Our DEMO DAY shirts should be pink...

Well, demolition has officially started. There's dust on the keyboard and just about everywhere else. The fans are on but the AC is off. I'm not really sure what's to love about demo day except the excitement about upcoming change and the fun discoveries we make along the way.

While Jeff started the downstairs work I took the boys to the Touch a Truck at Camp Mabry and it was awesome! WJ has such an amazing time, literally taking his pointer finger and lightly touching all the trucks.  Even the regular pickups in the parking lot. It got the boys out of the house and away from the construction. I bought the tickets weeks and weeks ago so it wasn't as strategic as it sounds.

I got home and found THIS! All the carpet and baseboards were removed and the entry tile. What a treat that was!

Eager to do my part, I jumped into the master closet to start removing items that were low and also demo the built in. I've hated the built in since we got here, it's a homemade thing but wasn't really worth the effort to remove.  Until now.

The entire thing just slid right out after a little hammering. Bonus discovery: pink carpet. Yes! The original owners must have LOVED the color pink.

Pink tile throughout the wet areas, pink carpet, pink backsplash in the kitchen, and pinkish laminate countertops in the kitchen.

Change is gonna feel so good!

Dreams and Making Them Come True

Y'all. Let's talk about dreams.

I knew from the moment this house popped up on the MLS listings that it was too small. I wanted something 3+ bedrooms and it only had 2. But the square footage wasn't the biggest concern; I've always wanted a smaller house where my family could occupy the same space and everyone could feel included in everything. The lot was level, had trees, and was large at 2 acres. Most importantly, it was in our price range.

At the time, we were living with my mom in Austin for two years. I had been at my job for a comfortable amount of time and Jeff was working out of San Marcos. The location was convenient for both of us. It was just the two of us so the smallness of the house wasn't too much of a concern. So, we decided to drive out and take a look at the house. Jeff walked the property, came back next to me on the side porch and said, "I'm so relaxed here. This is exactly what I want." Or something to that affect. He was able to convince me that this house was our future home.

And he wasn't wrong (which is my way of saying he was right without actually saying the words...wait...).

Even today, all these years and two kids later, I still love that we are always around each other. Sure, I could stand to have one more bedroom so I could move CP into is own room, or when the occasional guest does come to visit that WJ could still sleep in his own room. And sometimes the constant 3 year old chatter becomes unbearable and I must flee to the great outdoors. But this house is our home.

Jeff and I brought two lives into this world living in this house. WJ had his first steps here and CP is quickly following in his footsteps. Time you need to slow down slightly! We've changed jobs, lost beloved pets, and through it all, these walls have contained and sheltered us. I love this house.

But y'all. This house has it's share of problems and I've been dreaming about solving all of them for 5+ years.

Like these bathroom vanity countertops in both bathrooms. Be sure to notice the hand-painted vanity hardware!

Like the white carpet that discloses all the secret coffee spills, spit-ups, sippy cups failings, and yes, puppy pee. I promise this is a coffee stain. No amount of Resolve or Magic Carpet rentals have been able to successfully remove any stain from this carpet. It's magically terrible.

Like these <begin sarcasm> super classy <end sarcasm> pink 6x6 ceramic tiles in the kitchen and bathrooms. PINK!

But, y'all, I had vision. I knew that with a little elbow grease and investment we could turn this house into a gem. I pinned on Pinterest. I ripped pages out of Magazines. I strolled through the aisles at Home Depot and Lowes looking at faucets, vanities, vessel sinks, paint samples, stainless steel appliances and flooring. I lived in a beautiful home filled with beautiful finishes in my mind.

This weekend we are beginning the implementation of the majority of those dreams. We're ripping out the carpet and super cool tile to replace with different tile and wood(ish) floors. We'll be throwing out the 1" baseboards and the formica counters in the kitchen and bathrooms. We'll remove the weird amalgamation of 1994 "country" decor and bring it into a style that suits today.

No longer will I see seashells in the morning but glorious white farmhouse sinks and upgraded traditional faucets.

We've ordered parts (and more parts), materials, and a dumpster.

Y'all my dreams are starting to become a reality and I can't wait to share them with you. I'll invite you over now, I promise.

Spring Means Rebirth

Wow. I guess it's been awhile since I last posted an update!  So much as changed in the past few years.

• The major change, we had our first child, WJ, and are expecting a second in August. Hopefully I can keep this blog updated more often - but hey, I'm not promising anything!
• I've changed jobs and now work from home - which is amazing. I have wonderful co-workers and share my day to day space with the dogs.

Less intense updates on the house include "finishing" the potting shed, added flower and herb beds around it, we laid down a stone patio to the side of the shed, added two more raised veggie beds, made an office out of the unused loft space, and finally painted the big stair wall. Of course we made the second bedroom into WJ's room. 

Our current projects for this year include a white picket fence around the garden area and possibly building a second building in the back for my office since the new baby will take over the loft. I guess that's an ongoing conversation but we did print out plans and checked on building permits. 

Personal Vegetable Aisle!

