own rake.

A tiny do-it-yourselfer

 

 

Before and After

Last Thursday, we hosted a house party for Kay Barnes at our home (yes, Joe and I are raging Democrats, but you can be assured that this is a bipartisan blog and we won't hold anything against our Republican readers). The nice thing about it--other than raising over $1000 to get dirty-dog Sam Graves out of office--was the compliments we got on the house, many from people who were familiar with the house and the shape it was in before we bought it. As I was telling Mayor Barnes that we used to live in a new loft in downtown Kansas City (which is where, incidentally, we saw firsthand what an excellent leader she is--now I promise I'm done with the political rants), one of our friends laughed about how funny it was that we decided to move from a 1000 square foot loft that required basically no DIY skills (or home maintenance for that matter) to a 2500 square foot DIY challenge. It made me laugh, too, but also made me think about how far we've come since we somewhat naively purchased this place. I think it's easy to get so wrapped up in the to-do lists that we forget how much we've done and how much we've grown and learned here. And since July 31 was our six-month anniversary of living in the house--and because I haven't posted for so long (sorry!) that I am backed up with pictures to share--I thought it would be fitting to create a sort of before and after "gallery" of what we've done so far! And as tempting as it might be to pepper the photos with captions about what still needs to be done, I won't. Let's just enjoy...

Our Home: A Before and After Web Album

New Job, or, Why We Didn't Post for Two Months

I figure I owe the loyal Peaches readers out there an explanation as to why the site went dormant for the better part of two months. On June 30, I quit my job as a fancy-pants lawyer for a large Kansas City law firm, and on July 7 opened my own law practice in Lathrop. So from about May 1 until July 1, pretty much all of our free time was spent getting all the ducks in a row to have the practice ready for business when the doors opened.

I am definitely excited about this new chapter in our lives. Working in the community in which I live is an important thing to me, and I hope that my new business can contribute to the Lathrop community. If any of you in Metro KC or Northwest Missouri have legal needs, well...you know what to do.

Return of Peaches

And we're back! It's been a while since we've posted, so we'll try to break up the progress into digestible "chunks" so the blog posts don't get too overwhelming.

The last update concerned the back room, which had just been returned to its former glory as a porch from its previous existence as a laundry room. Here is the porch, now that it has been painted and furnished:


Note the fresh coat of white paint, the painted gray floor, and the gray trim. We also found quite a score with the furniture -- $200 for the set at World Market. Needless to say, we absolutely love the back porch, especially Kendra. She would hang out there 24/7 if we put a bed out there.

While the progress on the back porch has been pretty cool, by far the most work has been on the back yard. The plan was to have a new patio poured, and we were leaning towards a stenciled concrete to make it look like a cobblestone patio. But before the patio could be poured, there would have to be a significant amount of old concrete to be broken up. There was also a large concrete block capping something, likely either a well or a cistern, and that would have to be addressed, too.

Well, nothing is ever easy when it comes to home improvement, and it took us f-o-r-e-v-e-r to coordinate with the concrete guy. Towards the end, we were getting the distinct impression that he was jerking us around. We didn't really appreciate that, so we cut him loose. While this threatened to throw us off our arbitrary schedule, we were prepared with a plan B -- we had a quote for a paver patio from our handyman extraordinaire, Art.

The first step was to break up the old concrete, and use the debris to fill the well/cistern/whatever. There is not, unfortunately, a clear photo of the back yard "before," but this photo gives you a flavor of what we (and by "we" I mean "Art") were dealing with.

In the picture, you can see the edge of the concrete cap on the right. When our contractor cut into it, it turned out that it was an old well lying underneath that concrete. It was one of those old stone wells (still spring-fed) that looked like it belonged in Buffalo Bill's basement:

It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.

With the well filled, the patio was laid in no time. We used a basic 6"x9" concrete "stone" paver laid in a sand base. This shot from our back stairs shows off the patio fairly well.

And for the parting shot, a quick contrast of the "before" and "after" on the back elevation on our home. First, the "before:"
And then the "after:"

I Stand Corrected...

