Month: October 2014
Midevial / Victorian / Eclectic
This is what I call my approach to decorating our new/old house. Definitely Victorian outside, but my husband tends toward the Midevial. We have had a few conflicting words over this and I have lost, at least in his man-cave bonus room. Compromise, that is what I call it.
But with the decorations and vanities and lights, it is definitely Eclectic. I believe that a house is just a structure until you add your personal touches and move in, then it comes alive. Have you ever noticed that when a house sits empty it falls into disrepair quicker? Houses definitely have a feel in them. Such is the little house that we live in now. When we bought it, it was in bad shape on the inside and outside too. But when I stepped inside it felt warm to the heart. I could see past the holes in the walls and the rundown condition into what it was before and could be again. At the time we purchased it, our intent was to fix it up and sell it. Instead we fixed it up on the inside and then moved in and have been living here about 12 years. It is a very comfortable little house, but we were still building our dream house next door. So temporally, our attention was diverted to this house. We are now focused on the Dream Home again and it is getting closer to being finished. So this little gem will go on the market or be rented out.
It still needs a little TLC on the outside and the yards are in need of a sprinkler system and sod.
Back to the Dream House.
Well they have been installing the vinyl planking in the bathrooms and laminate flooring in the kitchen; breakfast nook; and family room. The dining room and entry will also get laminate flooring. The rest will be carpeted after the doors and trim are installed.
The electrician has been tenacious in getting all the light installed. He will be returning when we get the cabinets.
It is really getting exciting. I have to get my trusty little paint brush out and get ready to paint all that trim. I am really excited with how far it has come. We may possibly get it completed just shy of 20 years, so I can be patient for another few months. Now for the pictures. I took most of these tonight.
Light in the upstairs main bath.
The chandelier will look much better when the stair railings are installed. The space is starting to breathe. You see the windows? Well we have 44 of them. Love lots of light.
Well that’s all folks for now. More updates posted this coming weekend.
Annie, pinching the penny’s to stay on budget 🙂
2 Claw-Foot Tubs Done
This is kind of a new thing for me, posting in the middle of the week. I usually save my updates for the weekend, but I was so excited to show you my refurbished claw-foot tubs. I got the recommendation of a company called Mid-Columbia Dura Glaze out of the Tri-Cities, Kennewick WA. It’s important to get referrals when contacting a company to do things like refinishing claw-foot tubs. The referral turned out beautiful as the pictures will show.
A little history about these tubs. When my husband first moved up to Waitsburg WA in 1985 or 86, he bought a little house with a shed on it. Inside that shed there was an old claw-foot tub. Being the hoarder that he is, he couldn’t throw it away. Later when we purchased a different house in 1999 there was this looong claw-foot tub that we removed when we remodeled it. It was a tad bit longer than your traditional tub. Well we decided that we would put these tubs in our dream home, which we had been building for about 4 years at this time. That is exactly what we did.
In about 2000 we had the first floor built and was getting ready to add the second floor. So at this time we took some chains/straps and lifted the tubs up to the second floor with a big bucket truck that we purchased for the sole task of helping us build this two-story dream house. The tubs were lifted onto the second floor where we proceeded to build walls around them.
That was about 14 years ago and yesterday and today they received the tender-loving-care from Mid-Columbia Dura Glaze and were restored to the beauty they used to be.
Now for the before and after of the longer tub:
Now for the after picture:
Now I just need to find the plumbing fittings to go with them. Oh how much fun this is going to be. Thank You Dura Glaze 🙂
Annie, the bathing, uh, beauty….
The Doors and Trim have arrived
On Thursday the doors and trim were delivered for the house. They are being furnished by Pro Build and the doors are called “Santa Fe” They are two panel with groves inside the panels. At first I was going to get the six panel colonial style, but at the last minute pick the Santa Fe for the same price. There will be grooved trim with corner rosettes. They are all pre-primed and ready for the final finish. I imagine they will start to go in sometime this week.
Tomorrow the tub finishers will be here to refinish the claw-foot tubs. I am using a company from the TriCities called Dura Glaze they have come highly recommended. Also the tile setter will be here to work on the shower. Conner’s Mr. Carpet will be handling that job. All a bit overwhelming.
Then this week they will be laying the laminate flooring and also the vinyl planking in the bathrooms. Things will be coming together fast.
Oh, and I did manage to get two more posts finished and set on the front porch. Only 2 more left, but I don’t think the weather is going to let me finish those this year. Also, I may need to shift gears and start painting on some of the interior trim, hopefully before the floors go down. I’m pretty flexible and will do whatever is needed when I can. Unfortunately, my real job will still have to be done so I will have to work on weekends and if I can force myself, I may get some done in the evenings after work. Oh, Lynn doesn’t paint. So his job will be to make sure he receives all the deliveries and keep the mowers running. He put the second starter in one this morning. I don’t do mechanical!!!
Most all of my light fixtures, vanities, tubs and sinks will be ordered from Home Depot. They just delivered the 76″ vanity for the master bedroom. 370 lbs. Now to figure out how to get it in the house.
Everyday is like Christmas at my house.
Annie, the flexible shopping queen 🙂
The Primer is Going on the Sheet Rock
I can hardly believe it. The primer has been put on the sheet rock and it looks so awesome. The contractor convinced me to let them prime and put an off-white finish coat on everything. I can then change it room to room in my own time. That works for me as I was wondering how I was going to do the entry way and that way the electrician and all the fixtures can be installed and they won’t have to wait on me. Because as we all know, I am pretty slow.
Was out of town visiting my youngest son and going to a Wellness Summit on the west side of the state. Got a little quality time with my beautiful grandchildren. Oh, I sure miss spending time with them. Usually get to visit them in the spring and in the fall. Hopefully they can come visit me after the house is finished and maybe we can spend Christmas together.
Back to the house. The sheet-rockers and mudders have been there for the last couple of weeks transforming my dream into a reality. I could not have picked a better contractor. S & K Mountain Construction have been awesome. I would and WILL recommend them every chance I get. They have really done an awesome job for us. Their subcontractors have all been awesome too. What a team.
The flooring, trim, stairway, and doors will be installed soon. Oh, and the cabinets. I’m not sure where we are with the cabinets, but I do know that I need to check on getting the granite top picked out, and I believe I will putting a granite piece under the hydro-tub in the master bath.
Now for some pictures.
My part is still in the works. I painted one of the posts with the top white coat and will mask and paint the colors tomorrow. The other post is waiting to be sanded and primed. We also have to do hang the gates as winter is coming. I really need some strong brawny men to assist in that as I don’t know how Lynn and I are going to manage, but where there is a will, there is a way.
Thanks for reading my blog.
Annie, the optimistic dreamer 🙂
15yearsandcountingdream 