I've been having a lot of fun recently growing seeds in those seed starting green houses and have finally gotten around to planting them in the beds! I've separated the plants by type (tomatoes/peppers in one bed) and vine like plants in the other.  We designated the taller bed for the vine-like items in the hopes that it will help contain them.

This past weekend was our 5 year anniversary!  My gift to Jeff was a set of golf clubs.  His gift to me...manual labor.  I was very pleased and immediately put him to work on installing a drip irrigation system for the beds.  I'm very happy with the results and so are the plants.  I can already see them smiling and growing bigger.

 

In a previous post I talked about the Topsy Turvy's we swiped when the neighbor abandoned his home.  Here's a little preview of their progress:

 

We have our first tomato growing...

 

And there are multiple peppers growing!

Can't wait for things to keep growing.  Will post more pictures as our personal vegetable aisle continues producing.

Would You Call that a Twin or a Full?

We finally did it!  We made vegetable beds. 

Two weekends ago, Jeff and I went to Home Depot and bought more lumber.  Yes...more lumber.  We did get to break in the new truck to haul it all home, but more lumber.

We planned the beds out that morning and decided on 2 - 4'x8' beds spaced 4' apart (for carts to get through).  The lumber is treated so they *should* last a few years without having to rebuild.  There is one bed that is 10" tall and the other is 20" to contain vine-like plants from spilling into the yard.

<Insert Jeff's pat on the back here>

The neighbor gave us a topsy-turvy which we hung on a shepherd's hook, however, when he left in the middle of the night without saying anything moved out, he left a topsy-turvy (strawberry variety) planted with pepper plants I gave him and another tomato one so I went over and adopted them.  They are so heavy the broken the shepherd's hooks we bought so we replace the cut 4x4 of the big bed with a 5 - 6' piece and hung them on it.  Much sturdier and we're already seeing plant growth!

I've also been busy starting summer seeds (cucumber, squash, watermelon, Lima beans, pumpkins).  The Lima beans grew so fast that they pushed the lid off of the seed starting "greenhouse" in 3 days!  I moved them so they're sitting outside in the shade growing happily.  Unfortunately, the only other thing that grew with it was the cucumbers.  I'll have to restart the squash and watermelon.  I think I'm giving up on the pumpkins.

Next step is to construct the trellis and plant!  I can't wait to see everything grow!  More pictures to come.

Porch, Planks, Paint and Pain

The last time I posted I gave you a teaser of a teal door and crystal doorknob.  Today I'm giving you a way too detailed update on the potting shed.  Since my last post of the cedar wrapped shed with the in-progress porch, we've been working very hard.  For the past three weekends, Jeff drags me out of bed each Saturday and doesn't let me stop until Sunday evening.  I'm tired.  I'm sore.  My shed looks amazing!

Our first task was finding a door for the shed.  I've always wanted a dutch door (door cut in half).  I think this idea started after my first Mr. Ed experience.  Seriously, what kid wouldn't want a door that let their horse hang out?!  So, I found this "really cool" architectural salvage place (online) in north Austin.  So, this "really cool place" turned out to be a "mecca of overpriced hippy stuff with terrible customer service" (slightly revised - direct quote from Jeff).  Hey, it's a family friendly blog and what he actually said wouldn't make sense with all the redacted words.  We did find a door I liked but at $85.00 it wasn't in the budget.

On a last minute whim we decided to go to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore downtown Austin.  We found the perfect door.

I painted it (Mint Majesty by Behr) and Jeff cut it in half.  We had our new backyard neighbor, Frank, helping us that weekend.  That's him holding the lights since this picture was taken at 9:30 Saturday night.

Once the door was finished (read: cut in half but half hung), the guys went to work on the porch.  They completed the roof and topped it off with a beautiful tongue and groove ceiling.

And that was the end of week 2.  A Glamor Shot of the shed at the end of the weekend:

That week we both went to our day jobs and returned home Friday with a plan to finish the shed. Lofty goals.  The next step was to add the Hardie plank siding, paint, add the sofits and trim, paint again, and finally to hang the door.  We got halfway through our list before it was Sunday evening.

Observations regarding Hardie siding:
It's heavy...very heavy.
It's made of concrete.
It hurts when it's dropped on your head.

OUCH!  When we were hanging a piece of siding, it slipped and fell on top of my head.  I cried a little.  I held my hand over my head to apply pressure (in case of extreme bleeding; none BTW) and tried to walk it off by going around the house.  As I walked to the garage a SNAKE slithered in front of me and INTO the garage.  I cried harder.

After this experience, I went inside to take a break.  Don't judge me.  I was in  pain and had just run into a snake.  A SNAKE!  After 45 minutes I went back outside ready to kick some butt.  Only to have a metal tool fall and hit me on the head 15 minutes later.  I went and sat in the hammock for a few minutes after that.

Despite all the bumps and bruises and SNAKES, we made great progress.  Here's the latest picture of the shed. 

What a keen eye you have.  Yes, that's a paint swatch on top of the already painted shed.  I ended up hating the purple/grey color (Dolphin Fin - Behr).  Looks like I'll be repainting the shed this weekend (Paving Stones - Behr).  More pictures to come, I'm sure.

A Tease



Just a little preview of my next blog post.