Happy Howl-oween!

Happy Howl-oween from Chuck Taylor and Bob Barker!

I managed to throw together a Halloween mantel really quickly, in case we get trick or treaters tonight.

 

 



 

 

 



 

 

 

I still need to dig out my big crystal candlesticks for tonight.  They're in the garage somewhere . . . 

We've had the fake raven for several years, and although the hubs thought I was crazy for buying him (we call him Flappy), I cannot even tell you how many people have these for their Halloween decor now.  They're everywhere!

 

 

Young House Love

 

... in the Fun Lane

 

Brooklyn Limestone

Glad to see I'm not the only one with some raven lovin'.

 

I fully intended to fill those two big glass hurricane jars with some tiny baby punkin gourds, but seeing how I waited till the day before Halloween to decorate (dang that whole moving thing!), I couldn't get my hands on any on such short notice.

 

I did manage to pick up a bag of Kit-Kats and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups this morning, so if we do have trick or treaters tonight, we'll have treats to give them.

 

We're going to build our first fire in the fireplace tonight, and I bought a bundle of birch logs yesterday - more for decoration than for burning - but I can always get more.  I'm just imagining how amazingly delicious our s'mores made with Reese's Cups are going to be tonight . . .

 

Trick or Treat!

 

 



Kitchen Paint Colors: Done!

I finally made a decision for the paint colors for the cabinets and walls in the kitchen.  Since we're just doing a low-budget remodel for now, I need colors to work with the existing countertop and backsplash. 

I chose Valspar Allen + Roth Sunday Times ar915 for the cabinets and Ultra White 7006-24 for all of the woodwork trim in the house.  I wanted a clean white for all of the woodwork and a slightly more yellow-cream white for the cabinets.  I've used Sunday Times before for a picture frame project, and it looks really nice when you distress the edges with 220 grit sandpaper to expose the wood underneath.  I'm considering doing this technique to the cabinets, but we'll see how ambitious I'm feeling when the time comes.

For the walls, I swear I tried just about every greyish neutral that Lowes had, and I ended up going with a color that I've loved for a long time, but have yet to use.  Home Depot's Martha Stewart line of paints has around 230 colors, but let me tell you, the collection is meticulously curated to only include the best colors.  So I'm going with Bedford Gray MSL246 for the walls in the kitchen, and will probably continue the color into the dining and living rooms.  I made sure that I liked the color against all of the stonework around the fireplace and the room divider/planter between the living and dining rooms.

Patrick has all next week off, since he's only taken one vacation day this whole year so far, he needs to use it before the end of December.  We're planning to tackle the kitchen then.  It will be a low-cost update that I know will make a big impact. 

The only thing I'm held up on is the finish I want to use for the cabinet hardware.  I keep getting pulled into the black iron finishes, although I always end up using brushed nickel everywhere.  What do you think?

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I went to the grocery store for the first time since moving in, and since we had pretty much nothing in the house to eat, I ended up spending $240+ on groceries.  The upside?  I won't have to shop for another month, and tonight we're having this:



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Now wipe the drool off and listen up.  This is the BEST meatloaf recipe ever.  I love all of Tyler Florence's Tyler's Ultimate recipes, but I've made this several times, and it's the only recipe I use now.  It's layered in bacon, people.  Amazing.  Get it here.  Thanks, Food Network.

I also picked up some Starbuck's Mocha Frappucinos while at the grocery store.  I've been wanting to try this recipe ever since I pinned it months ago (I've just been waiting for the weather to get colder).  Since I don't have the whipped creme vodka, but I do have Peppermint Schnapp's, I made a grown-up Starbuck's Peppermint Mocha.  And seeing how I woke up to a light dusting of snow thanks to Sandy, I think it's the perfect time for a fire and a cocktail while making dinner.

Cheers!

All Moved In!

Mercy!  What a crazy last few days it's been.  We closed on the house last Wednesday night, and brought the Jeep and my car full of stuff to the title company, so we could drop it all off immediately after we got the keys.  We've been hauling truck and carloads of stuff from the rental house in Milford for four days, and with the help of Patrick's dad and stepmom, we were able to get everything out by 8 p.m. on Saturday night.

I've slowly been unpacking the garage, which is where we just kind of dumped everything while we were moving things out to the new house.  We're definitely talking about a s-l-o-w process.

I do, however have some priorities in line.

