You want the Silk or the Pearls?

Silk or Pearls? Traditional or Modern.  I have you perplexed?

Those choices could be an anniversary gift for 12 years.

Wow.  12 years?!

Not too bad for two kids that were:
- Products of the 70's
- Products of divorced parents
- Products of a loving family
- Products of a strong support system of an extended family

Products, I remember 20/20 using that term for us "kids" of divorced parents, "product of a broken marriage."  Like we are some kind of bruised tomato or something.  Hence, I choose that language, as that was how I remember society thinking of me growing up, "Product of divorce and raised by a single mother." It was said by some well off single guy doing a report.  I wasn't a product so much as a PERSON.  But, 20/20 goes for ratings, not necessarily the fuzzy feeling stories.

Anyway, for 2 products, Jeff and I have not done too bad :)

I used to tease that one of my "marriage goals" was to see if we could stay married longer than our parents.  If you have read any of my previous anniversary posts, you know it is so very important to Jeff and I not be those kids of divorced parents that end up getting divorced themselves.  Screw all the psycho babble of Jeff and I (aka: products of the divorced parents)  not "respecting" the institution of marriage because we did not grow up in a two parent house hold.  If anything, those researchers in the 80's were off base. At least for us.

We choose to value the "institution" of marriage.  We have a marriage built on respect, honesty, and trust.  I think trust is the big one that trips up some people, as well as honesty.  Really, if I cannot be honest with Jeff, what do I have?  Unfortunately, the honesty is the good, the bad and the ugly.  The truth is not always fun.

Our marriage is not all rainbows and unicorns.  We have been blessed that the last 4 years have had a lot more ups then downs.  We did our dues with the downs for all those years with infertility.  But, having weathered that storm, we are nearly invincible as a couple.  We love each other deeply, and we support each other.

So, even though we are that "product" of the late 70's -- the kids that were to be traumatized for life -- we ended up OK.  Neither of us have knocked-off a liquor store or robbed a bank, so I call it a success.

Cheers to my hus-a-bin, I love you more and more everyday.  Although I will not be the "one in white" on 9/23 this year, I'll be the one sitting next you hoping the Bengals can pull out another win this weekend... Now THAT is love :)  Heck on second thought, maybe I will be in white, it's totally normal to wear your wedding gown to watch football, right?! :)

9-23-2000

  

The House that Jack Built- Part 3

Remember those projects you think, "This will be quick and easy!"

Project "Remove Giant Laundry Chute Box from Master Closet," was supposed to BE one of those projects. Remove box, fix floor, place in new flooring that cost all of $30, plus $25 for the under layment.... CAKE.  We (OK, Jeff) has done laminate flooring before. The closet is not HUGE, it is spacious at 102 inches long by like 60 inches.  The Box was 4 ft by 2.5 feet, THAT was one large box for a 12 inch round laundry chute hole.

So, Part #3 ended up morphing into this big giant ordeal.  We anticipated maybe a four hour project, that turned into 2 weeks of working after work and on weekends.  One problem after another.  The 1982 force is strong with this house.  For real...

Let's refresh... Master Closet, has and UGLY GIANT laundry chute that empties into my kitchen closet.

Giant Laundry Chute

Now, let's see where it goes....

 



Welcome to my "lived in kitchen"

Oh, Look, a door....

An un-organized closet of cleaning supplies
 (and also our trash can and recycling live in here)

Looking up, and YES, the perfect area for a laundry chute... Yes...
Perfect, if you want to launder in the kitchen sink.

 

Such a logical place for a laundry chute to empty. Right? In a closet in the kitchen, a room and a hallway away from the laundry room.  A fun spin would be to call it, "Laundry Room - Near." Stupid. Plus (if you looked at the before pictures) the giant box took up a big chunk of closet space. 

Jeff and Kim made the assumption....
1. The builder placed the drywall up first, then built laundry chute box.  Really, why wouldn't you?
2. Flooring maybe missing.

Our game plan:

Remove chute, put in new flooring, and maybe trim.   End of project.

Part 1- remove chute....

Jeff in action, with my friend, the Wonder-Bar!

My Foot, and Junk, and the Laundry Chute Door.

A nicely carpeted top of a laundry chute, Door removed.

Laundry Chute Tube, moving it's way to the trash

My new view from my kitchen closet :)

Jeff removed the big giant box, and the big giant tube and we found... A small hole in the floor, and SURPRISE!!!! NO DRYWALL BEHIND BIG GIANT BOX.  We said a lot of curse words.  Called it a day and opened an adult beverage.  Jeff called Uncle Dan.  Uncle Dan is keeper of odds and ends, and we needed a couple small pieces of dry wall.  Uncle Dan had some. 

 

The next day, I did this....

