The Land of a Good Demo

That's where we are right now.  Demo, demo, demo.  Sing it like the song on the old Mario Brothers Nintendo game when you drop down into the underworld.

Demo, demo, demo.  It sort of feels like the underworld.

It's been 10 days since we closed on the house, and we keep telling ourselves that we have gotten a lot done.  I think we have?  We've never done anything like this before, and sometimes when friends come over who have remodeled houses, you can see the wild terror in their eyes as they pass through the underworld in-progress rooms.

A little clarification before we begin the slide show of the demolition.  You know you're on the edge of your seat.

1.  My parents actually bought this house.  Aaron is currently unemployed (well, he has a temp job), and I've been blogging that journey over at my other blog.  I can see how if you read both blogs, you might be confused as to why we bought a house during this uncertain season of our lives.

2.  We are fixing the house up and living in it.

3.  It seems like there was one more thing I needed to clarify, but I can't remember.  Let me use this number three spot to clarify, then, that the house has a lot of potential.  Yes.

The first day we started working, this happened.  The wallpaper peeled off in big strips.  It was so fun.  We ran around the house gleefully, pulling pieces off like wet band-aids.   We blessed the people who had hung that wallpaper with whatever glue that peels off like a wet band-aid.  We were all like, "Oh yeah, we rock at renovating."

The second day, this happened.  We discovered that someone - perhaps those blessed people who hung the wallpaper - had glued indoor/outdoor carpet to oak hardwood floors.  And there wasn't any carpet peeling off in big strips, let me tell you.  We were all like, "Oh man, renovating stinks.  Let's quit."

Aaron and my dad survey the damage...and then my dad went to the front porch and wept.  We think it brought back some PTSD renovating experiences of his past.

Somewhere around day four or five, this happened.  We discovered that in all the rooms but the kitchen, the carpet had been laid by a sane person who used tack strips and a pad.  We rolled it all up, and the floors beneath were beautiful.  They don't even need refinishing.  We were all like, "Isn't this house charming?"

We've kind of hopped around from thing to thing so far, but this week, we are going to start honing on in a few tasks.

I've already sanded the cabinet doors and bases, so my goal this week is to get them painted white.

Don't worry, one of the items on our to-do list actually reads, "Destroy crappy curved molding above sink."   (Sorry I said crappy, Mom. )

Aaron will begin the process of building the bathroom back.  He has some experienced help coming this weekend, and he's hoping to get the plumbing squared away.  We are running plumbing up from this bathroom to add a bathroom in the master bedroom.  That's where it gets a little complicated.  (And you are looking at the picture and thinking, "Um, isn't what he is sitting in the middle of a little complicated??)

This is the master bedroom!  Aaron has demo-ed a closet to the left (not in this picture) and the section of attic that was weirdly walled off (straight ahead in this picture).  The bathroom will be behind the vantage point of this picture, and we'll add a window on the far wall, where our bed will someday come to rest.

That brings us up to speed on what we've been doing lately.  Not to mention the painstaking process of moving all my perennials over to the new yard.  Aaron never ceases to be amazed by how much I love flowers.  I keep telling him I am saving us money in the long run.

I almost forgot to mention, we're taking sign-ups.  Get your spot at Renovation Camp - spaces fill quickly.

Beginning the House Adventure

My goodness, is it already June?  We've begun our crazy summer of remodeling, and I'm losing track of time.

This is our 1928 beauty that we are going to coax back to life.   She's a little rough on the inside, but can't you see her potential?



We closed last week and started ripping wallpaper and tile off walls the same day.   We have exactly two months to demo one bathroom, build another bathroom, pull up carpet, and renovate the kitchen.  If we can get that far before move in day, we'll be doing good.  (And we'll also probably need some serious back-rubs.)

Green and pink in the bathroom?  Why not?  

Yesterday, we made a huge Craigslist run into the city to pick up some appliances, a toilet, a sink, and a baby crib.  Thank you Craig for your list.  

I'll be back soon with some before pictures of the house, and we can all remember together, "it has to get worse before it can get better."

It never hurts to ask

Confession.

Now you are intrigued, and you think I have a deep secret to share with you.  Nope.
Just this:  I don't actually have any white peonies in my garden.

Whammo.  I know.  You weren't expecting that.

It's not from lack of trying.  One year, I begged a start from my friend, LeaAnn, master gardener galore.  I planted it too late, and poor guy withered in the heat.  Last year, I bought a bare root from Aldi.  It actually came up this year (another reason to love Aldi), but if I remember from the package, the blooms will be red.  Good, but not white.

A block west of us, there is a rental house we pass on walks.  Sometimes it has tenants, sometimes it's empty for months.  There are three clumps of beautiful white peonies that come up every spring, and just as they are getting ready to bloom, BAM.  Whoever is in charge of the lawn situation comes along and tidies things up.

