New closet doors

This post is coming about a week late. Last weekend, pre-Thanksgiving, was a busy weekend. What did we do?

• Installed new closet bifold doors
• Attempted to hoist the boat
• Dropped boat on pavement
• Put boat in the back patio
• Tidied and prepped garage for winter
• Winterized patio
• Finished painting half bath threshold (forgot about that months ago)
• Hemmed pants and made an infinity scarf prototype
• Cleaned the house, then made a mess during projects
• Graded papers

We don’t have any pictures of the boat hoist fiasco, because we needed all of our hands involved. Essentially, we need to adjust our pulley spacing and find a way to keep the boat from sliding forward in its cradle as it’s raised. So, after some failed attempts, we rolled Woody around the back and set her deck down on some bunks. I’m sure the neighbors love seeing her back out there.

How we met our house

October 2014

We’re approaching the one year marker when we “met” our house. Looking back through our old gchats, I got lost over my lunch break, reliving the sporadic rollercoaster ride that was selling, moving, buying, and moving again. This time last year, we were cozily living in a one bedroom apartment, our stuff crammed into a storage shed and garage, a mattress squeezed into a tiny bedroom, and boxes were our decor.

Cleaning out the apartment

The ranch had been sold, a harrowing process with an agent definitely not looking out for our interests. We had walked away from a brick ranch that needed more repair than we could handle. We were tired but determined to move on. The apartment was nice, a good price, and life was simpler, too. Granted, you couldn’t watch TV while laundry or dishes were being washed and our upstairs neighbors had some interesting arguments, but overall, it felt a bit like a vacation. Of course, there weren’t any vacation-like things to do, especially in November (unless you count lying on the couch). But after months and months of constantly keeping a house in perfect “show” condition, looking after less than 900 square feet was … kinda nice.

A surreal change: The Ranch House

One year ago, we were living in a one bedroom apartment, trying to move past the dream of renovating a brick ranch on a double lot. The amount of money it would take to fix windows, electric, roof, and plumbing (before we even got to the fun makeover stuff) was beyond our reach. Then this morning over coffee, I stumbled across a new listing. "Our" little brick ranch had been completely overhauled and there's an open house tomorrow. Totally going!

The house when we first saw it

 

I'm going to share some before and afters, because holy cow!

just another "lazy" weekend

Over the past year, we’ve been pretty guilty about “not utilizing” our weekends to start, continue, or finish projects. We can dally like champions! And sometimes we transform into weekend warriors. This was -- unexpectedly -- one of those weekends.

So what did we accomplish this weekend?

1. Painted the green room trim.
2. Bought and selected paint and hardware for new foyer closet doors.
3. Removed the last wallpaper from the dining room.
4. Developed a game plan for the dining room.
5. Cleaned the foyer ledge … ew.
6. Mike painted his kitchen shelf … for the last time.

And it started with closet doors. The foyer closet doors to be exact. Check out these louvered beauties.

Out of nowhere last week, Mike and I got the urge to paint them. Maybe because it’s getting cold out and we’re seeing it more as we reach for our coats. The hardware could also use an upgrade (especially because the knob plate on one was missing, not an uncommon occurrence in this house of random oddities). While contemplating hardware and paint, we noticed the slats were extremely dusty and the thought of cleaning and then painting them--UGH. Our brains stopped right there. Even without knowing prices, we figured there was a time/cost benefit to getting new doors.

So, off we traipsed to Lowes and Menard's to look at bifold doors, hardware, and caulk for the siding (Battle of the Bird). For $39 each, we got two sets of pre-primed panel bifolds, and then splurged on some nice oil-rubbed bronze “dummy” door handles. Plus, Menard’s was doing its 11% rebate, so it was a no-brainer purchase. We leaned the panels against the hall wall, dreaming of the weekend and our glorious transformation.