After spending the night here on Friday night, we woke up and each took quickie showers Saturday morning.  Mine was cold.  Buying and installing a new water heater moved to the top of the project list, and we got that taken care of on Sunday. 

Another little task I couldn't wait to get out of the way was taking down the wooden spindle room divider between the living and dining rooms.  Remember this?

Well, Patrick and I wasted no time removing that puppy.  It's amazing what a difference it made.

I also took down the house number and last name of the previous owner that was above the garage door on the barn.  Since they've been up so long, I need to touch up the siding with some paint to make the outlines completely disappear, but I don't think it's that noticeable from the road.

The room with the most progress thus far is the office, which I had to get set up right away so that I could work tomorrow morning.  The internet guys came this morning (which is why I'm able to post!).

Here's how the office looks so far:

Lots of junk still needing a place to go, but at least I can work.  Most of the boxes in this photo are just hanging out in here until I get the other rooms done, since they're full of decorations and "fluffy" things.  I just didn't want them in the garage and risk them getting broken.

And then there's the kitchen.  The delivery people from Lowes should be here to drop off our new fridge shortly.  Here's what we ended up buying last Saturday:

It's a Samsung 25.6 cu ft Side-by-Side Stainless Steel Energy Star fridge that is listed for $1,299, but was at the Lowes store for $999.  We were shopping Saturday, and Patrick really liked this one (I think the LED interior lights sealed the deal for him), and I liked another one that was $1,299.  Luckily we found the same Samsung in the clearance aisle for $799.  Someone purchased it and decided they wanted a counter-depth model instead, so they brought it back.  We were pretty proud of our find.

I also picked up about 47 white paint samples from Lowes on Sunday to see which one I want for painting the cabinets.  My process goes like this: I fan them all out and eliminate the ones that are too green, too pink, or too yellow.  Then I'm taking a few at a time and taping them up so I can see how they look with the existing tile backsplash and woodgrain laminate countertops. 

 


Then I'll eliminate them one by one until I've got it narrowed down to the white that looks the best with the backsplash, the counter and whatever color I pick for the walls and trim.  I'm looking for a pure white for the baseboard and door trim, so I want a slightly creamier white for the cabinets.  Once the cabinets are painted, I think it will go a long way to helping the countertop and backsplash look nicer.  It won't be fabulous, but at least it will be tolerable until we're able to save up for a total kitchen remodel.

This afternoon's agenda consists of a BIG trip to IKEA for those things you don't realize you need until you're unpacking and getting everything situated.

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IKEA, my happy place.

(Super) Easy Burlap Stockings

If you're like me, you keep seeing all these cute things you'd like to have, but just can't bring yourself to actually fork over the cash to buy them.  In recent times of thrift (like saving for a house), I find myself putting off things I'd like to have more than ever. 

Now, I haven't always been the penny-pinching type, but we didn't always have the money available growing up for some of the things we wanted (i.e. a dress).  So, my mom gave me one of the best gifts she could have: she taught me how to sew.  This opened a whole new outlet to me - a way to get what I really wanted but couldn't always afford, and allowed me to customize whatever it was that I was sewing for myself.  So, when I graduated high school (10 years ago already!) I went to college for Fashion Design.  Even though I didn't end up with a degree and a career as a fashion designer, I don't regret taking a whole year of sewing classes one bit (especially since it turned out I'd need those credits later when I got my Interior Design degree!).  It's a skill I'll have (and utilize) for the rest of my life.

And that all leads us up to today's post.

I was scoping around online this morning and checking out the new Christmas decorations, and saw this stocking on the Ballard Designs website.

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Burlap stockings.  Too cute.  They go with the whole Modern Rustic Vintage theme I've been going for at the new house.  The problem?  They're *on sale* for $55 a pop.  Dang.

I already needed to go to JoAnn Fabric for some upholstery tacks and another yard of brown fabric for an ongoing re-upholstery job we're doing on a chair, so while I was there, I picked up 2 yards each of ivory muslin and tan burlap for $2.99 a yard.

I was able to make four stockings out of my four yards of fabric for around $15 (including the thread I bought).  And I have enough leftover burlap for another project.  I see these pillows in my future.

So here's a quick tutorial on how I made mine.

1.  Lay out the ivory muslin on the floor, folded.  Lay a stocking you already have on top and cut around it to make a template.