Yep, I placed my mark on this house.  In our previous house, I wrote the date we moved in under the stairs in the basement stairs. 

Anyway, Jeff patched the drywall, and I went to get the spackle/joint compound to mud the seams.  Yep, it was 100% dried out.  We were 100% out.  Project done for that day.

Eventually, I mudded, sanded, mudded, sanded the seams.  Now, I have 2 big pieces of drywall looking at me unpainted.  So, I did want anyone else would do.  Got a beverage, and went to see what paint I had.  Looks like this project has driven me to drink, and to now paint.  That was NOT on our agenda.

I found a can of $7.00 paint I got from Lowes in 2007.  It was a weird green/gray color, but I just never used it.  Well, 5 years later, weird reject paint found his/her day to be used.  I had 2 hours before we were scheduled to run a 5K, and the kids were down for a nap.  I can paint this in 2 hours, right?!



Paint tray ready.....

Well, in true closet from hell fashion, I could not find a darn paint stirrer to save my life.  Plan B, I used a yard stick.  The paint went on weird, I was scared it was gonna be all wonky (technical term for paint that look all wrong while being placed in the wall).  After 2 hours of painting, I threw in the towel, and went on our run.

OK, I walked/jogged with the kids in the stroller, Jeff ran for time.  Needless to say, at the end of the evening, we ended up at Uncle Dan's drowning our woes, due to our closet from hell.  Or, we just went to hang out for a bit.

Finally, the next day, closet is painted, holes and seams are spackled, let's bust out the floor!!! Yeah!!!

---screeching halt---

This flooring sucks. The worst laminate flooring ever. We now see why it was returned and only $10 a box.  BLAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, in order to save our marriage and ensure Jeff and I both lived to tell the tale of the closet from hell, I went to Home Depot to look for a new closet organizer, while he got to cuss at the floor in peace.  Remember, the floor was supposed to be easy, and there was no mention of a closet organizer when we began this project.

After 2.5 hours of hell, the floor was done. It looks pretty like this:

New Carpet on the Left, New Laminate on the Right

Connor and I put together the new closet organizer, Jeff installed.  I realized the holes I left in the wall to re-install the old wire shelving were no longer going to work. 

I spackled those holes now. More flipping holes to spackle, more time to dry, another day without a closet.... Oh, then I had to sand and paint them.  Ugh.

Finally, all the holes were spackled, sanded and painted, Jeff finished the trim and it was done. 

And then I said, let's use some of the old wire shelving for long hanging clothes..... After a day, we got that installed.

This project went from simple to never ending. Ugh. We ended up:
1. Tearing out Laundry Chute
2. Fixing Drywall
3. Mudding
4. Sanding
5. Mudding/ sanding
6. Painting
7. New Flooring
8. New Organizer
9. More holes to paint/mud/sand
10. Install new trim
11. Install new hanging area

And now, we have the following:

My Side

Jeff's Side

 

Long Stuff

Shoes, and yes, I like Black Shoes on stacking racks from Amazon

All in all it's done, and it holds out clothing.  Project complete, goal attained.  Wow, that was one easy project turned difficult!

First Day of School

The House that Jack Built- Part 2

Part 2, was supposed to be easy. Really easy. As in, hey carpet guys, tear up the carpet and put down the new stuff.  Wait, hold up! First, we have to address THIS area:



Pre-Move In 2007.  My "hotel" sink area

After I had updated it in October 2010



What we have there is a 60inch "area" filled with a lovely seashell shaped sink and "vanity" area.  To complete the look, the "crystal" uni-knob faucet sets the tone for a perfect 1982 make-up session. Cue the aquanet and blue eyeshadow.  I can hear the Hall and Oats music blasting from the cassette deck.  Ah....

For 5 years, Papa John's Chair (my great-great Uncle) sat there, under that "make-up" area. And, it sat there, and I never once sat in that thing.   The cats sat in it and so have the kids.  I'm just not a sit down to get ready kind of girl.  When it takes all of 20 seconds to slap on eyeliner and mascara, it seemed pointless. 

If you read Part 1 of  "The House That Jack Built,"  you know this "update house-a-paloza" began with a simple conversation over an adult beverage or three.  My #1 hate of this home is the 1980's beige Holiday Inn carpet that is EVERYWHERE.  The worst was in our bedroom.  Previous owners MUST have had a waterbed; not only did we have permanent indentations in the carpet from the previous furniture, but there were a few rusted spots. The carpet was as cozy as walking on indoor/outdoor carpet.  It was gross.  After we did the step project, the hallway and Master Bedroom carpet was a necessity. 

