Home Renovation | ...back to the basics...

Never Ending House Projects

March 9, 2012 by julie · 1 Comment

Well, we are at it again. More house projects. THIS time: new kitchen sink and faucet, hallway access to the pantry, new kitchen flooring, and removing a huge cabinet that divided our kitchen and living room. Yikes.

It seems like every project is contingent upon something else. We couldn’t do new flooring until we decided if we really wanted the cabinet gone. Well, to get that looking right the wainscoting had to come down, which was wrapped around the hallway, which let to the pantry access thing. *sigh* My whole house is covered in a thin layer of drywall dust right now. I am trying to remind myself that it is temporary but sheesh, it looks like I have NEVER dusted EVER.

It will be worth it, I know. I am SO ready for a new sink. The glaze is gone on ours (actually was when we bought the house almost 5 years ago) so it NEVER looks clean. Never. I am getting a pretty new stainless one and I can’t wait.

Do you guys have a lot of ongoing projects in your house? Please tell me it isn’t just us…..

Filed Under: home owning, home renovation ·

A Tale of Two Cities

December 16, 2011 by julie · 1 Comment

This could alternately be titled: How we Spent our Anniversary- the crazy edition.

Yesterday was our 4th wedding anniversary, and if you are keeping track, our 10th anniversary together. We had no big plans, as it’s kind of tough to have them when you have two little ones! SO, we decided (like the crazy fools we are) that we should ALL go get the trim needed to finish up the house. We thought between the two of us, it would be no big deal, and it would be fun to spend the day together! SO…

Problem One: My car, while it does do a fabulous job of being a family car, does not hold 8 foot pieces of trim boards.

Solution One: Take my brother’s pickup.

Problem Two: Kris’s truck is a loud, tall, extended cab diesel. Kenley could ONLY go in the middle back (which is more than fine) but I can’t get her in and out. Oh, and I can’t get Brayden in either. Too tall.

Solution Two: I have Brandon, who says putting them both in is no big deal.

Problem Three: The back doors on Kris’s truck only open from the inside, and you have to have them shut in order to shut the driver/passenger side door. You can’t get from the front to the back (say, to nurse a hungry baby) by yourself. I almost killed myself trying.

Solution Three: Just climb over the seats. Just don’t kick Kenley in the face getting there.

As you can see, it’s not the worst trip ever. Just slightly inconvenient but we are a team, making it work. Until, something awful happens. They don’t have the trim we need. We drove an hour away for nothing. BUT, as I said, we are a team, so we decide to call the store in the next big town to see if they have it. They are having a hard time tracking it down, but we figure we can salvage our day, go to Brandon’s moms where it is more comfortable to feed Kenley, and grab dinner.

See? We are solving problems right and left! Feeling good! Working as a team!

Until— we find out that the store QUIT CARRYING THE TRIM we need. And only half of our house is done.

Enter: Total Defeat. We drug around two kiddos out and about all afternoon in a very inconvenient family vehicle FOR NOTHING.

Luckily, we have the manufacturer information so it is possible to get more. It’s just a waiting game now. Brandon is planning on tracking it down tomorrow. I have my fingers crossed.

We learned lots of things yesterday- that it is better to be miserable together, that we work really well as a team, that an extended cab pickup truck isn’t exactly ideal but will do in a pinch, and that next year, we are doing something way more romantic for our anniversary.

Filed Under: home renovation, just for fun, marriage ·

Front Porch/Studio: Progress

March 7, 2011 by julie · 5 Comments

It’s been awhile since I updated on our progress in the new front porch/studio area. So without further adieu, here are some recent photos!

The drywall is finished, the walls and floor are primed, and we picked out carpet and linoleum earlier in the week. It will probably be a couple of weeks before the flooring is installed. I also have the paint picked out and some blinds ordered for the windows.

I love the amount of light that comes in through the new window! It made us wonder why we didn’t do this a LONG time ago.

And the best change? Those old, brown windows are gone and we opened things up! It lets in a TON more light into our living room and for that? I love this!

This is really dark, but this is looking from the living room into the porch. So. Much. Light.

Filed Under: home renovation, photography studio ·

Front Porch/Photo Studio Update

February 12, 2011 by julie · 6 Comments

Here is the current state of this room:

As you can see, the insulation is in and I also have a new window! I can actually see outside from another direction! It is fantastic.

Next up? Drywall!

Filed Under: home renovation, JSancken Photography ·

My Photo Studio: An Update

January 20, 2011 by julie · Leave a Comment

Our front (enclosed) porch has been the most neglected room in our house. So when Brandon suggested we turn it into a photography studio for me? I was excited! We started making lists and plans and generating ideas. And then we found out something that really threw us for a loop.

That wood paneling? Is GLUED TO THE DRYWALL.

I am not even making this up. Brandon decided to tear part of it off just to see what the insulation was like (umm because it is frigid in that room) and came up with that. So now? We get to basically gut the entire room, re-insulate, re-drywall, etc. Which isn’t the end of the world, considering we would rather do it right the first time. But it is going to be a LOT more work than we bargained for.

