Goodbye 1960's

Do you remember this picture?

I want to draw your attention to the awful, geometric, 3 dimensional, 1960's, red and white trimmed window...found at the front of our house, right next to the front door.  Bart and I have hated that thing since we moved in.

We decided to pull the window out, brick around the old window and install a new window-since we liked the light that it let into the entryway.

Since Bart wasn't feeling adventurous, we decided to hire a mason-his name was Gary and I would recommend him if you ever have any masonry work that needs to be done.

This was actually a fairly easy project, meaning that it didn't have any snags or set backs and came in under budget.  Here again is a picture of the "before",

and now the AFTER!

One room is finished.

From the ceilings to the floors, the casing, base moulding, trim work, and the new electrical plugs as well as the closet and blinds for the window. We have completely remodeled this room.  The icing on the cake though, has to be the Antonina Vella Rimini wallpaper that my mom and I hung this last weekend. I love it! I think it completes that room and has added an extra bit of visual interest.

My mom brought down all of her wallpapering supplies...brushes, paste, glue, rollers-all sorts of things I didn't even know existed.

We measured and cut, pasted and pieced pieces together to try to get the best fit.  We did such a good job and didn't mess anything up, that I still have plenty of wallpaper left.

I had a great time learning how to wallpaper and I like it so much I might try my luck at more wallpapering...if Bart will let me. :) This was well worth the $156.

Visitors

We had visitors come see our house! By visitors, I mean that my parents, an aunt, uncle, cousin and Matt and Joanna were willing to drive 45 minutes from SLC to see our house.

My uncle Reid, aunt Cathy and cousin Christy were down in SLC for a couple day (they are from Kennewick, WA) and were willing to come see the house progress with my parents.  The kitchen is coming along.  Bart tiled the kitchen floor, put up the walnut veneer on the sides of the cabinets and got the laundry closet painted-which hopefully means that we won' need to move the washer and dryer again!!!! My uncle Reid is a plumber, so he a Bart looked over the plumbing and the new tub in the downstairs bathroom and then I went to the BYU bookstore and got a free dinner with my parents :) Thanks again M &D.

18x18 ceramic tile from Contempo called White Sail

Walnut veneer from Macbeard in SLC, sprayed with 4 coats of semigloss lacquer

The Laundry closet painted in Revere Pewter

We decided to hire out the drywall and mudding for the downstairs apartment. Bart truly hates mudding and neither of our back's can handle drywalling the ceiling, so this really has been the best money we have spent. It's great to see the basement being transformed.

The day after my family came down, Matt and Joanna (Bart's sister) stopped by. They were nice enough to let me show them the entire house-room by room. Matt and Joanna are in the process of remodeling their house in Sandy, so they know how we feel-the pain and the admiration.  When Joanna was looking at the kitchen she turned and said, "Wow your kitchen looks even better than the pictures on your blog and the kitchen before looked even worse than the pictures showed". That was the nicest thing that she could have said!

Cutting granite

Just call us garage fabricators!

Ever since we bought our kitchen, the granite cutting and installation has left us wondering what to do and IF we could do this. We got all of the granite from the kitchen but it came out in pieces and the granite for the cook top broke when they disassembled the kitchen.

We didn't really pay any extra for the granite-which made us feel better. But if Bart couldn't get the granite to work with the new layout and cutting it himself, then we would have to pay for new counter tops (and they wouldn't have been granite).

So, last Saturday Bart decided to tackle the granite cutting once and for all.

Incase you are wondering how to fabricate your own granite (the cheaper, non profesional way)
1. Get 3-4 strong men to move the granite pieces onto a platform of 2x4's and plywood.
2. Make a guide for cutting-we used a straight 2x4 and clamps.
3. Buy a DRY DIAMOND blade from Home Depot and get your circular saw ready.
4. Wear eye protection, gloves, a face mask and make sure you have good ventilation-aka a fan to blow out the dust.
5. Cut the granite slowly and with a steady hand. Note: there will be lots of sparking.
6. When you have made your cut, transfer the granite slab to your kitchen, and then cut the other granite pieces to fit.
7. Use liquid nails to attach the granite to the cabinets. Use fiberglass bondo to seam the granite together and make sure you level and then clamp everything in place.
8. Use clear knife grade epoxy to fill your seams.
9. Try to get your professional finished edges on the front where people will see them. Use clear finernail polish over the rough unfinished edges-I promise it works and looks better than I thought (see picture #5 above).

