Small Improvements make me Happy

I can now hang my stems upside  down. A $29 investment, 10 minutes installation time, and et voila. (I love The Container Store.)

On another note, Honey Boo Boo admitted "when I practice, it pays off." If you haven't seen Honey Boo Boo, she's an American girl competing in pageants, who's speech requires subtitles...for her and for the whole family (think  "Toddlers and Tiaras" meets  "moonshiners").

Roof

Although my home inspector said the roof had a few years left, the possibility of a wet winter scared me. So...I love this roof, and also the contractor that I used.

I realize that's a funny picture. The yellow/grey square is the top half of the kitchen window. I put a curtain there.

But you can see the grey and textured roof, and the fascia that I painted grey. I'm painting all the wood around the house grey. Except the front door, that's going to be yellow to match the yellow screen door.

Backyard Update

When we were in Ireland, I woke up one morning with the strongest feeling that my relatives had finished the backyard demo while I was gone. The feeling was so strong, that when we turned from Waring to Galewood at 11:3opm on the night of return, I would have sworn the shed was missing.

I was wrong.

But this weekend, I arranged to get another construction dumpster on site, and Tim and Matt spent hours working, taking the patio wall and the shed down.

Tomorrow, Sunday, they'll return with jackhammers to finish the job.

It's going to be fun landscaping that back yard. Can't wait.

Backyard

Most of the patio is down. Next major project is to finish demolishing the patio wall, take down the brown shed, rototill the hard soil, and start designing how I'm going to plant or not plant.

I also decided that a covered patio will work well with this house.  I've got some ideas.

The Living Room

Some people say I need a bigger TV, but honest, when I swing the brown swivel around, I'm next to an open window, and I'm only about 5 feet from the TV.

And I don't really care that it's small.

And I brought my favorite pieces of furniture here. Not that I left Tim and Danielle with junk, but really... my favorites are here.

See that fancy lamp to the right? That belonged to Toni, who gave it to me. It's her Aunt Marion's lamp, and I'm one of two people who think it's beautiful.

And in the far corner? Those are some of the wooden-shafted golf clubs that my dad collected in the 60s.

If he had to pay more than a quarter at a junk store, he was annoyed.

Toni's Great Idea

Tim and I knocked down part of the wall between the living room and the kitchen.  Brother Matt introduced me to Mitch, who does fabulous finish carpentry work. He also moved an electrical outlet from the floor to a spot right below the new bar.

The result is a space to sit and watch the cook, or pay bills, or fold origami, or sort mail.

The first is the view from the living room, and the 2nd is the view from the kitchen toward the living room.

Oh, and did you notice I have new windows throughout?

Once again, thanks, Toni, for suggesting this! Love it!

Lost and found and some updates

I lost my camera on Tim and Danielle's wedding day. Found it yesterday, and so now I'm happy to post some / many updates.

I've been living happily in the house since August 5, which was also the weekend that Tim and Danielle and Eden moved into 50th Street. I could only bring bedroom furniture over, because I needed to leave the 'downstairs' furniture at 50th, so the 50 or so people who would gather there for the wedding reception ... more seating.

See? someplace to sleep. I've got furniture, and I've hung art on the wall.

Next...
the 60 years of popcorn ceiling has been forever banished with new plaster. If anyone needs a plasterer, I've found a terrific one.

and the kitchen is starting to come together

I hung a few kitchen doors and put the drawers back in. Some of the hardware is in place.Now that it's in the bright kitchen, I realize I have some touch up work.
Next call, flooring. Oh, and I will be painting the kitchen walls a soft yellow called Pineapple Fizz.

I have also decided to sand the original bread board down to fresh wood, put some tung oil on it, and leave it 'au natural'. Not to use it, just to honor it; after all, it's 55 years old.

Almost as old as me.

And the upper cabinets are going to be open. I have to put a 3rd coat of paint, but they look pretty good, don't they?

Windows to be installed on Friday, July 27.

The Patio Comes Down

My little house came with an extra 400 square feet in the form of a "California Room". If you don't know the term, that means an enclosed patio room, like a screen porch only uglier. This particular room had screens, plastic coverings, mismatched glass windows, funny interior wood siding, icckkk... See the 'before' pictures.

Helpful but silent brother Matt hired a friend, Mitch, to help him take it down. I wanted to keep the big beams that supported the ceiling/roof, because they'd be expensive to replace, and I can use them for building a new patio cover. And by "building a new patio cover", I mean asking good brother Matt to build a new patio cover.

In a very short time, Matt, Mitch and son Tim tore down more than half the structure; they will finish this weekend. The backyard will be opened up.

Oh and next step, haul it all off to the dump, along with that funny little shed. Termite's will have to look elsewhere for dinner.

The room coming down is the one that is attached to the house. This view shows the little shed as well.

And this is the room after much of it has been torn down.

It'll be great when it's all done. Honest.

A Sawzall is a Terrific Tool...

...but when you're cutting down a wall, watch out for electric wires.


Tim closed the pocket door and from the kitchen side, kicked it. Came right off the header. That's how we got the demo started.


Then he took the hammer to the plaster wall and whacked away. Plaster walls (not drywall, plaster) are about 1 1/2 inches thick, and the plaster is strengthened with chicken wire. So he pounded and cut and plaster rocks flew off the wall. Luckily, Toni had thought ahead and folded up the old drapes, so we used the drapes to protect the hardwood. Plaster rocks are heavy and sharp and I'm sure, if I'd wanted a distressed oak floor, July 2nd activities would have gotten me one.


After hammering awhile, he took the Sawzall (how does one find a trademark or register symbol on Blogspot?) Like friend Irene Batch, Tim's not afraid to use one, and voila! And we didn't cut the wire, either.

The Beginning

This month, I bought the smallest Allied Gardens house built by Bollenbacher-Kelton in 1957...2 bedroom, 1 bath, total of 850 square feet. I want to improve it to make it my dream house to live in for retirement. It's 1 story on a fairly large lot...exciting for me because I have tons of ideas for both back- and front-yards.

I want to do all this with a sense of green...whatever I can reuse, I will. On Thursday after work, I went to the Habitat for Humanity Restore in Mission Valley, and found some inexpensive knobs and electric covers. I was hoping to find an exterior door (for the kitchen) and lighting,but it's one of those places that must be visited frequently. I hope to find bathroom tile over the next year to ready for a remodel there (the bath is original 1957, pink. Flamingo pink. The sink had a pink skirt).

I closed escrow on Thurday, June 28.

Saturday, June 30, Tim, Toni Chase, and I tore out the (fake) wood paneling from the living room, tore down the valance and 30 year old drapes, took the kitchen cabinet doors and drawers off the frames.

Sunday, July 1, I sanded the cabinet doors and drawers and frames, readying them for priming.

Tim came in the afternoon, tore off the old metal from the original screen door. He'll attach new screening next weekend. I'll sand the wood frame this week after work.

But the most impressive change on Sunday was ...wait for it...WE TORE DOWN HALF A WALL! Yes we did. So...the living room is now open to the kitchen! I'll post pictures as the half wall is framed and finished. Thanks to Toni Chase for the great idea!