Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Aaaand We're Back!

Well so what if it has been eight months since my last post? It's not like we've been busy or anything...


Logan Paul was born on November 22, 2013. 8 lbs, 3 oz, 19 inches long. He is now 7 months old, and growing like a weed! He is our little goat, eating anything and everything that can fit in his mouth. He has just cut his first tooth too! Dan and I are very proud parents :)

The house work went on hiatus for a few months due to Logan's arrival and a very VERY cold winter. There wasn't much anyone wanted to do, though a major, ongoing project was started sometime in January.


Door, window and floor trim, huzzah!

What an adventure here! Because we took all of the original plaster out of the house and replaced it with drywall, we had some major gaps along the edges of the rooms, where the floorboards and walls were supposed to meet. Not centimeter gaps. Inches. Holes everywhere. When I swept the floor, I used to just sweep the dirt to the edge and dump it into the gap (no judging of my housekeeping skills, please and thankyouverymuch). Your typical piece of baseboard from Lowes would only cover a fraction of the gap, so we had to get creative.

What we did was commission and Amish woodworker to make two separate pieces of baseboard.

One to cover the rather large gaps.

The other goes flush with the wall on top of the other piece.

Dan and Dave have had quite a time trying to get all of the baseboard on downstairs. Because a lot of the floors are warped, and the corners aren't all 90 degree angles, they've had to do some creative finangling to get it on. You really can't tell unless you know where to look. Overall, I am really pleased with how it came out! Most of the door frames and baseboard are complete downstairs. What an improvement! It really gives the house a completed look.

More trim in the dining room.

My mom-in-law took it upon herself to paint a number of rooms in our house over the winter months. After looking at the paint chips we had up on the kitchen and bathroom walls since last October (!), we finally chose colors, and Mom got to painting. 

Our kitchen is a lovely shade of green. It isn't
the color I originally wanted, but the Easter-y
green has grown on me.

Our master bathroom also received a few coats of paint
in a lovely shade of blueish green. We decided to put
wainscoting on the bottom half of the walls because the blue
was a bit overwhelming on the whole wall. The wainscoting 
isn't finished just yet; it needs the trim put on to give it a 
finished look, but that is next weekend's project!

Daniel installed the door trim around both bathroom doors. 
Eventually it will be painted to match the wainscoting.

Other miscellaneous items of note: 

Our bedroom closet finally has a door!
Again, a master job of cut and paste by my
dad-in-law and husband. I am so happy to finally
have the gaping hole on my side of the bed
covered up!



Shelf in our living room. I include this because it is one
of a kind. I discovered it was cheaper to upcycle an old
piece of barn wood than it was to buy a shelf of the dimensions
we wanted. I sanded off the grey paint, used a fine sandpaper
to smooth it out, and finished it off with two coats of polyurethane.
And yes, that is a stuffed Yoda and a LOTR Lego 
set on display #geeklife

Seriously though, how cool is this wood? Old nail holes, 
cracks, knots and wood grain take this from a simple shelf 
to a unique living room piece. I love it! I have plans to 
do the same thing on the opposite living room wall, only
two smaller shelves instead of a large one.



With the advent of warmer weather came the desire to
get some outside work done. My brother Mark, Dan and I
dug up the grass, planted and mulched around the sides of
the house facing the road. We've got boxwood, hydrangea,
holly, mini lilacs and something else I can't remember. It 
definitely improves curb appeal!

This was an interesting project. Before doing any planting, 
Dan and Mark had to dig down two feet around the entire
porch and place wire in the ground to discourage the resident
groundhogs from coming back. Fifteen of them were also 
discouraged by the business end of a gun.

A huge thank you to Mark for doing so much work around
our house this summer. Dan and I wouldn't have much done if 
it had been left to just the two of us!