Downstairs Paint Progress

Last week I started painting the downstairs, starting with the molding. Before it was brown and now it's a clean white - I like it much better!

By the end of last week I had the molding and both paint colors done. Usually RJ does the edging because I hate how tedious it is - but this time I did it with a little paint brush. It took forever!

The paint colors we chose are two shades of light blue/gray. The lighter color on top and the darker on the bottom. It will be separated by a chair rail in the middle and there will be crown molding on top.

 We picked out the chair rail, quarter round and crown molding samples that we want to get - 

here's how they will look:

 I think it will look really good once we get it all up. Just having the new paint up looks a lot better.

On Saturday RJ took down the old light fixture in the dining room and put up the chandelier that was on the rental side. It looks ok but we think we're going to get a new, more modern one that gives off more light.

This coming Sunday we are leaving for Hilton Head with RJ's family - we are definitely ready for a vacation!

Weekend Projects

As you can see from the previous post we still have quite the extensive to-do list! We try to check off at least one or two things each night and a handful on the weekends. Last week we didn't get much done as we had something going on every week night! We still managed to fit in a few projects.. on Thursday before dinner with Renee and Tyler (see post from last week), RJ hung the shelf that goes above our bed and when we got home he decided to go head and install the new shower head! Very impressive.

On Friday night we finally got a set of couches! That alone made the house feel so much more like home. We got them from a guy in Akron about 25 minutes away and it took us two trips to get both the couch and loveseat - but it was worth it! They're a little bit darker than we wanted, a dark tan color. However for $200 for the set and they're basically new, we'll take it! It took us awhile to decide how we wanted to set up the room, but we finally have it set up the way we like it. This is a poor quality picture, it's from my cell phone. I can't find the usb cord for the camera I took all of our weekend pictures on, bummer! 

Another big thing we got done this weekend that was replace the old mailbox. We only had one mailbox for both sides of the duplex and the mailbox had somehow fallen off the post so was just sitting on top of it. Not cute. We went to Lowes and got two new mailboxes, number stickers, a 4x4 (I think) and some mailbox brackets. I have some great pictures of RJ in the process of building it on the camera that I can't find the cord for. I took these with my other camera yesterday so you can at least see the finished product!

I think we should paint the post so it's at least all one color.. but RJ likes the "industrial" look. It's pretty utilitarian but we're happy with it for now! 

While we were working on the mailbox, the neighbor, Jason, was cleaning out their side of the garage. We were laughing about how much further they are along than we are and they moved in about two weeks later. Oh well. We'll get there!

Their side of the garage..

 Our side ...

Yikes.

Leslie (the neighbor, Jason's wife) and I have already agreed we need to have a garage sale this summer because we both have a lot of junk to get rid of!

Another big project we tacked this weekend was clearing out the huge pile of sticks that was taking up some of our side parking. We moved all the sticks and branches into a new pile out back. We really need to have a fire to burn all of these!

Now we just need a rake so we can get all these leaves. 

 The new stick pile(s) outside:

The cat in the pictures above is Ti (better known as Craze), the cats love going outside.

On Sunday when we went to RJ's parents' house for Mother's day we picked up a few lawn care items. They use a lawn service now (smart..) so let us take some of their tools. We need to get out there this weekend and take care of the dandelions and bushes! <Click on the picture below to see it full size>

Last night I painted all of the molding downstairs. We're painting the molding white so we can add a white chair rail and white crown molding after we get the painting done.

Here's how the molding looked before:

Here's how it looks white (RJ is going to put in white quarter round that will cover up the bottom inch or so):

RJ measured 3 feet up and then we used the laser level to draw a pencil line where the chair rail will go.

Today/night we're going to try to get the first coat of paint up in the living room - or at least get a good portion of it done!

It's coming together - slowly but surely!

To Do List....

 We are slowly checking off our to-do list!

To Do:

*Hang above bed shelf in Bedroom

*Paint window area in bedroom

*Hang drapes in bedroom

*Install new garbage disposal

*Install new dryer tube

*Spray paint shelves

*Buy & Install new shower head

*Hang shelves in Rachel’s office

*Install new ventilation tube for dryer 

*Put in new garbage disposal in kitchen

*Buy & Install new light for the upstairs bathroom

*Hang other shelves in bedroom

*Draw chair rail lines in living room

*Tighten screws on scarf hanger, hang

*Fix hooks on front porch for hanging basket

*Get a drop-down table & stools for kitchen

*Paint living room

*Paint kitchen (pick color, buy paint!)

