Getting restless...

So, I think I'm going to take the leap and move on to the next stage of making Live Oak Cottage my dream cottage inside as well. I've 90% decided that I am ready to rip out the kitchen and replace it with one that opens out to the current living room. But the bigger deal is that I think I will knock down the wall between the living room and the guest room and add a half-bath, to make this house a 2/1.5 rathe than a 3/1. Checking out real estate values in the neighborhood, I think this would be a very good decision! I'm getting pretty excited about undertaking this massive project. Details forthcoming.

Small steps in a new year

A new year! I accomplished my goal of redoing my house in advance of my 40th birthday last week, and it felt great. I celebrated by having a huge open house on New Year's Day. I'm not sure how many people came--maybe 35. They spilled out onto the deck, and the French door was wide open! It was a great success. We barely fit in the house, and the event made me wish for that new, open kitchen I'll have some day, as did the singed coffeecake. But for now, the remodeling I've done has really improved my life.

There are two guys out back ripping down my eyesore shed add-on as I write this. Here's what it looked like ten minutes ago.


Voila! My neighbors are going to love me:



Now the house and yard feel even more exposed from the back, and I am no closer to an acceptable decision on how to design my fence. Alas. Here I am sitting on the deck looking down upon the problem area. How to close it off properly?

Big work projects trump house projects

Hi every and anyone who is still checking my blog, and apparently there are a few of you out there. Thanks!

Only two projects remain: a fence and a new front walk. Both have stalled out due to a combination of procrastination, way too much to do at work, and, well, avoidance of spending any more money! Both must happen, though, and when they do, you'll see it here. Till then, push and prod me and maybe I'll get around to both.

Before pictures

On demand, here are some more pictures of the house when I bought it and just before the renovation (not much difference except some cleanup over the two years I was procrastinating...).

1. Curb appeal! February 2006:


2. The front entry. The front walk actually looks better here than it does now; it's basically a big trench full of tree roots. Early 2008:


3. Love the indoor/outdoor access to the backyard. Not. Spring 2008:

Signing off (almost).

I'm almost all done. Tuesday the Kiwis will come by to go over the site, make a list of anything left to do, etc.

I've been painting a lot--not done yet! It's amazing how long it takes. I've been listening to Reading Lolita in Tehran while I paint; so I'm always going to associate my French doors with stories of bombings and Henry James novels in Tehran in the 1980s. My washer/dryer arrive tomorrow & I finally have the name of a reliable fence person.

This morning, I sat on the deck, drank my coffee, and read the paper and couldn't believe how perfect it was. Finally, I have a house that interacts with the outdoors and will allow me to live the way I want. Yay!

Eventually I'll probably mount one final post with photos of the final elements--pantry, front walk, fence, but for now I'm signing off until future notice. Till then, thanks for reading.

--Molly

Pantry in progress...

This weekend I did a ton of work. I painted the pantry, put in its new floor, and did paint touch-up all throughout the interior of the house, repainting most of the kitchen in the process. I bought the washer-dryer and even scouted pantry storage at Ikea. Whew! Here's what the pantry floor looks like, in progress and after. It's fake wood, which I am against in principle, but it was the best option and it will look really great once the trim is painted.

Here's the old floor with the first few strips of new floor. It is waterproof and sticks to itself, rather than to the floor beneath, which seemed to be the best option considering the grossness of my old vinyl. The blue on the vinyl is a leveling compound to keep the embossing from showing through on he new floor. But it was really hard to apply on a 95-degree day with the doors open (I'd rather ventilate than get cancer). It was drying really fast, which created bumps and streaks, so I don't know if it was even worth trying. The back door used to be straight ahead:

It was pretty fun to install actually. I got to use my quilter's cutting pad and be really anal about trimming the pieces to fit. The Kiwis installed baseboard this morning while they were here doing a few final tidbits of work:


Ta da! To give you a sense of the pantry, it's 7 feet across and almost six feet deep. I think I'm going to get a Costco membership, finally.

The end is nigh...

Things are winding up; from now on it's me painting the interior, buying a washer/dryer, installing shelving in the pantry, and hiring a fence company. Oh, and paying the Kiwis one more big huge check. The electricians put in the various fixtures today & the Kiwis put up various other bits of hardware. Here's the porch. Now all it needs is a big potted plant and a bench. Home sweet home!:


OK, wait a minute. I believe it is officially time for a before/after comparison. See the realtor's lock box on the door in the picture below? That's February 2006. Note, too, that directly behind me was a walled-in screen door to the outside: