Jenny <3
Monday, June 4, 2012
Update
I know I've been sucking at updating you on what has been going on, but I will give you the full update right now!
We are moving to the farm in just under a month and we are still a long way off from being ready.
The school house is semi-livable right now but not to the point where I would be comfortable having anyone else see it right now. We are still working out what we want to do in the kitchen, so it is an absolute mess!
The bathroom is close to done but it is the only room that is completed so far.
I've started packing up some of out stuff from our rental home and we will move bit by bit on the weekends.
Here are some pictures of what we've been up to!
Jenny <3
Jenny <3
Thursday, March 29, 2012
So close.
Our floors are just about done.
The flooring guys are working on them as I type.
This is a huge step for us.
Hubby and I were married in January of 2009.
Hubby and I told everyone we were married in May of 2009.
Hubby and I lived together for the first time in November of 2009.
I moved to the United States in January of 2010.
For the last 2 and a bit years we have moved around.
We were sometimes at our rental house.
We were sometimes at our parents' houses (one is 1.25 hrs, the other is 5 hrs away from our rental house.)
We were often in hotels or random apartments.
We've spent a lot of the time apart since I moved here.
I've spent most of this time alone.
We've spent a total of 2 weekends at our rental house in the last year or two.
I've felt homesick for the majority of the time I've been here.
I'm not homesick for any house in particular, not my parent's place in Canada (though sometimes I am), not the family farm, not our rental house.
I am homesick for a home.
We almost have one of those.
Won't that be nice?
Jenny<3
The flooring guys are working on them as I type.
This is a huge step for us.
Hubby and I were married in January of 2009.
Hubby and I told everyone we were married in May of 2009.
Hubby and I lived together for the first time in November of 2009.
I moved to the United States in January of 2010.
For the last 2 and a bit years we have moved around.
We were sometimes at our rental house.
We were sometimes at our parents' houses (one is 1.25 hrs, the other is 5 hrs away from our rental house.)
We were often in hotels or random apartments.
We've spent a lot of the time apart since I moved here.
I've spent most of this time alone.
We've spent a total of 2 weekends at our rental house in the last year or two.
I've felt homesick for the majority of the time I've been here.
I'm not homesick for any house in particular, not my parent's place in Canada (though sometimes I am), not the family farm, not our rental house.
I am homesick for a home.
We almost have one of those.
Won't that be nice?
Jenny<3
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
Renovations have truly begun
Our family had planned on going to see Hubby's grandparents this weekend, but his mama got sick so we needed to call off the trip. Hubby had already planned on taking Friday off so we decided to use it to work on the house.
We have spent a while coming up with ideas to make our house more liveable for us. The two most important were #1: a more direct route for guests to get to the bathroom and #2: more storage space in the kitchen.
The current floor plan is
Our plans are
We cut out the new hall and got our supports put in this weekend.
Before (the hallway will be in the back right corner of this picture)
After
We also widened the existing door into the laundry room. I was a two foot door, which we thought was too narrow to be the only pathway to the bathroom.
Before
Halfway there
After
After such a long wait to get going on these projects, the little that is done is so very exciting for me.
We will work next weekend (it is lucky we have another long one) and I will stay there next week to try and get as much done as possible. We are hoping to get the floors refinished early in March.
Thank you for your support and encouragment!
Stay tuned for more pictures and updates.
Jenny <3
We have spent a while coming up with ideas to make our house more liveable for us. The two most important were #1: a more direct route for guests to get to the bathroom and #2: more storage space in the kitchen.
The current floor plan is
Our plans are
We cut out the new hall and got our supports put in this weekend.
Before (the hallway will be in the back right corner of this picture)
After
We also widened the existing door into the laundry room. I was a two foot door, which we thought was too narrow to be the only pathway to the bathroom.
Before
Halfway there
After
After such a long wait to get going on these projects, the little that is done is so very exciting for me.
We will work next weekend (it is lucky we have another long one) and I will stay there next week to try and get as much done as possible. We are hoping to get the floors refinished early in March.
Thank you for your support and encouragment!
Stay tuned for more pictures and updates.
Jenny <3
Monday, January 30, 2012
Life
Life has been.... well.... life!
Things are as crazy as ever, but we are getting closer to having a regular life.
I've been stressed a ton lately due to MESSY houses and boxes and suitcases up to my ears. The past few weeks have been interesting to say the least.
We found mold in the basement of the house we are renovating, we removed it and it wasn't as bad as we thought it was. Things were looking up.
On Friday when we went to get in bed, we found rodent droppings in our bed. After catching one of the critters, we have determinded that they are either shrews or moles. Either way, they are NOT welcome! So now we are working on getting rid of them. Hopefully it will be a short stay for them.
To help myself de-stress today and to try and get rid of some clutter, I found a project.
My maid-of-honor got us some beautiful champaign flutes for our wedding. I haven't been sure what to do with them since, so they have sat in a box in our basement.
We also had our unity candles from our wedding (two candle sticks and a pilar) that -have sat in a box since our wedding. The sticks somehow got deformed and the pilar turned yellow! I had no idea what to do with them since they are sentimental but looked gross.
So here is what I did!
- Cut up the candle sticks and reused the wicks
- Melted the wax from all 3 candles in a pot on the stove
- Poured them in the flutes
Super easy, but I love them!
Jenny <3
Things are as crazy as ever, but we are getting closer to having a regular life.
I've been stressed a ton lately due to MESSY houses and boxes and suitcases up to my ears. The past few weeks have been interesting to say the least.
We found mold in the basement of the house we are renovating, we removed it and it wasn't as bad as we thought it was. Things were looking up.
On Friday when we went to get in bed, we found rodent droppings in our bed. After catching one of the critters, we have determinded that they are either shrews or moles. Either way, they are NOT welcome! So now we are working on getting rid of them. Hopefully it will be a short stay for them.
To help myself de-stress today and to try and get rid of some clutter, I found a project.
My maid-of-honor got us some beautiful champaign flutes for our wedding. I haven't been sure what to do with them since, so they have sat in a box in our basement.
We also had our unity candles from our wedding (two candle sticks and a pilar) that -have sat in a box since our wedding. The sticks somehow got deformed and the pilar turned yellow! I had no idea what to do with them since they are sentimental but looked gross.
So here is what I did!
- Cut up the candle sticks and reused the wicks
- Melted the wax from all 3 candles in a pot on the stove
- Poured them in the flutes
Super easy, but I love them!
Jenny <3
Monday, October 24, 2011
One Thing at a Time
For those of you that have been following, you will remember that a few months ago I purchased a few chairs to go with my dinning room table. This week I began refinishing them and I am getting more and more excited about them. I still have many coats and another chair to do, but I am on my way to a new dinning set.
Before
During
The after will come when I am done!
Jenny <3
Before
During
The after will come when I am done!
Jenny <3
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Working on it
Things are coming together slowly.
We've decided that we need all new windows and siding, so we are waiting to figure out what those are going to cost before we go forward with the rest of the renos.
Since I needed something to do with my time, I started working more on the master bedroom.
I reupholstered a headboard and recovered a roller blind. I am really happy with how they turned out and I am looking forward to when we have all of our newly refinished furniture here to match.
Jenny <3
We've decided that we need all new windows and siding, so we are waiting to figure out what those are going to cost before we go forward with the rest of the renos.
Since I needed something to do with my time, I started working more on the master bedroom.
I reupholstered a headboard and recovered a roller blind. I am really happy with how they turned out and I am looking forward to when we have all of our newly refinished furniture here to match.
Jenny <3
Monday, October 17, 2011
Waiting for time to pass
I've been working on small projects lately and trying to make life a little more routine.
I will try and get some pictures of more projects up soon.
Jenny <3
I will try and get some pictures of more projects up soon.
Jenny <3
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Kitchen
Two days of intense cleaning and the kitchen is ready to be demolished! Well, soon. For now it is nice and clean for us to live in when we'd like.
Before:
After:
Jenny <3
Before:
After:
Jenny <3
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Colours... Colors? COLOURS!!
With the help of my mother and sister, I was able to pick out colours for the school house.
For our bedroom
For the kitchen
For the living room
For our bedroom
For the kitchen
For the living room
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
For FRRREEEEEEE
Thanks to my parents' generosity, my friend's accommodation and my husband's open mind, we have new light fixtures for the majority of our house. I say "new" but they are actually the lights that were in my parents' house when we moved in a little over ten years ago. They recently decided to replace their lights and gave us the old ones. With a little creativity and a moderate amount of work, they will be exactly want we want and need.
So far I have one ceiling light done and seven of them to go. I have a crazy but exciting idea for the two chandeliers. And we have a pile of outdoor lights, for when the time comes for us to desire some outdoor lighting.
Here is the ceiling light before...
and after
These are the chandeliers
Still more to come!
Jenny <3
So far I have one ceiling light done and seven of them to go. I have a crazy but exciting idea for the two chandeliers. And we have a pile of outdoor lights, for when the time comes for us to desire some outdoor lighting.
Here is the ceiling light before...
and after
These are the chandeliers
Still more to come!
Jenny <3
Dinning Set
We were given a dinning room table from my parents that I absolutely love! It was my Uncle Brad's so it has great sentimental value. It also is a beautiful antique so it fits in perfectly with our style. It has carved details that make it unique and it has beautiful, HUGE pedestal legs.
(The chairs in this picture are from our Ikea JokkMokk table, they are too tall and make sitting at the table a little uncomfortable! Plus, they don't go with the table either!)
I have been uncertain what to do for chairs, as it did not come with any. Without being able to carry the table to a store to find matching chairs, I was afraid that I would pick out and purchase chairs only to find that they would not match.
My solution, I found chairs that don't match! I decided to find antique chairs that are intentionally mismatched. So far I have three but I am hoping I will find two more for a total of five and look for a bench to help with our space issues. I'll be painting them all white, so they are more uniform.
These are the one's I have purchased and I am so very excited about them!!
More to come!
Jenny <3
(The chairs in this picture are from our Ikea JokkMokk table, they are too tall and make sitting at the table a little uncomfortable! Plus, they don't go with the table either!)
I have been uncertain what to do for chairs, as it did not come with any. Without being able to carry the table to a store to find matching chairs, I was afraid that I would pick out and purchase chairs only to find that they would not match.
My solution, I found chairs that don't match! I decided to find antique chairs that are intentionally mismatched. So far I have three but I am hoping I will find two more for a total of five and look for a bench to help with our space issues. I'll be painting them all white, so they are more uniform.
These are the one's I have purchased and I am so very excited about them!!
More to come!
Jenny <3
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Dresser
Carpets are pulled and the house is mostly clean. I had some company last week and am visiting my family this weekend, so I thought it would be best if I spent this week finishing an incomplete job.
Here are the dressers!
Before
After
Jenny <3
Here are the dressers!
Before
After
Jenny <3
Monday, August 22, 2011
Everything Pleasant
Today, I started renovations on the house that Hubby and I will be moving into it in the spring.
There are two really cool things about this house
1) It is the house that Hubby grew up in.
2) It was built as a school in 1928. Hubby's mom and dad renovated it before they got married.
It is the coolest thing EVER!!!
Over the next 6-8 months, we will be fixing it up (no one has lived in it full time for approximately 14 years), and making it into OUR home! I will try my best to document the process so you can see what what we've done.
Jenny <3
There are two really cool things about this house
1) It is the house that Hubby grew up in.
2) It was built as a school in 1928. Hubby's mom and dad renovated it before they got married.
It is the coolest thing EVER!!!
Over the next 6-8 months, we will be fixing it up (no one has lived in it full time for approximately 14 years), and making it into OUR home! I will try my best to document the process so you can see what what we've done.
Jenny <3
Day 1 of the Renovation!
Hubby left this morning for another 2 weeks away working and I took this opportunity to start our renovation.
Step #1: Remove the carpet in the living room.
The carpet is still in okay shape but because of my allergies and asthma, we thought it'd be best to take it out.
Pulling up the carpet was quite a challenge by myself, with the room full of furniture but I did eventually get it up.
The first peek of our hardwood was so very exciting.
The second peek proved slightly disappointing
Perfect spot for a rug don't you think?
The big event of the day was when I pulled up the center of the carpet to find what looked like black mold.
Imagine my delight when I figured out that it wasn't mold AND it washes off! It appears to be a waxy/soapy substance (I think I'd rather not know what it is, just in case!)
3-4 hours of scrubbing and I'm 3/4 of the way done cleaning it up. I also found that the Spackle and paint that are on the wood will come off with a good scrub! Another day of cleaning and it will need to be re-stained and sealed but we have got an absolutely beautiful 80 year old hardwood floor!!
What a great start to a long awaited home for Hubby and I!
Stay tuned for more!
Jenny <3
Step #1: Remove the carpet in the living room.
The carpet is still in okay shape but because of my allergies and asthma, we thought it'd be best to take it out.
Pulling up the carpet was quite a challenge by myself, with the room full of furniture but I did eventually get it up.
The first peek of our hardwood was so very exciting.
The second peek proved slightly disappointing
Perfect spot for a rug don't you think?
The big event of the day was when I pulled up the center of the carpet to find what looked like black mold.
Imagine my delight when I figured out that it wasn't mold AND it washes off! It appears to be a waxy/soapy substance (I think I'd rather not know what it is, just in case!)
3-4 hours of scrubbing and I'm 3/4 of the way done cleaning it up. I also found that the Spackle and paint that are on the wood will come off with a good scrub! Another day of cleaning and it will need to be re-stained and sealed but we have got an absolutely beautiful 80 year old hardwood floor!!
What a great start to a long awaited home for Hubby and I!
Stay tuned for more!
Jenny <3
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