Joe did post pictures of our old porch in "Let's Take it Outside" on 4/29. Sorry for the redundancy, faithful Peaches readers.

Back Porch Transformation

We got a new camera and the back porch is done! Well, make that almost-done--we still need to paint, but our screened porch is fully enjoyable. In fact, I'm sitting on the porch listening to the birds sing and indulging in a cool beverage right now...

A couple of weeks ago, Joe posted about our porch demolition, but he really didn't show you where we started, so here it goes:

Pretty crap-tacular, huh?

The room pictured above was originally a back porch. We know that because of the original exterior wood siding and diamond-shaped exterior window (see top picture). Our neighbor tells us that the owners before the owners before us (in other words, two owners ago) decided to enclose the porch to make it a laundry room. They put in some old cabinets, put up some cheap paneling, and created the room pictured above. When we first looked at the house, the previous owners were using it as a laundry room/mud room. They actually kept it very clean and decent-looking. Then we moved in. We knew we wanted to ditch the laundry room idea and make it a porch again, so we created a laundry room upstairs. Then the back porch became DIY-central--a dumping ground for tools, drop cloths, half-used paint cans, old blinds, and any other junk we managed to accumulate. Because our front porch isn't really usable (stay tuned for updates on MAJOR front porch construction later this summer) and because the driveway is in the back of the house, this "room" was the main entrance for us and our guests. It was dirty, smelly, dingy, and ugly. To tell you the truth, it really killed the "first impression" factor when we showed the house to our family and friends. I became disgusted with this space and--with the improving weather--was hell-bent on creating an outdoor space for our family to relax (that's why I moved to the country, right?) So I nagged Joe until he cleaned off the porch and I called our ever-so-handy-man Art. The transformation was underway.

First, Art tore off the old, rickety stairs, removed the exterior window, and ripped off the exterior siding and interior paneling.

Good-bye crappy paneling and ugly window...

Then he built us a much-needed new set of set of stairs.

Momma was so happy!

Next, he got busy replacing all the rotten floor boards (which was nearly all of them), cutting and capping the old washer/dryer fixtures, boxing in the exposed pipes and wires, and patching/repairing holes and imperfections. During the process, he uncovered some old Kansas City and St. Louis newspapers, dated around 1905 (!) that had been used to insulate our home when it was built.

If you click on the pic above you can tell the brown spot is actually a 100-year-old piece of newspaper.

Once all the tear-down and repair was done, it was time to build. Art built a low wall and inserted recessed panels made out of the cedar siding he we found on the exterior of the house, under the vinyl. He made sure the wall was just low enough so Max could see outside.

Finally, he removed the old window and door that led from the house to the porch and installed French doors. The last step was to insert the screens, leaving our porch sunny and breezy, yet blissfully inaccessible to bugs, birds, and UV rays.

And here, my friends, is the finished* product...

Ooh! Aah!

...and some before and after shots.



The next step in our outdoor living makeover is to have a patio poured by the northwest corner of the house (to the left of the stairs in the exterior house pic above). We're going with decorative, stenciled concrete that is supposed to look like cobblestone. Check back for updates and please feel free to leave any comments you may have on the pros and cons of decorative concrete. We don't know anyone else who has a stenciled concrete patio, so we'd love to hear from someone who has something similar.

*We're playing it a little fast and loose with the word "finished." Art still needs to come back and install a ceiling fan and paint the whole thing. But we've pretty much spent the whole weekend enjoying the space (working, playing, enjoying a variety of beverages), so it's finished enough.

If I Had a Camera...

So Joe managed to get a few pics of our porch "before" and "shortly after" construction began. Over the weekend, I took a few more recent pics with big plans for posts. But now, I can't find the camera. It's just as well since our camera is on its last leg anyway and a new one is on order. So now, in the absence of the pics I took, I give you a list of pictures I would post on the blog if I had the camera...

