Martini Time

Happy Sunday!
Hope you had a great weekend! Only thing wrong with mine was that it was too short!
Isn't that always the case?
As promised, this blog is about the "Martini Room". For the most part, the room is finished. There is still an ongoing debate with Spousal Unit about my idea for decorative tile in the bar area. I went ahead and purchased the tile pieces on sale, and will let him discover them one of these days in the garage when there are not so many pressing projects at hand!
But I did find the large glass piece I knew was in one of the storage units, and Spousal Unit created shelf brackets and hung them for a bar shelf. I think that project turned out pretty nice.

We went ahead and placed the new refreshment center up on top of the bar. Placing it inside the lower cabinet was going to be too major as the shelves are permanent, not movable, and smaller than the unit as well. As a "Grandma Want To Be" I am thinking ahead that little, wobbily, short people won't be able to access the glass door as a toy as readily at this height which will be good. There are plenty of other areas that I will have to contend with child proofing....well, some day...(sigh).

This is a view of the opposite end of the room from the bar. The backdoor is to the right. The doorway on the left is to the kitchen. I have had two different friends ask me if the black shelf unit is the same one we had in the old house. It is so interesting how different paint, furniture placement, lighting, flooring can all influence the look of a room. Without spending a dime, just move around the furniture, decorations, or change a rug or lamp for a whole new look! It works!

This is the full view of the bar end of the room. I think the table and chairs placement in front is useful, yet lends to easy foot traffic from room to room, and to the backyard. In this picture, you can see a couple of my little ghosts I made for Halloween. I told Little Miss A the other night, that this house finally feels like home. Of course actually living here for a couple of weeks began the process, but my taking the time to decorate the house for fall/Halloween really worked for me. And of course for me....entertaining makes it feel like home, and I have started doing that as well. Love it!

This view is from the back door area looking back toward the kitchen/hearth room. As you can see, Spousal Unit did get a TV into this room. And, last Thursday we had extended family over for dinner and we had the World Series game on one, and football on the other at various times during the evening. I will admit, the crowd was very happy, and I was happy that neither TV volume level was screaming loud. I have a few more empty walls to fill in the room, but pictures and art has to find a home and sometimes takes a little time.

BUT....I did get my super heavy, flea market mirrors hung in the Hearth Room, and I am happy happy! I will show you those next time!

AND.....Ray bought a house! She closed on Thursday, took possession on Friday, and the work has begun! I took all the "before" pictures today so you can join us on that redo as well!
Keep smiling, and tuning in!!
Deb

Island Time

Happy Monday! ( or Tuesday by the time I finish this post!)

Spousal Unit and I have lived in at least 10 houses since we married, and I can safely say that the heart of every home of ours has been the kitchen! I love to "entertain-cook", as opposed to "everyday-cooking" which is just mediocre fun for me! I suppose I can admit that some of my friends (you know who you are) would consider my attention to detail in my entertaining, planning and execution a little, well all right, extreme. I do like themes, but that is my fun!
The "Hearth Room/Kitchen" in the new house I have designated as the "Heart of the House" because it simply is. We had a vision of how this room would eventually be functionally, and that was the main selling point to our buying this house. And now, our dream is becoming reality! With the basement staircase relocated, we envisioned a large gathering island in its place that would be the foundation from where the entertaining fun would begin, irregardless of the number of people involved! (My philosophy is that a party can be a party even for one or two people. We will discuss this further another time!) Let me remind you of the before:

                          Looking into the kitchen from the front door when we bought the house.

                                   After the wall and the basement staircase have been removed.

                                   New view from entry area looking into the kitchen.

View from kitchen sink toward the island. The island is an expresso black stain with brown/black granite.
I am so very happy to have a gas stove top again! It is a dual fuel appliance with electric oven/convection, and the lower oven unit is not just for warming, but heats to 450 degrees as well.

