Unexpected Wednesday Productivity

We are enjoying a heat wave here--today was the third day in a row that we spent several hours outside!  Monday we went to the park, yesterday I exercised outside while the children played, and today I got downright industrious and worked on clearing out the muddy flower bed in the back of the house.  I got my clippers and snipped all the dried dead hosta sticks down to the ground, pulled up browned wire grass, and raked.  I was just getting warmed up when the children got cold, so we went inside. But it felt so good to get a little wintry gardening done!

Once we were inside I spent an hour or so painting the bathroom, which was sorely neglected during the holiday season. I am finishing up beadboard painting--almost done!--and am painting the mirror and a little decorative table.  There's a wall left to paint and the ceiling to do.  Then the plumber can come wave his magic wand....and I can wash my hands in there again!

It's the little things, you know!

Once Upon a Hill

Several years ago, before our daughter was born, my husband and I checked out a beautiful old 1912 house that was for sale (a foreclosure).  The location was so gorgeous.  I was rather smitten with it from the outside.

The house had so much charm, 

wonderful details in the woodwork, transom doors, like a gingerbread house,

with lots of potential in the awful, but sun-filled, little kitchen,

...and it needed an extraordinary amount of work.  I have always longed to renovate an old home, but I knew after our tour that this was not the time in our lives for this house. Interestingly, only a couple of months later I was pregnant with our second child, so it turns out my gut instinct was right. 

I am happy to report that the house was purchased, renovated and now looks--at least from the outside--so beautiful. One day I may gather up the courage to do a little door-knocking and see if I can get a tour of the new, improved home!

Dark Basement: Before and After

Last year we had our (dark, spidery) unfinished basement finished.  We had lived here for 12 years.  It was time!

This is what was: 

And here is what is!

Much better. 

Special Delivery

Wednesday was delivery day around here!  Our cabinetmaker arrived in the morning to install the new vanity in our bathroom. He brought two of his seven children along--and one of them was the youngest, who is two!  The other one was an early-teenage son, who was an enormous help with fetching tools, lifting heavy things, et cetera. It is always so refreshing to see a family working cohesively.

I went with a very simple and traditional design--the same design I chose for our cabinets and bookcases in the basement. I love crisp, classic white. 

One step closer to brushing my teeth in my own bathroom.  Luxuries!

In Our Spare Time

In our spare time my husband and I have been redoing our master bathroom.  Caulk gun hanging in the shower?  Indeed!

We ripped out the old linoleum and put down wood floors, which I stained and polyurethaned diligently after my husband sanded them.  I love the floors!  My husband installed the beadboard and trim.  The cabinetmaker is still crafting the cabinet, and I haven't picked out light fixtures yet. 

It would be just lovely to replace the shower, but we do not want to spend the money for tile and I don't want to replace it with another fiberglass shower!  This shower is quite adequate, and it is a nice practice in moderation and restraint (not to mention self-discipline).  Cultivating the art of contentment is valuable.  So I am content with the old beige fiberglass shower.  It serves us well! We did remove the nasty old doors and will be purchasing fresh new doors, which will be so nice. 

I haven't finished painting yet and am a little uneasy about continuing to paint, because I'm wondering if the blue of the ceiling will blend with the countertop I chose.  I painted the walls and ceiling in this room three and a half years ago...as the beginning of the makeover process.  We practice 'slow renovation' in our home. I like to think it's like the slow food movement.....

My spare time this week will involve finishing beadboard painting and painting that last wall to the right--I hope!