Construction Docs

I just realized that I had never posted the finished plans for the addition.  So here they are...

Back of house

Side view (from driveway)

First Floor

Second floor

Status: 

We've put the construction documents out to bid with four contractors.  

The price ranges that are coming back vary QUITE a bit... 

-Some have included an allowance for cabinets & countertops, others did not.  

-Some say that there will be extensive plumbing re-work, others don't find that to be an issue & described how they suggest we run the new piping.  

-Some say they can not do the floors the way we want in the kitchen, others love the idea...

So, it's a lot to sort through to get it to an "apples to apples" comparison, and to weigh the costs of the items that we want the most.

I'm still hopeful that we'll start this summer.  All of the contractors have agreed that it's going to be a 6 month project... fingers crossed that we'll be done around January or February 2013 (wow- that's weird to type!)

Fence Painting

If you recall, last October we put up a privacy fence along the backyard (since our house is on a corner, it was feeling exposed to the passing traffic).

Then winter came along, so we put staining it on hold.  

But now Spring is here, and we're moving right along...

BEFORE:

IN PROGRESS: 

In progress

Last Friday, Mike got started.

He tried using a roller & paint brush on the first panel- it took him an hour.  With approx. 32 panels, that was going to take WAY too long.

Luckily, we had an old paint sprayer from doing the fence at our old house.  It even had an attachment to pull directly from the big bucket of stain.
Things moved more quickly after that- until we ran out of stain.  (Since we didn't know how much it would take, we just bought a 5 gallon bucket to start).

Mike got this birdhouse
from a friend for Christmas.
That got hung and stained too.

Back to the home improvement center- to find they only had 1 more bucket of stain in stock... We're about 1/3 of the way down the fence, so we estimate that we need 2 more 5 gallon buckets.
We got the one mixed & will go back this weekend for the second.

I guess it was better that we stopped on Friday, since it rained on Saturday night (you need 24 hrs of clear weather for the stain to dry).

 Anyway, with a third of it complete, we can tell you that we really love the dark green. 

The few flowers that are around it really pop, and it also coordinates nicely with the hammock (which we also put up last weekend).

 

I'm praying for nice weather, so we can finish this up over the weekend!

Update: Here's the finished fence!

Garage Overview

I'm not sure why we decided to call this barn "The Garage", but it's closest to the house, painted the same color, and doesn't appear to have housed animals in the recent past... so Garage it is!

I'm making a "picking garden" on the side,
for flowers I can cut & bring inside.

It's in relatively good shape- though currently quite messy!  And that's all us... it was completely clear when we moved in almost a year ago.  I hope to get it at least straightened out this summer.

The first floor mess isn't TOO bad... mostly just the kids' toys scattered about.  
Shouldn't take too long to clean this part up! 

A couple of cool little details:

I love the style of the doors!

I have big plans for this shelf!  --->
It was left here by the previous owners.  I think that once it's cleaned up, it would look really cute in my son's Nautical theme bedroom.

This old hand-made crank with cord
must have attached to a generator,
since there isn't any power run in here.

And there's an upstairs... though we need to add a handrail to the stairway!

More chairs!

 

I have all kinds of projects to be worked on up here.  I might claim the upstairs as my own little area :o)  I've been checking out pictures on Pinterest, and fell in love with the idea of white-washing the walls, beams and ceiling.  The hardwood floor would be really nice if cleaned up a bit!

Yet another far-off project I can dream about :o)

Check out this picture of the garage from the 1987... I think it looks much better in blue!

Update of on-going projects

We have a few projects going on that have been making some progress...

The Chickens are getting bigger and a bit more awkward looking (adolescence!)
We've moved them from our enclosed back porch, out to the barn. They're still in the brooder with the heat lamp, since they don't have all their feathers yet.  A few more weeks and they can be free to roam in & out of the coop!




So, it's a good thing that The Chicken Yard is almost complete.  The fencing is up, we just need to put a netting over the top to keep any hawks from swooping down on them.