There is a prep sink on the left end of the island, and the cabinet directly to the right is a double trash/recycling unit. The hardware is brushed nickel drawer pulls which Spousal Unit really didn't want, but got talked into...again! But thanks to a quick call to our personal family architect who just happened to be with work collegues at a party, we didn't use two per drawer, but only one. I like the look much better and "Little Miss A" assured us the size of the drawer could be maneuvered with just one. On a side note...why is cabinet hardware sold with screws that are not the correct size, and the purchaser has to go to the hardware store and buy the right screws?!! Crazy!

On the end of the island toward the front of the house is housed a bookshelf perfect for cookbooks.


Spousal Unit installed all of the cabinet pieces (with some muscle from RG, KB and Ray) and also cut, pieced, layed and grouted the additional tile pieces around the island. This was a very challenging undertaking! The pieces were extremely heavy and large to manuever. They had to be PERFECTLY level from every angle as well.  Even selecting the grout color took numerous tries, and eventually required the mixing of two different colors to match the existing...worn-in color. I need to commend Spousal Unit again, as his work was really exceptional. Don't tell him I said that AGAIN! Might spoil the man!

We are so very pleased with the final product of the island. We were able to use our bar stools from the previous house. Yeah! One less anticipated expense! Our other concern was whether  or not there would be ample and functional walk space between the back of the couch in the Hearth Room and the bar stools. But our concerns were eliminated with our first extended family gathering. The men were overly worried about the view of the TV from the kitchen side of the island, but this too proved no problem. I think Spousal Unit's choice of TV size is large enough for our neighbors to watch from down the block through the kitchen window! We are thoroughly enjoying the island every day!

The kitchen is nearly finished. I have these items on my "To Do" list yet to finish:
-a functional desk, wine rack, pantry-closet, and decorate the powder room. One project ALWAYS leads to four more!!
Next time....Martini talk!
Keep Smiling!
Deb

Reconnected

Happy Hello to you all!
I have not forgotten you, but my computer was down, and then moved, and then finally reconnected to the Internet just recently. I know you readers under the age of thirty will not understand but hopefully can empathize! I have Internet means on my phone, and on a I Pad.....but I am over fifty and know only how to download, upload and blog from my desktop!! Forgive my absence!!
Let me begin to catch you up!!

Old Kitchen Cabinets:
We last left off with my idea to paint the top molding of the old existing cabinets black to coordinate with the new cabinets being made. Well....Spousal Unit took the bait and painted it! Could it be that after 31 years of marriage he is trusting my judgement?!!

We both were pleased. The next step was to update the old cabinetry with new hardware to match the new.

                                                                      OLD

                                                                         NEW

                                                                         OLD

                                                                           NEW

What a difference a good cleaning with "Old English" and new hardware made!! We were excited for the new island to arrive. Anticipated delivery date was early October! We could hardly wait.

ReDo Sale Sept. 24:
Since the inside of the house was at a standstill, and we were not scheduled to move until the next week...my next idea was of course....open the house for a ReDo sale! For those of you unfamiliar, two friends and I have a business called ReDo. We scout garage sales, estate sales, flea markets, friends attics etc for interesting items to RE-DO, re-purpose, re-cycle, re-fresh, up-cycle ....you get the idea. It is also a creative outlet for my art interests as well. (For example, I make canvas art pictures from recycled paper rolls-paper towel and toilet paper rolls. Currently I am making fall wreaths from leftover burlap and recycled used coffee filters and book pages.) We set up our items and had a sale.

                                                                      BEFORE

                                                                       AFTER

Pool Shed:
Spousal Unit was bored with the sale, but on site giving tours of the house when he could. But then, it was just too nice of a day to waste, so he built a "pool shed" in the backyard on the north end.

He put to use the pile of bricks from the greenhouse shed floor that was unusable.

                                                               FINISHED POOL SHED

Spousal Unit had quite the bad back trying to complete this project all in one day! He amazes me a lot!

