Chandelier

A couple months ago we put up a REAL chandelier in the dining room (replacing the spray-painted $15 light I got from the Habitat for Humanity store). I -Holly- hung and wired the chandelier while kids were napping and Colin was at work, hours before the neighborhood home tour. Colin helped by putting on all the pieces of crystal once he was home, overall it was an easy process! Here's a pic from Thanksgiving:

Kids Bathroom Gets Paint

When we bought the house:

And now (sherwin williams dewy):

Boo

After a record summer of rain, we found ourselves with a leak in the roof. One day I noticed the floor was buckling in the corner of our son's room. It had been absorbing moisture for a while but I hadn't seen it because of the curtains.

And literally two days later we had an outbreak of these tiny bugs:

It took a while to figure out what they were, but eventually I identified them... they're called mold/plaster beetles. (Awesome) Meanwhile, we had a mold specialist come in and do a number of moisture readings which led us to remediation. First things first, repair the porch roof that ties into the floor on the second level:

And dehumidifying:

Followed by removal of mold covered materials:

Evidence of the water coming in:

Dry, dry, and dry:

Rebuilding the floor:

We used the leftover heartpine that was milled/installed downstairs:

All of this work happened in July/August right before my son started kindergarten. Nothing like kicking a child out of their room during a big life transition! :-P

Dining Room Gets Paint--with a twist!

This is what the space looked like when we bought the house:

After our initial renovations it looked like this:

Then we started to paint:

Wanting to do something unique, I very carefully selected green walls and a yellow ceiling. 

And then I hated it. So I painted over the green walls because that was the fastest/easiest way to change it. There were times during the day when the green/yellow looked lovely, and other times it looked like a glowing nuclear reaction. I like this much better:

Hallway!

The hallway is painted! This was a lot of work. For real. And now that it's done, I just want to do everything there... aahhhh. Hey hon, let's have dinner in the hall--it's so pretty now. ;)

Technically we still need to add stain to the handrail but that's all, so, I'm posting these pics now and then I'll do an official before and after post once the handrail is stained.

Staircase Work

Improvements

I'm so glad we made a connection with Robb Damman. He's done a great job at fixing things that others did not do so well. So far he has:

-fixed our front door so it closes and seals properly

-repaired the old lock hardware

-installed a new deadbolt

-fixed our pocket door that detached (that was a beast because one side was installed backwards and nearly impossible to release from the track)

-added molding to the bottom of our "floating" mantle (the mantle was not re-installed well so it's a jacked up mess but at least it looks like it touches the floor now)

I'm also having him work on french door options for the arched doorway.

robb installing a single sided deadbolt--that way it wont affect the outside door design

(before molding at the bottom)

after molding *we will address the finish whenever we decide what to do with the whole mantle

Teaser

Something very exciting is happening this week... stay tuned!

Family Room Gets Paint, Before & After

Before: Hall, Bedroom, Nasty Bathroom

After:  No Hall, 1 New Window, New 3 Panel Sliding Door Unit, Old Bath Converted to Screened Porch, Open to Kitchen

(Paint Color is Sherwin Williams Ivoire)