Teeny Weeny Update

I broke out the paintbrush for the first time in a while to finish up some kitchen stuff:

Before

After!

And I went over a spot I didn't properly paint before putting up the backsplash:

Before

After!

I plan on capping the top and bottom of that off with just a simple strip of primed wood to make it look more polished. Up next: more painting! Pretty much every door, door trim, window trim, and base moulding in the house desperately needs a coat of white. Slowly but surely, it will get done!

-Megan

I Love my Handyman

So, my aunts are coming to my place for the Christmas holidays, which I'm super stoked about! And bonus - it's giving me a kick in the pants to do a little more on the house before they get here. I called up the handyman company I hired a few months ago to come in and knock out a few more little projects. If you're in the Portland area and need some stuff done, I highly recommend In Your Home!

• Baseboards

I've been staring at this in the kitchen for the past 2+ years:

Ick.

Previously, there was that rubber cove base stuff that you see, for instance, in commercial restrooms. I promptly peeled that stuff up, and once the new floor was down and the walls were painted, I was ready to install some real base moulding! It only took me forever to do it :P But look how pretty it turned out!

Yay!

It gives the kitchen that nice polished feel :) And while we're still in the kitchen...

• Pantry Area

Remember this?

I always forget to take good before pictures - oops!

I had planned originally on knocking out that little wall to the right of the shelving unit, but never got around to it. I had resigned myself to leaving it there and somehow finishing off the edge, but when the handyman arrived, we talked it over and he was able to remove the whole deal (including the little soffit above the closet that used to be there)!

All gone!

Finished up and primed

He was able to cobble together the remainder of the floor tiles I had in the garage to finish off that corner too. Now I need to somehow match the paint and it will be like that closet was never there! I had originally planned to get a larger shelving unit to put there, so now I need to decide if I'll do that, or do something different entirely with the space? Decisions, decisions!

• Bathroom Window

I'm not really surprised at this, but the guy who used to own the house used the absolute wrong material on the bathroom windowsill. As you can see below, he used a pressboard product which expanded when it got wet - who knew that a bathroom window that is on the wall next to a shower would get wet?!?!?

Extreme closeup!

Sorry that's so gross...but I'm short and it was above my sightline! :P Well, not only did the handyman fix the damaged stuff, he even made the window trim prettier! :)

Much better!

Nice and clean and new

Even though I can't really see it, I'm glad it's all fixed up :) Oh! And one more thing - remember that strip of base moulding I installed in the bathroom? Which I royally screwed up with nails? 

This thing? (Wow, I forgot how yellow that paint was...)

Well luckily there was some extra base moulding from the kitchen so he replaced that too, yay!

While there's still some other things I'd like to get done before my aunts come to visit, I think I need to concentrate on painting. Lots and lots of painting. I think I will make a promise to myself to not do any other improvements until I've painted all the doors and base trim throughout the house. Oof, what am I getting myself into!

-Megan

Before & Afters

What! I'm updating this blog!? I know, it's hard to believe it myself, but I got a bee in my bonnet to start doing more updates on the house and I figured I should share with you lovely folks :)

My aunt Chris offered to get me a new front door as my housewarming gift, and now, over 2 years later, I've made good on her contribution :) It makes the HUGEST difference! Of course, with a new front door comes new locks (which I know Chris is excited about more than anything else, haha!) and for continuity's sake, I got new knobs for all the doors in the house!

New door from the exterior!

New door from the interior - such a big difference!

New knobs throughout (this is the bathroom door)

And speaking of the bathroom door - just adjacent to it is the spare bedroom door - which was a solid slab hollow core door, which did not match either the bathroom or "master" bedroom doors. Luckily, when my friends helped me knock down the wall between the kitchen and living room, we saved the door that used to be there. That door *did* match the other doors in the house, so I had the handyman install the saved kitchen door to the spare bedroom! Yay for matching doors!

Old vs. new - much better!

The spot where the kitchen door used to be had a hole in the hardwood flooring where the door frame used to come out of, so I also had that filled with wood and stained to try and match. Please ignore the missing base moulding....that's next on the list!

All patched up!

Another VERY exciting change for me was having the pony wall between the kitchen and living room capped off! You can kind of see in the top left photo the exposed 2x4 that has been there since we knocked down that part of the wall (I forgot to take a good before photo), but you can see the new decorative cap built up and then primed! I really love how it turned out!

Soooo polished looking!

Also, not pictured, but the handyman smoothed over the ceiling directly above the pony wall where we patched it up and put mud and tape on it...in which I did a very bad job and it was so sloppy looking haha. Now it's a smooth transition!

