Laundry Room

Brent and I (mostly Brent) tackled the laundry room makeover at the end of January.  We were able to get most of the work done in a week span and the whole thing went really smoothly.  It has been one of the most dramatic changes and we both love it. 

Before:
   

Demo Day!  The kids had a blast (and thought I had gone completely crazy)
when I told them they could color on the carpet.
    



Dining Room became the makeshift Laundry room.  We were without a washer/dryer for a week and I thought *for sure* someone was going to get sick..but we made it!


New paint (Sherwin Williams:Hardware) and laying tile!
   

The girls were finally able to walk on the floor so they were thrilled when we asked to help pull the spacers out.  Child Labor Love.
    

FINISHED!
    

Bathroom Remodel

The outside projects have slowed way down with the colder weather and quickly we were excited to complete our “fall” inside projects. 

Mission: Update the main floor guest bathroom. 
Small enough for us to DIY and still keep our marriage and sanity in tact! 


Before pictures.  Very well kept, but very circa 1991.


Demo underway…

Time to rip the wallpaper off! 
I was so thankful this room was tiny. 
Wallpaper removal is not my most favorite job…



Clean walls and now time for tile!





Freshly painted walls, new sink, light fixture, mirror,
and a working (non leaking!) toilet.  Project complete!

The “tail” of a Raccoon

Yet another visit from a critter at the Eid house.  Brent went to take Lucy outside after much sniffing and not much “doing” Brent poked his head out to see what Lucy was up to.  He saw her sniffing around the corner of the house, trying to peer behind our air conditioner. 

Upon closer look he saw this…
(no not a 15 year old sprinkler-look beyond the sprinkler)





As fast as he could, he yanked Lucy inside and shut the door.  When he found the perfect spot to scope out what the raccoon was doing he saw that he was in fact “asleep” breathing deep.  At least that was the description he gave me.

When I got home a few hours later, I could tell that the raccoon was not “breathing from deep sleep”, he was seizing from some sort of illness.  He was sick and we needed him to kindly leave our property before his sickness made Lucy sick. 

A few phone calls later and armed with a hefty payment Falls Creek Pest Control came to our rescue.  We were under the assumption they would remove the raccoon and euthanize him.  We were surprised to hear that they humanely trap and test the animal to see if it can be saved.







We made a phone call a few days later to see if Rocky made it through the night, and we were sorry to hear he had Distemper and had to be put to sleep.  They assured us that the Raccoon population was in no way near extinction…  Lucy was happy to hear we had him removed before he could spread his distemper love on to her.

Saplings

Mallory hops on the bus every morning and the adventures continue for Mikayla and I around here.  One particular day Mikayla and I were visiting with our neighbor.  Mikayla was on a hunt for pinecones and stumbled upon a few new baby trees.  Before long we were digging up the little trees and hoping they would survive through the winter sitting on our window sill in front of our kitchen sink. They look out over the deck and into the big backyard.



Being as creative as I am (insert a big giant HAHAHAHAHA), I headed to Michael's and bought three ceramic pots. I came home, pulled out our accent paint and made three cute little pots valued at $2.50.  Mikayla had the big job of filling the tiny pots up with dirt.  She took her job very seriously…

     


Houseplants wouldn’t be the same if they weren’t given names, so from left to right meet: Bruce the Spruce (named by yours truly), twins are Rose and Tulip (named by Mallory) and finally, Evie the Evergreen (named by Brent).  I would love if these little trees grew enough to make it to the backyard. 

It really sparkles

Our new kitchen.  It sparkles.  When night falls and the house quiets down, I sit by the new lights and all I can say is “It really sparkles.” 

Should I tell you all the whole story or just leave you with before and after pictures?  Its been a long 10 weeks.  Filled with lessons learned and broken rock that was supposed to be our center island.  It was filled with refrigerators that were too big and workmen showing up well past their chosen “window”.  We had best friends step in and help put up a backsplash that gives everyone who walks into the kitchen the desire to “just touch it”.  It holds new light fixtures that now show our taste and not my parents.  We sit around a table that has nothing but memories from when I was little.  Solid oak chairs that I sat on when I was 5 and now Mallory sits on the same chair.  We painted over pink walls and took down valances that were a sign of the times—circa 1991.

It is warm.  It is complete. It is ours.  And it sparkles…

In order to save space, I made three separate photo albums throughout the process. 

