A well-worn shoe or favorite cardigan...

Lately, I've been reading through architect, Sarah Susanka's Not So Big Remodeling: Tailoring Your Home For The Way You Really Live. Susanka writes about keeping it simple when talking about her recent not-so-big remodel and how her house would probably never have been featured in a book or magazine (if she didn't write it ) although it is "vastly superior" to the way it was when she and her husband bought it. Susanka's quote describing her house really resonated with me:

"It is comfortable like a well-worn shoe or a favorite cardigan, neither of which you'd ever likely see walking down the runway at a fashion show but which is in fact a lot more practical and satisfying than any article of runway clothing will ever be." 

Exactly my thoughts. It doesn't have to be grandieous. Check. It doesn't have to be like the Jones'. Done. But, it does have to be cozy. Yup. It does have to be inviting. It's getting there. It does have to feel like home. More and more each day. It does have to be easy to move in (read: not constantly tripping over paint cans, tools, etc). Check minus. It does have to be functional and practical. Goal in progress - this takes some actual living in the space to figure out what is not working and how to solve it's problems. It does have to have charm. Some days it may be hard to find but we know it's there...under the mess we've made.

More visitors, more to-dos tackled...

Makes you want to come and visit, huh? You are thinking that every time someone comes to visit us we put them to work, right? Well...they were willing and we took full advantage of their offer to help. This weekend's victims...my brother, Andy, and his girlfriend, Alysha. I laid low for the first part of the weekend due to some "special" bug that attacked my immune system on Friday. Sunday morning...let the projects begin. On the agenda, 1)install new kitchen light, 2) install dining room fan, and 3) priming paneling in our bedroom. I recently informed Chris that I am not now nor do I forsee ever being interested in or wanting to learn/do electrical work. Frankly, it scares me. Sure does. Too many steps, risk of death, and so on. I will do carpentry, painting, tiling, wallpaper removal, plumbing, TSPing (if forced), etc but not electrical. Therefore, Andy was Chris'  able electrical assistant and joke-provider/laugher-at-Chris'-jokes.

First, Chris and Andy installed the new kitchen light. The glaring fluorescent glow of the old fixture was not...um, inducing homey feelings.

The new light gives a warm, amber-tinted glow and distinguishes the "Swiss Coffee" paint on the kitchen walls from the white ceiling. I knew the color fan book did not lie when I picked out the color for the kitchen in the first place. 

Okay...I did think it lied but now I'm more educated on the influence lighting has. (Side note: Chris and I had picked out a color that we thought was a light gray to try out in our bedroom upstairs and when I brought the color fan book into a different room the next day I realized it was actually purple-ish pink. Ewww. Make sure you see it in all lights). 

Second, Chris and Andy, fairly confident in their electrical skills by now, installed the new dining room fan. The old fan worked well (and is being donated not trashed) but blended into the ceiling and had the blinding effect...more for Chris due to his super-sized height. It was also a bit too small for the room. Here's a flash from living/dining rooms past...if you are new to the blog, check out the other living/dining room posts to see the transformation.

Now, Chris and I spent many trips to Menards, Lowes and Home Depot surveying our options when it came to new fans. I've watched way too many hours of HGTV in my "day " and I know people loathe ceiling fans. Decorators always try to replace them . I have concluded that: a) their projects take place in the winter or early spring and the homeowners have forgotten what summer is like, b) the homeowners have central a/c, c) they like tripping over plugged-in fans, d) they carry personal hand-held fans to cool themselves (or those misting battery-powered ones) at all times, e) they live in Alaska, f) they like to sweat, or g) all of the above. I will admit that getting rid of the dining room fan altogether crossed my mind when we bought our house...but then we moved in to our home sweet home IN AUGUST. No doubt about it...THE FAN STAYS. We have radiator-heat, no central a/c, do not like to sweat or carry little fans or trip over cords and have not forgotten what summer is like in Illinois. On our fan hunt, we were looking for something "pretty" with good lighting since the fan also provides the only hard-wired lighting for the living/dining area. We didn't really like the four separate-light style since they always seemed to be blinding you but we didn't love the "boob"-light style either. Then...drumroll...we stumbled across our new, beautiful, air-circulating beast equipped with four separate lights that point straight down so as not to blind you. It was on clearance (not too many fan sales in the winter I guess), it was the last one, 10 minutes later it was traveling home, 1 week later it was installed. 

