Another Project Done!!

I am one step closer to becoming Americas Top.... oops, let me switch to the reality part of my brain.....
I am one step closer to having the dining room complete.  Big deal my friends, BIG. DEAL.

The latest completion- walkthrough painted and I made a growth chart ruler!

I set myself to completing something since I needed a bit of a mood lift.  This was Monday-

We got about another 10".  Don't get me wrong, I like snow.  I like to play in the snow.  It just limits outdoor activities somewhat, we try to be creative though.

So completing something on my to do list always lifts my spirits.  The kids like the ruler too-

Notice in the, background baby girl unloading the colored pencils, the illusion of my clean home is ruined (not that I mind, otherwise I would not have pointed it out)-

Kids love marking and seeing their growth.  Also, another good thing about the ruler is we can take it with us if we ever move.

Here was the before; old woodwork is stained pine.

We learned that you have to paint a 'seal' over the knots otherwise this will happen (this is our living room cabinets)-

The Kilz we had on hand didn't do the job, we used B-I-N Shallac Base Primer and it seems to have worked.
You see here, the stain that wasn't fully sanded away is seeping through our primer coat (before we used B-I-N)-

Ugh, so much prep just to get something painted correctly.  Remember how much I hate painting, my last whine about it HERE.
Also note, that I slightly cringe at painting wood white.  I like the clean look of white but DO prefer the natural look of wood more, just not pine.  We are trying to keep as much natural wood as makes sense.

The natural wood ruler does add some nice texture here-.

Also, it was easy to make.

• Bought thin boards (I think red oak) for a low profile and easy to tack flush to the wall
• Applied a few layers of Satin Finish
• Marked lines with a black sharpie
• Pause for a motorcycle race

• Used Century font as a template to trace the number (or could stencil them), again used a sharpie

To end, here is a detail in the Dining Room I could use input.  We had to rip out all our old trim, if you remember.  Jonathan replaced it and now we are left with a gap and exposed raw edge at the top-

Cutting a piece of trim at an angle (to form a wedge to finish the end) will not work because of the angle of the trim.  The wedge piece would angle downward instead of perpendicular into the wall.  Too big for a filler like caulk..... 

Any ideas please!!!!

Basement electrical and lights should be installed (by hubby and a friend) next weekend so we can get back to work on the new playroom.  I am SUPER pumped about that.  We also budgeted out our other updates for the year.  I am very excited to share them with you as we get to them. :)

On A Roll, New Trim Is Up!

Jonathan was whipping out the trim on his 'day off' this past Monday.  I was happy as a lark watching  him do his thing.  We picked out and bought our trim at a Builders Surplus store which is cheaper than other major chain suppliers.  Both of us are really happy with how it is all turning out.
For quick review, here is the updated dining room list that we are trying to fully complete (it will be the first room in the house to be completed)-

Fill and sand holes in trim

Paint window trim white

Paint window frames black-

Put up baseboard trim

Fill, sand and paint baseboard trim

Sand off stain on walkthrough boards (or are we replacing?)

Put up trim around walkthrough

Fill, sand and paint walkthrough trim

Make and install stair banister

Paint and install heater end plate

Make blinds or curtains - possibly have fabric choice!

Most of what is left is filling holes, sanding and painting the trim.  Trim is primed white so it looks pretty close to the white we are going to paint it.  Moving onto pictures!  Sorry they are all dark and dreary, matches the weather outside.

Dining room before trim-

After-

Walk through before trim-

After-

Other side of walk through (Grrrr, that stinkin' hall paint color looks green in some light, we dont like that, supposed to be tan (Harvest Brown)).  Also, should note we will be replacing the front door (doesn't go with our style) and the door with a cat door shown below.  We'll also be painting or staining all the interior doors (they are all solid pine).

Finally can use the doorway jumper (she has been walking more this week by the way)-

Hallway and into the living room, before trim-

After-

Break for a math lesson-

Some details that should be noticed.

This freshly painted and installed heater end cap was my contribution to the project-

Jonathan will NOT skimp on any details, all his corners are aligned (though the shadows in the pic do not do it justice).  Since it seems no two trim boards are alike you can only cut and join pieces from the same board.  Also, he cut angled end pieces so you don't see the cross section of the board (not sure what you call this detail?).

On a more feminine note, I purchased a couple samples of fabric to start brainstorming curtains.   This is the one I like right now, only down side is its silk.  It has a linen texture and I would line them.  It has blue and natural fibers.  Probably could not wash but maybe get them dry cleaned if really had to?

Also got these two fabrics for $2 each.... ridiculous amounts of fabric for cheap.... worth sharing I thought.