2.  Lay out the burlap in a single layer and cut around the ivory template you just made.  You'll have 2 ivory fabric pieces and 1 burlap piece.

3.  For the cuff, I did a 5" thick band the same width as the ivory stocking piece.  You'll only need 1 for the front.  You could do another one for the back so that it's cuffed on both sides, but I didn't really see the point.

4.  Press under 1/2" - 5/8" for a seam on the bottom part of the cuff.  If you use an iron, you won't need to pin the seam - it's way easier, trust me.

5.  Sew the seam so that you'll have a finished edge.  The above photo shows the cuff with the finished edge already sewn.  (You're seeing the inside of the fabric, not the outside finished side).

6.  Take one of the ivory muslin pieces and the burlap piece and line them up on top of each other.  Luckily, there's no "right" or "wrong" side to either of these fabrics, so that makes things easier.  If you're using a fabric that has a definite right and wrong, you'll want to have the "wrong" sides facing each other.  These two pieces are going to make up the front piece of the stocking.  Since the burlap is holey and see-though, the second piece of ivory muslin is going to act as a lining for the burlap.

7.  Put the raw (not sewn) edge of the cuff (with the sewn under hem on the outside facing up) on top of the other 2 pieces.  See below.  So you have the table, the burlap piece, the ivory piece, then the ivory cuff on top. 

8.  Pin the top so that you can sew the 3 pieces of fabric straight along the edge.  You're only sewing the top edge of the stocking at this point.

 

9.  After you've got the top edge sewn, you'll want to trim that seam down by half, so that you'll eliminate the bulk along the top.

10.  Flip the cuff over so that it's on top of the burlap side, and the finished hem is facing up.  Press with the iron along the top seam so that it lays flat.  This is where that whole seam-trimming step will help you out. 

Now when you lay it on your table, you'll have the cuff (with the good side facing up, toward you), the burlap piece, then the ivory piece on bottom. 






11.  Take the other ivory muslin piece you haven't used yet and follow the same process used in Steps 4 & 5 to make a finished edge for the back piece of the stocking.

12. Make a little loop to hang your stocking. I used some upholstery binding / edging that I had from another project, but you could use ribbon if you wanted. Make the loop and place a pin so that the raw edges of the ribbon line up with the raw edges of the stocking.

13. Take the piece you just did the finished edge for and place it with the finished edge facing down, so that you see the raw edge that you sewed under, on top of the other two pieces.  Pin around all of the edges, with the heads of the pins facing the center of the stocking.  This will keep you from having to scoot the pin heads out of the way of your presser foot as you sew.

This is what you should see if you look into the stocking.  All the "good" sides of the fabric facing the inside, with your pretty finished seam at the top.

14.  I started sewing on the right side, where the loop is, working my way around the stocking, turning as I went, and ending up with the top left of stocking.

15.  Once you're done sewing, you can take your pins out and trim your seam down by half.

16.  Flip 'er right side out and press flat.  I only used the iron on the muslin side, since I'd never ironed burlap before and didn't want to risk starting a fire or scorching it.  Below is a closeup of what the loop will look like when you turn the stocking inside out.  All nice and finished.

And here's the finished stocking!

After I finished these, I realized that you could do the cuff an alternate way.  To do that, you can skip the step where you sew the bottom hem of the cuff, and just press it under with the iron.  Follow the same steps to attach the cuff to the one piece of ivory muslin and burlap, still trimming the seam and folding over.  Before you sew the back piece, top stitch straight across the 3 layers of fabric along the ironed-under edge.  This will leave you with a finished edge on the bottom of the cuff, but it will be sewn to the front of the stocking.

I'm going to get a silver paint pen and write all of our names on the cuff before we hang them up after Thanksgiving.  I know, a little ahead of schedule, but when you have the time, you take advantage of it.

Happy sewing!

Making the List

We had our home inspection yesterday, and everything came out pretty well.  Especially when you consider the fact that the house was built in 1958 (making it 54 years old - still newer than the Jasper house, though), and that it hasn't had much in the way of updating.

The only major issue that came up that may need to be remedied by the seller is that the crawl space has mold in it.  We paid an extra $200 or so to have two mold samples taken to determine the type and concentration of the mold we got going down there.  If it's at a high level or the bad-bad type of mold (black mold), then it'll cost quite a bit to fix - anywhere from $2,000 - $4,000.  We would, of course, make the sellers pay to fix it, since it would have to be fixed before anyone (not just us) could buy the house.

