Two Weeks!!

We met with Suzanne again a couple of days ago.  We have a strategy for getting the house on the market.  We know what we have left to accomplish and we're ready for the next step.

Ron and I will be on vacation beginning July 24.  Suzanne has scheduled the photographer for the 25th.  The walk through will be on the 26th.  The house will be listed on the 27th.  Then we'll wait for offers to come pouring in!!

LET'S GET 'ER DONE!!!

we're keeping our fingers crossed :-))

Busy As Beavers

We're not beavers of course and we have other obligations, but we've been putting a lot of time into this house.  It's hard to believe we've been at it since February.  We've been able to complete some projects in a day while others take weeks.  Yippee, our list is getting shorter :-)

When I last updated the blog (more than a month ago...) I showed you the finished laundry room, finished family room and ugly carpets going bye, bye.  Since then the hallway flooring and the front room flooring is completed.  The baseboards in the hallway were repainted and are installed.  We cut new baseboards for the front room, painted them and they're also installed.  The ugly bathroom has been transformed with the addition of a granite counter top and a new oak cabinet facade.  The master bedroom is painted and new baseboards installed there too.  The master bath has been painted as well.  Most of the major painting is done.  We still have a couple of doors to paint.

Yes, it's still a construction zone and an OCD nightmare in here, but we're finally in the homestretch!  What remains to do inside the house is minimal.  The yards and the garage need some work but compared to the house, it'll be a cinch :-)

Here's some before and after shots for those wondering...

the hallway leading to the bedrooms

it's great that we Ron can do this work!!

Ta-Da, it looks gorgeous!!!

 

This is our front door and entrance way.  Not too long ago it had wallpaper, two coat racks, a large mirror, a shelf for keys and such and some wall art.  Now the walls are bare and painted the familiar color of Navajo White - it's kind of grown on me actually...  I can't recall how many times we've had to move the TV in order to paint a wall, rip out carpet or install flooring. 

This looks 100 times better!!  The nasty old hardwood is gone and replaced with laminate flooring.  The old flooring came up without any issues but the glue left behind was a nightmare for Ron.  It took over four hours of scrapping to come up.  Then I spent another three hours washing off the remover residue from the concrete.



Our front bathroom sink wasn't perfect when we moved into the house.  We didn't bother updating it while the kids lived here and we rarely use it now that they're gone.  But we knew it had to be dealt with prior to selling the house.  We hired someone to apply a new finish to the whole sink/counter top area.  When the day came for him to do the work he began as usual.  After about an hour he informed us that there was no way he could make the necessary repairs.  The cracks were too deep and there was a crack in the drainpipe that couldn't be fixed.  I could feel my heart sink as we realized we had another momentous task of replacing the vanity :-(   

another project we weren't anticipating

We checked out a granite place near our home.  We liked a piece they showed us.  We didn't like the price tag.  It would cost us $350 just for the granite.  It would then need to be cut, polished and installed by another contractor.  Our luck changed tremendously when we got a referral for the granite guy in our business complex.  We should have gone to visit Adrian in the first place.  He had a slab that he GAVE to us!  He charged us a mere $100 to cut, polish and install it!  And he wouldn't take a tip when the work was complete!!  OMG, I wish you all could see it in person.  It's simply drop dead amazing beautiful :-)

WOW!!

The granite, the finally finished oak facade, the new faucet and the concealed hinges really make this a beautiful bathroom.  Thank you Adrian and Ron :-)       

I have one more transformation to show you.  Our master bedroom.  Simple enough but not so easy to accomplish as we've had our huge platform bed and surrounding dresser/mirror in the same place for more years than I can remember.  It's VERY HEAVY too!!  In order to paint behind it we had to move it.  Not an easy task.  But we were successful.

The bed set takes up the entire wall.  But at the same time there's no need for a dresser since we each have seven drawers, a small under-bed cubbie and a large cabinet.  In order to move it away from the wall we put some 1/4" plastic down on the floor and Ron was able to lift it just enough for me to slip it underneath the monster.   With it away from the wall, we're getting to know how it will be in a trailer since we have less floor space at the foot of the bed now.

new paint, new baseboards and new curtains

 
The bed set still needs to go back against the wall.  Eventually.  Today's job is to make sure the front door gets back on prior to us having to go back to work tomorrow!

 


But in the meantime, I'll take a few quiet moments to myself to enjoy some pages of my latest book while milk boils in the IP prior to becoming yogurt. 




     

Has It Really Been 26 Years!?

