It takes 2 1/2 – 3 hours to mow our lawn (as you can see here). Micah always gets the mowing done on his day off. Meanwhile, I take the edge trimmer along the fence and steps, trim the bushes and rip out some random weeds. The lawn bags fill up quickly. The town only picks up lawn waste every two weeks, so this is what we’re left with after mowing twice:

It’s pretty disgusting, actually. The bags smell too bad to keep in the garage, so we just hide them along the left side of the house (where there are no windows). Have I mentioned how glad I am that Micah handles all things lawn? He’s very good about helping out with things I hate to do (like emptying the dishwasher). Lucky me!

A few months ago, I painted the sink top in the downstairs bathroom. I knew this wasn’t a permanent solution, but I figured it would work until we got around to replacing the sink… Then, the kids discovered it and thought, “Wow! Peeling paint and throwing it everywhere is fun!” We can’t ignore it anymore.

One of our home’s many previous owners added the bathroom sometime in the 1970s or 1980s. It was in total disrepair when we first moved in, and we had to hire someone to replace a lot of the plumbing. The last step is the sink. It sits on top of a built-in cabinet and has unusual dimensions. The “vanity top” is a piece of plywood with a thin fiberglass (I presume) material glued to the top. The sink itself is porcelain, and it has many chips and stains. Hopefully, we can rip it out soon!

We’re still waiting to hear about the driveway. We had it repaired about two months ago, and now we want to have it sealed. The company said they’d get back to us when they started sealing for the season.

We’ve been looking for a screened gazebo for the back patio. The patio is 13 x 13, but I doubt we’ll find one that will cover the entire thing. Most of them seem to be 10 x 12. It would be nice to have a shaded place, away from bugs, to sit with Lily while the kids play.

Lastly, we ordered a new gate. One of the pickets broke off the existing one. We tried just about everything, but it wouldn’t attach again. That should be ready to pick up any day now.

I do have some good news. Our work on the drain in the laundry room seems to have worked. Suds do not back up anymore, and we were able to plug
the drain without any problems. Micah wants to put flooring down soon. In the meantime, he’s been busy rounding up apples and trying to convince me that
I should learn how to bake pies (yes, it’s a light bulb changer).

In other news, I found an unexpected job. I noticed some of the wallpaper peeling from the family room wall. I hate wallpaper. This is the only place it existed, but I had no experience with removal and decided to paint over it. The problem was that it had a texture, so it was always obvious that it was wallpaper. I also hated seeing the lines between each strip. I noticed how easily it seemed to pull back, so I got to work. Six and a half hours later, I realized a couple of disturbing things. First of all, it was much more work than I anticipated. Also, when previous owners paint over wallpaper in every room in the house, yet choose wallpaper for the top half of a newly-finished room, they’re trying to cover something up. About 3/4 through the project, I found a large area of wallboard with some water damage at
the surface. It did not smell very bad and I did not notice any black spots, but I cleaned it carefully with some bleach as a precaution. I am not sure whether this would have become a bad problem if I had never discovered it. I spent a long time spackling the wall the following day, and then Micah and I started painting.
Here are some photos of the process.

Starting point:

Wallpaper removed:

Wet with sponge:

Peel remaining layer:

Bare wall:

Damaged wall:

Spackle:

The family room photos have been updated in the photos section. We finally installed a nice shelf for a Titanic display I’ve had for nearly ten years. We also painted a door for the “clubhouse” and installed hinges. I am going to add a drawer knob to serve as a doorknob.

We got to work on the hardwood floors in the master bedroom today.

After sanding:

It took about two hours. I would like to do the same with the other bedrooms in the future, but for now the carpeting is still fairly new and I think it’s a better choice with kids.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

We fixed a couple of tiny holes in the entryway wall, replaced a doorknob, and worked on the drain in the laundry room. We were able to get a snake through, but not very far.

It’s a pretty bad clog and nothing seems to work. Suds tend to back up when I run the washing machine. Micah wants to put some vinyl flooring down once the drain is clear, and we have a plan to partially finish the room in the next couple of months.

It looks like I might be out of painting jobs for a while. We finished the family room very easily. It’s not as neutral and modern as I usually try to get, but it’s good for a play room. I love to think of the possibilities for that room in the future, once the kids don’t need such a big dedicated area for their toys. It’s nearly as big as our first apartment!

