As if I weren't disappointed enough…

...with the prospect of my funds going toward removing the rotting tree in my back yard- rather than to my dilapidated bathroom upstairs.

Of course I got the phone call I had been dreading. Er... well the second most phone call I had been dreading.

My home owners insurance company called me to let me know that I needed to have all of the limbs hanging over the house removed, as well as have a handrail installed on the back steps installed since there are more then 2 steps. (There are a total of 5 steps and the tallest step doesn’t reach higher than 3 ½ feet tall.) Oh and, I have until September 7^th, to get all of this accomplished.

Never mind the limbs over the house are healthy, and the possibility of them causing damage to our new roof is slim to none- Meanwhile the real threat of the rotting tree is not an issue to my insurance company.

When we were finalizing on the home I was still calling around for insurance quotes for our old home. The reactions I received when I told them exactly how old it was ranged from startled to awed, and the long list of insurance companies that I had, quickly dwindled away to the bottom of the barrel.

Which is who we have now. Which is just, majorly depressing knowing I have no where else to go. A week and a half or else our policy is terminated. I know I really shouldn’t tempt fate with a question like this, but what next?

For anyone whos keeping up, that huge CRACK, I herd during our last storm was actually my neighbors tree. It split and fell on their house. I suppose I should be grateful at least, but I cant help but feel like it was a warning for us as well.

How ever this saying seems to be appropriate for my current state, 'Old houses mended, cost little less than new before they're ended' . - Colley Cibber

Mother Nautures Revenge...

Countless dinner guests, work and cleaning have finally subsided some what- enough at least to allow me the time to post something on my abandoned blog. Not that I have much of anything important to say, it’s just nice to be writing again.

Summer is definitely winding down as we scoot into the month of September, and I can feel autumn’s gradual approach. With out a doubt, my favorite time of the year. From the changing of the leaves, to brisk evenings spent around a bonfire, Fall never seems to last quite long enough for me.

Since I am located in Florida, we find ourselves lodged midway through the hurricane season. It was only yesterday that Mother Nature so kindly reminded me of this fact. Driving home my typical 35 minute drive was extended to a 1 hour journey through sheets of rain pummeling my windshield. With visibility down to 1 foot in front of my face at a whopping speed of 15 mph I knew I was in for a long drive home.

Fortunately, I caught a break in the weather half way home and sped quickly to my house and awaiting puppy. I ran around the house making sure the windows were secure, and checking the yard to insure no loose objects could fly around. Walking my puppy I noted the black sky and flashes of lighting nearing the house and decided to high tail it back to the relative safety of our home.

With in 10 min of my arrival home, the rains began, all of which were bands from the oncoming hurricane. The wind which was now blowing at an angle toward the front of the house gave way to an even bigger problem that had not come to light until that current moment. My windows leak. It was as I began running around the house with towels trying to clean up all of the mess the leaking windows were causing that the power decided to go out.

So there I was. Standing in a completely dark house, with a load of towels, trying to find anything to light my way- since naturally my junk drawer equipped for situations like this has yet to be un-boxed from our move. Of course this was when the wind picked up, flipping the 25 pound wooden bench from my front porch over and cracking a massive limb from the dying tree in my back yard. That was when the screaming started.

Generally speaking, I am rarely scared of anything, and to be honest I didn’t know it was me until I stopped. I was glad that I was able to talk myself into continuing up the stairs to check on windows since the window in the bedroom was leaking on my new printer and laptop. I saved them and spotting my book light and latest novel on the night stand, decided to ride out the storm with my book in the solarium.

When the storm finally passed, the damage was fair to mild-with our back yard about 3 inches underwater we dubbed it “Lake Victoria”, all the while my husband chucking at my frantic voice mail during the worst part of the storm.

It really made me come to terms with exactly how scared I am of that massive dying tree in my back yard falling in on my house. So now with plans of my bathroom on hold, *sigh*, I’m preparing to shell out the 1k to have the bugger removed. At least I will have some peace of mind the next time Mother Nature decides to send a tempest my way.

Dreams of Grander & Bubble Baths...

It was as I was staring longingly at the rows of various scented bath salts and bubble bath combination's that I realized exactly how much I missed having a garden tub to soak in after a long hard day at work. The fact that I have a big, beautiful authentic claw foot tub at home taunting me really isn’t a large help either.

After several more minutes of my day dreaming, I decided to set my resolve about the upstairs bathroom: I needed a date we could start remodeling! So I talked it over with Jon and it looks like we will begin in 2 weeks (August 22!) I had really wanted it sooner but it looks like we will have to babysit my sister-in-law over the weekend. I am considering starting demolition now so I don’t have an out in case I change my mind last minute.

Although I don’t know how I could back out with that damn tub calling my name.

Weekend Acomplishments...