Okay, last but not least - the bars on the windows are GONE! They really made the house look ghetto haha. I think it makes the house seem more friendly and inviting!

No more jail bars!

I feel like I got quite a big chunk of stuff knocked off my to do list! And I really liked the company and in particular the handyman that did all this work. I'm definitely planning on hiring them again!

-Megan

House-aversary!

Well, well, it's been exactly a year since I closed on the house! It really doesn't seem like it's been a full year, but the calendar doesn't lie. There have been many many times when I feel like not a lot has been done, because there is still so much more to do, but then I'll sometimes peruse back into this blog's archives and realize how much has changed!

My top 5 projects from the past year:

1. The Kitchen
When I finally had a fully functioning kitchen, I felt like I had really accomplished a huge project. I was without a range and sink for a full 4 months, so I basically "cooked" with a microwave and used disposable dishes/cutlery whenever possible. I also ate out a ton, which wasn't too good for the wallet or the waistband! I'm still really enjoying the choices I made in regards to materials and specific appliances. I know that there is a bunch still left to do in the kitchen, but I'm most likely going to tackle other areas first. I still need to install a shelf on the sink side, install baseboard trim all around the room, replace the light above the sink, replace the window blinds, replace the windows themselves, and somehow close off the area next to the pantry which now (temporarily?) houses the cat litter box. Whew, that's a LOT! Maybe I'll have half that accomplished by next year...?

2. The Bathroom
I think living without a toilet for a full week (you don't wanna know how I did it...) really makes me appreciate how far my bathroom has come this past year! The paint color is probably the most noticeable change (from pee yellow - ceilings included! - to a calming grey), but having an unsoiled toilet, a sink that's not only pretty but actually attached to the wall (!!), and the removal of the black moldy caulk, really complete the image :) Again, still a LOT to do until I feel like the bathroom will be complete...replacing the plastic tub surround with tile, fixing the window frame, and installing a fan are the big ones. But I'd also like to replace the shower fixtures, the medicine cabinet, and the light above it, and replace that one strip of base trim that I royally screwed up with nails!

3. The Garage
Clearing the creepy "bonus room" out of the garage was a huge deal, and one I'm glad I got out of the way early on. I was willing to let this go for a while because I felt a lot of other projects were more pressing, but my friend Todd offered to knock down the room for me one day, and I'm so happy I took him up on that! Then, when I rented the drop box and a bunch of other friends came over to help clear out all the crap, I had a clean slate to work with. Admittedly, it looks like a typical garage full of "stuff" right now, but without that space (and the cool storage units from my grandma) the house would still be full of boxes, and I would still be doing laundry with barely any room to move. I have a ton of stuff in there that's slated for a yard sale, or donation, or recycling, so when I have time I'll sort that all out and the garage will be nice and roomy again!

4. The Floors
The very first project I did when I got the keys to the house was ripping up the carpet and refinishing the hardwood floors underneath. I did the refinishing myself, which accounts for the not-so-professional look to it, but whatever, I saved a good $1,500 by doing it that way! I've always been a fan of hardwood, and it immediately made the house look less "cheap". I also replaced the bathroom floor (oy, that was a nightmare) with vinyl tile...which I'll definitely want to redo one day. It didn't turn out quite that great, but again, super cheap! Like, $20 cheap. Woohoo! The vinyl tile I installed in the kitchen was another story...these tiles were more expensive, but sturdier, groutable (which I think was key to making it look like a nice floor), and because the tiles were rectangular instead of square, I think it gave it a more high end look. Still cheap though (compared to stone, wood, ceramic tile, etc)!

5. Paint
You all have heard me talk about it a bunch already, but every single interior surface of the house was covered in a grimy yellowish-white color when I first got the keys. Well, since then, I've primed pretty much everything, and have now painted most of the walls! It looks SO SO much better! It definitely changes the entire feel of the house and makes it feel much more welcoming. I don't know if I've chosen all of the right colors, but the cool thing is that painting is one of the cheapest (and kinda easiest) things you can do to change a room. I still need to paint the hallway and the spare bedroom (for which I have both cans of paint...just gotta get to it!), and I do need to someday paint all of the door and base trims around the entire house.

Now that I've compiled all of the big stuff in a list...wow! I guess I have done a lot over the past year! And by "I", I mean "my friends and I" because seriously, how in the hell could I have done all of this on my own?? I would probably still be sitting in a room with yellowed walls and dingy carpet if I hadn't had the help, encouragement, and support (physical and mental...and monetary!) from my friends and family. There are still times when I think I'm crazy for taking this on, but over the past year I've also had a lot of moments where I feel like I made a great investment and I get excited about the future.

