THE STORY CONTINUES - OUR HOUSE BECOMES A HOME!!

As every DIYer knows, there are good days and there are not-so-good days.  Fortunately, this remodel has provided more good than the other. Not-so-good days include getting estimates for the new cabinets and counter top - wow! Have prices gone up  in the past 10 years! The good day came when we were able to come to a win-win deal with a local distributor. He really took the time to sit with me and configure the cabinets the best way to fit our wants and needs. He also didn't give me too much of a hard time when I complained about a couple of the soft-close drawers not closing on their own and his visit discovered I had just put too big of a platter in one and too heavy items in another! Oops!

His encouragement to visit the company where we were getting our quartz counter top was right on. We were thinking of a couple different patterns/color and ended up with a nice compromise that really gives the kitchen an updated look. Below is a view of the peninsula section. It's a little darker in person, but this gives you an idea of the pattern.

Another "good grief" day came when Tom got to the house after his brother and nephew had left for home to see the new frig sitting in its planned position in the kitchen. I got a call at work telling me we would have to get a different refrigerator because this one was just too big! "It sticks out about 2 feet into the kitchen! You don't even notice the rest of the kitchen because all you see is the $#&#@@ refrigerator!" etc, etc. LOL!! All I could do is tell him I would come by after work and see what he was talking about. This is a shot of the frig sitting in the dining room while we worked on the kitchen.

We shopped for hours when looking for the kitchen appliances and did a lot of R&D. We wanted the stainless finish and matching frig, dishwasher, ovens and microwave if possible. By watching for sales and shopping both Lowe's and Home Depot, we were able to get good deals on all Whirlpool appliances. I really liked the french-door, bottom freezer style for the frig. Gives you lots of storage. We didn't need an in-door water/ice dispenser, so saved a couple hundred dollars there.  The frig didn't look that big sitting in the dining room and the kitchen looked huge without the frig in it.  Once I walked into the kitchen with the frig in place, I had to agree it did sort of stick out like a sore thumb- a pretty thumb, but sore one just the same. After studying the problem and doing some measuring, we came up with the perfect solution! There is a half-bath just behind where the frig sits. (no pictures) Since we are putting in a 3/4 bath just feet away, there was no reason to have 3 bathrooms with 3 toilets in the house. So, we are going to move the new commode from the 1/2 both to the 3/4 bath, and cut and frame in an opening for the frig to slide back into that area. It only has to go back 6 inches, which leaves the rest of that room for a nice pantry! Voila'!! Problem solved and a much better arrangement for all! Plus, I only have 2 toilets to clean!!

Another "hmmmmm" day was when I came by to clean and saw where Tom's brother had put the boxes for the light fixtures over the peninsula. Turns out His interpretation of centering and Mine were a little different. But he we talked it out and he graciously came around to my way of thinking and moved them, patching the sheetrock along the way. I'm not always a "see the final picture in my mind" kind of person. I need to put it on paper and measure it out. Which turned out to be a good thing, because where Steve had placed them would have run into problems with the cabinet door opening out. So, now they are "centered" from the cabinets to the end of the peninsula and set back just enough for a free swing of the door. Whew!!

Here's a picture of them. The frosted glass matches the light over the sink and they given plenty of light for Tom's internet cruising and coffee in the morning!


Enough of the kitchen! The living and dining rooms didn't need much except the popcorn ceiling removed and the walls painted.

 

The floors already had decent laminate on them from the previous owners. We just had to patch the upper corner of the living room floor where they had butted the laminate up to a corner cupboard. Fortunately, there was a box of the flooring left in the house, so Tom's son Bryan took some of the already laid pieces out and pieced some new planks and you can't tell there was anything missing. Yay!

I don't know about you, but I don't decorate for a living. And I didn't have to come up with wall colors for our last house since it was mostly logs and wood. So, deciding on a color palette for this place was a challenge for me. Fortunately, my new friend Laurie turned me onto an old blog she has used in the past - http://www.stopandeattheroses.com/2011/08/perfect-paint-palette.html. The blogger has some great advice and I used her palette as a starting point for my color scheme. I chose Softened Green for the kitchen and hallway and will probably put it in the pantry as well. It's a nice shade and goes well with the metal, wood and stone in the kitchen. And one day, we'll get the whole kitchen painted! Seems Steve felt the only walls that needed painted were the ones where the cabinets were going. The rest is just primed for now. We'll get it done this spring when it's warm enough to open the doors for fresh air. Even though the color is a Sherwin Williams brand, I was able to get it at Lowe's for about $10/gallon cheaper and in a low VOC Valspar paint.  I went with Valspar's Softer Tan for the main walls in the living, dining, stairwell and upper hallway. It's a warm neutral that changes with the different lighting. For the accent walls in the dining, living and stairwell, I chose Antique Oak. It's almost a cinnamony mocha and goes great with the flooring in the dining and living room areas as well as the rustic cherry vinyl planks on the stairs. The picture on the right above gives you an idea plus the stairwell picture below.