1. A picture of me driving my father-in-law's Ford F-3 million. Okay, I don't think Ford actually makes a F-3 million model, but the point is that it is a big, BIG truck. I could barely see over the steering wheel. And there was something funny about seeing my Kate Spade bag laying on the dusty floor, right next to his gun (very city-meets-country). But it was city clean-up day in Lathrop, which means there was a free drop-off for all of our construction waste. So I (literally) jumped up in the cab and drove a load uptown.
2. A picture of the progress on Max's room. As you may remember, Max's room was our project for April. Somehow, April passed us by and we didn't get it finished. We did, however, get it cleaned up and painted. Now, all we have to do is move the furniture in and put on the finishing touches. But because Max is pretty comfortable in his room as it is, this just honestly isn't high on our priority list.
3. A picture of the entry. No, we haven't tackled the green trim problem, but we did finally get it painted.
   
4. A picture of some of the treasures left in the garage by the previous homeowners: the home-made muscle-man collage, the old cans of protein powder, the cow skull, and the collection of energy drink cans. Sadly, we parted with all these priceless artifacts on the aforementioned Lathrop clean-up day.
5. A picture of our newly installed French doors (they are beautiful) and our back porch (which is less than beautiful right now). We have new back steps, which are nice. The porch walls are pretty much completely ripped out and half of the floor is missing, which is not so nice. But we're told that this project will be done (or at least mostly done) by the end of the week. I'm skeptical. We'll see.
6. A gratuitous Max pic (GMP). As he grows, parenting is getting more and more challenging. But he is happy and spunky and smart and I'm proud to be his Momma. And he reminds us every day (by demanding to go "outside" and play with his "ball bat" or pointing across the street and asking for "Emma," his new friend and neighbor) why this is such a good place for our family.
   

Porch Demolition

In the last post here at Peaches, we discussed the upcoming work on the back porch. Well, work is underway, and things are coming along nicely. Here are some pics of the demo work that was done earlier this week. First, the exterior:

I don't know what you can see from the photo, but underneath the vinyl siding is a vertical wood paneling-type of siding. It's isn't terribly unattractive, but that doesn't really matter, because it's coming off anyway. Also note that the rickety old steps are completely destroyed.

Now, pictures of the inside:

Not a whole lot to look at here; everything is just about what we expected. After we removed flimsy wood paneling (or, rather, after our contractor removed the flimsy wood paneling) the remnants of the original porch were revealed. you can see one of the old porch posts, painted white, in the photo above. Unfortunately, there aren't enough of the old posts left, so we are going to have to replace all of them for the "new" porch.

Quite a bit of time has elapsed since we took these photos, so I must confess that this is NOT what the porch currently looks like (sorry, it takes too much effort to try to update this blog daily!). So, faithful readers, you will have to remain patient while we get the newer photos uploaded. Work continues this week, so hopefully we can do a better job of updating the blog as the porch progresses.

Let's Take It Outside

So far, all the work to the house has been on the interior. Now that winter finally seems to be over, we decided it was way past time to address the exterior of the house.

We've got a lot of problems. We've documented the problems with the front porch, and it is near the top of the exterior to-do list. We have been assured that it isn't a structural threat to the house, but it is unusable in its current condition. Next, there is no outdoor entertaining space. We've decided to put in a patio instead of a deck, as it fits in better with the home's historical context. And, between the dog and Max, we really need to fence in the back yard. Add in the need for a complete landscaping overhaul and our (eventual) desire to remove the vinyl siding and restore the original clapboard siding, and out exterior to-do list is a bit overwhelming.

First up, however, is to address the back porch. Right now, it is enclosed and has been turned into a laundry room. When we moved in, we moved the washing machine and dryer upstairs, so the back porch doesn't serve much of a purpose. We've decided we want to turn it back into a screened-in porch, so that it serves a bit of an outdoor/entertaining purpose. We are very excited to get this going, as we think it will change the entire complexion of the homes exterior from the back elevation.

Here are the "before" pictures. First up, this is the back of the house:


The lower portion of the house on the right is what used to be (and what will once again be) the back porch. The taller portion on the right is an addition to the kitchen. As you can see, the entire exterior is covered in vinyl siding. We have no idea what we will find underneath that siding, especially on the enclosed porch. And, obviously, those rickety old steps must be replaced.

