A Few of My Favorite Things...

So, now we're at the fun part (technically), and I'm starting to get cold feet! Picking a paint color is a lot of pressure, as I realized one night as we were cleaning up the debris and heading off to Home Depot to make a split decision about the kitchen color and I fell into the turquoise trap... only to find that it was information overload when we got it on a few squares of the wall! So back to the store we went... this time choosing a safe grass green like we had in our old place. If it ain't broke... Now we just have about five more rooms to repaint. Which actually makes me feel less alone because I suddenly realize many of these room choices may (must) have been the produce of similar rushed decisions. Seriously, we're up against mauve and dark brown. It ain't pretty.

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We took a break last weekend to celebrate my dad's birthday, complete with a gorgeously executed caramel cake made by my sister, the would-be pastry chef. While caramel has never been my personal favorite flavor, I was extremely impressed by the presentation of this dessert - kind of a once-molten lava around a candle-post landscape look. And frankly, I don't care that it doesn't represent the four food groups - it's home cooked!

Posted by plehar at 09:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I am longing to eat something other than fast food. For the past month and a half, burritos have been our routine quick meal while working on the kitchen, and I have to hand it to Anna's and the rest of the burrito joints we've hit up for a quick fixin' over the past several weeks - they make an efficient-eating, self-contained, less-mess meal that is a perfect complement to manual labor and limited seating! But I am counting down the days until our stove arrives and I can once again begin posting pictures of home-cooked meals up here! I love you Anna's and all that you do, but there's only so much beans, salsa, and cheese a girl can eat!!

Posted by plehar at 09:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

After we finished sanding, we thought we'd reached the bottom. Then discovered the sander hadn't taken off the last layer of old blackened glue permanently fused to the floorboards. And so we (and I should say, Jason) dragged out the scrapers, once again, and tackled the final frontier. But we were ecstatic with the result. A layer of dark walnut stain, two coats of polyurethane (and corresponding light-headedness) and three days later, the floor was gleaming! White ceilings, clean green walls, and a fresh coat on the floor. Yes, I might just have to live here.

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At last! When times are tough, the tough get a residency at the rental counter at Home Depot! This shot represents the fruits of weeks of labor - this exposed oak floor burried under all that rubble! After what felt like a hundred tiny pulled hand muscles and general malaise from spending too much time at low altitudes, we decided to forego filling all the nail holes, dents, and scratches and opt for the "distressed" look instead. A coat of dark walnut stain and two coats of polyurethane later, and the floor looked like new!

Posted by plehar at 11:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)