He thinks that he doesn’t work that hard right now. You might remember, if you’re a long-time reader, that I posted right before our wedding about B getting laid off. We both worked for the same company and we each made it through the first round of layoffs that happened in April of last year. Then B didn’t make it through the second round that happened in August. I’m still here, but sit on pins and needles some months as we’ve gone through two more rounds of layoffs since August.
Luckily for us, the timing hit just right. Well, I thought that it did. B was free to help with the last minute errands and running around that inevitably happen before a wedding, and then he had time off for our honeymoon, our friend’s wedding in CA and the holidays. Right after the holidays, he buckled down and started really searching for a job. He’s gotten a few nibbles, but only one offer and it wasn’t worth taking. So to say that he’s had some time on his hands is probably the understatement of the year.
For those of you that are married, you understand the concept of a “honey do” list. Well, we’ve had one started since before the wedding. B bought his house a few years before I moved in, and had done nothing to it. And when I say nothing, I really mean nothing. And apparently the previous owners didn’t believe in the whole making-your-house-your-home concept either, because when I moved in last year every single wall in the house was still white. Yep, you read that right. The house was about 7-10 years old at this point, and every single wall in the house was still the original flat white. Except that since 7-10 years have passed, they’re more of a dingy white with brown corners...since we have kids who run through the house, grabbing onto wall corners to skid around the corner. Yeah.
To say that the house needed some “love” would be another understatement. We started talking about things to do before I moved in, but realistically with the wedding that we wanted to throw and pay for, we knew that home remodeling (even just painting) would have to be put on the back burner for the time being. That time is now. Ever since the wedding, the talks about what to do with the house to make it our home have turned more serious. Since B is out of work right now, there is a slight cash-flow problem, but we had purposely saved the last chunk of his severance to work on the downstairs of the house. Between that savings and the generous gifts of friends and family from the wedding and/or Christmas, we had accumulated another few hundred dollars to spend between Lowe’s and Home Depot.
We finally started two weeks ago. And let me tell you – there are places that I hurt that haven’t hurt since I started P90X workouts before our wedding. Seriously. Home remodeling is hard work. It’s totally worth it, but totally draining. Add on top of that being pregnant and you’ve got some serious zappage to the energy levels...which could explain lack of posting?!?! Maybe?!?!
So I thought that you might be interested in seeing our progress so far...or maybe I should say B’s progress so far. I’ve helped, but mostly just on the weekends and with the concept of what I wanted and how things could be. He’s the worker bee, the executioner of my grand designs...and he does DARN good work! See for yourself...
Some before shots of our living/dining room...which opens to the breakfast nook/kitchen making the downstairs mostly one big L-shaped room. See those white walls? Yeah. I don’t think that I need to say more...
Luckily for us, the timing hit just right. Well, I thought that it did. B was free to help with the last minute errands and running around that inevitably happen before a wedding, and then he had time off for our honeymoon, our friend’s wedding in CA and the holidays. Right after the holidays, he buckled down and started really searching for a job. He’s gotten a few nibbles, but only one offer and it wasn’t worth taking. So to say that he’s had some time on his hands is probably the understatement of the year.
For those of you that are married, you understand the concept of a “honey do” list. Well, we’ve had one started since before the wedding. B bought his house a few years before I moved in, and had done nothing to it. And when I say nothing, I really mean nothing. And apparently the previous owners didn’t believe in the whole making-your-house-your-home concept either, because when I moved in last year every single wall in the house was still white. Yep, you read that right. The house was about 7-10 years old at this point, and every single wall in the house was still the original flat white. Except that since 7-10 years have passed, they’re more of a dingy white with brown corners...since we have kids who run through the house, grabbing onto wall corners to skid around the corner. Yeah.
To say that the house needed some “love” would be another understatement. We started talking about things to do before I moved in, but realistically with the wedding that we wanted to throw and pay for, we knew that home remodeling (even just painting) would have to be put on the back burner for the time being. That time is now. Ever since the wedding, the talks about what to do with the house to make it our home have turned more serious. Since B is out of work right now, there is a slight cash-flow problem, but we had purposely saved the last chunk of his severance to work on the downstairs of the house. Between that savings and the generous gifts of friends and family from the wedding and/or Christmas, we had accumulated another few hundred dollars to spend between Lowe’s and Home Depot.
We finally started two weeks ago. And let me tell you – there are places that I hurt that haven’t hurt since I started P90X workouts before our wedding. Seriously. Home remodeling is hard work. It’s totally worth it, but totally draining. Add on top of that being pregnant and you’ve got some serious zappage to the energy levels...which could explain lack of posting?!?! Maybe?!?!
So I thought that you might be interested in seeing our progress so far...or maybe I should say B’s progress so far. I’ve helped, but mostly just on the weekends and with the concept of what I wanted and how things could be. He’s the worker bee, the executioner of my grand designs...and he does DARN good work! See for yourself...
Some before shots of our living/dining room...which opens to the breakfast nook/kitchen making the downstairs mostly one big L-shaped room. See those white walls? Yeah. I don’t think that I need to say more...
And the carpet? The original carpet from the house...once again, 7-10 years old. That’s being torn out this week...of course, you can't SEE the carpet...but trust me. It's in bad shape. 
You'll have to forgive the clutter taking up most of those shots...that's all of our living room crap shoved out away from all walls... 
So here’s what we did in stages. First comes the painting... 
And more painting... 
And still MORE painting...did I mention that it’s a LARGE room? You probably didn't think so since I forgot to take the Before shots BEFORE we actually started painting, so they were all taken from just the side that wasn't painted!
We even took the color up the stairway... 
Next comes trimming out the top of the room with some thin crown molding...a far off shot...
Here's some close-ups... 
Check out the corner work that he did! 
B had never hung crown molding before last week...he taught himself with the help of Google...yes, that’s Google-able...I think that he did a FABULOUS job!
And then some more trim work that I did this past weekend on the window sills...
And then some more trim work that I did this past weekend on the window sills...
Eventually, all of the trim downstairs will be the darker brown color...And look how lovely our color scheme goes with our Christmas present from Main Britney last year! 
Perfect! And it wasn’t even planned that way!
So that’s where we are. We spent this past weekend painting most of the kitchen the same colors as the living room and hanging the same crown molding in there as well. I forgot to take pics of that...so maybe I’ll grab some in the next few days. We didn’t finish the area right around the sliding glass doors, the window above the sink or the space of walls between counter tops and underneath the cabinets...so that’s why I didn’t take those shots yet.
B was in a hurry to start demo-ing out the carpet and old tile floors...hopefully I can make it home today before he gets too much of the old tile out so that I can get some before pics! It’s a constant work in progress, but I’ll keep you updated.
So that’s where we are. We spent this past weekend painting most of the kitchen the same colors as the living room and hanging the same crown molding in there as well. I forgot to take pics of that...so maybe I’ll grab some in the next few days. We didn’t finish the area right around the sliding glass doors, the window above the sink or the space of walls between counter tops and underneath the cabinets...so that’s why I didn’t take those shots yet.
B was in a hurry to start demo-ing out the carpet and old tile floors...hopefully I can make it home today before he gets too much of the old tile out so that I can get some before pics! It’s a constant work in progress, but I’ll keep you updated.
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