Next up, here's a picture from the inside of the house:


This door leads to the enclosed back porch. Right now, it is not an exterior-grade door. As part of the porch work, we are going to remove the door and window, and put in a french door. Our contractor says he can re-use the old trim for the french door, so it should retain its "original" look.

And here are pictures of the inside of the back porch:



As you can tell, it's not very attractive in there. You can see the old wood siding (what we hope we will find under the vinyl siding) and the remnants of the washer and dryer hook-ups. The exterior wall is covered in flimsy wood-paneling, with some kind of backer board underneath it. Hopefully the old porch posts will still be underneath there, and in salvageable condition. There is also (in the top picture) exposed plumbing and wiring that goes up to the second floor. Obviously, that stuff will have to be enclosed.

And that's the back porch in a nutshell. I will post updates as construction progresses.

The Silence Is Broken

Hello, faithful Peaches readers. Looking back, the blog has been awfully quiet lately. Last time you heard from me, I was in a door-induced stupor. I wish I could say that Kendra and I have been working hard on some big project, but we've actually just been enjoying the house and--you know--living in it!

I feel like we are getting to the point where it's starting to feel real comfortable in the house. Not that we haven't been working on the house at all; just this last weekend, in fact, I installed a new ceiling fan in the kitchen (my fifth ceiling fan install so far!) and put the finishing touches on the bifold door in the kitchen while Kendra primed some drywall in Max's room. These were all little projects. The good news is that we got to "check" things off our to-do list, but the bad part is that these aren't the type of projects that make for good pictures--or blog posts.

In addition to the small projects we have been finishing, we are also planning for some major contractor work in the next couple months. This is the subject of a future post, but in short we are looking to rebuild our front porch, turn our mud room back into a back porch, install a patio, and run HVAC to all the upstairs bedrooms. And we've also engaged a landscaper to draw up some plans for the exterior. Right now we are still in the bidding stage, but as we learn more, faithful readers, we will pass any news along.

That's it for now. I believe Kendra is planning to post about our April "room of the month." That post should be a little meatier with actual home improvement information. And since I haven't had any pictures in this post, I will leave you with a GMP (gratuitous Max pic):

A Brand New Guest Bedroom!

Remember when Joe told you about our one-room-at-a-time plan? Well, we've almost completed the month of March and I'd say it's been a success. Sure, we've had a little door drama, but what fun would it be to fix up an old house if there wasn't a little excitement every now and then?

This month was dedicated to our downstairs bedroom, which is a guest bedroom/office. When we purchased the house, this is what the room looked like:




We didn't care for the midnight blue walls, strange shiny paint in the closets, dated ceiling fan, or boring carpet. The trim also needed some touching-up (we'd love to strip and stain that trim someday, but that kind of project is way out of our league right now).

We started last fall by pulling up the carpet and painting the walls, trim, and inside of the closets. In January--just before we moved in--we had the hardwood floors refinished. So at the beginning of March, when we decided to focus on this room, it was really just about finishing everything off. Joe stripped the hardware from the doors and windows, and I painted the closet doors and the main entry door to the room. We replaced the ceiling fan with something a little newer and replaced the beige plastic outlet and switchplate covers with brushed nickel ones. As for decorative touches, we got our curtain panels at JC Penney, the bedding at Linens N Things, and the lamp, wall hanging, and rug from Urban Outfitters. Here is the finished product:




Is the room completely finished? No, but it's as finished as we expected it to be by the end of March... Although we have a leaning bookcase/desk for our laptops, we'd like to get a larger desk to add space to really sit down and work. The workspace isn't really needed right now, but should be this fall when I am (hopefully) writing my dissertation. None of the doors shut--the old hardware just needs to be repaired which shouldn't be too big of a job. We need a decent bedside table and definitely need to hang a few things on the wall to warm up the room a little.

Overall, we are happy with the results and this is now one of my favorite rooms in the house (I think I say that after we finish every room!). We're ready for our first overnight visitors to come check it out...any takers?

