Here is a house recap of 2010:
January 15: We closed on the house and immediately painted the entire interior (Thanks Tim, Tony, and Kirsten), removed the popcorn ceilings, and had a crew come in and re-texture them. We also tore up the existing dining room floor to make way for new wood floors that would be tied in with the rest of the house. All of the wood floors in living spaces and bedrooms were refinished by an awesome crew: De La O Floors in anyone is interested. Nicest owner and crew! Also did a quick fix on the blue bathroom by painting the walls and vanity, cleaning like crazy, changing the shower hardware and towel holders. (Thanks Sarah and Kirsten!)
- changed all the locks on the house
- removed layers of flooring in entry way to get down to original wood (thanks Dad!)
- peeled wallpaper off of a large wall in our master bedroom - painted over another dark blue wall in there too
- hung blinds in entire house
- replaced thermostat box
February 1: Moved in! Demoed the kitchen to the studs. Also demoed the dark room in the garage to make room for a washer and dryer, new utility sink...and our fridge temporarily. (Thanks Tim and Tony) Cooked in the garage on a camp stove, and used the microwave in the dining room. Pete would come home after work every night and work till somewhere between 8 and 10 beginning to build the kitchen back. My husband is a stud.
- painted the inside of the linen cabinet so we could unpack
- put down peel and stick linoleum squares in blue bathroom to cover the horrible orange floor (turns out orange is not so good next to a blue tub : )
- pruned the overgrown roses (thanks Claire!)
- ripped out the make up vanity in our master bedroom closet area - patched the wall
- replaced the outside light over the garage to working motion one
March:
- edged three inches of grass growing onto the sidewalk
- shortened all the blinds we had put up in January to appropriate length
- replaced the mailbox (so the mail would fit!) and front door light
- worked on plumbing and electrical in kitchen
- put up curtains and new header trim to cover closets in Master bedroom
- finally painted over blue windowsill in our bedroom
- painted the linen cabinet doors and put new clean knobs on - nice to be able to hide the sheets and towels : )
- installed baseboards in front part of the house (Thanks Bruce and Mom!)
- escaped to Vegas for March Madness and a much needed break!
- Finished drywalling the kitchen with the new soffits and new fridge wall
- The crew that textured our ceilings came back and did the kitchen walls and the new ceiling tie in.
- The cabinets that sat in our garage since we moved in finally started going up!!
- We prepped the floors with cement board and tiled for the first time ever! (Thanks Tim)
- Installed the microwave (ditto)
- painted the kitchen walls blue
- Countertops were installed by Premiere Stone and Tile - another great local business!
- Stove, dishwasher, and sink were installed - not done yet but working kitchen - we couldn't have been more thankful!
May:
- Tiled the kitchen backsplash with subway tile - hard work but so easy compared to the floor. I love subway tile!
- Worked on fridge pocket cabinetry
- Installed knobs on cabinet doors
- Installed new fire rated kitchen door to replace old half eaten one
- Installed door trim and baseboards and cut toe kicks for kitchen
- Cleared the weeds from Dog Run
- Escaped to San Diego for the weekend, just the two of us. Awesome!
June:
- Got to bring fridge in from garage!
- Installed drawer pulls
- Began work on fencing backyard - this included clearing tons of brush on east side of house (Thanks Dad!)
- Finished whole eastern portion of fence
- paid to have ivy field on north side of house removed - we both wondered if this was the best money we had spent on the house - so worth it to not have to do it ourselves. We joked that if we had tried, it might have started growing back on one side, before we finished all the way to the other end.
- got a concrete bench from Pete's work that was a sample - instead of being demoed we got to be the lucky new owners!
- harvested a tiny batch of cherry tomatoes we grew
- Dug out six oleander stumps
- finally grouted the kitchen backsplash
August:
- Celebrated our second anniversary by building the rest of the fence together - nothings says romantic like digging post holes together! : ) (Don't worry, we also went out to a nice dinner that night)
- Tore down and sold the dog run fence - I love craigslist! (Money paid for our bathroom vanity in the Master Bathroom - so awesome)
- Drywalled the first portion of the garage
September:
- Drywalled the second half of the garage and painted it all white
- Organized all our tools on the new walls - turns out it's easier to find the whatjamajig when it has a home : )
- Stained the cool old library table that came with the house to become my new desk
- Pulled out the old mulberry stump that had been uncovered when the ivy was removed
- Built a raised planter out of concrete interlocking pavers and leveled the rest of the dirt on the front north side, moving the excess to fill in holes in the back
- Cut down and dug out two oddly placed and diseased birch trees in the front yard
- Went to Vegas just the two of us to lay by the pool all day and relax!
- Hired the same company that did our countertops to replace our sliding glass door that leaked and the rest of our old windows. What an amazing transformation! I've always heard on real estate shows that windows sell houses, but seriously I had no idea how much better it would look!
November:
- Worked on beautifying the front yard a bit. Tore out an old diseased hibiscus and replaced with some boxwoods and false heather. Also added a row of boxwoods on the side yard.
- Tore out the huge birds of paradise blocking all the light from the front windows. I was nervous but it is way better and no more spiders!
- Added two lights in the kitchen! and replaced sad bare lightbulb in entry with can light
- Demoed the master bathroom floor and vanity, patched walls, and painted
- Tiled the master bathroom floor
December:
- Installed toilet and vanity in Master bathroom
- Installed mirror, new hardware, and medicine cabinet
At some point:
- Installed a ceiling fan (and light!) in our master bedroom - solved the cave feeling!
- painted all the interior doors white
- also replaced the hinges and doorknobs on all those doors
- replaced all light switches and wall sockets
- Knocked out five of the 60's style spindles between the ceiling and half wall that separated the dining and living room area. Boxed out the remaining two corner ones for a more updated feel. Patched and painted the half wall and ceiling.
- Pete built me a folding table in the garage laundry space out of the old kitchen door (it was cut down for the space which removed the chewed off parts). We also added a permanent hanging drying rack and a mirror from the old bedroom makeup vanity to brighten the dark space by reflecting more light.
- Installed a paving border around our front planter bed, bringing it back from about 6 feet to four feet--ah, much more manageable!
- painted light fixture in dining room white and replaced sconces
- paid the same garden guy to remove the smaller patch of ivy and ferns on the south side of the house - bonus, the school kids have stopped dropping their trash over there : )
Wow, that was kind of a lot! Our house goals for 2011:
- Build a deck off of the living room to hang out and grill
- put in some sort of grass in part of the backyard
- make the backyard an extended space to live, enjoy our house, and invite friends over to
- do some more planting
- Maybe tackle the blue bathroom in some way shape or form - not a total overhaul but likely replacing the flooring and sink
- maybe build our vegetable garden beds
- Relax and enjoy all the work we did in 2010!
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