Guttering:
We also had to replace the guttering and down spouts on the house. We had mini-trees growing in the front gutter! We always rely on Martinek & Flynn Company to "get-er-done"! (That is their company motto that is on all their work shirts!) They spent a couple days before we moved in completing that job.

                                                                      BEFORE 

                                                                           AFTER

The Move:
We moved over a five day period. We had scheduled a moving company for Friday Sept 29th, but when RG heard how much we were paying each crew person per hour, he and his buddy KB wanted in on that paycheck! The weather was cooperative, sunny and unseasonably warm for Kansas! They loaded our open trailer and made trip after trip from the old house to the new. Ray was amazing! She could move a room in a flash! She had not started her new job, so her boredom was a lifesaver for us! They all were so awesome! The movers loaded up and moved the big major furniture pieces on Friday. We slept  our first night at the new house that evening! After seventeen years at the old house, it felt very strange. Bittersweet exciting! We have so many wonderful memories from living in that house! It was a such a great family house! Spousal Unit remodeled every single room, and some of them twice! I do believe it was time to move on! I have to admit that I was overwhelmed. Moving is never fun, but the amount of boxes we have accumulated over the years is unbelievable. Plus, the amount of sawdust and construction dirt that amassed in the new house also needed to be cleaned! We were really working hard, but it seemed like little progress was being made!! We would empty one box at the new house, and we would box up two more from the old house! UGH! I would rather be blogging, and I didn't have my computer for weeks! WHINE WHINE!!

Then we received the confirmation call that the new kitchen island was to be delivered on Oct 6th, 8am!! We couldn't wait to see the finished product!  Renewed energy was flowing!

So as not to overwhelm you too, we will start there with the next blog!
Hint.....I am really smiling....hope you are too!!!!
Deb

P.S. I want you all to know that I appreciate your support very much! Not blogging for a month, I heard from a number of readers, wondering what was happening, and encouraging me to get connected again! That is so sweet! I want to send a special shout out to my nephew in Brazil, my biggest fan "Fun C" in St. Charles MO, and the Associates at Miles!! Thanks so much for joining me!! Until next time!

BUSY BUSY BUSY

Happy Saturday Friends!!!
I promise I have not intentially neglected the blog and my blog-friends, it just has been a very BUSY week at the house!! And Spousal Unit had me hands on assisting!! Well....I guess I did create more work for him by getting the Martini Room wallpaper stripped. He grouched, but......I know he was happy to have that mess done before the final floor finish! He even has the entire room painted and trimmed!!

Okay, I like creative names! (Hence, we have a Martini Room in our house!)  I confess, that I prefer to buy my nail-polish by the name of the color for the event I am dressing for!  For example, for a trip to Chicago I wore "Swimming in Lake Michigan". My friend E bought me "Itsy Bitsy Tini Weeny Pink Bikini" for my summer birthday as we hang out at the lake together!  SO....back to the house, I loved that the Hearthroom/Kitchen which I have now named "Heart of the House Room", paint color is "Tarragon". Love it! The name of the Martini Room paint color is "Anonymous". I was going for a smokey, lounge type color, and so, Anonymous is cool! Those of you who have been to the original Martini Room in our old house will note that I went a number of shades lighter in my gray color in Martini Room #2. I thought with the stained trim and windows, this would look even better. (The original room has white trim that really pops the dark pewter gray in that room.) I am pleased and anxious to get furniture in the room!

I think all the natural light in the room brings the "Anonymous" even more to life! I will break it gently to Spousal Unit in a couple of days that I found some awesome glass tile pieces to decorate the buffet back wall with! Gotta stay two steps ahead of the man...which is hard to do when he accomplishes so much in one day!! He rolls his eyes alot at my decoration ideas.....but for the most part, learns to appreciate them once they are done and he lives with it for awhile!

Staircase:
The Carpenter crew is now finished completely with the staircase! We are pleased with the look of it all! The floor crew has one more coat to finish on Monday, but otherwise FINISHED! Yes, the missing spindles arrived by horseback from Texas!