It's a nice compliment to the cedar as well, I think.

Upstair bedrooms got a sort of silvery blue color from Valspar called Stillness. Very peaceful.

Whew! I'm so glad That portion of the remodel is done with! So stressful!!



I have a confession to make. Some of my friends and co-workers have heard this, but here it goes. Even though there was all this wonderful stuff going on inside the house, whenever I would drive up to it, I would get so depressed! I couldn't figure out why. Was it the idea of moving - understandably; leaving my old neighbors; the partially removed white vinyl siding; the tall weeds and the back yard? What? As it turned out, it wasn't any of those things to any great degree. What it was, was the mess on the front porch and the porch itself!! The porch was covered with pieces of sheetrock, siding, cardboard boxes, nails, styrofoam - just a real, depressing mess! And the back deck wasn't much better! So, what to do? It was still a construction site, but it had to be at a place in time when some clean-up was in order. So, that's what I did. I got garbage bags and a broom and dustpan and cleaned and swept and turned the front porch into a more welcoming, albeit still kind of ugly, entrance.

I was even able to set up an area for the guys to eat outside if they wanted.



 There was still some tools and other construction items on both porches, but people could walk around safely now!

  

After we moved in, I added our deck furniture and some plants which really helped. Just wasn't digging the red trim and white pickets though and those front steps were just plain ugly, and dangerous!


     



Tom to the rescue! First, a nice, new front door! Picture is kind of blurry, but you can make it out.

Then, he tore off the old railing and moved and widened the steps. The new railing is made of cedar 2x2 spindles.  Below is a picture of the finished porch after the lattice was installed (taken from the back deck), the posts and upper trim painted and the new siding was put up and painted - oh, yeah, more stressful color decision!! 

I'll leave you here for today.  Just want to add that we are so grateful to Steve Steinbock and his 2 sons, Bryan Steinbock and Trina Lantau for all their help during this project. There is much more to do, but they got us in and made my life so much easier. THANK YOU!!

Have a wonderful week whether you're in Sunny Shelton or Snowy Virginia, or somewhere in between. 

Jackie

Finally, showing off the new digs! Sort of!

It has been nearly 11 months since we were handed the keys to our new house. A lot had to happen to our "sow's ear" to turn it into the "nylon purse" that it is today. I say "nylon" because it's got a ways to go before it becomes silk!!

So, here's some pics of what we started with:

Check out the white vinyl siding. So 80's, don't you think!Big lot - .88 acres - with cherry trees!!    

Hot tub on the back deck hidden behind the red trellis- got rid of that nasty thing!





View of the back of the house - huge deck and a beautiful cherry tree!




As you can see, it had potential - once all the windows, sliders were replaced, the hot tub removed, etc. etc!!

Here's some inside views:

 70's photo-finish cabinets


wood stove in "family room" check out the crooked chimney pipe!


stick-on tiles in front bedroom and on stairs



  notice the lovely sheet rock on the stairway wall!

                                                 

love those fluorescent light fixtures!!




strange wall with lots of outlets
in the attached garage.  hmmmm

There was also a walled-off area in the detached shop with 4 small rooms and tell-tale signs of a small marijuana grow going on. Tom looked diligently for stashed product or money - only found a few dried leaves.  I think this was one of the turn-offs for previous lookers. That and the popcorn ceilings, the mold on the wall facing the front door, the obvious leak from the upstairs bathroom, etc. None of which deterred this determined couple to offer the bank full asking price! That offer was later lowered considerably and accepted gladly after the inspection. Later, we lamented we hadn't lowered it even more!! We're sure any offer would have been accepted just to get it off the bank's books! 

