Not much of a holiday weekend for us!

I'm ready to go back to WORK!!  We decided to leave Chili at the rent house today to rest . . . he's kind of annoying under you feet all the time, and then the ride to and from he gets WAY too excited. 

So, we went straight to the house today and took some quick measurements, and then went to Lowe's for another BIG purchase.  3 doors (bedroom, master bath, and entry closet), 96 feet of baseboards, 96 feet of crown molding (hopefully this trim will be enough for the master and entry way, with some to spare).  Door hardware, hinges, plug cover plates, switch plates (all for master and entry way), 4 more gallons of wall paint for the hobby room and guest bedroom, new AC vents for master and entry, entry way light, door hinge template jig, and a couple other miscellaneous things.  Here's the truck all loaded down when we got back to the house.

So, while Robert tackled the painting, I thought I'd tackle mowing the front yard.  Since I had fertilized, it was growing pretty fast.  I started on the side with the retaining wall next to our neighbors house.  I was mowing along the wall (push mower, not riding), and the wall gave way when I stepped on it. I fell 5 feet on the neighbors concrete ... On my ASS! I scraped up my elbow and leg, but I can't sit down straight. Thank GOD the mower didn't fall with me!! If I feel the same or worse tomorrow, I'm gonna go get checked out to make sure I didn't break my tailbone.  I was VERY freaked out . . . more from the thought that the mower could have fallen with me, than the pain of falling.  I had to walk all the way down to the street, and then up the driveway to get inside.

Soooooo . . . after I calmed down, and realized that I was still alive and that it actually hurt too much to sit down, I figured I might as well finish mowing (I had just started with this happened).  I pushed towards the wall instead of along the wall . . . and will from now on!!

I asked Robert if we could just tack up the crown molding, and lay the baseboards against the wall to see what they look like.  LOVE!!

Here's the painting Robert worked on today . . . he still needs to cut in the top and bottom.

 

 Robert wanted me to take a picture of the stove top and cord that aren't working to see if we can figure out how to fix them . . . 

 End of the stove top cord.

 Underneath the stovetop.

 So after the traumatic day, and us looking REALLY crappy . . . we said "who cares" and stopped at Taco Cabana for nachos and a DRINK!!!  Now I need a pain pill . . . 

Let the painting marathon begin

We painted a LOT today . . . we painted the entry way, the master bedroom, and then used up the left over paint anywhere we could.  This picture below is actually the last of the painting Robert did before we left for the evening.

Painted the bulk of the kitchen walls, even though we still need to take down all the popcorn ceiling, re-texture and paint the ceiling.

 I draped all the kitchen cabinets with plastic in preparation for the ceiling take-down.

Robert prepped the entry way with miles of blue tape, and I painted it.  Still need to paint the trim, put up crown molding, and maybe add some bigger base boards.  Robert also painted the living room walls, but we still have to cut in the edges.  Man, I hope these floors come clean . . .

Another shot of the living room . . .

And another.  We need to take out the middle look through.  I tried to break thru it on the other side today, but they put some 2x4's in there.

Robert's going to take a shower before we leave.  Bedroom is all painted.  Just needs new carpet, crown molding, trim painted, new doors, and new base boards.  

Another shot of the bedroom.
Here's another couple of shots of the painted entry way.  Almost can't see the yellow anymore!!  YIPPEEE

And here's the flag I got for the front, just in time for Memorial Day!!

Getting in the grove

So much so, that I keep forgetting to take pictures.  We both left work at 3:00 on Friday and worked till dark.  Saturday, we got up and went to Lowe's first thing in the morning, then came back and got Chili and worked till dark again.

Friday, Robert started painting the bedroom ceiling.  It looks so much better painted!  He went thru a whole gallon of ceiling paint, and didn't even cover the whole ceiling.

He also textured the other ceilings in the bedrooms, entry way and hallway.  I was the "gopher" and cleaned up trash and other messes.  I also unloaded all the stuff from my car, and put it away . . . and helped Robert clean up the texture hopper and paint tools.

Saturday, we went to Lowe's and spent my entire paycheck (just kidding, but it was close!).  We got a 5 gallon bucket of ceiling paint, a 5 gallon bucket of wall paint, and 1 gallon of trim paint.  (We'll get $45 back in rebates on the paint)  We also got a bunch of random painting tools . . . trim brush, drop cloths, sanding blocks, blue tape, masking paper, and extra paint rollers.  I got some cleaning supplies for the kitchen, a flag for the front porch, and returned those under cabinet lights.

The BIG ticket item was this . . .
 
Robert  decided that he needed a airless paint sprayer.  He said painting would go MUCH faster, and I wouldn't have to paint!!  It was bigger and more expensive that I thought we were going to get, but I think we'll get our moneys worth, since we need to paint the outside of the house too.  He's already painted all of the ceilings that he re-textured.  (Master bedroom, guest bedroom, hobby room, hallway and entryway)

I spent the whole day on the kitchen.  I cleaned the cabinets, ripped out the old cabinet liners, and re-lined all the drawers and cabinets.  It took me quite a while to get in the "groove" on that damn cabinet liner.  arrgghhhhh  It's such a pain!  In the end, went thru 4 rolls of this adhesive liner for all the cabinet shelves . .


 Two rolls of this in half some of the drawers . .