TADA!!!!!! We are one step closer to getting running water and having a kitchen again.

Top 2

I am so glad that you guys like Revere Pewter because it is my favorite. It is warm and light, with the right amount of gray and brown. Our floors are going to be the dark walnut, with a white ceiling and bright white trim.

I also like Ozark Shadows because I wanted to try something bold and daring, totally out of my comfort zone.  We have 12 feet of windows which let in plenty of light, so that's why I'm even debating the top two colors.

As you can see in the photos there is definitely a difference between the 2 paint options. I am planning on painting the entryway, office, living room and possible even the kitchen all in one of these colors.

More choices

We have a few too many projects going on right now, but Bart is insistent that I choose a paint color for the upstairs so that he/we can start painting next week. Bart decided to use 5 days of his vacation time to stay home and work on the house. Even though I know he is superman, I still wonder how much he can really accomplish...

These are my top 6 colors. I painted samples all over the rooms, so I could see the paint in different light.

1. Wood Smoke-Glidden

2. Ozark shadow - Benjamin Moore

3. Harbor Gray- Benjamin Moore

4. Revere Pewter-Benjamin Moore

5. Dolphin Fin- Behr

6. Collingwood- Benjamin Moore

  1.  Wood Smoke-Glidden            4. Revere Pewter- Benjamin Moore
2. Ozark shadow - Benjamin Moore              5. Dolphin Fin- Behr

3. Harbor Gray- Benjamin Moore     6. Collingwood- Benjamin Moore

What do you think? Do you have a favorite gray that I should know about?

Fall drive

We took a drive up the canyon to enjoy the fall scenery and it was a really lovely time.

Too bad autumn has to mean that it's going to get cold. I'm not opposed to snow-it's just the freezing temperatures that come with it.

Happy Haunting

I must admit that since Bart and I have been married we have not been "into" Halloween.  I only buy one bag of candy and as soon as it's gone, we turn the lights out and go to a movie.  I assume that all of this will change once we have our own trick-or-treater but until then we like it status quo. 
That doesn't mean we don't like a good Halloween party with costumes, games, and great food though.

Many thanks to the hostess Lizzabeth (only I can call her that) who made cute invitations, decorated her house and INVITED us.

My mom and I spent hours making our matching Mr. and Mrs. costumes.  The only reason I had costumes was because of her and her expertise. Thanks MOM.

I think we are the best Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head that was ever made.

All of the party animals came in costume and we had lots of fun visiting, laughing, eating and taking pictures.  I am embarrassed that I already forgot some names but I did...

Carlene and hubby as crayon and paper

Michael and Jennifer Fong

 

Meg and Abe Ford

Cassidy and Nate Hansen

Tim and wife

Britta and Christian Weiss

Thanks again to Liz for all the planning and coordinating that she did.  If we get our house done by Christmas EVERYONE is invited to an ugly sweater contest/party.

Happy Halloween to us.



Sneak Peek

I got my wallpaper and I really really like it.  Now some of you maybe saying "Hey, that wasn't one of the wallpaper options" and you are correct.  I had to veto all of my first choices.  The imperial trellis was too expensive, the 3 trellis patterns only came in 20 inch wide rolls and my wall was 27 inches and the 2 Antonina Vella options would have needed to be trimmed and since I'm a novice that sounded too hard. 

I am excited for my mom to come down and help me put up my wallpaper!

We need a facelift

If you remember, I worked for plastic surgeon for a year. Thus, I should be considered an expert in the cosmetic/aesthetic department. With all my experience, I decided that our house needed a facelift. Sorry that I don't have anything else to post about besides the house- I forgot my camera for our trip to Hilton Head, and all we do is house projects...I guess I could blog about the fast food we've been eating this last year.

Bart pullout out all the overgrown phitzers when we first moved in and then we mulched and planted hostas and a Japanese maple.

Last week we decided to tackle the front door and nasty geometric window that terribly dates the house.

The window isn't complete yet but the new front door is great.

We will see what the rest of the weekend brings since it's only Friday night...I used to think the weekend was for dating and fun but Bart disagrees.