 And yes, the workers all fessed up they thought that painting them black was maybe a little crazy, but now they like it alot. At least that is what they are telling me, as they have yet to present us with the bill and want us to be happy!

I even had the backs of each stair, and the side pieces painted black. The staircase at the old house had white backs and they ALWAYS were dirty and scuffed up!

We plan to replace the small windows with new that do not open and are frosted to let in light but not readily see out. And Spousal Unit plans to encase the deep recesses with stained wood. I think that will really finish off the look!

I would have liked for "Terrible Black Jack Baby" to have been moved into his spot prior to the spindles being placed because he is sooooooooo very heavy. But, the floors still needed the last coat. I heard a nasty rumor that Spousal Unit is offering our RG a monetary bribe to drop and break the cute dog when he is asked to move the dog from the old house to the new!! Can NOT imagine that RG would ever want to break Momma G's heart by mistreating my dog!!! Looking forward to seeing him in his new home!

Fireplace:
Spousal Unit has painted the shelves, and mantle pieces and trimmed out the fireplace now. I like the black color a lot!

The TV will go above the mantle. Spousal Unit created a "hidden in the wall" tube for the wiring to go through. Pretty cool. I am ready to finish painting the brick hearth, as soon as Spousal Unit's heart can handle it. We will see when that happens!

"Heart of the House" - Bathroom:
There is a small bathroom off the kitchen that I am assuming will get used alot in our "Heart of the House" room! It has a neat oval window in it. It had some dated wallpaper, and a material encased frame for the window. The Sheetrockers had redone the ceiling and finished it with "knock-down" when they did the kitchen, so Spousal Unit was going to have to paint that ceiling too at some point soon. SO...Friday happened to be a cold and very chilly day here. Parents D were unable to work on their outside project at their house, and their dear friend HB had fallen and broke her arm, so their casino plans were squelched too!
They drove in and stripped off the wallpaper in the bathroom! I was thrilled, and Spousal Unit not so much! He was grateful, but not thrilled with yet another room to finish!

I now have to get busy with decorating ideas for the room! I think I will start by checking out our leftover paints at the old house and see what I might have enough of to do that small amount in. There is paneling halfway up the wall that I think I will leave at least for awhile. (You are welcome Spousal Unit!)

Floors:
All the wood floors are completed with the exception of the final semi-gloss coat. They plan to complete the last coat on Monday morning. We are so happy that Carpenter Danny suggested we have the vents made from wood and recessed. They turned out super!

I was really tired last night (and cold), and was in bed before 10:00 on a Friday night!! I told Spousal Unit I really had to quit hanging out with him so much, because I was awake at 4:50 AM this morning! I finally gave up trying to go back to sleep and got up about 5:30. But while I was laying in bed "resting"- and dreaming... I had another decorating idea to paint the upper-most trim piece on the existing kitchen cabinets black to tie them in more with the Island that is being made! This idea was met with some eye-rolling when I shared it, but Spousal Unit did ask for me to find a two-inch angled paint brush! Good sign he might do it! Just a teaser for the next upcoming blog!!

As we keep saying.....one project ALWAYS leads to another!!!
Keep smiling!!
Deb

Working Weekend

Happy Sunday!
Since we last talked.......the stair parts finally arrived after their delay in Texas. The newel posts are beautiful...but huge! The "Master Carpenter" Danny assures us when he is done we will be very pleased. I really believe him!

The treads are in place and one handrail. To avoid the railing ending up directly in the middle of the window, he is creating a curved railing. There will be a ledge between the new railing and the edge of the flooring in front of the window. Master Carpenter Danny thought it appropriate that a statue...(bust of himself) be fitting watching over the new staircase! I think probably...NOT, even though I think very highly of his skills! I am thinking "Terrible Black Jack Baby" my concrete dog has a new home! (My dog was purchased with my winnings from a girls trip to "Terribles Casino" in Missouri one weekend, hence his name!) We will see how much room there really is when the stairs are all finished!