So what's on tap for April? I think we're going to tackle Max's bedroom--you know, the unheated dumping ground for all of our unpacked boxes? It's time to transform that space into a functional room. Stay tuned.

Hanging a Door in 3 Easy Steps!

It seems like I've been posting exclusively about doors for about 2 months now. Well, loyal readers, I can proudly say that we have a new door on the upstairs bathroom! On Saturday, Max stayed all day at his Nanni's, so Kendra and I took that opportunity to knock out a bunch of home improvement projects, including the new bathroom door. Here's a step-by-step in case any of you are contemplating a similar project.

Step 1: After realizing that there is a 3-inch-gap between the existing bathroom door and the floor (no joke), and realizing that the existing bathroom door is originally from the hall closet, remove the existing bathroom door and hang it on the hall closet (now a laundry room).

Step 1(a): Okay, then you need to find a door to put on the upstairs bathroom. There are a ton of old doors hanging around, surely one of those will fit, right?

Step 1(a)(i): Nope, none of the other doors seem to fit. They are either too short or too long.

Step 1(a)(ii): After measuring every "spare" door in the house twice, locate a door that seems to be the proper dimensions. Since it is from an old closet, you can probably just live without the door on the closet until you buy a new door many years in the future. Pause and admire your resourcefulness.

Step 1(b): Haul replacement door upstairs to the bathroom. realize that you don't have the proper hinges to install on the frame, so steal hinges from another closet door that is rarely used.

Step 1(c): Hang replacement door in bathroom door frame. Swing door closed, and realize that the replacement door is about 1/4" too wide for the frame, so the door will not close.

Step 1(c)(i): Argue with your wife, since she is the primary user of the upstairs bathroom, and now doesn't have the ability to close the door. Blame it on someone/thing else. Do not admit fault under any circumstances.

Step 1(c)(ii): Proclaim that you will fix the problem as soon as possible. Consider nominating yourself for husband of the year.

Step 2: Two weeks later, measure door frame for trip to Lowe's to buy new door. Rather than take the written measurements with you to Lowe's, just remember that you need a 32" door.

Step 2(a): Once you get to Lowe's, remember that your door frame is an odd measurement and that your door will accordingly need to be cut. Realize that Lowe's will cut the door for you and save you the trouble. Remember that you left the precise measurements at home.

Step 2(a)(i): Call your wife and have her measure the doorway. Make sure, though, that you have the good tape measure with you, so that your wife has to use a seamstress's tape measure. Tell her to measure inside the frame, and let you know the smallest measurement.

Step 2(a)(ii): When you call your wife, make sure you call her when she already has her hands full dealing with your 14-month-old son. This will make her very happy.

Step 2(b): Have Lowe's cut your door according to the measurements relayed from your wife.

Step 2(b)(i): Prime and paint the door (or, talk your wife into doing it).

Step 2(c): Carry the door upstairs to place it in the door way and make sure it fits.

Step 2(c)(i): The f***ing door doesn't fit.

Step 2(c)(ii): Argue with your wife over whose fault it is that the door doesn't fit. Do not admit fault under any circumstances.

Step 2(c)(iii): Realize that when you told your wife to let you know the smallest measurement, she did exactly as you asked and measured between the stops on the inside of the frame, making the door 1/2" too narrow.

Step 2(d): For probably the 10th time, MEASURE THE INSIDE OF THE DOOR FRAME. For probably the 11th time, MEASURE THE INSIDE OF THE DOOR FRAME. Go to Lowe's with the measurements, have them cut a new door, and bring it home.

Step 2(d)(i): Prime and paint the new door.

Step 3: Block out the whole day to plan for the install of the door.

Step 3(a): Place the new door in the frame; it appears to fit. Measure the location of the hinge mortises on the frame, and mark the corresponding locations on the door.

Step 3(a)(i): Chisel the mortises into the door.

Step 3(a)(ii): Realize that you chiseled on the inside of the door, but the hinges attach on the outside. Go ahead and chisel mortises all the way across the side of the door.

Step 3(b): Attach hinges, and hang the door. Hold your breath as you close the door. Exhale in relief when the door fits perfectly.