But, with Tom's brother Steve as our contractor, Tom helping when he wasn't working, and me as gofer and general cleaner-upper, we tackled the project head-on! Oh, and about those popcorn ceilings - it took my former co-worker Oran Thompson and I seven hours, but we sprayed and scrapped every room and hallway that had that nasty stuff on it. Now we have nice, slightly textured ceilings! I know, a lot of you have that popcorn stuff in your homes - and, if maintained properly, it doesn't look so bad. But this stuff was nasty! Dirty, mold on some places where there had been leaking, patched-and badly- in some places. It had to come down!

So, demolition began in the kitchen - 

 first - get those ugly cabinets out!
we didn't demolish them, though, like you see on those remodel TV  shows - we reused them in the shop and garage. The guys even cut out the peninsula portion so I can use it in my future hobby shop!

new wiring for more outlets and making adjustments for where the frig and stovetop will be.





"pretty" vinyl under the laminate flooring that we took off - also to be re-used elsewhere. Laminate - not the vinyl!!

 kitchen gutted - now for "super cleaning woman" - that's me!!

then there was that stove and all the bricks to come out of the family room. About a third of the way thru, I mentioned to Tom that I hope Steve didn't come back in a couple days and tell us he had a pneumatic tool that would take this all out a lot easier than the crowbar and hammers we were using. The lightbulb went off and out he went to his shop to find - voila! - a vibrating apparatus with a chisel!! Cleaned out the rest of the brick in 1/2 the time it had taken us to do a couple feet!!  Yay!! Our backs were very happy!!

Now, it's time for the rebuild!! Oh, and did I mention that the laminate that was on the kitchen floor extended thru the family room area as you can see in the picture above? Well, the kitchen laminate came up quite easy - just one board at a time. Thought we would have enough to put in the upstairs hallway. Them it came time to take up the family room section - only these pieces had been glued together!! So, they were taken out in glued sections - to be used in the shop or maybe my hobby room.  Or sent to the dump, unfortunately.

Since we don't have children at home, we don't need a family room. What we did need was a larger kitchen, a 3/4 bath and in-house laundry. So, the guys framed in part of the former family room area for the new bath/laundry and we extended the kitchen to take in part of the rest of the room leaving a nice entry area to the back deck for barbecuing. Originally, we were going to replace the slider with a door and sidelight or small window. After a visit from my good friend, Kerry, we decided it would be nicer to keep the view that came with the slider and just narrowed the bathroom on that wall to accommodate the new, vinyl slider with built-in blinds. Yay! Thank you, Kerry! Looks so much nicer and also gives the view from the back yard a more balanced look with the matching slider off the dining room. Sorry, don't have any pictures of that area with the new slider. Here's some pics of the new bath/laundry area, though. The slider replaced the old metal one showing here.

Ready for new cabinets!!

After taping, texture and painting, the new cabinets went in. 

We went with rustic alder with a cashew stain.

 The frig is now on the opposite end of the left wall and the stove top is on the sink side, giving me a good 6 feet of counter space for baking!!

 Really wanted a farm-style sink and found this stainless steel one on-line on sale for less than 1/2 price and a lot less than a porcelain sink. Love it and the way I can wash large pans without having to tip and do one side at a time! Oh, and that cabinet on the right side of the sink is my pull-out trash bins! Love, love, love that!! No under the sink small trash or walking around the kitchen with wet trash, just pull the door open and out come the trash cans! One for garbage and one for recycling.

 Didn't think I really needed double ovens - boy was I wrong! As it turned out, the cabinet for the built-in was more expensive for a single oven than a double due to all the drawers under the oven. Found the ovens on sale, so it was only about $100 more total to have the double set-up. They have really come in handy!






This is a view with the quartz counter top we chose. Shows the longer kitchen and a bigger peninsula than what was there.
                 

 This is with our tiled backsplash. Took us hours and several trips to Lowe's, Home Depot and several specialty stores before piecing together this design. The center run has sparkles in it to match the sparkles in the countertop.





We went with vinyl plank flooring for all the new stuff. This is a silver elm from Home Depot. Brings out the grays from the countertop, appliances and backsplash with a bit of tan to match the cabinets. It's textured like real wood, perfect for a wet environment.

Remember that ugly stairway? Well, Tom and Steve came up with a plan to take care of that!  Even though we don't live in a log house anymore, Tom still likes the look of wood in the house. So he thought some beautiful tongue-and-groove cedar would be perfect for the entrance way which includes the stairs and the facing wall. I picked out rustic cherry vinyl planks for the runners and Steve trimmed it out nicely. The front door facing wall is a real eye catcher when friends come over!
The stair railing was black - several layers of black, actually. Tom stripped, sanded and repainted it a brushed nickel to match the door handles. Looks clean and modern now!

