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. :)

Dining Room Windows Painted!!

It only took us 2 months (initial post here), but we finally finished painting our dining room windows.  Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike painting.  If I had to make a list of dislikes it would go something like this (in order from somewhat dislike to really dislike):

• general housework
• pulling chewing gum out of hair
• listening to KeSha on the radio
• cleaning dog poo out of shoe bottoms, with tiny crevices (third and forth are close)
• painting
• cleaning up puke

So you see, painting is at the bottom with cleaning up puke.  Sorry to be so gross but wanted to get my point across.

The results make painting worth it I guess.  It has really lightened up the room and even makes it look larger and more crisp.  It also makes our old windows look fresh.

Throwback.... here is the dining room when we bought the house:

And now:

I also finally bought the fabric to make the curtains.  Going for clean, french country-ish style here (not so much Americana or Primitive country, though there is nothing wrong with those).

Burlap mixed with classic, mixed with vintage items is what we like-

I chose a fabric that favors french linen (but I believe this is a poly blend).

Remember, Jonathan cut and put up the trim himself so we don't want to completely cover up his work with curtains.

Thinking a side gather will keep more trim visible than two side panels.  I like relaxed roman shades but the style didn't quite work in here unfortunately.  Going to use a black curtain rod to hang them.

Dining rooms are important.  Alot of important family things happen here.  Hoping it stays that way.

Its A Nice Day For Some... White Painting...

It's a nice day to... start again!
80's music fans should be proud of me.  What better way to begin a post about painting stuff white than to begin it with Billy Idol (<insert> sarcasm).

The song would be in my head right now, but I am distracted by little man beating on a mixing bowl drum for no related reason.
I have been house bound and being the extrovert that I am it gets somewhat trying.  Getting small house projects complete have proven to be pick-me-ups.  Finding time for those projects is another issue... but you make time for things you find important (and my sanity is somewhat important :).
So the other day I pulled out the painting supplies in attempt to finish the dining room trim.  I got ONE WHOLE WINDOW painted during the kid's rest time.  There was prep work such as sanding and taping that added time, but the completed project lifted my spirits.
Here is the before dining room, previous black painted frames and unfinished trim.  And yes, I did put baby in the (bottom) corner (I'm on an 80's popular quotes roll today).

And my completed window, woohoo-

It's hard to tell but the wall color IS different from the trim color.  Wall color is slightly gray.

Jonathan's trim looks even lovelier all cleaned up-

Post of him putting up the trim click HERE  (picture at the end of this one is still a favorite) and HERE.

If you remember, we decided to go with all white now because the black wasn't working for multiple reasons.  Mainly because our windows are old, thick framed, unattractive, and small in size and it drew too much attention to them.  Second it was making picking out curtains that we both agree on almost impossible.
I would love to get curtains up sometime soon.  That would be like receiving a dose of happy juices.

A few things that Jonathan completed recently.

Getting the TV wires alittle more under control-

Cut holes in the wall and installed these plastic thingys-

Snaking the chaos in through the wall-

And wallah-

This area obviously needs alot more work, but it is a start-

Little man doing work during the process-

And weather stripping and painting more stuff white.  We actually discussed and looked into new exterior doors.  More happy juices flowing.
Before grossness which was allowing cold air to blow through-

After-

Little lady helping with this one.  It was a cold day to be working with an open door-

Small progress here and there.
Eating the elephant piece by piece.

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.