Like any good consumer, I went to the carpet store.  In fact, I became friends with our carpet guy.  Like any good DIY project, we had a few issues with picking out carpet, keeping certain things in stock, and I initially picked out the TOP OF THE LINE carpet, with the TOP OF THE LINE pricing.  That gave me sticker shock and we kept looking until we found a nice carpet with a nice price.

With carpet install day looming (HA- looming, like a loom, like making a textile, like carpet! I am a DORK!!!). Let's start again, with carpet day around the corner, I knew we were tearing up the old vanity/sink area.  My chore was to find a simple vanity and sink top.  Easy, right?  Well, after trips to numerous stores and debating what to do with this 60 inch area, I happened upon a sale.  Lowe's was getting rid of all sinks, vanities, etc. from their special order display.  While sporting my sportiest yoga gear without makeup, I opened a dialog with the Lowe's guy asking for good pricing (which I got), and special pricing on the granite counter top (not my thing, but it worked), and then he threw in the faucet (as it was already attached).  He wanted to get rid of the display, and I needed a sink.  It was win-win.

The night before carpet day, Jeff and I moved some furniture and decided it was time to tear out the vanity. Should be simple, right?  Well, the house the Jack built had settled.  And no amount of cussing, wacking, or wiggling was getting that vanity out of that space.  It seemed the vanity was 61inches squeezed into a 60 inch space. It was not moving, it was a replay of the wooden bookcase trim dilemma.  Now, Jeff got angry - it was sort of like watching the Hulk get angry.  He began tearing out the wooden (ugly) vanity, chucked the drawer, and with a giant ROAR tore that stupid thing out.  (OK, really it was he and I cussing and wiggling the vanity with me going "Jeff, my fingers are there, don't mash them!")

After 20minutes, some sweat and two MAJOR drywall holes....the vanity was out. Again, the house did not want to let it go, and fought to keep the seashell sink and vanity.

Then came the glorious carpet. OMG. It is wonderful, so soft and luxurious and NOT AT ALL like 1982 Holiday Inn beige.  So, my 60inch hole had carpet, and 2 freshly patched drywall spots.  Next it was time to dry fit the new vanity.  In true Jack the builder house, the vanity did NOT line up with existing plumbing (I should have checked this before buying the vanity, but I did not.  The upright for the drawer slides was in a bad spot.).  Jeff moved some piping around, but it was still weird.  So, in true Kim and Jeff fashion, we decided to design a shelf.

The shelf would affix to the back of the vanity, allowing the piping to "do it's thing" without having a 3 inch gap between the wall and the back of the vanity.  Again, enter in Lowe's, we found 1 sheet of 1 inch glass tile of 0.75. Yes, seventy-five cents. So, we made a shelf.

Here is the shelf in action:

Pretty shelf :)
Wooden cup is from when my Dad served in Vietnam
Flowers, from my rose bush

 

Now, what does our completed finished project look like? Kinda like this....

The quote reads: "Where there is great love, there are always miracles."

Things I did not realize.... This vanity is TALL and I am SHORT.  I have a little adjusting to do for this.  However, it's so pretty, I don't care.  Maybe I will grow into it one day :)

Next up.... here is a preview of  Part 3 of The House that Jack Built (being updated by Jeff and Kim). 

Seriously, what the hell. Giant box in the master closet, they called it a laundry chute.  Want to see where it empties?

Yes, this solidifies my hypothesis that the Jack the Builder was indeed, high while building my house.

The House that Jack Built- Part 1

You know, I have no idea who this "Jack" is or why he built so many homes that have completely stupid issues.  But, darn you Jack.  I raise my closed fist in the air and shake it- cursing you Jack the Builder. "Curse You Jack!!!"

Now, let's back up a hair to a conversation between Jeff and I.  It went like this:

Jeff: "Wow, Kim those stairs turned out a lot better than I expected."
Kim: "Yeah, I know."
Jeff: "We really should ponder updating our delightful 1982 house."
Kim: "Yes we shall ponder this, first let me get us both another adult beverage."

I got us a beer and the crazy talk starts. We discussed how we were doing a stay-cation at home, and how these simple projects should be knocked out by Sunday.  Providing we start them on Saturday, it should be cake, right?  Our project list was as follows:

1. Paint Family Room
2. Update ugly timber of a mantle in Family Room (yes, some people LOVE rustic wood -- this wood is not the kind you love, it's the kind you want to chuck in a bonfire)
3. Update 1980's Bookcases flanking fireplace in family room (new trim and paint backs of bookcase)
4. New carpet in hallway and master bed room (to be installed by professionals, the carpet saga is a post all it's own)
5. Tear out and replace vanity/sink in master bath "dressing" area (our master is designed as a Hotel Style Master bedroom/bath -- very popular in the early 1980's)

Then we had a last minute add-on due to a sale price we could not pass-up...