And speaking of the future...here are the projects I hope to accomplish in the coming year (or two...)!
- Backyard - this one's a doozy
- Exterior paint - also of doozy caliber
- Roof - I think you know what I am going to say here

Some pictures for fun!

The house last year

This morning! Please ignore the Christmas light clips still
on the gutters...the lawn looks a lot better though!

Remember that little front yard project from back in March?

Blooms!! Lots of weeds also...but look at the pretty flowers!

Until next time!

-Megan

I'm Alive!

Wow you guys...it's been over a month since I've updated this bad boy! I blame it on vacation, settling into the new job, and well, general laziness :P I have done a thing or two to the place though, check it out!

• Backsplash
  As promised, I'm finally going to reveal my super secret backsplash! It's an unconventional material for a backsplash. Can you guess what it is?

Much better than before!

Colorized!

Color up close

• Towel Bar
  I finally put up another towel bar in the bathroom...this one's for hand towels (oooh fancy!)

Oy what a mess!

Finito!

• Paint
  I painted the living room! I squeezed 2 coats out of one gallon of paint (it's a fairly big room!). It looks a lot like the bathroom color in these pictures...but it's actually more of a brown grey. I'm happy with it! I chose from the same color family as the kitchen, so they bounce off each other well.

Before...

After!

Other corner of the room

• Backyard
  I was a bad homeowner and hadn't touched the backyard since....last summer :-/ Needless to say, it was very literally a jungle out there. I honestly don't know how I would have been able to tackle it myself (didn't have all the right tools for one thing), and after talking with one of my new coworkers, I decided to hire her (very reasonable!) gardener for a one time clear-out. It was SO SO worth it!

I mean, literally, the grass was 4 feet tall...

Now the grass looks like crap, but at least I can walk around out there!

I really enjoyed my vacation to see my dad and family on the east coast, as well as spending the weekend in Chicago on the way back visiting my friend Chris. My new job is going really well so far! All of the people are cool, and most importantly, it's NOT my old job :P

I have a busy month coming up - Wendy's bachelorette party, the Tough Mudder, Sarah's birthday, beer fest volunteering...and mid-July Wendy & Adam are gettin' hitched! I don't know how much time I'll have to devote to the house but you all will be the first to know about any more updates! :)

-Megan

The Evolution of a Pantry

So way back last fall when I was installing the kitchen floor, I didn't complete the part where the pantry was going to go. I had grand ideas that I was going to knock out the wall that made the little broom closet separate from where the refrigerator used to go, therefore making a big, luxurious pantry. Well, after crunching the numbers and figuring out how annoying/difficult/expensive it would be to knock out that little wall, I decided just to keep it (for the foreseeable future). My friends had already helped me demo the door to the broom closet, so now it's just an open icky thing that I keep the litter box in for now...gross, I know!

Annnnnyways, I ordered some shelving, and over this past week I finally finished that little part of the floor and set up my new pantry!

Unfinished pantry floor

Tiles with spacers

Grouted!

So now that the flooring was finished, I was able to set up the shelving and semi-organize my pantry goods. Below, you will see what I lived with for an embarrassing amount of time...

I'm not proud of this...

Perfect fit!

It won't stay this organized for long...I can promise that!

So there you have it! Also, not sure if you can tell in these washed out pictures, but the pantry area is painted a creamy off white/sandy color for a bit of contrast from the grey/blue of the rest of the kitchen. It looks much cooler in person, I promise :) Off to the right, you can see the "broom closet" which I will have to figure out what to do with. Short of hiring someone to come re-build a door onto it, I'm thinking a pretty curtain to introduce pattern to the space, which could look really cool if I do it right!

I know I'm in dire need of base trim...but I think I'll tackle the backsplash first (yes, that's right, I still haven't gotten to it...). Sometimes I feel panicked that I'm not completing these projects fast enough, but then I'll go back and look at my archives and see that wow, I really have done a lot! I can also thank my friends for helping me notice that :)

-Megan

Painted Kitchen?!

Here's a sneak peek at the painted kitchen!

Oooooh! Aaaaaah!

Slightly wet paint and only one coat. It's a blue-ish grey, and I painted the little alcove where the pantry will go a creamy yellow/white color (not pictured, obviously!) The great and powerful Wendy helped with this paint job as well, although I think I'm on my own for coat #2 :) I will have to steal Wendy again so she can take awesome pictures once it's all done! I'm not having the easiest time locating the backsplash I want to use (although I haven't been looking too incredibly hard yet) but hopefully that will be done soon too!