The new fan was meant to be. It fits the "decor" of the room perfectly...in our opinion which is the only one that really matters I guess.

And, because two electrical projects weren't enough...we taped off our bedroom and began priming the first coat. The walls are all wood paneling and the color was very close to that of the hardwood floor which gave off a "cave-esque" feeling. Thick "Gripper" primer worked like a charm, adhering to the paneling with ease. The walls still need one more coat of "Gripper" and two coats of color. While I didn't get any pictures of actually painting due to the fact that I was painting, I do still have some in my hair though if you would like proof. Here'a a few pics to entice you...

True appreciation...

I was razzed by a co-worker today (ahem, you know who you are) for taking a brief hiatus from blogging and then writing four new posts in one night...to which I answered that it is difficult to blog when you are physically working on the house.

  

So here is the one and only post for tonight so as not to overwhelm. In all the posts about the kitchen so far, I feel that the pictures do not give you a true appreciation for the floral-ness that was before I let 'er rip. May I remind you that this wallpaper was only 12 years old, pasted to the walls in June of 1998? 

In the past 2 days since the completion of the initial phase of the kitchen face-lift, I have appreciated...
1. All the help from family and friends. Really, really appreciated this...we'd have gone a bit nuts without it.
2. The lack of floral.
3. Not looking up to see a spot of something crusty on the wallpaper and wondering if it was from us or the previous owner. It's the truth, the nasty nasty truth.
4. The lack of floral. Seriously, this is big.
5. How big the kitchen really is. 
6. How big the kitchen really is and it's glaring need for an island. 
7. Chris putting all the food and other miscellaneous goodies back into the pantry so that he could find our dining table that appeared to be missing in action. 
8. And many more...


As I mentioned, this was the initial phase of the face-lift for the kitchen. We have a plan, as term which I use loosely because it is ever-changing... new countertops, additional customized storage cupboards, painted cabinets, backsplash, garbage disposal, dishwasher to name a few recurring ideas. Like some say, Dream big or go home. Well, we are HOME...where we continue to dream, mostly big... sometimes small...but mostly do-able (in time).

Before and After: Kitchen Decor

And now, the much anticipated, newly-painted kitchen. I swear "Swiss Coffee" did not look like white on the swatch. For now, the kitchen looks clean and spacious and lacking in floral decor...which will do. 

             Left: Before (during initial house tours)                 Right: After

 

 

 

 

Kitchen Weekend

My parents, Jack and Carolyn, came this past weekend to help paint the kitchen. Due to some schedule shifting, we were not completely ready to paint so they got to partake in the "joys" of the last bits of steaming along with spackling and painting Guardz on the walls before actually painting "color" on the walls. 
1. Remove the rest of glue and wash down walls. Oh, and remove the forgotten backing in "the space between" the radiator and kitchen window (even tighter than in the living room). Carolyn wins for most talented remover of wallpaper backing from behind the toasty radiator.

2. Sand down rough spots and spackle. Even though we used the plastic taping knives we still made some divots in the walls...which required some filling in. We intially used joint compound which dries slower than lightweight spackle...thus, the hairdryer was used to speed up the process. Note Chris' enthusiasm as witnessed in his "dazed drunk guy" expression.

3. Wash down walls with TSP (actually, TSP-Phosphate Free) to prep for Guardz. Guardz (Zinsser) is a awesome product that our neighbor (a professional painter) recommended to apply to the walls after removing wallpaper and before painting because it seals in any remaining glue which paint would not adhere too and would cause bubbling. Absolutely fantastic. No bubbles. I didn't actually get any pictures of the TSP fun fest (made possible by Chris and Carolyn) because I conveniently had to run to the hardware store and so did my dad...I hate washing with TSP. However, my mom is on to me and I'm seeing payback in my future. 
4. Apply Guardz. No pictures here either because we were in a hurry due to the onset of hunger pains.
5. Go out for dinner at a quaint little Italian joint down the street. Yum! 
6. Paint the ceiling...some of us. Chris and Jack painted the ceiling while Carolyn and Keri fell asleep on the couch, but not before proof was captured.