And if you follow me on Twitter, you know that yesterday my plans for this space almost went completely down the tubes. I felt really rushed into this whole process by Brandon, especially after he ordered me studio lighting and a backdrop set. I SO wanted to be excited but after a couple of days? I just couldn’t shake the pit in my stomach.

You see, yes I LOVE photography, but my business isn’t exactly thriving. I still have so much to learn about my camera and lenses. I am definitely NOT a professional. But I love it. And turning a room in our house for a hobby that might not work out? I wasn’t comfortable with.

I told Brandon how I felt and at first, he was upset. And in his defense, he was only trying to help and make me happy. And I really, really appreciated that, but I was scared and nervous. I didn’t want to put the effort and expenses in for something that I might not 100% pursue. I was set on sending my lights and backdrop back and just continuing to do outside or on location photo shoots. But then? I remembered the 20% restocking fee, and with shipping we would practically lose half of our money on this deal. Since the lights and backdrops come in carrying cases and would store easily, we decided to keep them, and that way I at least have the option of a backdrop and extra lighting. I have a photo shoot on Friday afternoon, and I can’t wait to use them to see what it can do.

Demolition for the front porch will begin Saturday, and also on Saturday, my high school bff and her hubby are coming to help me paint our master bedroom. That’s right! In the middle of all of this? I am still trying to redo our bedroom. It will be a slow process, but I didn’t want to say no to extra help! A post is coming on what I plan to do in our room, so stay tuned.

And for those of you seeing my whiney tweets yesterday? Thanks for your love and support. I think things will work out just fine.

Filed Under: home renovation, photography studio ·

mom and dad’s kitchen: part 3

March 17, 2010 by julie · 3 Comments

Isn’t it gorgeous?? They are coming to start on the tiled backsplash before the end of the week!

Filed Under: home renovation ·

mom and dad’s kitchen: part 2

March 4, 2010 by julie · Leave a Comment

As you can see, the old wall has been knocked out, opening the old kitchen and old family room into the new kitchen/dining area. Also, the new sliding door was being installed! It is coming right along! The cabinets will be ready next week sometime. It is really looking so much different already!

Filed Under: home renovation ·

mom and dad’s kitchen: the demolition

February 23, 2010 by julie · 1 Comment

There isn’t much left! As you can see, my handyman hubby helped with the demolition. With my parents help, they were able to get everything out in just one day. See that fridge? That is my “new” one and is so much handier than the top freezer/bottom fridge model that we had. The wall that the fridge is against will come down and open up that whole area that is now a family room. That will be the new dining room! It is so hard for me to envision, but I have seen the floor plans, and it is going to be amazing. My mom and dad totally deserve this kitchen makeover- it’s been about 2 years in the making!

Filed Under: home renovation ·

landscaping and septic fun…

May 7, 2009 by julie · Leave a Comment

Brandon and I are not the most talented when it comes to yard work- and I think most of it stems from all of the inside work we put into our house. SO we have been trying to think of what to put here…we ripped out what was pea gravel and planted grass…and you can’t really tell from this picture, but there is in fact, some grass growing.

Then there is this area by the front door. This rock and those bushes were there when we bought the place, but I want something a little bigger. These bushes haven’t grown AT ALL since we moved in, and I would like them to get a bit higher to balance out our big front window.

And here is what I came home to yesterday. B rented a sod stripper to go in between all hundred-something of the hybrid trees we have on our lot. We plan to fill that in with mulch so that he doesn’t have to mow in between the trees all the time. You basically have to do it with a weedeater, and it takes forever, and it never looks even.

Around this tree and 2 others that are in the yard, we will mulch around then build it up with bricks/decorative yard bricks/whatever you call them.

Now for the septic story. We have an aerated septic tank, which basically means, part of it stick out above ground and it needs an air vent to help flow things along. Well, that’s how I think it works anyway. So over the weekend, we could hear it just gurgling and churning, thinking it was full. We have had quite a bit of rain here in the last 2 weeks, and we live in a lower area, so we just took it easy. We just showered and flushed toilets- no laundry, dishes, etc. We thought since there was no more rain coming that it would go down. Well day after day it didn’t, so Brandon put in a call to get it pumped out. 5 days into this, I told him if he didn’t have it fixed I was going to my mom’s, just because he kept saying “oh it’s going down” only to wake up the next morning to some gurgling out of the top.

Anyways, there is a rock bed behind our house with PVC pipe sticking out of the back. On the 2 corners, there are big flower barrels that I had planted last year. To make a long story short, once B and his grandpa started digging, they found that one of the planters was sitting directly on top of one of the vented PVC pipes, and that the potting soil was seeping out into those holes, clogging the flow of the septic. Yes, potting soil. Good thing we didn’t have someone pump it, because it was just water on the top of the septic that was seeping out. That would have been expensive! SO now we are happily doing laundry and dishes again, and I think the flower barrels are going to be history.