Update on Home Improvements

I continue to enjoy stretching the right side of my brain, which has always been predominantly left leaning.   A friend says exercising the right side of the brain wards off dementia.  I'll be happy if I can just overcome some of my crafting fears.  We've made a lot of costly mistakes during our attempts to perform an extreme makeover on a home we purchased bare bones with minimal upgrades, but we've gotten other things right!

The house is looking better from the outside now that spring is here.  The Bermuda sod (we're used to having Fescue which stays green all year) finally began turning green and flowers we did not realize had been planted by the builder's landscaping crew began blooming for a much more colorful scene.

I took the following pics on May 20 as "updated spring pics" for a scrapbook I printed which chronicled our long 6 year journey to this house and all the spiritual lessons we learned along the way, but we just transformed the side of the house, so I guess I need to take pics again.

The hanging flower and flower pots were gifts from Mom!

This side looks different now and will change again when we add the privacy hedge.

I usually come up with an idea and then ask my husband to implement it since I'm so inept in all things crafty or handy.  I can make BEAUTIFUL spreadsheets, but that's about it.   Some may say my flow charts are pretty or my analytical reports are nicely constructed, but I can't draw, paint, or do anything creative or crafty other than amateur scrapbooking (preferably digital). I even broke out into nervous sweats during the craft time at MOPs meetings. So, as proof that God still works miracles, I have been refinishing decorative items in the house all by myself and without smelling salts or medication. It may not be pretty, but I'm celebrating the fact that I actually made an attempt.  When we updated our last house, we converted all the brass fixtures to oil rubbed bronze.  This house came with satin nickel fixtures, so now I'm trying to salvage some of my old decorative items (frames, vases, wall decor) by polishing them silver. Breakfast nook progress pictured below. 

Our most successful makeover in my opinion has been our dining room, but we did get help from my brother-in-law and my mom, so we can't take all the credit.   The general design, however, was ours.  All I did in that room was shop for hours and hours for just the right furniture, fixtures, paint, rug,  mirrors, artwork, and such.  I did paint a frame and flower pot/vase silver.  Big whoop, I know, but gals like me have to celebrate the small things.  I did take and select photos, do sampling, format, and order the triptych collage from our trip to Ireland for the side wall.  Mom helped tremendously with the table decor and made the "to use for now" curtains (still looking for the right style in a color that matches) while my husband assembled all the furniture and the chandelier with "a million" pieces, painted the accent wall and installed the molding, medallion, and light fixture with help from his brother.  It was a group effort indeed, and I am so pleased with the first glimpse guests see when they enter our home.  I just replaced the crystal sconces I had in there before with framed mirrors, so now I am finally calling this room complete.

 

I've shown pictures of our ever evolving kitchen before.  Our latest update has been changing out the pendant lighting over the island because my husband wanted a pop of color in there and changing out the bulbs from fluorescent to LED. I'm learning that bulb temperature and color make a big difference.  My next kitchen project will be updating the island. I got lots of ideas from our new custom carpenter today, but I think we're going to go a simpler DIY route.  U-hoh..not again!

The master bedroom improvements continue.  My husband finally installed the ceiling fan, but that opened up another can of worms because the light fixture had not been removed when the ceiling was initially painted, and the touch up paint did not match for whatever reason. So now we have to repaint the entire ceiling, and we're going to go with a more aqua greenish hue to match the new curtains.  I found a wall decor piece I love for over the bed, though the details are hard to see in these photos.  Mom and Dad told me to go pick out a floor lamp for my prayer chair as an anniversary gift, so we added that to the corner as well.  We're using old brass lamps my aunt gave me for now on the marble top nightstands which I painted oil rubbed bronze to match the bed frame.   We had planned on painting that back wall behind the headboard, but two decorators advised me to leave it so as not to take away from the ceiling.  Once we get that ceiling painted (not an easy project) this room will be mostly done.

One of my husband's first priorities was to pave an extra parking pad for guests and eventually our future drivers but mostly for basketball.  He wanted a flat place where the kids (and hopefully the neighbors' kids as well) could play ball or ride their scooters, skates, and wiggle racers.  After getting multiple quotes and choosing a provider, we submitted the long application with signatures from the neighbors for homeowner's association approval.  Then when we were ready to go, the contractor went MIA. I'm guessing our small job was not a priority when big builders wanted to utilize his company.  All other quotes were between $1500 and $4000 higher, so I was ready to give up. Finally a neighbor referred us to a new company whose quote came in right in line with the first one.  Icing on the cake was that this contractor's native language was English making communication easier, and he got the job done the following week.  YEA!  Our son loved watching them work and helped me document their progress.

The front view of the house shows how much we need a privacy hedge to block the neighbor's shed. 

The storage building we've been wanting for the past three years (yes, even when we lived in our old house) for storing lawn equipment and misc other items (since new building codes for green homes do not allow storage in attic spaces) is mostly complete.  All we need to add now are steps and a hideaway ramp.  Although some day I would like to convert half of it into a playhouse for the kids like I had as a child.

I documented the progress with that building as well.  First, our lumberjack friend Chad came over with his chainsaw to help us clear a spot for it.  Miraculously, no one lost an arm or a leg in the process.  Then the construction crew came and built the entire thing in one day.  Our neighbor's storage building took over a week of daily labor to build.  Hum... The my husband caulked and began painting it too many weeks later when he had a few hours of time between the kids' many activities. When we realized it may be months before he had time to finish the job, I noticed painters painting the neighbors house next door and talked them into painting ours next.  !Yo hablo espanol! Viola!  It's painted.  I'm sure those who are more aesthetically inclined than I am would have gotten a chuckle watching me try to select flowers (I went to two different stores on opposite sides of town and then had to return some of them) and arrange them for the flower box.  It may not be pretty, but I got her done!