Time for a new patio!

I've got guys coming this weeks for bids. We weren't really planning on doing this for a while, but its falling apart. Its actually to the point that its dangerous because some of the big chunks are loose. We also have concerns that its not draining the right way and we definitely don't need any future foundation damage.
Right now its 29 x 8, but I think we'll take it out a little farther to make it 29 x 12. 8 feet is a little tight, and we'd like to get get a table for 6 out there. I don't know if we'll stamp it or just pour a new slab... opinions????
If you look on the driveway side out neighbors put up a killer fence. I'd like to redo our gates to kind of coordinate. Might as well take advantage right? I don't think we'll go 6 ft though, 4 is probably fine. Wow... looking at this picture gives me MAJOR spring fever.

Window Bench Seat Insanity

In our dining room I have this window and its making me insane. I am now on my 4th set of window treatments and have hated them all. The ones in the picture are the ones that were in the house when we moved in minus the fru fru satin eyebrow that went over the top. YUCK. I took those down and went to a different valance, hated that. Then I spent 2 weeks making a sweet cornice and drapes only to get the dog and come to the realization that she likes to sit up there and watch the world go by when we are gone. Bad Dog. This has also forced me to realize that it's time to sew a cushion and lose the blanket that's been there since we moved in. I guess the dog is motivating me not only to go for more walks, but to spend millions at the fabric store as well.

Finding the right thing to go on these windows is making me crazy. With this style of house they really should be drapes, but with the seat it just doesn't work. Anything else just doesn't go with the character of the house!!! To make it even more difficult it also has to look just as good from the outside as in because that's the window you walk past to the front door on the porch. At this point I'm ready for good old fashioned roll down shades. Grrrr.. Who knew that window treatments could make one so mental. Its so bad we were even out to dinner and I was trying to figure out if the blinds in the restaurant would work in our house.

I need Mom, she rocks at this stuff.

My new office

Ahhh, my space. I've wanted an office all mine for a long time. This was done on the cheap, but its my favorite place in the house. I tore out the old carpet, painted the walls and ceiling and redid the lighting. The desks are 2 hollow core doors with a base that I made (thanks google) I've got tons of room now to spread out and work on whatever I want. Or just to hide and plan on how to redo the rest of the pit. If you ever can't find me.. I'll be in that chair.

Stairs DONE

This is on the bottom landing, and was a pain in the butt.

I think it was worth the work. I did all the new trim myself!

Not what I envisioned at first, but for now I like them...

We may do a runner later. For now I'm happy they are presentable.

Coming Along

Now I'm just slacking on the photos, but the projects are coming along nicely. Stairs and landing are DONE. I must say they turned out better than I thought they would. I quickly moved into the office.

Green lawn like carpet, GONE.

Primed unpainted walls, PAINTED.

Ceiling, PAINTED.

New light fixture, and....

I finally built the L-desk that I've wanted forever. Now I have a place to leave the computer up, and still have room to scrapbook or whatever on the other side. I used the pattern from Lowes, modified it and it turned out well. I just did 2 desks and put them together, just in case I ever want to move them.

Next project, who knows??

I've been slacking.

The holidays have come and gone, now its time to get after the house again. It was great to spend our first Christmas in the house, but now that things are back in the attic I'm ready to attack things. I need to take pictures too.

I was kind of forced to cut some corners on the stair project. We were hosting a party and there was NO way I was going to get the stain on in time so I painted. Uggg I know, normally I'd curse at someone for painting good wood, but the further down I got the more I came to realize that they were in a lot worse shape than we originally thought. I can't bring myself to carpet them either so the risers were painted white and the stairs are a dark brown. They actually could pass for a dark stain at a quick glance. They aren't the stairs of my dreams but they did turn out nice. I also finished the landing. That I did stain and poly so it matches up with the hardwood in the living room. A quick coat of spray paint on the grate and it looks really, really nice. I still have to finish the trim and then pictures will be up!

Next project??? My office I think.

Still working

Well the stairs are still a work in progress. I've got the upstairs trim and walls painted and they turned out great. All the trim is a crisp clean white and the walls are a nice neutral tan. I'm actually thinking of skipping the carpet in the hall for a while and painting something on the wood. We'll carpet it later, but for now something fun is in order.

Now.... the stairs themselves... yikes. The more I strip them the more they squeak, its like all the years of crud is holding them together. I think I have a new plan though. I'm still stripping the treads but I'm going to get some good oak faced plywood and fit it to the existing risers. The stairs are nice and wide so taking up 3/4 of an inch is no big deal. It should take care of the squeaks and also make it easy to just stain and poly the whole staircase. When its done its going to be great, may take a while longer than expected but its going to be beautiful. I think I might even give up stripping and just start sanding away.

Oh and bonus today, I called a local painter after I saw his truck at the neighbors. He's only charging me 20$ an hour and I supply everything. Thats a bargain to me as there is no freaking way I can reach the vaulted areas on the staircase. So he said 3-4 hrs and he can do the walls of the stairs, and also all the ceilings. Works for me.

Upstairs - Downstairs

Dude, I only WISH these were mine. This is the goal.
(without the writing). I think we are doing white on the risers to match the rest of the trim in the house. The treads we'll do just a real light almost natural colored poly. Walls will be your basic light beige. Its going to be a great place to hang photos and things when its done... someday.







Ours were like this, shag rust colored carpet. Ick. I will say this, I don't know what kind of carpet this was, but it sure wore well. It was nice and thick and it was evident to us that the prior owners animals thought it was pretty nice because they sure stunk it up. No amount of cleaning was going to work so it had to go. We lucked out underneath and found beautiful wood stair treads and painted risers. They are coated with old finish and paint, but I'm digging in and stripping them down. Its going to take a while, but I'm hopefull they'll turn out well. I may be on a constant Zip Strip high for the next week or so working on these, but I think they are worth it.

Here's what they look like at the start. So far I've barely started on the stripping, I'll post more as I work my way up.

Starting at the bottom

Here is our plan, my plan. I'm starting at the bottom of the house and working my way up. here is what the "man room" looked like at the start. This is the prior owners furniture still in it, thank God.




The blue had to go, as did the border. Other than that it wasn't too bad down there. This is an old house so to have any kind of finished basement space is a huge plus. One of the prior owners had put in a drain tile system to keep it all dry so its very comfortable down there. The second I saw this room I knew I'd finally found the perfect place for Dave and all his sports memorabilia, as well as all his Army things he wants to display. All in all it needed to be his space. Its got a wet bar and through the door off the bar is the laundry where of course we moved the beer fridge. If there was a bathroom down there I don't think I'd ever see him.

The day I closed 3 of my best girlfriends and I joined forces to start "Operation Man Room." I had less than a month before Dave was due home from Afghanistan and didn't want him coming home to a mess. He'd earned this and I really wanted him to like it.

So next step was paint... , better but not done. I added the wine fridge behind the bar and then waited for Dave. When he got home we finished it up, bought a ton of new furniture and I surprised him with the TV and new surround system. He's a happy camper down there and it couldn't have turned out better.

Big thanks to Diana, Bec and Diana for helping BIG time. Couldn't have done it without them.

Here is how it looks now, beer fridge and all.

Stained the porch a while back

New stain for the porch! It was really, really dull and worn looking before. Now after a good cleaning and a coat of semi-transparent Cabot stain it looks 1000 times better. The railings are another project and will probably be replaced next spring.