Wednesday, October 30, 2013

The New (to us) House

Where have I been?  Knee deep in moving that is where.... oh normally in the past when I have moved I have packed everything up in advance had a yard sale or two and have been ready for the big day.... Well this move was a little overwhelming, now I will be the first to admit I have a few too many craft items and I am planning on really, really being picky what stays and what leaves as I unpack..  Oh but then again half of my craft "crap" is still in the old house.... Nope I did not have a thing packed before we moved, I was not ready to move.... but a certain someone whom I love dearly was ready to take the plunge!  So the only U-Haul we could get the day of the move was a small one.  In two days time we moved 4 loads and we have been back to the Old House numerous times and we have both had  our vehicles packed to the brim.. BUT guess what?  We still have a ton of stuff to get out of the house if we ever plan to sell it anytime soon.  In saying that I did have a project that had consumed me prior to the move,  I was on a mission to get the kitchen cabinets painted with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in the glorious color of CoCo.... I LOVE THEM!

We are now working on the Master Bedroom of the new to us house.  We are making the closet a Master Bath and adding a closet into the room.  We are well into the project and hope to have it done soon with the help of a plumber and a carpenter/electrician.  It is beginning to take shape but till it is done we are searching through bags for our clothing.  The craft room is a shambles as well as the den.  But one day soon I know it will all come together in no time flat!  I wanted my mother in law settled in the downstairs first and we are getting there!  As soon as the workers are done she will have a nice little kitchen area in the side of our large laundry room.

When you move into the home that you have looked at a zillion times prior to signing on the line you soon learn some of the problems.  One being the previous owners thought they would spruce the place up a bit and laid all new carpet and vinyl linoleum, yes you heard me right vinyl linoleum.  ARRGGGHH  it was the cheapest stuff that Lowe's had and they didn't even glue it down and therefore when we went to scoot our gas range into place it ripped about a foot of the cheap stuff.  Thankfully it is under the stove so no one but us knows it is there.  Down the road the flooring in the kitchen and baths will be replaced but not right now!  Today we had a gas leak that the carpenter discovered thankfully he found it!  So the Power Company came and took care of the Gas Leak!  The plumber did not show up.  The Appliance Repair guy finally got the parts and I have a working stove well except for one burner the orafice did not come in. I made two trips to Lowe's.   All in all it was a productive day.  I WANT IT ALL DONE YESTERDAY!    I am so ready for things to be in place and put away!  I will take some pictures of rooms as they come together!

****Update****  I typed the above over a week ago and guess what?  Well the big news is that I have finished the Hubby's Den/Study and it looks fantastic if I may say so myself!  AND the bathroom/Closet addition to the Master Bedroom well I think I can start painting tomorrow!!!  OH MY GOODNESS our carpenter/electrician is a retired school teacher and he has done a fabulous job BUT... he is just a tad messy ok who is kidding themselves he is good but MESSY and he really is a nice guy.....   Mark and I just cleaned up his mess in our area, we have been sleeping in a dust pit for a week now and that is NO FUN!  We have to cover our bed up during the day..... he sands the mudding and then turns the fan on he doesn't vacuum before doing this and oh my goodness...I have kept all the doors shut that I can but it will take me a month of Sunday's to get this all cleaned up!  Mark is going to finish up the rest himself but first I will paint then lay the floor tile in the bathroom!  In that order so I am not dripping  paint all over the place!

While I will be gone this weekend, hopefully another U-Haul will finish the move up!


Onto better things....
Here is the bathroom in progress......


And here is the Den Before


AND here is the finished Den  (still not done putting the books away)
The thing around the middle of the room is a Biblical Time Line!




I am escaping this weekend, I have yarn calling my name..... 

Nancy


Sunday, October 6, 2013

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

Have you tried Annie Sloan Chalk Paint yet???  I am painting my kitchen cupboards in our new to us house, and can I just say ASCP is the cat's meow!  I don't really like cats so that is saying a lot!!  One of the most amazing thing about the paint is that it will stick to almost anything!  You do not have to sand, which made it well worth paying $37.50 a quart!  You do have to wash your cabinets or whatever you are painting with a detergent of any kind, I happened to use Shaklee Basic H.  I will most likely be finishing this little project tomorrow!  So here is a before and a sneak peak of the after shot.  I also chose to use the ASCP soft wax for my finish and still have not decided if I want to distress it or not.  I replaced all hardware on the cabinets, including the hinges.  I have glass being cut to put into the upper corner cabinets.


Below is a picture of the cabinets "Before" now if you are looking at this and saying to yourself "she is crazy these cabinets are beautiful"  BITE YOUR TONGUE!  They were 32 year old cabinets the handles and hinges were GRIMEY the wood was showing wear and tear and well they just needed my touch added to them so there!


And here is one of the two doors I had glass cut for!  It will be ready Tuesday and I cannot wait to pick it up!  They are going to look so different!


AND BELOW in all of it's Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Glory in the color of COCO now doesn't the paint color just say it all?  I LOVE THEM!  Yes the previous homeowners in an attempt to sell the house put in all new countertops (not what I would of chosen) and all new carpet and yes vinyl linoleum totally NOT what I would of chosen but down the road we can change all of that,  oh and see those white sliding doors that is the pantry, and can I just say OUCH.... after completely redoing our huge pantry this one will hurt!  But I am at least glad there is a pantry. not sure what they used it for as there are no shelves in it!  So off to Lowe's I go.... Yes, the one store where they know be my name!!



Keep tuned in and I will show the pictures of the completed cabinets!

Nancy