Even before the inspection (actually even before we had the accepted offer), I started making a list of everything that needed to be done.  Some are biggies and are comprised of lots of little projects (i.e. "remodel kitchen"), and some are little jobbers.  Of course, I added a few items that were brought to our attention yesterday during the inspection, and I'm sure I'll be adding to the list once we actually move in.

Here's THE LIST (in order of likeliness of happening):

- Have the HVAC people do ductwork + install heat pump
- Remove baseboard radiators
- Take down little wooden room divider between living room + dining room
- Take down mirrors in living room
- Remove brass fireplace insert
- Demo shelves in mudroom
- Hang shelves
- Buy rugs
- Install closet organizer in office closet
- Put up gallery wall in hallway
- Replace old / mismatched switchplates with white ones
- Update all lighting fixtures
- Hang shelves
- Replace water heater
- Install garage door opener
- Paint all wood trim white
- Paint kitchen cabinets white
- Get chickens
- Build farmhouse table for dining room
- Build shelves for garage + barn storage
- Fix patio concrete slab
- Replace patio doors
- Fence in backyard
- Add recess lighting to fireplace area
- Paint cabinets + floor in garage
- Replace outlets with GFCIs where applicable
- Renovate Master Bathroom
- Renovate Small Bathroom
- Move W/D to mudroom (add plumbing / electrical) + add cabinets
- Remodel kitchen
- Replace exterior doors (front + mudroom)
- Replace garage door
- Remove giant bushes out front and replace with boxwoods / hydrangeas / anything else
- Finish siding on barn
- Add siding + trim to house

Mercy, that's a lot of work.  Can't wait to tackle it all!

Oh My Word - We're Buying a Farm!

I've been away for a while (okay like two weeks or so), because we had a couple of let-downs on the home search road.  Oh well.  Forget those houses.  They just weren't "the right one" I guess.

But today I'm happy to report that we have an accepted offer (offer, counter offer, counter-counter offer, acceptance) on this little diamond in the rough.

All photos are from the Sibcy Cline agent listing.

It's been on the market since late February.  And we actually looked at it a long time ago, like right after it was listed.  At the time, I wasn't impressed.  And then we hunted.  And hunted.  And hunted.  And got out bid.  Last week, we began to realize that this house was actually a good bet.  It doesn't have vaulted ceilings or a really open floorplan like the house we tried to buy before (twice - ugh), but there is a lot of room for improvement.  Which is really what we're after.

Back of the house

So here are all the dirty details. 

It's in Hamilton Township (near Loveland / Mason area), but not in any city limits, so we can basically do whatever we want.  And I don't have to pay local taxes.  Yay.  The area is really quiet, and the houses are all spaced pretty far apart.  You have to have a minimum 2 acre lot to be able to build out there, so we don't have to worry about cul-de-sac subdivision-type houses popping up.  It's actually on the same road as the other house (see previous link to "Finding the Prince"), but has a much bigger lot.

It's on 2.83 acres, with a barn and fenced-in pasture.  The people behind us have horses in their pasture, so we can see them from inside the house.  I don't think we'll get a horse, though.  But I wouldn't mind taking the neighbors' for a ride (once I learn how, that is . . . ).

Barn

It has a really solidly-built barn, which has 2 garage spaces, a workshop, a hay loft, and the covered area (fenced in around back) for a cow.  Or sheep.  Or chickens.  I have a feeling it may get filled up with extra cars.  Or a VW Westfalia.

Garage

Here's the garage, which is on the right side of the house, if you look at it from the street.  There's no garage door opener, so that may be one of the first projects.  It would be nice to actually park my car in a garage this winter, especially since we'll have the barn for tool / shop / mechanic-y storage.  And the treadmill is going to go in the garage.  Once I actually get a treadmill, that is.

And here's a view of the front door / porch area.

Front Porch

It definitely needs some help.  I can't wait to take that terrible screen door off and replace the wood door with something nicer.  The porch is actually big enough to put a couple of chairs out there.  Maybe that's where these will end up.

Now for the interior photos . . .