Step 3(c): Install an old rim lock and doorknob on the door.

Step 3(c)(i): Mark the location on the frame where the catch for the rim lock will need to be installed. Cut out the notch in the frame, and attach the catch with screws.

Step 3(c)(i)(A): Close the door, and realize that the catch sticks out JUST enough so that the door won't close properly. Consider arson as a viable home improvement option.

Step 3(c)(i)(B): Remove the catch, and shave off a bit more of the frame so that the catch and lock work properly.

Step 3(c)(ii): Use wood filler in the old screw holes used for attaching the catch.

Step 3(c)(iii): Wait for two hours for the wood filler to dry.

Step 3(c)(iv): Install catch with two screws.

Step 3(d): Swing door closed, and listen with relief when you hear that beautiful "click." Consider yourself a poor man's Bob Vila.

And that's it! Remember, with just three potential replacement doors, one month's time, the purchase of several new tools, no fewer than two domestic disputes, and about a dozen man-hours, you too can install a new door into an existing frame. It really is as easy as it sounds!

Door Drama

It's been over two weeks since I posted last, yet I feel like we haven't done anything. Well, that's not entirely true. We have installed new wireless doorbells, but that barely counts as home improvement. Kendra laid out the latest in doors, lights, and closets, but most of that post concerned work that was done by others. I did manage to run new wire and install a light in the hall coat closet; that's got to count for something, I suppose.

So what has actually been keeping us busy lately? Those stinkin' doors. Here's the situation--there are no doors on the kitchen pantry, upstairs bathroom (well, there used to be a door there until I got it in my head that I needed to switch it out with another door, and then it turned out the replacement door didn't fit), Max's closet, or the master closet. The big priority is the bathroom door, of course. That one has Kendra a little steamed at me because that is the bathroom she uses the most. The second priority is the pantry door, because (1) our dog likes to drag things out of the pantry that we leave on the lower shelves, and (2) Max flips out when he looks in the pantry and sees good things to eat (he says, "Naa! Naa!", which roughly translates into "Snack! Snack!" in 14-month-old-speak).

As I've said before, we purchased and painted a new bi-fold door for the pantry but, since we live in an old home, the doorways aren't "standard" sized. So we had to cut the door down a bit, but I didn't get it right and we have to shave a little bit more off the side. Not a big deal, except that I don't own a saw. That was frustrating enough, but that is nothing compared to the ordeal that has become our door situation.

A couple weeks ago, I finally went to Lowe's to buy a door for the upstairs bathroom. As you might suspect, that doorway is not "standard" either, so as I was picking out a new door, the thought occurred to me that I could have Lowe's cut it so I wouldn't have to borrow the saw from my brother again. I pulled out my phone, called Kendra, and asked her to measure the opening. Apparently, though, there was a miscommunication, and I ended up bringing home a door that was about 1/2" too narrow for the bathroom. We both blamed each other for the door screw-up, natch. This did not enhance our marital harmony that week.

Fortunately, the too-small door will fit the master closet if we just trim it down a bit more, so buying it wasn't a complete waste. But that still left us without a door for the upstairs bath. So off to Lowe's I went (again), with my twice-measured door dimensions handy, to get a new door for the bathroom. I got the door home and Kendra primed and painted it.

So after all that, here's where we stand: we have a bi-fold pantry door that is primed and painted, but still is a tad too wide for the opening. It will need to be trimmed about a 1/4" and then installed. We have a primed and painted door for our upstairs bathroom. It may need to be trimmed slightly, but should be the proper dimensions. We will need to chisel mortises for the hinges and attach one of the extra rim locks we have to the door. And we also have a primed and painted door for the master closet. Installing that door is very, very far down our priority list, and will involve installing stops inside the frame, mortising hinges, and installing a knob.

Doors and lights and closets...Oh my!

Let's start with the doors.

My friend, Misty, brought her little girl over today for lunch, playtime, and a tour of our new digs. When she entered the kitchen, she said the same thing almost every blog reader has said:

"The kitchen looks a lot better in person than it does on the blog."