And one roll of this in the rest of the drawers . .

Spent ALL day in the kitchen, cleaning them with Murphy's oil and lining those damn cabinets!  Tried to line the back side of the upper cabinets with the first paper, but it kept falling down . . . so ended up ripping it all out.  Probably wasted a whole roll of that paper. 

So, now I'm waiting for Robert to wake up (wish I could sleep in later than 6am on the weekends!!) . . . and then it's back to Lowe's for more paint, and another full day of work. 

Calm before the storm

Robert had his first fill for his lap band today, and I am DOG tired . . . so we are taking the day off.  It's a 3 day weekend, so starting tomorrow at 5, we'll probably be going non-stop.

I went to Lowe's today, and bought a couple of things . . .

a light for above the kitchen sink, and lights for under the cabinet (after reading the bad reviews on them though, I think I'll be returning the under cabinet lights)


I also bought a gallon of ceiling paint, some plastic drop cloths (for the kitchen cabinets, I think we'll be taking the popcorn ceiling down in there this weekend), some grass seed for the bare spots, and a couple of hose hangers (the plastic one for the garage faucet, and the metal one for the front patio . . the ugly green metal one by the garage now will be moved to the other side of the back yard.)

 

So, my car is all packed up and ready (got all the yard stuff that I already had in there, and ready to go).

Lights, Ceilings, and Birds

Robert went to shoot the texture on the ceiling in the master bedroom today after work.  I helped him a little, and took picture of the lights in the kitchen so I could go SHOPPING!

Here's the lights under the cabinets.  I'm missing a couple of the "bulbs", so I need to figure out what kind they are and get some more.

 Here's another shot of under the cabinets . . .

 

 This is the light in the dining area.  I think it's too long for above the bar, so it's probably going on craigslist, unless I can find another place for it.  It's one of the few fixtures in the house I actually LIKE, it's just not large enough.

 

 Here's a close up of the lights over the bar.  It still has a sticker that says "Made in Italy".  I'm sure they are nice, just not our style.  These WILL be going on craigslist. 

Here's a close up of the track lighting in the kitchen.  I could tell from the ceiling that they used to have a florescent lighting fixture that ran length wise between the vent and the smoke detector.

Here's the light over the sink.  I think we need a short pendant light here.  (and we need to get rid of the scallop trim)

I think if we just pull of the scallop trim, it will be pretty easy to put some crown molding between the doors and the sofit.

The previous owners retro-fitted the microwave in this cabinet space, and put baskets up above in this opening.  I think I'll probably put some greenery or something.  Or . . . I might have to make something decorative.

Here's the stove top that doesn't work.  It looks like the "plug" needs to be hard wired, because it's not connected to anything underneath the cabinet.

Hooked up my new tractor sprinkler in the backyard.  It works great!

  

 Robert started shooting the texture on the master bedroom ceiling today.  It looked pretty tough to do, and the box of texture that he bought didn't cover the whole ceiling.  He'll have to finish it, and go back over some of the spots this weekend.

 

 After he shoots it on, he lets it dry for a couple of minutes, then you have to knock it down with this tool . . . and then it looks like the texture of an orange peel.

 

The ceiling in the living room will have to be hired out . . . no way Robert can do 16 foot high ceilings.

I don't know what I'm going to do with all this cabinet space!!  In my current kitchen, I have 7 small drawers, 3 upper cabinets, and 4 lower cabinets  . . . I have like 4 times as much in this kitchen!

 

Before I left, I just sat on the back deck watching the birds in the backyard.  It's so peaceful back there . . . I could sit there for hours.

Kitchen Lighting??

Now that we have electricity, I'm thinking about what we should do with the lighting situation in the kitchen.  This track lighting is NOT going to cut it.  It's not our style (want more of a oil rubbed bronze fixture), and it's SOOOO not bright enough.  I'm used to these ugly florescent fixtures that we have in the kitchen here in Mansfield, because it's SO bright.  It looks like I'm going to have some space issues, because of the AC vent and the smoke detector right next to it?  So, before we mess with getting the popcorn ceiling down . . . we need to figure out the lighting, in case we have to wire and create holes for can lighting (or whatever??)
 

These red fixtures have GOT to go!  And the light over the kitchen table is WAY too small.  I might just move that light over the bar (if it's not too long?)  We need a bigger fixture for the dining area.  I can't remember if there is a light over the sink too?  I'll have to take more pictures tomorrow, and go shopping!

We have electricity!

Yeahhh!! I hadn't even seen some of the rooms with the lights on until now.  It's been turned off every time we went and checked it out. We also have a working air conditioner, and it works great.  Water is on, so now we can take a shower or clean up after a full day of work. 

We both went over after work for a couple of hours.  I cleaned up the dried up plaster on the floors, and Robert sanded and spackled the ceilings.  He'll be re-shooting texture up soon. 

Here's a couple "before" and "during" shots from today . . .


Guest room "before" . . .

Guest room during . . .

was VERY happy to get rid of that wallpaper border!

Hobby room before above . .

 . . and during to the left. 

Living room and entry way before and during . . .

 

The master bathroom before and during - this is one of the rooms that I hadn't really "seen" since we didn't have lights before. 

That's about it for today.  Not sure I'll make it over there tomorrow after work, since it's Robert's birthday . . . and I have to get other stuff done.