Living Room

This is the view of the living room from the hallway.  The door next to the fireplace is a coat closet, and the other door is the front entry door.  The opening to the left is the dining room, and then through the doorway you can see the spot where the fridge should be in the kitchen.  We've got to get  a fridge when we move in.  Those spindle divider thingies are coming down like, Day 1.  The fireplace is woodburning (and it's actually usable - yay!), and that brass insert is coming out as well.  Along with the mirror.  And the weird wall sconce spotlight thing. 

Here's another view, looking the opposite direction.

Living Room (looking toward hallway)

What's with all the mirrors, anyway?  The room's already 23' long, let's make it look longer!  (I hope you can detect my sarcasm).



Dining Room

 

This is the dining room. The doorway where the lightswitch is on the right leads to the kitchen. The whole back wall is glass sliding patio doors. It's such a shame they have them covered with those terrible curtains. Their coming down immediately, along with the pioneer-style lantern light fixture. Any takers? I'll ship it to you! Free of charge! 

 



Dining Room, looking toward living room

The hardwood floors run throughout the house, except for in the kitchen, bathrooms, and mudroom.  They're a bit orange for my taste, but they're in really good condition.  I'm sure the boys will have them scratched up in no time, and we'll be sanding them down and staining them darker (though not right away, since there are some more pertinent projects that need our attention).

Like the kitchen.

Ugly, tiny kitchen

So here's the kitchen, looking back toward the dining room.  It's not huge - about 8' x 10' - but we're planning to take down the wall dividing the kitchen and dining room.  We'll open it up and make one big kitchen with bar seating.  I've already devised a plan from Ikea.

So with that wall gone, we gain 6" and can extend the countertops out to have an overhang for seating.  The backs of the cabinets and range are going to be covered with beadboard and trim to finish everything off without seams.  We'll have 2 glass cabinets on the opposite wall, and open shelves to the left of the window.  Not a lot of space, but hey, I priced everything out from Ikea and the grand total came to just over $6,000 - including the appliances, hardware and countertop.  Not too shabby.

And through the door next to the fridge is a hallway that leads to the second bathroom, the mudroom and backdoor, and the garage.

Mudroom

Here is the mudroom.  And of course, I've already got a plan for that, too.

Since the kitchen's not huge, and we need more storage for food and things like that, I wanted to add some big cabinets in here.  Also from Ikea.  I love Ikea.

So you may be thinking, "Karie, aren't there heating registers all over the place?  You can't put cabinets in front of there."  That is the best part about the deal we made with the sellers.  Our lovely Realtor got us an estimate for a local company to put in ductwork and a heat pump, so that we can have central heating and A/C.  The house currently has fuel oil, which heats a hot water boiler, which then makes heat come out of the baseboard registers.  And window A/C in the summer.  That was just not going to happen.  So when we make it to the closing table, the sellers will have a check written out to the HVAC company for the amount of the estimate, and then we will have them put everything in after we close, but before we move furniture in the house.  Amazing.

So now, on to the bathrooms.  They are both blue.  Everywhere.  I'm guessing nothing in this house has been updated since it was built in 1958.  Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, because the house has been so lovingly taken care of.  And that's reassuring.

But man, are they blue.

Main Bath (near bedrooms)

 

Second Bath (between mudroom and kitchen)

I've got the same plan for both of these.  And it involves a lot of white subway tile.  But as we know, I've got mad skills with the subway tile.  This is me doing the subway tile backsplash in the kitchen at the Jasper house.

Those running shorts look terrible.  Gotta get rid of those . . .

And here are the bedrooms.  Pretty boring.  Pretty basic.  But decent sizes and they all have fairly large closets.

Second Bedroom (My Office)

Guest Bedroom

Master Bedroom

Master Bedroom, Opposite Corner (looking back into hallway)

I look at all these photos and keep thinking, "Damn, girl.  You've got a lot of trim to paint."  I told myself after painting all of the woodwork at the Jasper house, that the next house was going to have all the wood already painted.  No such luck.

So there it is, folks.  Our soon-to-be new house.  The home inspection is scheduled for Monday (October 1) and we have a tentative closing date of October 26.  Hopefully we won't have to pay any rent for November, and we can have everything moved out by then! 

We have a lot of packing to do.  Fortunately, we knew we wouldn't be renting for very long, and a lot of our stuff is still in boxes from the move from the Jasper house.

Wish us luck!  We're really excited and can't wait to get our hands on this place!  I hope you'll follow along on our journey.  I'll be sure to post our progress along the way!