The Peach Pits are growing!  We have about 7 of them.  It'll still be a while before they can be planted, but Mike's already picked out the spot he wants to put them.

Spring is in the air!!!!

St Patty's Day

It was a busy weekend, so I don't have much progress to report on the house projects.
But here are some photos of the dining room set up for St. Patrick's Day- we had friends over for an Irish dinner.

 Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of Mike's corned beef & cabbage, or the potato leek soup- but it was delicious!

We hope your day was full of luck!

Mirror Message Board

Last week I was packing up all of the winter and Valentine's Day decorations and was left with an empty space on the wall.  I tried out a few framed pictures, etc. but I didn't have anything that "went" until Memorial Day (a framed flag embroidery)

I remembered seeing this pinned on Pinterest (yes, it's an addiction!)  and thought, "I could do that!"  (By the way: Check out other Pinterest inspired projects with The Pinterest Challenge winter edition, hosted by: Katie, Cassie, Erin, and Sherrie.  It's all about getting up and doing some of those things you pinned!)

So, here it is... my mirror message board.  I really like how the frame has the perfect ledge for the wipe-off markers!  I considered painting it white, but I think the wood goes better with the stair banister.

It hangs right near the back door- so is a great place for those reminders of things I don't want to forget when we're heading out.








And I even put it to use as a decoration for St. Patrick's Day!

Outside Odds & Ends

With the start of some nice, warm weather, we took advantage and got some little outside projects done!
Nothing major, just those random items that we kept putting off by saying "it's too cold out".
Not anymore!


First was this door knocker that Mike got for Christmas.
We thought it would be perfect on the barn that he does his "tinkering" in.



He also put a flag up on that barn.

These pavers were laying around, & we didn't know what to do with them.  So, we're trying them out here--->

If we end up liking them, we'll straighten & bury them into the ground.  For now it's just a trial! 

And inside that barn, Mike fixed two things that were bothering him.

There were electrical switches & a sub-box that were attached directly to the barn siding (on the inside).  The electrical is not currently connected in this barn, but we hope to get that up & running soon.

So, in preparation, Mike placed a board on the studs of the barn, and attached the boxes to it.

Not very pretty, but safer!

Side note- see that metal thing in the top left of this photo -->

It's a fruit picker that goes on a long stick.  Perfect if the peach trees ever grow :o) 

 And finally, here's one little item that we did a few weeks ago, but I didn't have a place to stick it (until now!) 

We also got this thermometer for Christmas.  

I envision it someday on our new back porch (once the extension is built).  

But until then, we've put it on the garage.

I know we've been spoiled by having such a mild winter this year, but I'm so glad that spring is just about here!
I'm LOVING the extra daylight since the clocks have changed.  More time to get projects done!
And the kids are loving the extra outside play time too!

Remember when a big pile of dirt + toy trucks = endless fun  :o)

Tour of the House

I've added a link on the right side under "Pages" to see a simple overview of the new house.

It also includes links to the projects we've already started working on, organized by room.

The New House Tour

I'll try to keep it updated as we go!

Outlet covers

I love reading other home improvement and design blogs.  It keeps me inspired!

Here's a post on on  Jones Design Company about dressing up light switches & outlet covers using scapbooking paper & Modge Podge.

I've already replaced about 90% of our light switches and outlet covers with new.  

However, there was one in my son's room that was just plain white, and since he has a nautical theme in red & blue, I thought it would be fun to try it out.

I've never used Modge Podge (although it does remind me of the watered down school glue that we used to make votive candle holders out of jars and tissue paper in college!)

My first try was with a water-looking patterned paper- and I totally blew it.  I wasn't thinking & placed it face down on the table to fix the edges... it stuck to the newspaper I was working on...

So after cleaning up that mess, I found this pattern that would work:

Definitely not camouflaging the outlet with the wall, but for a kids' room, I don't mind.

There's one little wrinkle that I'm not happy about, but for a first try I think it came out pretty well!

And I'd have a wide shot of it- but his room was too messy!  

Will try to snap one the next time we are expecting company- since that's the #1 way to get him to clean it!