Before and during VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

It broke. VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Lights, backsplash, COMPLETE! VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

House Projects: Laundry Room

The laundry room is one of a handful of projects that we’ve been working on.  Let’s be really honest, my parents have kept this house in really great condition.  To say the least, we were so lucky to walk into a clean, well kept home.  The first question most people ask me when they come to our new house is “Is it weird that you are living in your parents house?”  The honest truth is that no, it is not.  This move has felt right from the minute we committed to it.  Has it been easy?  No.  Moving, unpacking, and standing in the family room of the house I grew up in, took a lot of work.  We are trying to make changes that help put our touch, to an already beautiful homestead.  With each small project complete, I look around and feel a little bit more like this home feels like ours.

We have learned a lot. Too much at times.  To name just a few: Check the Better Business Bureau before signing an agreement with a company. Round Up kills more than just weeds—it kills grass too. 

For now, we busted through ripping down some wallpaper and putting a fresh coat of paint up in the laundry room.  Picture overload-you’ve been warned.

Before
 
   

The kids thought ripping the wallpaper was like opening a Christmas present.


Ripping the wallpaper off was the easy part. Removing every bit of glue gunk, on the other hand, took lots of elbow grease and patience.

  


Wallpaper ripped off. Glue scraped off (courtesy of Downy fabric softener).  Gary stepped in to help paint the ceiling and prime the walls.  As we were told by lots of different experts, when it comes to removing wallpaper its all about the prep work…

  

Prep work done. I was left to myself to finish it up with a couple coats of paint.



Ta Da!
New paint, a new light fixture, new hardware, and (coming soon) a freshly painted back door.

  


Next up: A finished kitchen remodel!!

Snake Farm

Ray Wylie Hubbard sings a song called Snake Farm.  The lyrics go something along the lines of:

Snake Farm – it just sounds nasty
Snake Farm – well it pretty much is
Snake Farm – it's a reptile house
Snake Farm – Uuuggghhhhh......

Have you ever heard the song before?  Yeah, me neither.  That is until (fittingly) Thursday night while my dad, sister and I waited at the State Fair for the Reba and Ronnie Dunn concert to start.  The song made us all laugh really hard…and this is why:

Amanda came over to watch the kids (concert, remember?).  A few minutes after she arrived, Lucy had to go potty.  This was the first time Amanda had been at our new house, so we all trucked downstairs to let Lucy out so she could see where Lucy does her business.  I walked down the long hallway, entered the unfinished part of the basement and pulled the light string to turn on the light.  I walked to the double doors and just as I was about to open the door, I saw him.  “Oh. Hi, Mr. Snake”  Imagine my horror, and my attempt at hiding such horror as both of the girls are with me, when I see a SNAKE IN MY HOUSE.  This is not okay.  Amanda and I went around and around (quickly) with how to get the little (but too big to be IN MY HOUSE) snake out.  Finally, he decided to slither under the door and head for safety.  He was out.  I felt a teeny bit better. Amanda, are you ever coming back to watch the kids after the snake scare?

Friday came and Brent set out on a mission to fix the door and seal it as to not allow any more snakes inside.  My dad suggested a spray foam under the flashing of the door to seal up the spot where we thought the ONE snake was coming in.  Can we just say that snakes inside your house is about the sickest thing.ever. Blechhh. 

Brent also knew the bottom seals of the door were rotten and needed to be changed.  When he unscrewed the bottom seal. Icannoteventypethewords.  THREE SNAKES.  Along with a partial snake skin.  They were living in the door!



Mallory was quick to ask what we were going to do with the snakes.  Now, normally I pride myself on being truthful, but gentle when it comes to harsh reality.  I don’t think I skipped a breath when I told Mallory. After Brent sealed everything up, he ended  up setting them free far far from the door. 

Anybody up for an overnight visit to the snake farm?

To-Do or Not To-Do

We are trying to remember to have fun and not slave the day away to our house hold projects.  Our lists grow ever longer and the days seem never long enough.  We are one short week away from being completely done with the kitchen (crossing our fingers the tile backsplash goes without a hitch).  We need fresh paint just about everywhere, but the weather has been too nice to open cans of paint and roll the afternoon away.  I make it sound like it’s easy to stare at my projects day in and day out, not doing a thing to cross them off my list, but this is far from true.  It drives me almost off-my-rocker crazy, but I do know that winter is long in this State.  Very very long (and cold and windy and snowy and long).  When the snow flies and I feel cooped up, a fresh coat of paint and a “completed” room will feel pretty darn satisfying.  Right?!? 

For now I share our memories of what makes this place feel so right.  Space. Space to run, roam, climb and smile. 






A personal fav. 
See that smirk…”Mikayla we don’t chew on pebbles…”