 We moved into this house on Memorial Day weekend 26 years ago.  It was a relatively short move from San Jose, CA to Sacramento, CA.  The drive is just about two hours in either direction.

lots and lots of memories in this old house

We remember it vividly as the weather wasn't cooperative at all!  You see, California isn't as sunny as you might think and there was a nasty winter storm Memorial Day weekend in 1990.  We were fortunate enough to have a borrowed moving truck.  However, the truck had an open bed so even though we covered it, our stuff was soaked by the time we arrived at the house.  YUCK!  Our mattress took the worst of it.  We did what we could and stood it on 2 x 4's for a few days in the garage while it dried out.

As we spruce up the house getting it ready for sale, I'm flooded with a lifetime of memories.  Most are good, some are sad and some are simply forgotten.

This is the only home our two children have known.  Alex was four and Jessica was two months old when we took the leap of home ownership.

As I write this I'm picturing the family room full of day care necessities.  I was a licensed day care provider for a few years while Jessica was a baby and toddler.  The family room which now houses my computer and a rarely used kitchen table was the main play room.  It had three high chairs, a playpen, shelves full of toys and plenty of floor space for crawling babies and curious toddlers.

The backyard was a great outdoor area for the daycare years as well.  We had tricycles, a battery operated car (Alex was the driver) and plenty of fun water toys for the hot summers.  Now the backyard is an oasis for an adult.  I love to sit out on the terrace reading my kindle and listening to the nearby bird song.

Ron and I remember long nights spent helping one of the kids with their big school projects.  We remember making Halloween costumes for the kids and then getting to walk the neighborhood with them.  We remember sleep over parties with a house full of girls.  We remember having two or three large dogs at the same time and how much fun it was when we played fetch on the front lawn.  We also remember the hardest part-having to say good bye to those same beloved pets.  We remember planting the small tree that now provides shade for the house and back yard.  We remember both kiddos driving away from the house for their first solo driving experience.  I could go on and on...     

I want to put in some photos but how can I choose just a few?!  With so many memories wrapped up in one place I can't pick a favorite.  So many are coming to my mind...

Instead I'll leave you with a few of our makeover in progress.  

laundry room is finished :-)

pulling up the yucky old carpet in the hallway

this was once the day care room...

There's nothing like memories!   

Painting Doors Made Easier

When you have a bunch of doors that need painting, you want to make it as quick and simple as possible, right?

Here's a way to paint two doors at once.  Three of the four sides are easily accessible using this method.

Tools needed:
     One tarp
     Two sturdy sawhorses
     Two lengths of 2" x 4" lumber
     Eight nuts which are all the same size
     Eight pieces of aluminum foil, optional
     

Step One:
     Place the two sawhorses wide enough apart so that the 2" x 4" lumber will cover the span.  If you're using a tarp to protect the floor, place the sawhorses on top of the tarp.

forgot the tarp, good thing I didn't drip :-)

Step Two:
     Position the two doors on the lumber wide enough apart so that you can paint the adjacent side surfaces without difficulty.

Step Three:
  Place one nut on top of a piece of foil.  Slide them together under the edge of the door.  Ron wanted to use the lumber on another project and didn't want paint on it.  You will have enough nuts to put four under each door.  

 wrapping the foil around the wood helps it stays in place better

be sure to leave some of the foil exposed

  
   

see the gap between the lumber and the door?

   

 
Step Four:
  Paint the doors.  Ron likes to roll on the paint and then add brush strokes right away.  It works great!

By using this method, I was able to paint the front and both sides of the closet doors with hardly any effort.  Painting the sides is easier this way because there isn't the possibility of having the door stick to the lumber.

Thanks Ron for teaching me this easy solution to paint doors with minimal effort!

I'm Still Here...

Yep, we're still plugging away at the house.

I've had a bit of withdrawals lately...  My desk is about 4 feet away from the wall so I could paint.  It's been this way for nearly a week.  I didn't want to use the computer because of how awkward it would be.

BUT, I couldn't take it anymore!!  Ron (we each have our own computers) told me Debbie of Down The Road posted a photo on FaceBook of Steve sitting by the campfire in a National Park.  I just HAD to see it!!  I currently have the keyboard (wireless, thankfully) on my lap, I'm sitting katywompus to the screen and typing this without looking at what I'm putting down.  Good thing there's spell check :-) 

I added a comment on Jodee's blog,  On The Road Abode, post of her three year blog-aversary while in this precarious position and thought, hmmm, an interesting memory to keep and share.

So here are photos for memory sake.

cramped is an understatement

I'm glad it won't last!

gotta keep the little guy safe

when will this return to normal?!?!

I would like to say that now that the painting is done in here, the desk will go back against the wall.  Nope.  We're ripping out the carpet and installing a wood laminate floor.  So more days of awkward computer usage are in my future.  Unless I choose to keep it off again...