Living Room Makeover

When I first bought the home, the living room was painted a yellow color. Which was ok, sort of. But there were so many holes in the wall when I removed the nails and screws. And there was a spot that was painted a different yellow.

Since the kitchen was redone, and the living room was right off the kitchen, I figured I might as well keep going.

So on Sunday I gathered two friends and we went to town.

My job was to do the cutting in with the paint. The Shur-line paint edger is a God-send! I want to kick myself for trying to cut in with the paint brush when I was painting my bedroom. This saved so much time and blended in so much nicer with the roller brush.

Kristin was the Roller Queen. Pam took over painting the walls and trim in the little hallway outside the bathroom. You can't see it from the photo, but its the little alcove to the left of the closet door.

It was a long day. Even with three people this was a 4 hour job.

So after a quick walk with the dogs, we went to reward our hard work at Thai Cafe for dinner.  

Color shift

In the midst of all the renovation / moving nonsense, I need just one space where I can close the door and relax. That will be my bedroom.

I took a vacation day to get my room set up. First, paint the trim.

I changed it from a dingy off-white color to a bright white. You can see the drastic difference.

Then I painted the room a lighter color. Even though this photo was taken before I had overhead lights working, you can see the difference.

Any romantic ideas about how nice it will be to paint my entire house went out the window. Painting is a bitch. Mostly because my canvas tarp wasn't large enough to cover the whole floor, so I had to keep sliding it over to the area that I was working on. And that involved moving paint cans, a ladder, various crap. Stepping into flip-flops whenever I stepped on the newly finished floors so as not to get any paint on it. Then checking and wiping off any paint droplets before they dried.

But the result, as I finally laid down on a borrowed air mattress (that did not leak!) was pretty awesome.

Moving Day

I moved my stuff out of my apartment this weekend. After looking at the pictures, there was a lot more stuff than I thought. 

Saturday began with my good friend Jane arriving with her huge SUV to help cart boxes over to the house. If it was in a box or a plastic bin, and we were able to carry it, then we shoved it in her SUV or my car and drove it over. We did two trips. 

Then later in the day, Trosa arrived to take the furniture and anything left over. One hour is all it took for three guys to put stuff in a truck, drive it 20 minutes and unload stuff out of a truck.

By the way, Trosa is great. Wonderful people, professional and courteous. I love them!

The majority of my stuff got crammed in the back bedroom while I still have renovations going on and while I figure out what needs to go where.

Poor Barry is so confused.

Day 19: Kitchen Remodel

I am so close to the end.

I took a vacation day on Tuesday so I can gain some sanity. I was handing over my key to the apartment and still had to clear out the remaining crap. My house was still a shambles and nothing was set up.

The electrician came to finish his piece of the insane remodel puzzle.

Now my lights work and whatever crappy, illegal, hack job wiring that was done in my crawl space was removed and replaced with electrical work that won't set my house on fire. Score one for the electrician.

Today I stopped by to see my countertops being installed!

Day 12: Kitchen Remodel

Did a drive by yesterday and the last of the cabinets pieces are in.

How I feel about it.

The flooring crew kicked out the contractors before they could install the crown molding and kick stops. Getting the floors sanded and finished is the critical element here.