The Wood Floor crew, showed up a day late, but have been busy "filling" in where the old built ins previously were located, with no wood floor beneath. They are reusing some of the flooring removed for the creation of the stairs.

They also are cutting in new wood registers that will lay flush into the floor in both the Hearthroom and the Martini Room. These will be especially nice in the traffic areas.

There is hardly any evidence of the old staircase left! Some of the old tile were removed and replaced with hardwood around the kitchen island "to be", so the island can be installed level as well as solid wood look on the front of the island.

This picture is to remind you of what the fireplace was before. Spousal Unit has been hard at work creating new trim and redoing the mantle for the fireplace. I just didn't like the plain red brick surround, and so I got out my artist paints, palate and paintbrush. I attempted to make a "wash - dark tea stain" effect in black. I thought Spousal Unit was going to have a heart attack. He kept saying, "are you sure about this?" "Maybe only do a few until we see if we like this or not!" After I completed the top row, he was liking it more and more, and eventually bought all in! He even painted the mantle and decorative trim around the fireplace a glossy black to coordinate. We loved it, so he then painted the shelving unit black, and is trimming it out in the coordinating stained oak. We now are debating painting the hearth seating area as well! Looking forward to seeing it all up!

The Hardwood floor crew will be back on Tuesday to sand down and refinish all the wood floors in the Hearthroom and Martini room. That got me to thinking that since I would really like the "dining room chair rail" off in the Martini Room, as well as the wallpaper, I really should have that mess fall on the old wood floors before they get finished so nice! SO....on Saturday while Spousal Unit was trimming away, we turned on football games on the radio, and I started stripping the wallpaper! I didn't realize how tall the walls were in that room until I was up on the ladder trying to reach the top of all those walls!

I worked most of the day and got about half-way done. I just had to finish on Sunday, so I called in reinforcements! My parents had offered to help strip wallpaper....."some day soon" they had said! Well, I was hoping that day would be okay to be today!! Luckily, they were not in a golf tournament, and they said yes! We finished off the rest of the room in half the day! We still had most the afternoon to go to the lake! "Grandpa and Grandma D" still had lots of golf, and football to watch on TV with their feet up I hope!! I plan to treat them to a steak dinner real soon!!

Isn't it true that one project leads to several more!! Spousal Unit now has another room to work on. Spackling, and painting this room will take some time! I have the paint waiting for his next free moment! I also am visualizing some glass tile work in the buffet/shelf area! I need to spend some time on those thoughts real soon! Spousal Unit told me to take my time thinking about that project!

Tomorrow is Monday, and Spousal Unit will be working at his "other job". I will be supervisor at the house until he returns on Tuesday to work!! I better charge my phone....he will be calling ALOT!!

Heavy heart today, remembering 9/11/01.
Give extra hugs today to those special people in your life, and always let them know you appreciate them!
SMILE!
Deb

Holiday Fun

Happy Labor Day!
Hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend! We enjoyed ours working on the house, spending some time on the lake, and a road trip to Sparks Kansas for a huge Flea Market shopping trip! Great fun! And "Deb Fun" is starting at the new house. Spousal Unit has had lots of fun with destruction and construction, but now at least in the Hearthroom/Kitchen we are nearing the finishing work. The sheetrock work is complete and he was able to paint! Spousal Unit also stained trim and finished off the ceiling and window trim. He really is talented and sooooooo enjoys this work.

The paint color we call Tarragon.

Spousal Unit also hung the two chandeliers that will light the kitchen island when it is completed.

We are hoping the island will arrive by the end of the month. The old kitchen cabinets will be cleaned up and dressed up with new hardware. The fence outside is now completed. Spousal Unit received his City Permit for the new garage, and I do believe he would declare that day a permanent Family Holiday to celebrate he was so excited! Next step is to line up the subcontractors.

