Archive for November, 2009

My Next Big Before and After

Posted on November 30, 2009. Filed under: Uncategorized |

I haven’t written in a few days. Partly because of  holiday preparations and house guests and partly because we just started our next big project.

Until recently, we had a full-time tennant at our beach house. She rented a 2 bedroom apartment on the ground floor of our house. She recently moved to assisted living (she is 98 years old). I think the move will improve her quality of life and I hear that she is doing well with the change.

As a result, we are now able to completely remodel her apartment (which hasn’t been touched in at least 30 years). It will be converted from a 2 bedroom apartment to a 3 bedroom space with a wet bar and game room with a pool table. We think that this will make the house more rentable as well as improve our personal enjoyment.

Here are some before pictures:

This is what you see when yo uwalk in the front door.

This is the kitchen.

This is one of the bathrooms (yes that is an outdoor hot tub)

There are many more pictures I can share with you but you all get the idea. This is a major project. We need to renovate 2 bathrooms, turn a kitchen into an elegant wet bar, take out the island and a doorway and a partition wall that serves no purpose.

Here is how far we got over Thanksgiving:

The island is gone and the cabinets are going to the shed.

The hot tub is outside where it belongs

I was able to set up the 2 bedrooms with new furniture and linens. They still need paint, curtains and artwork.

There are more before and during pictures that I will share with you later this week. I will aslo share our plans and maybe some of our inspiration for the space.

I’ll be glad to go back to work tomorrow. It has been rewarding and exhausting. Also, I need to say a big thank you to our friends and family that were there this weekend!

Til Next Time,

Make Yours A

Welcome Home

Favorite Things

Posted on November 20, 2009. Filed under: Uncategorized |

I lovethis idea over at 320 Sycamore. She is hosting a “My Favorite Things” party and I don’t want to be late!

It’s hard to know where to begin. Of course my family is at the top of the list (except when the kids argue)

Then there are our spontaneous gatherings with our friends (no pictures…these are spontaneous remember)

My favorite spot at home

I actually get to curl up here with a magazine and a cup of coffee occasionally. It's also a great spot to hang out with friends and chat. It's in my kitchen near the door to the deck and all of the action (kids playing, men grilling)

I can’t pick one favorite book because I love so many (as evidenced on my bookcases)

We shopped carefully and had a great coupon but this was still a splurge we saved up for. (Sooo worth it)

Some of my furniture would have to make the list. I have numerous pieces of furmtiure and accessories that came from my parents, grandparents and great grandparents. Each piece is a reminder of someone I love or a fond memory of family gatherings when I was a child.

My favorite song might be my wedding song “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel). I am also a fan of “What a Wonderful World” by Louie Armstrong. My son did a group presentation in Kindergarten (many years ago) for Mother’s Day and they sang this song and each child illustrated a verse (and yes, I cried)

I could go on and on but it is time for another favorite thing…time to put my kids to bed and have some quiet time with my hubby.

‘Til Next Time,

Make Yours a

Welcome Home

A Frustrating DIY

Posted on November 20, 2009. Filed under: Uncategorized |

I have a story about a frustrating DIY project. The story isn’t over yet and it may still turn out beautifully.

I have a lovely solid maple, double drop-leaf dining table. I got it for free through my local freecycle. The only un-lovely thing about it is the top. It is scarred and some of the varnish is coming off.

Beautiful but scarred table awaits its makeover

I was planning to strip the top and refinish it. I did this successfully with another freecycle find and it now sits proudly in my family room.

A freecycled mahogany server after hours of labor

The chemical stripper is noxious and time consuming but so worth the results. . .Except this time. I only had a little left so I wanted to see how well it would work. It didn’t.

I tried turpentine. . .nope

I tried my little hand-sander. . .nope.

I tried my husbands large hand-sander. . .nope.

I have decided to give up. I will paint the top and leave the base alone. My next problem is that I want it to match the beach house colors. I do not have swatches here. Now instead of transporting my completed project to the beach house for Thanksgiving dinner, I am transporting a table that I need to paint and poly.

I promise to post pictures of the “after”. What keeps me going is knowing how fabulous it will be when it is done (even if I had to change my plans) and how useful it will be for us as well as our renters next summer.

Thanks for letting me vent (unless you have already clicked away from my blog).

‘Til Next Time,

Make Yours A

Welcome Home

Even though it’s not completed, I am posting this to DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land