*Put up the chair rail, and crown molding downstairs

*Put in the Quarter Round downstairs

*Hang decorations in the downstairs

*Get a couch

*Organize/Unpack basement

*Bag up all the leaves in the front

*Organize/ Unpack garage

*Buy and install a Mailbox

*Buy/assemble a shelf for the garage

*Hang shovel rack for the garage

*Hang hose rack on front porch

*Buy a dining room table and chairs

*Hang chandelier in dining room

*Move sticks from the front to the back and make a new pile by the shed

*Install new shower head

*Vaccuum out dryer hookup

*Organize office

Eventually ... 

*Put in patio outside
*Privacy fence outside

*Remodel upstairs bathroom

*Floors upstairs?

Thank you dinner

Last night we took Renee and Tyler to a Japanese Hibachi Steakhouse as a big Thank You for helping us move and for helping with the floors. It was a lot of fun but Renee let it slip that I had recently had a birthday - so of course the staff had to come out with their big gong and sing the birthday song. The ice cream with whipped cream was worth the embarrassment!

We had a great time and they are great people - thank you two again for your help!

Checking off the List

We had a great weekend as far as projects around the house(s) go. At the condo we replaced the screens (thanks to the cats they had gotten pretty torn up). When we were over there they mentioned that they didn't have room for the Grandfather clock after all (they were going to 'babysit' it for us as we don't have room for it). We wanted to go to church out by the condo anyway so we went back today to pick it up and drop it off at my dad's place.

The clock is huge and it had to rest in between us..

Both sets of renters moved in yesterday and we collected our first month's rent from both parties which made all this work we've been doing feel worth it! On Thursday RJ replaced the chandelier at the top of the renter's side stairs with another light. We still need to hang the chandelier in our dining room. On Friday I steam cleaned the carpets on the other side. Before Friday both our dryer and our kitchen sink were not in working condition - last week we made the decision to call a handyman to work on both of those. RJ had bought a new garbage disposal and had half installed it but needed a few more hours to figure out the rest. Unfortunately a few hours at one time isn't something we have right now and doing dishes in the bathroom was getting really old. The guy was able to fix them both on Friday afternoon so thank goodness we now have a usable kitchen sink and can do laundry. It's amazing how quickly laundry can pile up!

On Friday RJ also picked us up a new <used> lawnmower from a friend of a friend who fixes and restores mowers. He got a great commercial grade mower that mulches the grass as it goes so you don't have to empty any bags. It's also self propelled which we really wanted. Today after picking up/dropping off the Grandfather clock we came home and worked on the lawn for a few hours.

 We took turns mowing - it isn't bad if you take it in 20 minute shifts. It's just such a big yard - the house it on .8 acres. It took us a good 2.5 hours to do the whole thing.. that definitely counts as our exercise for the day. I actually think picking up all the sticks and fallen branches in the yard before mowing was worse - with all the wind we've been having that was a big job!

I also took some time to work on spray painting some shelves we're going to put up in my office.

 So all in all we:

*Got the duplex rental side all set for the renters (carpets steam cleaned, light fixture changed)

*Got the condo renters all set (screens replaced, Grandfather clock moved)

*Got 1st coat of paint on office shelves

*Caught another stray cat 

*Steam cleaned the new couch

*Worked on cleaning on the garage - moved the grill and patio furniture out back

*Picked up all the sticks and mowed the lawn

*Got the back part of my desk installed

*Did a few loads of laundry - nothing better than clean sheets!

After checking so many things off of the list for the weekend we decided to reward ourselves with some Rendino's pizza. It's a local favorite, right around the corner from the new place. 

Hard to beat pizza and beer on a Sunday night!

Getting there...

We are slowly getting more and more settled in the new place - it's tough because every time we think we have a few good hours to spend on our own place we end up having projects to work on at the rental properties! Steam cleaning carpets, patching holes and repainting over them, fixing screen doors (thanks to the cats), and so on. The major lesson we have learned during this whole process is that everything will take longer than we think it will. For example, we thought we could finish painting over our patched holes at the condo before church on Sunday. When we got there ready to paint we found that 3 of the 4 colors we needed to paint had dried up sitting in the crawl space. We had to go to Home Depot for more paint - always something that will take longer than you anticipated!