She quickly started to backtrack and apologize (c'mon, Mist, we've been friends since kindergarten...no apology is ever necessary), but she's right. For some reason, in the pics we've posted, the cabinet color looks at least 3 shades lighter than it actually is. I think the pic below is a little more true to the actual cabinet color.

It really isn't country blue...

So where do the doors come in? Well, for the last two days, I've been priming and painting bifold doors to the pantry (on the right in the pic above). I'm happy to say that the pantry and all its multi-colored glory should be doored (is that a word?) by the end of the weekend.

Now for the lights.
Notice that we actually have them. This is a shot of our downstairs and upstairs hallways taken from the base of the stairs. When we agreed to buy the house, we asked the previous owners to disable all of the old knob and tube wiring for safety and insurance purposes. That left us without lights in our hallways, which made it more than a little precarious to walk up and down the stairs, especially while holding Max. Clearly, putting in all new wiring (including a 3-way switch for the light at the top of the stairs) was not a DIY project for us. We asked our friend and insurance agent, Aaron Greer, to recommend a good electrician in town and he came through with Ray Sellers. Besides being a heck of a nice guy, Ray did a great job bringing our lights up to code without doing too much damage to the walls or our pocketbook...

Now for the grand finale: The CLOSET!

Today, Kansas City Closet Company installed our long-awaited custom closet system into our newly-built master closet.

Woohoo!

There's really no good way to photograph it, but let me tell you that KC Closets came through again! We've got six sections of hanging, three built-in laundry baskets, two belt racks, a tie rack, and lots and lots of shelves. Once we get everything in there, we will be totally done living out of boxes. I never thought I'd be so excited about a closet...

So, while Joe is a little down in the dumps, I'm feeling positive and re-energized this week. Sure we have a few unfinished projects, but there are some really good things going on here, too.

And, by the way, Max took his first "real" steps here this week. How can it not feel like home?

Finish What You Start

There are ups and downs to living in the house while there is still substantial work to be done. On the plus side, we no longer have to plan our weekends around 40-mile trips to a house without furniture or any means of cooking food (and typically in a snow/ice storm). On the down side, however, I keep finding myself with, say, an hour of free time to tackle a project on a whim that takes three hours to complete. This haphazard approach to home remodeling has left us with the following:

• A new wooden, bi-fold door my brother and I cut to fit the kitchen pantry, yet remains unpainted and uninstalled.
• Power ran to the non-functioning (and previously powerless) doorbell, which still doesn't work for some unknown reason.
• All the materials purchased and assembled to install a new light in the coat closet, but the install itself is on hold because I don't have any tool right now that will cut the lathe board.
  
• And my favorite: a door on the upstairs bathroom that doesn't fit the doorway because I took the old door off to fit onto the previously door-less laundry room, and I didn't thoroughly measure the "new" bathroom door before hanging it in the bathroom, and now it is about 1/4" too wide.

I've definitely lost my focus, and it's showing in my recent remodeling efforts. Remember just a few weeks ago, when I was espousing our One Room A Month Plan? I wish I could consistently bring that type of focus to the table, but right now I feel like I'm just hopping around from task to task as the mood strikes me. And the maddening part is that I don't even care! I like living in the house, and I think that's causing me to overlook all the little imperfections that should be driving me crazy, but are not. But things can't go on like this forever. Some of these projects need to be finished before starting others. In fact, right now Kendra is priming that pantry door, so maybe we can start checking off some of these items off the "to-do" list. I even hear there are rumors of a trip to Lowe's and Home Depot this weekend . . .

Bedroom before and after...

The color scheme in our bedroom was shocking when we moved in.

Master bedroom "before"

Why didn't we show you this before? We really felt we needed you to fall in love (or at least like) with the house before showing you this room. When our family and friends came to see the house initially, this room--without fail--always brought a funny fake smile to everyone's faces with comments like "Oh, this is nice." Once we explained that we hadn't painted the room, people--without fail--always said something to the effect of "Thank goodness. I was hoping that you didn't pick the colors."