-Megan

A Productive President's Day

I had the day off yesterday, woo hoo! I conned Wendy and Adam into coming over so they could help me with the house :) Wendy and I tackled the priming of the kitchen walls and ceiling:

Oooo la la! Fancy pants indeed!

Before

After!

It might be hard to tell, but all of the walls and the ceiling were essentially the color of the blinds that you see in the after picture...that same nasty yellowish-white that the entire house was when I started with it! The backsplash will cover the part that wasn't primed. Now the question is...which color(s) will I go with for the walls?? I think I'll stick with some shade of white for the ceiling though.

While we were in the kitchen, Adam offered to rip out all of the blackberry bushes in the back yard! For some reason I don't have a before picture...what is wrong with me?? Well, imagine if you will, tall dense blackberry bushes covering the entire back fence area. Here's how it looked after Adam had his way with it:

Die blackberries! Die!

I mean seriously, it's a huge difference. The yard looks so much bigger now too! I'll still need to get rid of those other piles of yard waste, and then who knows? Maybe I'll have the initiative to actually plant stuff for this coming summer!

And now for the negative part...my furnace started blowing cold air last weekend. I tried what I could to fix it on my own (replaced the filter, re-set it based on the instructions on the inside panel) but resigned myself to  calling in a professional. It turns out it was the circuit board failing, and it won't be cheap :( But I need heat, right? Boo! Houses are expensive!

Well, I don't have too busy of a weekend coming up. If I can decide on a wall color for the kitchen and/or living room this week then I'll hopefully be able to check that off my list by the end of February!

-Megan

Sorta-Kinda Productive Weekend

So I did something. Which is more than nothing. But not nearly as much as I should have. And the things that I did were things I should have done a long time ago!

• I finally put the sealant on my butcherblock countertops. This will prevent water stains and it makes the wood look a bit richer. All in all, I put 4 coats on, with an average of 3 hours dry time between each coat.
  

I couldn't find a decent before picture...tsk tsk

• I finally attached the metal "toe-kick" thing on my dishwasher. The guy who installed it said I should get this plastic thing to separate the wires (??? I really don't know) and after many failed attempts of trying to find what he was talking about and also almost losing a blueberry under the exposed part, I figured I'd finally just attach the darn thing.
• I finally took my Christmas lights down from the house exterior. I couldn't quite reach all the gutter clips though so it still looks a bit ghetto.

I think the biggest reason I'm avoiding priming the kitchen walls is because it will be such an ordeal! I won't be able to just start painting. I'll have to wipe down the walls first, cover everything in drop cloths, tape off certain areas, and move the refrigerator and THEN I can start painting. Excuses, I know, but valid excuses! Maybe this Sunday? Hopefully this Sunday!

-Megan

Long Weekend Ahead!

Can you see it?

Eh?

Can you see the frost on my terribly un-mowed lawn? There was some on the roof too. I'm excited for the day when an inch or two blankets the house...it will look so cozy! Is there anything I need to know about snow and houses?

Anyways, I have Monday off for MLK JR day and I'm taking votes on what I should do:

• Organize the garage
• Prime the kitchen walls
• Sleep in and watch TV

Annnnd go!

-Megan

Running Water!!

Yesterday I had a plumber come in (recommended by my friend John from the gym!) and he pretty much wrapped up all the loose ends and now I feel like I have a fully functioning house! He installed the kitchen sink, faucet, and dishwasher, and also installed the bathroom sink and faucet, and switched out the shower knob...which opened up a whole new can of worms *sigh* But! The important thing is I can COOK! And wash those dishes after I cook! And I don't have to go into the garage to wash my hands after I do my business! :)

Sink, faucet, & dishwasher

Other side of the kitchen with the fridge in its rightful place

Spice drawer!!

And now for the bathroom sink:

Yippeee!

I didn't really have any groceries at home so I haven't had a chance to break the kitchen in yet, but tonight I will make my very first home-cooked meal! I also haven't tried running the dishwasher yet...I need to read the manual! I've only ever lived with a dishwasher once for less than a year so I'm not entirely sure how they work :P I just know that it will make my life easier!

Okay, up ahead: prime, paint, backsplash and open shelving for the kitchen. I also think I'm going to re-paint my bedroom soon...lately it just seems too dark and heavy.

-Megan

P.S. Thanks to Wendy for taking the photos!