Basement Stair Rail

It was number one on the list of 2012 projects- and we're crossing it off!

I'll share photos, but you've gotta excuse the icky-ness of the basement!

Here's what we were dealing with --->
Judging by the wear on them, we think the stairs are original to the 1790 house! 

There was a thin little board nailed into the beams- but it was very loose & wobbly.  It's a wonder no one's gotten hurt yet!

 

Mike headed out to the home store and picked up a new handrail & hardware.
Needless to say, the "demo" of the old rail was a piece of cake.
It didn't take Mike very long at all to install the new one!

But there's still lots to do here...

We went to Lowe's last night, only to find that we had 10 minutes before the store was closing. 

Luckily, that was just enough time to grab some moulding.  We'll be putting a strip of it around where the plaster meets the beam.  Then painting the stairwell walls will start.

I'm actually kind of excited to organize the shelves and find some neat hardware for hanging supplies & stuff on the walls!  But once again, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself ;o)

 



Projects from Un-decorating

As I was taking down the rest of the Christmas decorations this past weekend, it sparked a few mini-projects.

The foyer table and the shelf above suddenly looked so bare once the Christmas stuff was put away.
After digging around a little bit, I came up with 5 old, pretty keys and decided to hang them from the shelf hooks with ribbon.  I also placed the painting done by Mike's father up on the shelf.

Next I had to do something with all the Christmas cards that I took down from there. 

Lots of them get put into a photo album, and a couple I save to put in the frame on the table next year. 

There were a few though, that I thought would make really cute tags for next year's Christmas gifts.

I snipped away, punched holes, and put them into a little box to store until next year.

Finally, as I was cleaning the kitchen, I decided something needed to be done about our little table prayer holder.  We made it a few years ago at an Advent Workshop (inspired by one that I had originally made in elementary school!)

It has about 10 prayers printed onto bookmarks, and the kids get to pick out which one we say for grace. 

Anyways, it's seen better days! 

Since my older son is now reading, I thought it would be nice to make a new set so my youngest can pick it each night, and my oldest can read it. 

I still had extra bookmarks from making the last one, I wrote out some "easy-to-read" prayers, tied each with a ribbon, and stuck them in a wide-mouth mason jar. 

Easy- and it looks so much better on the kitchen shelf!

Let there be Light!

First we had the "Give me a Sign" post describing how we made our driveway sign.

We've been looking around at other nearby signs, and liked the ones that were bottom lit. 
Lights on the sign would help people (aka: me) find our back driveway, since it's particularly hard to see during the winter months when it gets dark so early!

For Christmas, we were given a set of solar landscaping lights that are on timers.  They're perfect- no need to mess with running electrical wires- just shove them in the ground.  YAY!

For reference, here's how it looked during the day before we had lights   --->

And now it can be seen beautifully at night too!

Yep- I get giddy every time I drive up, and even have been going around the long way to get glimpses of it from the other direction!





Some Little Additions

Between Christmas gifts & shopping the sales, We've added some new items around the house.

First up is the long awaited fireplace tools. 

We broke these babies out the day we got them home!

And they have a friend to keep them company,

Meet Mr. Mitten Drier --->

He has been on my wish list for a long time too!

Here he is doing his job---> 

Now to the dining room, for an addition to my platter addiction collection. I didn't have a deviled egg platter, and after making a new crab filled deviled egg last Easter I decided to be "on the lookout" for one. Found it for just $2!

And upstairs... My Purple Plan is coming together for the future master suite.

We received this wall plaque as a gift.  It's perfect for the purple bathroom.

These silver & purple woven boxes are going to be great for storage in the walk-in closet.


And this purple vase will replace the pine cone vase once spring rolls around!

We also added some outside items- I just have to get out and take some photos.

This cold weather is too much- luckily it's supposed to warm up this weekend, so I hope to have more to share early next week.

New Year- New List!

With the start of the new year, we decided to get organized. 

After living in the house for 9 months (!!!), there is a growing amount of things we'd like to do around here. 
So, we sat down and made a list- even adding the season we hope to get each item done.

Here we go!

This winter:

• Replace basement handrail
• Paint basement stairwell walls & shelving
• Paint Dining Room (future Parlor) 
• Fix pipe/wall in Living Room

Spring 2012:

• Start building Kitchen
• Start building first floor Powder Room
• Start building Laundry Room
• Start building Office
• Stain backyard Fence
• Stain mailbox post
• Put new roof on the Workshop
• Treat front porch floor boards
• Build new barn door for horse barn
• Transplant trees/plants around yard
• Veggie garden

Summer 2012:

• Stain mismatched section of front stone wall

Fall 2012:

• Finish Kitchen
• Finish first floor Powder Room
• Finish Laundry Room
• Finish Office
• Skim coat & paint foyer
• Skim coat & paint downstairs hallway
• Skim coat & paint upstairs hallway
• Replace rotting wood in framing of Workshop

I know a lot of that is going to slide and get re-prioritized as we run into unexpected items that need immediate attention, but having a plan helps keep the anxiety level down!  And feels soooo good crossing things off as they get completed.

So, I'll set a goal now to revisit this list in April (our 1 year Anniversary in the house!), just to see how we're shaping up!