We also painted the living room. It warmed things up a lot and sort of defined it as a room (rather than just one room flowing into the next). I purchased an electric fireplace, but the seller is giving me a hard time about shipment or delivery. Hopefully, he will get it here soon. I searched for one of those for months, and it was a really good deal.

I also found a vanity/sink/faucet combo (36-inch) in like-new condition for $160.00. We need to meet the seller halfway (1.4 hours from here) to pick it up, but I think it’s worthwhile. Our handyman is really difficult to reach, so who knows when that will go in. I’m also not sure what to do because the vanity is natural maple and the medicine cabinet/light fixture are oak. Eventually, I’d like to replace them.

I’ve been focused on the upstairs bathrooms lately, though we have to wait because they are costly renovations. I’ve heard that it’s possible to paint bathroom tile, so I’d like to try that in the master bath if it will really work. I’m not sure if that pertains to shower tile, however. Ours is powder blue! We also need to replace the tile floor in the kids’ bath because it’s starting to fall apart and bubble. I’m pretty sure it’s original. Micah just took a management position at one of the big home improvement stores, so he’s made it a goal to learn how to replace both upstairs bathroom floors himself. I think he will learn a lot from this job!

It seems like every time our wish list cuts down, I find more things to add to it. There are big projects, like adding a chair rail to Molly and Mia’s room and remodeling the kids’ bathroom a bit. Those things will have to wait! However, I do have a few new painting projects that I’d like to get done this weekend.

I despise wallpaper. I guess I’m not the only one these days! The top half of the family room is wallpaper, and it’s starting to peel. It’s very neutral, but I’d rather give that room a little color. I couldn’t figure out what would go with the leather-textured paneling on the lower half (which I love), but my sister suggested a shade of blue. I have a shade in mind, and it will also compliment the flooring in the hallway. That room just needs something – especially since it only serves as a playroom these days and isn’t decorated at all.

We also plan to paint the living room. We’ve debated over this one for a while, since our sofa is a pale sage color. In the end, we decided to do the same color as the upstairs hallway. The entrance area and downstairs hallway will still be off-white, however. Eventually, we want to buy an electric fireplace and some decor for the living room. That will probably happen around Christmas time, if we save enough money!

Our handyman finally called today! We’ve had our new toilet for the master bath sitting in a box in the garage for months now. We are also going to replace the vanity/sink/faucet in there. There will be some other “odd jobs”, like fixing a small crack in the kitchen ceiling and installing the chandelier (I hope!). That all starts tomorrow.

I LOVE this house!

We finished as much work as we could on our own, then called for the professionals. The sink and shower were not working in the downstairs bathroom. The flange for the toilet broke when they put in the new flooring. We later found out that it broke because it was rusted. We have a hose hookup in the garage that was leaking right into the bathroom. We knew about it, but didn’t realize how long it had been going on. When the plumber removed the pipe, it had tape and glue all over it. A previous owner clearly didn’t want to call anyone! Now, everything is fixed. We have new faucets, a new toilet, and the hose connection looks great.

Our new plumber is also a “handyman”, so he was able to give us an estimate on the garage ceiling. We decided to go ahead with it. The previous owner added insulation but ripped out the sheetrock in the process. As a result, the ceiling was just a bunch of hanging, exposed insulation. It looked horrible! They’ve been here all day installing new sheetrock, and we agreed to pay extra to have it painted. They’re also going to patch up the wall around the hose attachment.

We finished the landscaping in the back yard. We used 30-gallon lawn/leaf bags to dispose of all the weeds and dead branches we found. In the end, we filled up 12 of them! It looks great, though. To finish things off, I added a lamp post in the middle of the rocks and replaced the wall fixture near the sliding doors.

The house is really shaping up now, and we’ve made it our own. I’m still decorating a bit. The dryer is starting to make annoying squeaking noises, so I think it’s time to get rid of it and bring in ours. I still like the washer they left here, though. I don’t know how old it is, but it works better than any washer I’ve ever used!

My parents are coming over for a visit in the end of June. They have a pressure washer, so we are going to use that to clean the foundation. After that, we’re going to start painting! The cement shouldn’t be very difficult, but the rest of the house will be a tedious job. We’re going with beige, and have it narrowed down to a few choices:

They’re all similar, but we want to go with something neutral that won’t look outdated in a few years. The scan looks kind of pink, but it has a more (boring) grayish tone.