 Steve also made all the moldings from cedar. This is the kitchen window all trimmed out. It's around the doors as well. Looks great!

Well, there's lots more to show you and stories to tell, but I think that's enough for now! Promise more soon, including Christmas!

I'd like to end this blog with a special Thank You to my credit union- Peninsula Credit Union in Shelton, WA - for coming through with the financing for this house. It was very stressful the last week before we had to close and the gals in the Mortgage Dept really stepped up and got the info to the powers that be to get our loan approved and the signing done on time. And of course, my good friend Carolyn Rich and her crew at First American Title.  Always a pleasure working with them!! No, this is not a commercial, just a heart-felt Thank You!

To be continued…….

Jackie

THANKSGIVING THOUGHTS

Thursday is Thanksgiving, something that only those living under a rock or maybe deep in some mountainous rain forest wouldn't know by now. The day we gorge ourselves on turkey, stuffing, yams in various designs, mashed potatoes and gravy and lots and lots of pie!! And then crawl to the living room where we lie on the couch or sit in the recliner or just collapse on the floor and groan with ecstasy (or pain!).  Somewhere between the turkey going in the oven and family/guests going out the door, there are hugs, kisses, laughter, tears, sharing of memories, prayers of thanks, pats on the back and toasts of gratitude to the cook or cooks and new memories being made. 

Before all the festivities, I'd like to take a few moments to recount some of the things I am most grateful for. Of course, I can't begin to list my items without starting with my family - my children, grandchildren, aunts, uncle, cousins, brother and sister-in-law and, without a doubt the love of my life, Tom. 

But then there's the things that aren't as tangible - like God's love and blessings in my life, the fact I was born in a country where I can worship freely, without fear of reprisal or death. That, as a woman, I can walk down the street alone in a pair of jeans and a shirt and not worry that I'll be stoned. I was able to attend school and college with no-one throwing acid at me or shooting me or otherwise threatening me. Yes, I am very fortunate. 

And, being born in the middle of the 20th century seeing so many changes in our country and the world both socially, technologically and medically. I watched Neil Armstrong walk on the moon, received polio and smallpox vaccinations, witnessed the realization of desegregation, danced the twist, swooned to the Beatles, rocked with the Boss, programmed a room-size computer using keypunched cards, sent texts to my grandkids on my android phone!! Whew!! And so much more!!  From having to use the outhouse at Grandma Movius' to having a toilet seat that closes itself! Now THAT'S progress!! LOL!! And so much more!!

Yes, I have much to be Thankful for not just on Thanksgiving, but everyday. And there will be many years ahead to have more things to give Thanks for. Another grandson graduates next June and then on to college. Then it will be 3 granddaughters in a row graduating and onto college. A few years and then the last 2 grandkids start their futures. I can't even imagine all the amazing advances they will see in their lifetimes!

So, whether you're traveling to family or friends, having everyone at your home or joining family and friends at a local restaurant and letting someone else do the cooking and clean up like we are this year, 

                                               HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!  

Jackie!

Chillin' NEAR the lake!

I thought about changing the name of my blog since we're not technically living in a lake community anymore. But then I thought, hey, we're just about 1/4 mile from a lake - Spencer Lake. True, we can't see it from our home, but it doesn't take long to get there. So, I'm thinking' that's close enough to keep the name.  So, we're still chillin' and enjoying our lives. 

So, what would possess us to sell our beautiful log home in our wonderful community and buy a bank-owned fixer-upper in the small, non-HOA development not too far away, you might be asking. Or not! LOL!! Well, in a simple answer, Retirement. That elusive, future promise of free time, project-filled, snow-birding adventure that will be fast upon us before we know it.  And snow! That's right, 2 winters ago it snowed so much one week, we couldn't get to work and if there, didn't stay there due to all the snow coming down. I was sitting in my recliner watching the snow fall and clicking thru the TV channels trying to find something worth watching thinking, if only we had a heated shop, we could be out there building things or working on projects. Only problem, there was no room on our lot to build a shop big enough to serve my needs and Tom's. So the plan took shape and the quest to sell our home began several months later when we hoped the home sales had leveled out. 

After a year of no lookers or offers, we thought, well let's wait a year or so and try again. A few months later, around Christmas, Tom decided to try putting the house on Craigslist. Lo and behold, someone in another part of the state decided to peruse thru the Craigslist listings for her dream house. Coincidence? Devine Intervention, whatever you think, it worked out great and with the sale of our house we gained a good friend. 