The stair parts were delayed somewhere in Texs, but are now scheduled to arrive tomorrow. The carpentry crew are just waiting to begin the finish work on the staircase. The Hardwood Floor Crew that were scheduled to begin work today were a no show. Spousal Unit will have to look into that situation tomorrow.

I had purchased a new light for the Hearthroom, but I got outvoted by the family as it just might hand low enough to block the TV viewing from the kitchen. I will probably not use my "Mom Veto" as on second thought, I am thinking I may like a ceiling fan/light combination better. I will need to ponder that situation further, as I do love the new fan/light in the Martini Room that was just installed.

I have had some wonderful volunteers come forward who love to strip wallpaper! Crazy but true! I am very anxious to put them to work in the Martini Room, converting it from a formal dining room to our infamous Martini Room! I am also considering paint color and wall decoration for that room as well. I will find my inspiration soon! Every room has one inspiration, be it a fabric, art piece, furniture or something that starts the decorating ball rolling!  This is the remodeling fun I love!

We are planning to have the next REDO sale at the new house prior to us moving there. I do hope to be living in the new house by the end of the month. We are inching ever so close!

Create your own happiness!
Keep smiling!
Deb
                                                           

                                    

Disappearing Stairs

Happy Tuesday!
When we purchased the new house, the potential open hearthroom/kitchen and second garage/shop were the two real selling points. The open hearthroom/kitchen required the destruction of an existing staircase and two walls, and the creation of a new staircase. In just a few short weeks, those tasks are nearing completion.

Rebuilding the mailslot from the front porch inside.

The Sheetrock Crew were delayed on another job for a few days, so they offered to stay on our job and begin work on Monday on the hearthroom, new staircase. That meant that Spousal Unit and RG had to tear out all the old paneling in the room, pull new wire, put in new switches and electrical plugs, new insulation, and finish work on the baby can lights on each end of the room over the weekend.
Clean up is a never ending job, and we get help whenever and from whomever we can!


She prefers suturing to sweeping!

 

Monday:
Busy Monday again! Sheetrock Crew had an awesome day. They measured the hearthroom and staircase for sheetrock. They went and picked it up, hauled it all in, and hung it all up! They put in a tiring full day. The heating and air man rerouted two different air ducts and fixed a faulty switch. The fence man put up the horizontal wood boards on the wood fence. And the Carpenter was finalizing order of staircase pieces and coordinating with the sheetrockers.

View from new stairs looking through Hearthroom toward back of the house. Kitchen is to the left.



The new stairs from the basement level.



We think we might be able to play checkers on the old linoleum tile they found under the carpet in the basement.


Tuesday:
Spousal Unit is replacing large chandelier in the now Martini Room with a large ceiling fan/light, and relocating the chandelier to our new dining room. We met the cabinet rep at the house to finalize the 3D drawings for the new cabinet/island in the kitchen. Just a couple of modifications to be done. We located some matching kitchen tile, and I picked up a box today. We had the Moving Company come by the old house and give us a bid on moving us. We are tentatively looking at the last week of September for the big move, depending on progress made the next two weeks. Spousal Unit, RG and KB tore into the old staircase this afternoon. They framed in the "hole" in the kitchen floor, and totally removed the stairs! We are now thinking we will keep the closet in the basement area that was in back of the stairs. Good storage and nice break in the very large room for furniture placement.

Basement level...stairs removed and setting off to the left.

Staircase gone- now framed for kitchen island placement!

Now that the Kitchen/Hearthroom is nearing completion, it is time for the garage/shop build. Spousal Unit is working on City Permit to build. Plans are drawn and ready. "Safe Dig" has been out and lines marked. We need to have the sewer lines found and "mapped out". Preparations are well underway. I just hope that the kitchen island cabinets, appliances, hardware etc arrive before Spousal Unit gets totally consumed out back, or it just might be Christmas before we have a stove to cook on again!!!!

Keep Smiling!
Deb