You may be wondering if my momentum from the first two weeks in my new house have continued over the last 8 months of working 60-80 hours a week.  Well, I would say it has slowed but not stopped.  Here are some update pics of the major rooms, move-in day compared to now, and the projects still to go!



Move in day... very yellow.



I'm digging the crooked light fixture



Love the big window.



Today



Slightly after move in day...

Painted, got a bed, added ceiling fan

Curtains, shelves, etc.

Move in day... empty.

Move in day... note the missing outlet covers.

Today, walls painted, mirror up, new(ish) bedding, cat.

Today: Bedside tables, white ceiling fan.

Today: Stuff on walls, curtains, lots of sunshine (it was nearly 70 today!).

Move in day: Wooden fireplace, pink/orangy walls, big picture window

Move in day: Kinda tunnel-like, missing outlet cover.

Today: White fireplace, new sectional, coffee table, rug.

Today: Bookshelf, picture window, entryway.

Move in day: Green metal cabinets, broken sink hose, old linoleum floors.

Move in day: lots of bisque appliances.

Today: White cabinets, new stove, trash and recycling, new faucet/hose, new hardware, new light fixture, old floors are still there.

Today: Shelf painted white, wine rack, extra counterspace, homemade window treatment, awesome mixer.

After four months (and 4 days) of living in my house, I FINALLY have a room I can show you that's (almost) done.

It figures it's the guest room... the room that gets less regular use than any other.  Oh well, at least I'm making progress somewhere! 

You should probably have a mattress that fits them.

Let me tell you a little story.  It's a story about a mattress.  And some sheets.  But we'll start with the mattress.  This little mattress was purchased sometime back in the 1980's.  First, my parents slept on it for a while.  Then, it got moved into my bedroom when they got a new one.  This was a big time upgrade, since it was a queen size mattress.  Woot woot! 

Then, when I went to medical school, I took this mattress with me.  Then, when I moved to Indiana for residency, I took it with me again.

This mattress is more traveled than most college graduates.

(Remember, it's life started in the 1980's.  I was born in 1985.  So it's pretty close to my age.  How close?  I've never asked when EXACTLY they got it... I prefer not to think about those things).

So, the mattress settled into life in Indiana.  At the same time as the move, I ordered some nice new sheets from my mom's friend.  Good, high quality, very comfy sheets.  When they arrived, I put them on my mattress and...

Wop wop.

The mattress was so old and thin that the fitted sheet went the whole way around the mattress AND box spring.

Sad. 

So I decided I needed to go mattress shopping.  The old mattress was destined for the guest room, and my bed needed something with a little more fluff.  After doing mucho research (okay, no mucho, but some), I settled on checking out Denver Mattress Company.  They got good ratings from Consumer Report, and there happens to be one right down the street. 

I was looking for something on the affordable side, since eventually I plan to move the new mattress into the guest room, toss the one that's my age, and get myself whatever mattress I dang well please.

There were many good options, and I narrowed it down to the Arapahoe, Breckenridge Memory Foam, and Breckenridge Latex.  When I found out that I could save $100 if I got a mixed box spring and mattress set, the Breckenridge suddenly became much more affordable, and I decided to go with that.  Seriously, who WOULDN'T get the mixed set?  No one looks at the box spring anyway...

Anyway, once I picked the Breckenridge, I had to decide between Memory Foam and Latex.  I asked the sales guy every question I could think of to figure out what the difference was.  Durability?  Firmness?  Thickness?  Hypoallergenic-ness?  Nothing...  And I couldn't tell a lick of difference sitting on them.  I eventually went with the Memory Foam, for no other reason than it sounds more comfortable than Latex. 

I thought I'd pop back in and let you know how my painting extravaganza turned out.  It took a TON of paint to cover what is a pretty small bedroom.  As in, more than a gallon.  As in I had to run to Lowes yesterday morning to get more paint.  As in my arms no longer go above my head from reaching to paint the sponge-like ceiling. 

But, it was all worth it in the end, because the guest room no longer looks like a 10 year old boys room... which it was a mere 3 months (minus 2 days) ago.

Here are the before shots again.  I meant to snap one of the spider man light switch plate, but I was too busy taking it down.  Sorry.