In fairness to the previous owners, we think this was a child's room. While the color scheme may have been fun and bright for a kid, it wasn't very restful for two grown adults. We have big plans for this room--it will eventually be a master suite. And, so far, we've done quite a bit of work to that end.

First, we borrowed some space from the adjacent bedroom (what will eventually be Max's bedroom) and created a walk-in closet. When you walk in the front door of the room, the closet is located just to your right. It's hard to tell in the pic below, but it is L-shaped, about 5' x 7' in the main area with another 2' x 4' section. Kansas City Closet Co. will install a custom closet system (complete with hanging racks, shelves, and laundry bins) in about two weeks.

New master closet

Next, we had the floors refinished, and painted the closet and trim. We actually lived in that pink and orange room for a couple of weeks until, last weekend, we couldn't take it anymore. We chose chocolate brown bedding and window treatments and painted the bedroom a pale blue. Sherwin Williams calls it Honest Blue, which--as Joe pointed out--makes it a good choice for a married couple's bedroom. The old ceiling fan didn't work (and wasn't too attractive), so we got a new model with a remote control that has become Max's new favorite toy.

Master bedroom "after"

We still need to hang things on the wall and I'd like to get a big, fluffy rug, but we are SO happy with the end result. I think it is exactly what we imagined and it really is quite relaxing.

The old closet, however, is not so relaxing. In fact, it makes me tense almost every time I open it. Right now, because we can't use our new closet yet, it is just chock full of junk.

Old master closet--future bathroom.

Eventually, this closet (and the attic space behind that door), will become a full master bathroom. But, for now, the mess behind the old closet door will just be our little secret.

I Love My (Crazy) Husband

When you last heard from me--on January 30--it was moving day. I know it sounds cliche, but it seems like years have passed. We've been working around the clock to make this house our home (and, incidentally, have been compiling loads of "before" and "after" pics for upcoming posts). We've made lots of mistakes, wasted lots of time, and shared more than a few cross words with each other. We're older and wiser and maybe just a bit more cynical. And, frankly, I expected that to happen. But even though Joe and I have been married almost 8(!) years, living in this house has revealed a new, unexpected side of him. For better or worse, I think yesterday is the perfect example of my new, slightly crazy, husband.

Yesterday, it snowed. Hard.

Gratuitous picture of Max

Sure, Max looks happy and care-free playing in the snow, but that was after-the-fact. Yesterday morning and afternoon, it was windy, cold, snowy, and wet. Max was visiting his Nanni, so Joe and I decided--on such an awful day--that painting (inside) would be a good project to tackle. So imagine my surprise when, after I finished rolling some paint in our room, I couldn't find Joe. I searched the house and finally went outside. Here is what I found:

The conversation went something like this:
Me: "Joe, what are you doing?!?!"
Joe: "I'm putting these extenders on the gutters."
Me: "Do you really need to do that now?!? It is snowing and the wind is blowing 40 miles per hour!!!"
Joe: "Yes. Can you hand me that white bracket on the back porch?"
Me: "This white bracket? Here you go. It is entirely too cold to be doing this right now. You are psychotic!"
Joe (dead serious): "Kendra, there's nothing psychotic about keeping water away from your house."

What do you say to that? I threatened to take his picture and quote him on the blog. He was undeterred.


He told me he would be done in a second and asked if I wanted to get lunch at the local restaurant, the Hungry Mule. I told him I needed to go grab my scarf. Two minutes later, I opened the back door and this is what I saw.

I honestly have no idea why he was shoveling the walk while it was still snowing or how he had managed to shovel all that in the short time I had been inside. All I can tell you is that he was shoveling as furiously as I have ever seen anyone shovel.

Don't get me wrong--I appreciate that these things needed to be done. I just question whether they needed to be done in the blowing snow, especially when there were plenty of indoor projects he could have been working on.

Is there a twelve-step program for obsessive older-home owners? Or perhaps a support group for their confused, concerned partners?

I just think that yesterday, Joe could have benefited from a safe, warm place where he could have gone and said, "Hello. My name is Joe and I own an old home..."