For two years I have been wanting to sneak over there in the dead of night and dig up those peonies.  When it comes to pretty flowers, my system of ethics is not black and white.  I would try to convince Aaron (whose moral standards are more unwavering than mine) of the greatness of this idea.  "No one lives there!"  "No one is getting to enjoy the beauty!"  "If we move them to our yard, they won't get mowed over, and many people will enjoy them!"  "You don't have to come with me, okay?"

Unbudging, he is.  But also incredibly awesome...because...

This year, when I saw the plants and asked to see if he'd changed his thoughts on stealing abandoned flowers, he had an idea.

"Get the number of the guy that owns the house, and I'll call him."

Done!  I got the owner's name (thank you online website of the county assessor's office), looked up his number, and wrote it on a sticky note.  Do I sound like a stalker?  Because of course I am not, but I am pretty good at it...

Aaron called this morning, and the lady said, "Sure.  Have at it."

WAHOO!  Free established perennials!  Free established perennials of my favorite variety!

It's amazing how much confidence doing things properly gives you.  We walked over in broad daylight, shovel in hand.  Aaron starting digging, cars starting passing, but not once did we feel the need to hide.  No sirree, we had asked the owner.

All in all, I think it turned out much better than my previously planned 007 mission.

The first ground-breaking

We brought Maggie, which was a poor idea

The loot!

Have you ever had the urge to steal rescue plants from an empty yard?   Do you ever look in the windows of empty houses?  I got busted once doing that...I tell you, I have all the signs of a stalker...

New listings and why this is fun

I decided to reopen my Etsy shop back in November.  I was pumped.  When I get really excited about something, I tend to over-verbalize.  The main recipient of this verbal barrage is my patient husband.  Poor guy, he probably had to listen to my spiel of shop vision six to seven times. After I tell him the same thing a few times, it becomes a joke, and then I'll tell him three more times just for kicks.  I think it's his favorite game.

But then we got pregnant.  All-day nausea put the Etsy reopen on hold.  There were some days I didn't think I would ever care about decorating or beautiful things again.  For three months, the only home decor essentials to me were a) the couch and b) the toilet.  Over-sharing?

I finally got my groove back.  After cleaning the house and eating copious amounts of ice-cream (uh, eating for two), I realized that I did still love beauty!  I did still want my home to be peaceful and lovely and warm and welcoming!  Oh, and I did still want to reopen my Etsy shop!

So five months after the dream's inception, here we are.

I love this project because it is enjoyable on every level to me. (Except for the financial records - which - get this - Aaron takes care of and loves!  Isn't he strange??)  I love putting products together, mixing and matching little vintage treasures until I land on the right combination.  I love styling for the photographs.  I love wrapping things up with pretty paper and baker's twine when I make a sale.

So hop on over the shop and take a look.  Here are two new things I listed tonight:  (Click directly on picture to see the item.)

Antique wooden cheese box with tiny juice glasses lined up inside

A vignette for the seamstress - vintage thread and measuring tape in a dainty bowl

One last thing.  Please know that my greatest hope in this whole gig is not that you buy something.  (That is a great feeling, for sure!)  If you visit the shop and walk away with some fresh inspiration,  amazing!  If you get a new idea for arranging some stuff you already have, awesome!  Because, you know, if we were real life friends, that's what I'd want to do with you.  I'd have you over for coffee, and together, we'd over-verbalize about all our great home ideas.  It'd give my sweet husband a little break.  :)

City Wide Garage Sale

This weekend was our town's annual city wide garage sale.  I was raised going to garage sales, and I have them down to an art.  It's usually me and the old people waiting outside the garage doors at 6:55 a.m.   Yep.  

Aaron, on the other hand, did not grow up frequenting garage sales, and it's a phenomenon he doesn't quite understand.  He ventured out with me this weekend, even in the midst of rain showers. What a testament to love.

Here's some of the loot.  I haven't yet decided what will stay with us, and what I'll put in the shop.

Old Hardy Boys mysteries, a wire basket, brass candlesticks, and an old crock:

A couple of vintage puzzles, which I do want to keep.  Aaron and I both love maps.  I think the Missouri one would even look cool hanging on a wall.
 

These little cafe chairs.  These just need a fresh coat of stain and new seat covers.  The potential is there, trust me.  We have a breakfast nook at the new house that they'll fit perfectly in.  

And my favorite find, a red metal stool.  It'd be great in a kid's room or in the kitchen.  I'm keeping it for sure.  

I joke that 90% of our house has come from garage sales or thrift stores.  It might be closer to the truth than I realize.   

Do you like to garage sale?  Does your area have good garage sales?