Clearly I was already started when I took these pictures.  Because I was painting the ceiling, I had to cover the whole room in plastic.  This proved a challenge when selecting painting footwear.  I tried to go barefoot but the plastic kept sticking to my feet, and I had to walk like I had drop foot.  Then I put on socks and it was like trying to walk on an ice rink.  I ended up in shoes.  Good thing I have a lot of old pairs that can get paint-y. 

The top picture has a couple paint swatch options up, none of which are the one I actually chose. 

When I started painting, I realized that no only were there planes on the walls, but there were also stars all over the ceiling.  I think they'd been painted over with a coat of primer before, but you could definitely still see them. 

Not anymore.

They've been buried.  By Ashen to be precise (of the Olympic Premium No-VOC variety to be even more precise).  A coat of high coverage primer, and two coats of paint later, this is where we are.

You may remember me talking about my kitchen cabinets.  My plan to give them a quick coat of paint was upended when I discovered they were not normal cabinets, but old (probably original to my circa 1947 house) metal cabinets that no one had given any attention to since... ever, probably.   I estimate there are 5 coats of paint on the cabinets, some of which are peeling off.  There is grime and rust on the tops of the doors (which I don't think anyone but me has actually ever looked at).  And the shelves have definitely never been washed. 

When I was cleaning out the cabinets (actually, Ian was doing it while I was downstairs scrubbing shelves), I discovered something that confirmed my theory that no one had actually looked in the back of the cabinets in many many years. 

Names of patient and prescriber erased to protect the innocent.

Sad to say, the blue airplane stencil had to go.  Stay tuned for the after pictures.  They're gonna be sweet.  I hope.

Peace out,
Kari

PS.  Yes, I tossed all the extra percocet.  After 24 years (FYI, that's just two less than I've been alive), I'm pretty sure it's expired. 

There is a small sidewalk behind my house that goes from the gate next to the driveway around to the deck.  At least, that's what I was told.  Although it was hard to find under a thick coat of weeds.  In an effort to make my back yard more presentable, I wanted to spruce up the sidewalk by... finding it.  And then fixing it, but mostly finding it.

I didn't have a change to take a picture of the weed garden before I brutally assaulted it with a gallon of Round Up.  It didn't survive.  The problem was, all the dead weeds were EXACTLY where all the live weeds used to be... peeking up through the bricks with roots shoots at least 47 inches into the ground.  At least.  See below...

Lovely, huh?  I definitely want to hang out near that sidewalk.  So after weed killing, the next step was to get rid of the weeds.  Which involved hours and hours of me, some gloves, and a little hand rake tool.  digging out each weed between eat crack, one at a time.

Note the difference between weeded and not.  Also note again the empty flower bed.  With the exception of that big green plant... I couldn't figure out if it was a plant or a big weed, so I left it assuming no one else would be able to tell (and therefore judge me) either.

And, about 2 weeks after starting, I finally finished pulling up all the weeds.  I did in fact have to go back and spray the beginning again because the weeds were starting to come back... But don't worry, I stopped them.

Here's how it looked yesterday after I finished:

For those of you not familiar with Young House Love, their Do-It-Yourself awesomeness, and their adorable bald baby, you should check them out.  If you are already familiar with them, you'll know that Sherry, the female half of YHL, loves white ceramic animals.  And, if a ceramic animals happens to not be white, she always has a can of spray paint handy to remedy the situation.

Well, I figured I'd channel my inner Sherry to turn an old keepsake from a bottom shelf bookend to a crisp white accent piece for a console table (I don't have the console table yet... but I'm planning ahead).

This is my elephant.  When my grandma died, we were each allowed to choose one thing from her apartment to keep.  I chose this elephant.  It's occupied various homes over the last 15 years, and finally made itself comfortable propping up some books on my bookshelf.  I decided it needed to come off the bench and take it's rightful place in the starting lineup of home decor (see that soccer reference there?  In honor of world cup soccer...)  So I busted out some white spray paint (which I have tons of given my current kitchen shelf painting project) and gave it a face lift. 

This is circus elephant, before a few coats of white paint.  He looks so happy!