We are still brainstorming on the banister.  Since we are not for sure on the banister plan yet he could not finish this wall.  We have some ideas though-

Probably something similar to this-

Pigs are going bye-bye today, then off to the meat processing house tomorrow.  I will post about that sometime later.

Dining Room Completion Plans

I have to confess.  Sometimes when I come home from staying in a house that is 'completed' (not under construction) I get a little discouraged at our house.  There are so many little details left to work on that make me begin to wonder if we can do it.  Cleaning the house sometimes seems pointless because, though it is clean, it looks sloppy still from the exposed drywall and lack of trim, painting, etc.
So what do I do when I get like this..... I remember how you go about conquering big jobs...  piece by piece.  Piece by piece with our heads down we will keep working, trying not to look at how much is left to do but what we've finished.
Sooooo, the goal is to finish the dining completely.  Getting one room finished we think will be a morale booster.... then onto the next room... then the next.... and the next... until they are ALL done. :)

For MY motivation sake I want to share AGAIN a picture of the dining room when we bought the house-

So glad that light fixture is gone, I still have dreams about it.
Now-

Yay, just doing this boosted my morale.
OK, now I want to share our to do list and my silly mood boards to show you the plans.  I like sharing lists because its an easy way to share our progress as we complete items (since some updates will be small and not so picture worthy).  Here we go with the list:

• Fill and sand holes in trim
• Paint window trim white
• Paint window frames black- all completed in dining room, just wanted to share that!
• Put up baseboard trim
• Fill, sand and paint baseboard trim
• Sand off stain on walkthrough boards (or are we replacing?)
• Put up trim around walkthrough
• Fill, sand and paint walkthrough trim
• Make and install stair banister
• Paint and install heater end plate
• Make burlap roman blinds

Some pictures of these to do's-

Need baseboard trim and heater end plate.

Sand and paint existing boards in walkthrough, put up trim around walkthrough and baseboard trim-

Make and install stair banister, put up baseboard trim. (Need banister since baby girl is attempting stair climbing)

Here is a silly 'mode board' I put together.  This is what all the design blogs seem to do.  I can understand why as it help you visualize different materials, patterns, colors, etc. in your room.  Here's just have a few decor ideas and burlap roman blinds (any decor ideas and feedback would be appreciated during this process)-

I need help placing something on the back wall to balance out the china cabinet... nothing too bulky that will bury the wall.  Maybe hanging the old hay fork there instead of on top of the china cabinet?  Also need more color somewhere.  I don't want a rug in here yet with all the food that gets thrown on the floor with the kids, sweeping is just so easy right not.  Know that would be a nice addition though.

More pictures of burlap blinds if you are wondering what I am talking about-

Photo compliments of http://brookegiannetti.typepad.com/velvet_and_linen/childrens-study/

This one is cute, but think it might be hard to come by printed burlap for all the windows.

Photo compliments of http://allaboutvignettes.blogspot.com/2011/02/burlap-sacks.html

That's the plan for now.  Hopefully we will have some things to mark off the list and share with you soon.
If I am up to it I might share photos of baby girl's 1st birthday later in the week!!  Here's a peek (pretty much sums up the cake eating part, mouth constantly stuffed)-

Memories... sigh-

Kind Of A Big Deal

I don't expect everyone to get as excited about this as me but......  one room's windows (our dinning room) have all been framed in!!  That means no exposed drywall around any windows in one room.  This is the first room in the house to achieve this status.

They still need to be painted like the one on the right.  Jonathan also made the stool and apron (the two most bottom pieces) different on the newer frames.  It's only slightly different so it is hard to see in the picture.

It has been a busy month at work for Jonathan but he has made time each evening to work on it-

Finishing these two windows has taken some time just due to normal daily business (mostly summer travels, yard work and starting a farm.... wait do we have kids?).  Here is Matthew helping last February with some progress (guess Jonathan prefers his gray sweat pants when working on trim)-

He likes his brad nailer.... makes the job soooo easy-

Did you notice we finally have something else hung on the wall (between the two newly framed windows)?  This was hung in celebration of hanging something else (I am serious).  This was our first piece of art purchased from a local pastel artist Kelly Milukas called Blue Barn-

It was hung in celebration of finally getting our second art piece and hanging it.  We bought this giclee of hers last weekend during the South Coast Artist Tour called Lavender Fields.

I like that you can see it from down the hall-

It helps balance out the dominant shelves-

I want to end with a honesty moment.  Before I straightened up the living room for the picture, this is the damage that my 11 month old had unleased on the room.

Tidiness is not her thing, but she does like a clean window-