THE LIST, rev. 30

Really, there may have been more, I just stopped counting at 30. I can be completely AR at times, just ask R how many graph pads I go through a month. This particular revision is what I call the "Things to do BEFORE Christmas" list. As in things that will keep me from mortification when seasonal guests and visitors start to descend on me during the holiday season. Also some practical things to lower my energy bills, keep me from burning down the house, and give me much needed privacy from the neighbors' oh-so-close windows.

The List

1. Plant front yard roses/bulbs/perennials/trees, mulch and cover with burlap for winter protection
2. Throw out any debris from demo/yardwork, clean out garage so car will actually fit inside
3. Weatherstrip front door where gapped, cover swamp cooler
4. Tear out paneling in foyer/living room/dining room/guest room and dispose of
5. Skim coat walls with plaster as needed, also patch with sheetrock any bad spots
6. Primer and paint walls in foyer/living room/dining room/guest room
7. Order velveteen for heavy drapes in foyer/living room/ dining room/guest room/master bedroom (we figured it best to concentrate on the largest windows first)
8. Install any needed curtain hardware, sew and hang linen-backed drapes
9. Have FP/chimney cleaned for winter use, chimney cap tightened
10. Clean/strip FP bricks, replace mantel with something more fitting for a bungalow(DIY, probably)
11. Tile FP insert and hearth
12. Remove remaining carpet in foyer/dining room/hall/guest room/master bedroom
13. Deep clean and sand exposed hardwood flooring
14. Shellac and seal hardwood floor in foyer/living room/dining room/hall/guest room/master bedroom
15. Remove foyer mirror/foyer light/guest light/master light, replace lights with period/vintage/new fixtures
16. Finish skim coating kitchen walls where needed
17. Primer and paint kitchen walls
18. Finish painting/staining cabinets, attach new hardware
19. Remove chandelier from kitchen nook, replace with 3 pendant lights
20. Find fabric, sew and hang linen-backed drapes for kitchen/kitchen nook(harder than it sounds, what goes with lime green AND looks good year round?)

Breaking The Prolonged Silence

Well, I've just now gotten our internet back up, and we've been in our new residence since last Saturday. Still getting used to things in the house, and the neighborhood for that matter. So far my only trouble with the shared driveway is remembering to straighten out before backing down it each time, to avoid any scrapes. My boys are thrilled that we have a 3 and a 5 year old living next door, and invitations to play have already been exchanged. As for the house, projects move slowly and haltingly, more due to the toddler than the projects themselves. I have managed to start painting the master bedroom in "Juniper Berry", a great improvement on the stark white walls. It looks like that is the only room that still has all the original trim, so after I get it stripped I'll be using that as a guide to making trim for the rest of the house. I started work on the kitchen as well, but to my dismay the plaster appears to be in shambles under all that painted wallpaper and faux paneling. For the moment I've decided to leave the paneling and spackle all grooves for a smoother surface, then primer over and paint it all lime green. Sounds alarming, I know, but the kitchen is already so modern there's not much hope of going totally period on our current budget. I will still do the subway tile backsplash and probably bamboo countertops, the current cabinets will stay but get a retro facelift (think International Orange, blond wood and brushed chrome!). The windows all look great up close, only the front sidelight need replacing, and then new wooden screens all around. I did have a beastly time with the exterior water spigots, luckily the home warranty covered replacing some leaking segments of galvanized with PEX and now we can water our very dead lawn right before I rip it out. As for the rest, I will post more updates as soon as I can get some decent pics of what we've done so far. And of course some of the fun we're having in our new surroundings in the Wasatch Mountains. It's good to be home!

Interior Palette

I know I promised to post these much earlier, but things have been up in the air a lot lately. At least I finally got around to showing everyone my plans for the colors in our new house! Here they are:

"Sweet Spiceberry" (Olympic). This is for the walls in the dining room, which also happens to be the first room upon entering the house.

"Magnolia Spray" (Olympic). I'll be using this for the ceilings and above chair rails in all but the bathroom. It's hard to tell in this picture, but the color is a lovely sort of heavy, peachy cream

"Applesauce Cake" (Olympic). This is the main color for the interior. It's going on walls in the living room, kitchen, hallway, closets, pretty much anywhere that other colors aren't specified.

"Vineyard Green" (Olympic). This is for the walls of that adorable sunroom just off the living room. I'm still not sure if it's too dark, but only a test patch on the actual wall will show for sure.

"Sweet Annie" (Olympic). Yes, this is the same olive-y green that I want to use for exterior trim. It's also going to be on the current bathroom walls. Really, it looks much less like pea soup in person!

"Cinnamon Diamonds" (Olympic). This is the color I originally planned for the walls of our guest room. As our guest room will be our master bedroom until the attic is finished off, I suppose we'll be living with this color for a while.

"Grape Leaves" (Behr). Has the same name as one of the exterior colors we picked. This will be on the walls of our older son's room.

"Blue Agave" (Behr). This is for the walls in the baby's room. Sorry about the size, this is the only sample I could get of this color.

"Ocean Kiss" (Behr). When we add a second, master bath, this will be on the walls.

"Juniper Berry" (Olympic). And last of all, this color will be on the walls in our attic master bedroom. Just as soon as we get it built, that is!

More Pictures #2

Stuck at home with a fluish child today, so I'm posting more of the house pics.
Exterior of rear dormer. Lots of painting and flashing to do here, neat shingle pattern though.
Exterior of sun porch off kitchen. That covered entry bothers me for some weird reason. I'll have to see if it looks better with paint, or else just replace it outright.
Close-up of the lovely paint job on the sun porch. Obviously the door to the walk-out basement will have to be replaced.
Rear yard view from the house. Nice size for us, with a little grooming. The dead tree will be first to go.
Close-up of the garage, showing why the tree is a problem. Waaay too close to the garage, and definitely causing some damage. We'll need to do some mortarwork and probably replace the roof.

Possible Face Lift, House Colors

This is one version of what our house may look like after some new paint, decorative framework, and new transoms. The upstairs window would be recessed to the master bedroom so that we could screen in a private sleeping porch in the front gable. I'm not sure what exactly we'll end up doing with the transoms, maybe stained glass or leaded mullions. Have to take a look around the area to see what was appropriate at the time our house was built. S.L.C. has loads of restored homes in their downtown, hopefully some of them are from the same time frame. Keep in mind that the wooden baluster fence around the entire yard will be the light green color of the framework and trim.

THIS, or THIS?

We've been scrambling to come up with an exterior paint scheme, just in case VA requires the house to be painted. I don't want to have it painted & then get there and have to strip it all off again before I paint. So a general direction sort of thing would be nice, in case they need to put up 1 or 2 colors. We do plan on eventually going with a 5-color scheme, but are still working that out. So for now, here are the candidates:

my favorites, from Olympic(Lowes)


R's favorites, also from Olympic, and Laura Ashley Home(Lowes) oop, sorry about the rotation!

And remember, this is all in addition to the gray asphalt roof and red brick. Please tell us which one you like better!