6. Remove laundry chute box that empties laundry into the pantry, and replace flooring with $10 per box Mohawk laminate flooring. (it was a special order item that someone returned to the store, so instead of $56.00 per box, we got them for $10.00 per box- a STEAL).

OK, looking at our list.  Painting, should be easy.  New trim, should be easy, heck removing the old trim should be cake.  Removing and old vanity/sink, putting in a new one (after the carpet is installed).  Everything on our list is something we have either done, or had done something similar.  Nothing was really out of our scope of DIY. 

The one thing we forgot was... THIS was the house that Jack built.  This is the house that does NOT want to give up it's 1980's grandeur.  This was a problem.  I blame this on Jack; a neighbor suggested it may be the previous owner thwarting our updating progress. He has recently passed, and he could be having some heavenly fun causing us some issues.  But, his taste and our taste are polar opposites.  I mean for goodness sake, at closing he exclaimed how much he loved THIS wallpaper:

Entry Hallway 2007

Let me tell you how much fun I had with my steamer and my Mom ripping out every inch of that wallpaper, and every other scrap of wallpaper, and boarder in this house.  We were officially declared wallpaper/boarder free in February of 2008.

BACK to the Project at hand, Project Family Room.

Our family room is a giant rectangle. The back wall is the brick fireplace, flanked with the bookcases.  Easy-peasy.  Here are a few is before pictures, some from 2007, some a but more recent...

This beautiful 1/2 wall with spindles lasted 30minutes before we pulled the spindles the day we closed.

 

Party 2011

 

 

My beautiful Fireplace at Christmas, 2011. 
All we did when we moved in was to paint the walls green...



So, let's find a close up of the ugly beam...

 

Really this, mantle/beam was more of a rail road tie. It was uneven, splintery, unable to dust.  Like Paul Bunyan cut down a timber and Babe slapped it up on my fireplace.  I hated that "rustic" ugly beam.

 

Knowing we would not paint brick (it's a SIN, right up there with coveting your neighbor's wife), we were left with, let's do something to update this area. After looking, and pricing "ready made" mantels, our best bet was to create our own. We found some trim, and a nice piece of wood.  Jeff decided, let's use the ugly timber as our base and pretty it up.  I was all on board (ha, ha-- board!).

 

To tie in the ugly bookcase, I wanted to update the trim on the top.  I wanted to get rid of this:

Yes, I chipped off a piece of the wood after 15 minutes of wacking.

The goal was to SIMPLY remove the ugly trim, and I was all for making a straight cut and simply re-staining the cut end.  Therefore, it would be a rectangle, not a scrolly, country looking thing.  The bookcase had other ideas... I wacked on it, Jeff wacked on it. We removed screws, nails, etc. And that stupid thing DID NOT MOVE.  It's like steel covered in wood. Let's Plan B it....

Let's cut it out! Cutting it out, smoked the blade of the sawz-all.

Frick, that stupid book case trim WOULD NOT BUDGE.  Wacking, sawing, cussing at it, NOTHING. Stupid bookcase.  But, at least the paint and primer stuck to the back of the bookcase.  So, at least there was that.

 

After a lot of thinking, and a few trips to Lowe's/ Home Depot (Jimmy's House and Joey's House), we came up with this.....Plan C, let's match it to our mantel.  And we did, and here is a bit of a preview, while getting a close look at the mantel.

 

 

Golden Pecan... I know some people HATE light wood.
But, we wanted LIGHT; there is enough Dark Walnut in this house for 10 houses.

 

Let's look closer at the wood trim.... Ohhhh-Ahhhhh.....

 

 

 Finally, let's look at the finished product, and voyeur around my living room a bit...

A little side by side, old versus new...

Pretty!  And please say Hi to our Mags....

The complete living room, toys and all.  Color used was "Lemon Balm" by Behr. 
Yes, I know, it looks crazy similar to the paint I painted over in 2007.

Cincinnati Zoo art I found for $20

The "gallery" wall



 

We accomplished our first 3 items on our check list.  Painted family room, new mantel, and  updated bookcase.  The dollars and cents?  Not bad.  The wood trim was more than I anticipated, but a pre-made mantel was 5ft long and $99.99.  Our Mantel is 6ft long and come in at $80.  Then add in the bookcases, we came in at about $100 for the complete project.  Paint was about $66, my art was $20.  So, all in all, a new look, updated for under $200.  Not bad!

 

Oh, and how long did this take? I started painting Saturday night at 9pm... Then, we did this complete project during naps and at bedtime, and we added in a Zoo trip and a dentist adventure on Monday.  Tuesday evening everything was 100% complete.   Another DIY, Jeff and Kim project complete.

 

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the House that Jack Built, the vanity from hell...