I still keep in touch with my neighbors from Lake Limerick. We loved living there and especially loved our neighbors. During the summer, I would either head over after dinner or stop by on my way home and walk with my buddies Kathy, Kerry, and sometimes, Judy, Linda and Donna. It's a great place to walk with little traffic. Something I plan on restarting once the evenings stay lighter longer. 

Once we knew our log home was, in deed, selling, we knew we needed to find another place to live. What to do - rent and build on a lot Tom had in another development not far out of town or try to find a place already built that fit our needs. We decided for the latter and began the hunt. The pickings were slim - too big, strange layout, no room for a shop, too expensive, too far away from the highway. Then Tom saw this place come up on the MLS and it had just dropped $20k and was down about $50k from the original asking price. Obviously, the bank wanted to get it off it's books. We checked it out. Good floor plan, already built shop and room for another, quiet cul-de-sac, attached 2-car garage. There were some strange things going on in both the garage and the shop - lots of extra receptacles, walls built in strange places, little rooms in the shop - all led to the only conclusion - grow operation. I'm not talking about vegetables, here. Then, the final clue - some dried leaves in the shop! Yep, someone had been growing and processing weed, mary-jane, pot, demon tobacco!! Oh, well! I checked with an agency that keeps records of illegal activity addresses and found nothing reported here, so a little pot growing operation didn't bother us. In fact, Tom is still looking for a hidden stash - of either green stuff! LOL!!

We made an offer, found some problems, lowered our offer and bought the place! Then the fun began. But that's for another post. 

I'll just say, it's been a very busy 6 months and there's still lots to do. But I'm feeling pretty comfortable in our cozy little home and I don't feel any seller's remorse when I visit my new friend in our old home. 

Till next time!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

BEEN TOO LONG - TIME TO CATCH UP!

GOOD GRIEF!! I can't believe it's been over 2 years since I published anything on this blog! Time sure DOES fly! My last blog was about what I fixed for Father's Day 2012. 

Well, a lot has happened since then! Where do I begin?

September of 2012 saw us putting our beautiful log home up for sale. It was time to start planning for retirement and it just did not meet our needs. Plus the lot was not large enough to fit the shops on that we wanted. If you've ever sold a home, you know you have to keep it halfway clean all the time! This meant I had to come up with some less messy solutions for Christmas ornaments. I don't think I have any pictures, but I had a dozen clear glass balls which I painted each family member's name on and the year and tied bows on to finish them off. I think they turned out okay. 

Selling also meant no more working on stained glass projects - too messy and smelly. So all of my glass work tools, accessories, glass, etc got put on a shelf. 

Well, by September 2013, we had not had even one prospective buyer look at the house! The market is still soft and there aren't a lot of calls for a 2-bedroom log house in a golf/lake community near Shelton.  So, we took it off the market with plans to wait a year or so. We still had a few years before retirement, so weren't in any hurry. 

Christmas 2013 saw my beautiful Aunt Kay and sweet Uncle Alan spending the day with us. We also had my younger daughter, Kellie, and her daughter, Kensi, with us as well as my quirky 2nd cousin Carl. 

 The gals and

The guys!  Carl, Uncle and Tom

This turned out to be our last Christmas in the log house. So glad we were able to spend it with all these loved ones. 

New Years Eve found us celebrating with Tom's son, Bryan and his family including his fiancé's Mom! Fun!!

Kyle, Dillon, Trina and Bryan

The next day, Tom decided to try Craig's list to sell the house. This is the picture he put on. 

A gal emailed him the same day for more pictures. Her 70+ year old father came by on the 2nd to see the place and she, her adult daughter, 11 year old son, father and step-mother came the next day for a 2-hour tour! Well, after a bit of discussion, a good inspection report and a few minor repairs, she bought it!! The sale closed on Feb. 28. She couldn't move in until the end of June, so we made arrangements to rent the place from her until we either found another home or she had to move in. 

We were on the hunt!! First for a rental and then for a house with some property to do what we wanted. 

Wish list:  shop, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, between 1/2 and 1 acre, not far from Hwy 101. Preferably move-in ready and less than $175k. Not easy in this area. But we ended up getting something that had almost everything on the wish list! 

I know, doesn't look like much - but you'd be surprised at how it turns out!! Stay tuned for "How I Spent the last 8 months!!"

That's all for now, thanks for stopping by. 

Jackie