Saturday was just beautiful outside and we got the garage all cleaned out. Well, the renters' side anyway. Our side of the garage still has some tables we need to sell, our patio furniture and some boxes that need to be unpacked. We also have a few weeks of garbage that should be picked up this week - thank goodness!

Their side...

Our side...

RJ also found a fun new tool (aka man toy) the previous owners left in the garage for us. A cool branch trimmer! He spent a little while on Saturday afternoon cutting some branches that were interfering with our extra parking.

Harvie and I were also very helpful..

We gave keys to our duplex renters so they could get in and clean and unload some boxes before May 1st. They have been over a lot and I've had a lot of fun with the girls - they have two girls who are 7 and 4 and one baby boy. The girls are so funny and they love playing outside, something they can't do at their current home. I found some sidewalk chalk I had in my art supplies and gave them that to play with. They love the chalk and love all the animals, especially the dog.

They are so funny. Chloe (the 7 year old) mentioned something about the chandelier on the top of their steps and how we're going to put it in our dining room. I said: "I think it's more of a dining room chandelier than a top of the stairs chandelier, don't you think?" and she said: "Yeah, it would look like you were rich!". So cute. This is the chandelier:

The other day I was at Lowe's and saw some pretty flowers on sale and some hanging baskets. When I brought them home the girls were outside with their chalk. I told them I had a surprise and they could help out and they were so excited when they saw all the flowers. Chloe (the funny one) said: "Those are just divine!". They were cute little helpers.

We also have some flowers blooming in the front that Leah must have planted.

Colette, the 4 year old, is going to be disappointed if we take down the wheelchair ramp out front. Her favorite thing to do is walk or run up and down it! I won't dare tell them about the hover-round in the garage, they'd love that!

More soon!

The big move!

If clutter stresses you out you may not want to view these pictures. Although when moving I don't think there is any other choice but to live with clutter for awhile! 

The move started on Friday.. luckily RJ took a "vacation" day so we could get started bright and early. Tyler let us borrow his family's trailer so we didn't have to get a Uhaul which was nice! He dropped it off on Thursday evening so we could start loading it up.

Before we started loading the trailer, we took a few loads in both of our cars over to the duplex. We wanted to save the trailer space for furniture and big boxes.. so we took 3 trips with our cars full. Of course it rained all weekend!

A few days earlier, RJ finished the floors in the downstairs. He did such a great job!! He also finished all the primer which was supposed to be my job. Am I lucky or what? So get a good look at the living room before the move...

Because this is what it looked like after!

The original plan was for Tyler to come over on Saturday afternoon to tow the trailer with his truck and help load up some of the heavier stuff. Our plan was foiled by the rain, which gave us more time to take smaller things over and continue to box things up. He came over on Sunday which was awesome. We wanted to have everything loaded ourselves so all he would have to do is tow the trailer. We did get a great head start on loading the furniture but he still helped load up a lot of furniture. Renee met us over at the duplex and helped load and unload too. Both of them stayed until the evening helping load and unload - we definitely owe these two dinner+!! 

Renee also got some good pictures with her iphone:

It was so windy!

When I was packing I was pretty excited to find a long lost hat and satchel purse I'd been looking for!

The only thing we (ok, it was me) broke was a picture frame I dropped. Tyler had some gloves so he swept up the the broken glass. Renee and I have some good men! I would say only one broken item is pretty good!

 

So luckily this week isn't too busy for me work-wise, so I can take some time to unpack as long as I'm ready to take calls and emails. I decided to tackle the living room first so we would have some semblance of a "hang out" area even though realistically, we won't be doing much hanging out any time soon. It's fun finding spots for things and thank goodness for the basement! 

Here is the living room now.. still a work in progress but much better!

The next thing I need to focus on is my office. We still need to get my desk put together so as of now we just set up the computer on the floor. They came and hooked up the internet on Monday so at least I can work!

This  is my current work space:

 Very professional right?

Ti likes to sit on my desk while I work so he is disappointed there isn't room for him up there for him. He decided that his new spot is in my lap. Between him and Harvie I always have an animal in my lap or sitting at my feet.

The cats are thrilled they can go outside whenever they want! They are taking advantage of it, but it's been so rainy they haven't explored further than our own yard. 

More soon once we get more unpacked!