7. Paint walls "swiss coffee" (next day). As Chris put it, the Swiss must put a lot of cream in their coffee because the COLOR we chose turned out basically white. Argh. Well, at least it's better than floral wallpaper.

 

Rematch...

Taking a break from house repairs, Chris and I headed back to Michigan the weekend after New Years. This time, there were no parties to attend. It was all about the Fliets and the football...and this time it was on home team "turf." Sunday morning we all piled into the 'burb around 8:30 and headed 3 hours east to Detroit. 

 Jack, Carolyn, Chris, Keri (me) & Andy

Ford Field to be exact...which is an INDOOR stadium. Detroit Lions v.s. Chicago Bears, round 2. We had SO much fun!

Chris & I before kick-off

Chris, being the only Bears fan in our posse, took our mild razzing like a champ but there were so many Bears fans at the game that we couldn't say too much...unlike the Bears v.s. Lions game in October that we went to with the Tritt family where Lions fans were few and far (like miles and miles) between.

Andy flashed back to his football playing days and spoke football-ease with Chris while I chimed in when he sounded pessimistic about our beloved team.

Jack gave Carolyn the play-by-play during the game. Mom claims she isn't a fan of any specific football team (but I think this is somewhat for Chris' sake).

While the outcome of this game was the same as the last meeting (sob, tears, sob), it was a well played game and incredible to see in person. And...we now have first draft pick. At least this season's record was better than last. 

I am not a fair-weather fan but I'm not stupid either. I know they have not been good in recent years, "ever since Barry" according to my dad, but is a team ever going to get better if they have no fans to support them? Nope. Plus, I always root for the underdog...which makes the Lions a perfect match. 

Call in the reinforcements...

My mother-in-law, Shari, may now regret giving me a coupon for Christmas that was good for 4 hours of wallpaper removal assistance. After peeling all the wallpaper off the kitchen walls the night before, I cashed in my coupon and called in the reinforcements to help me remove the paper backing and scrub the glue adhesive off the walls. Shari, Kelly (SIL) and Jenna (Kelly's roommate) arrived just after lunch.

Armed with Dif and plastic taping knives, we started to remove the backing and glue. Why plastic tape knives and not metal scrapers you wonder? Run your hand along our 105 year old plaster walls and you will understand...they are not what you call flat. They are in excellent shape for their age and have been well cared for over the years...but with age comes some sagging and some relocated material. If only this was the case for plaster walls alone. While removing wallpaper in the living room, Chris and I found that metal scrapers gouge the walls too much which meant more hours spent with spackle and sandpaper in hand. 

Shari hard at work with the scraper and spray.

 

Jenna removed the remaining wallpaper from the space between the radiator & wall.

The Dif worked well to remove the backing but the glue was determined to stick to the walls and seemed to be baked onto the plaster over the chimney. We tried out the steamer my parents had loaned Chris and I...and it was AMAZING. I completely regret not trying it a few hours sooner. Since four people per steamer is not quite optimal for efficiency, I ran out and bought another one for the cost of 3-4 big jugs of Dif...all of which we would have needed to finish the job. 

Kelly going to town with the steamer.

Ah, steamer, how I love thee.

Good to note, two steamers plugged into the kitchen blow the circuit breaker. The new steamer seemed to be taking forever to heat up...that's when Jenna opened the now-quiet fridge and asked if a light was supposed to go on when you opened the fridge. As I trekked down to the basement, I heard someone ask if the garage lights were on motion-sensors. Nope, they are on dusk-to-dawn sensors. I opened the circuit breaker box and flipped the blown breaker. Guess an outlet or two in the kitchen and the power to the garage share circuit breaker #14. 

Overall, we had a productive afternoon, removing all the wallpaper backing in the kitchen and the glue off one whole wall...a fantastic feat.