Since I am still coping with the fact that I am not super woman, I managed to finish most of what I wanted done this weekend. Fridays as usual are always a blur, since we are both generally to tired to do anything but eat and sleep.

I was pretty broken hearted when I came home to find my puppy had chewed a hole in my wall. Needless to say I narrowed his play space down and the chewing has stopped.

Saturday was filled with non-stop running around- although it was nice to just drive around together in the car. We did finally go to IKEA in Tampa, and my first shopping expirence was actually a lot more fun then I expected. I spent way more then I needed to (again as usual).



I did manage to find that cool looking film reel thing for the Theatre room for only $10. I also brought the coffee table, side table and book case that I wanted for this room too.

I did find the perfect table for my office that will only set me back about $2o0 dollars. Its a glass top with black etched design all over it. Very chic.

I did go to the movies last night, A bit of a girls night out with my mom, sister and sisters girl friend. We went and saw Julie and Julia. Holy cow, what an amazing movie!!! We all decided that we are going to get together and cook one Julia Childs meal every month, with each person bringing in one coruse of the meal. It should be fun, and I cant help but be exctied since I do love food.

All this morning we mowed the yard and planted the hedges, laying landscaping fabric and mulching. We did go to homedepot and I didnt see the solar light we purchased there a few weeks ago. I really hope they get them in again before the seasons up. Pretty sure they wont with my luck. It still looks like someone actually lives in our home now. Enough to want to do some landscaping anyway.

Before & After

We even manged to buy the stepping stones that lead to the carriage house.

When I had finished up the planting, I realized my husband was almost finished mowing the yard. So I snuck inside and filled a few baloons with ice water to cool him off. Eventually it turned into a full fledge water fight. Pretty sure I won, but it was a nice way to end a super steamy day.

So here I sit, drinking a beer and enjoying the rest of my sunday chatting it up with people I dont even know read me. Happy Sunday.

Never enough time...

Is it sad that its only Friday and I can already tell that I just wont have enough time for me to do everything I want to do this weekend?

I hope that I'm not alone in this sentiment.

I am going to IKEA this weekend, we just recently got a new store in Tampa and I was browsing their catalog when I came across the exact same little black tables i wanted from Wal-Mart for the Theatre room, Only at IKEA they cost about $16 dollars less then Wal-Mart. Who could pass that up?

Plus, I needed a good excuse to drag my husband there. I had been curious about them for a while now and herd really good things. Just browsing their catalog, it should be fun.

I finally found that picture I took of the Plaque my mother painted for our house. You can tell its been a while, since I have already managed to kill that hanging plant above it. Inpatients is a really good name for that stupid plant. I would water it once a day, and even gave it one of those water globe things that self waters plants. It still shriveled up and died. I will probably put up a nice fern. Something I cant kill preferably.


I finally managed to get up the courage to take a look at 'What lies Beneath'. The carpet upstairs that is. And while I knew it wouldnt be pretty, I wasnt expecting this.



The picture, as usual doesn't do much justice to the actual 'work' that was done. Those oh so carefully laid tongue and groove planks from 109 years ago, were white washed and then speckled with a Robbins egg blue. *shivers*

As if the carpet werent hideous enough. Got to love that industrial Government office carpeting. Its done in all four of the bedrooms, as well as the loft upstairs. No matter how much I hate that carpet its still nothing in comparison to the paint job that is underneath.

So once again I am left with two options.
(Two must be this houses lucky (or unlucky) number).

I can either rip up all the carpeting and resurface the floor which includes belt sanding and chemicals, and dust and mess for weeks. Or I can install a floating floor or other means of flooring.

I really like the idea of installing a floating floor in the loft, and re-carpeting all of the bedrooms in a nice beige- yet durable carpet. When I do finally decide, and can gather the funds for it. I will delight in tearing out all of this shelving, which is located in the loft.

I am fairly certain that the painters hadnt herd of drop cloths since it is covered in antique white paint. Not that I liked the piece to begin with since its not even properly refinished. It would have been torn out with in the first few weeks of us purchasing our home. But, that became a imposiblity when I realized the carpeting hadnt been put under the shelving.

Since most of the less costly projects are coming to a close on the interior of our home. I have been turning my attention toward the very barren exterior. I did finally get a quote for getting that tree removed from the back yard and it looks like it will be running about $800 dollars or so. Not too bad. Not great either. He also told me it had been hit by lightning at least twice. Lovely.

Anyways, the two main things I want done this weekend are IKEA and this little portion of the yard...



Which is to plant along the drive way and mulch it all in, install solar lighting and lay some slate stepping stones to the carriage house. Hopefully I can find some decently priced rose bushes or some other florida shrubby looking bush to plant. its a small step in the right direction. which is exactly what my yard needs.

Victoria & The Mystery of the Missing Chimney

I was looking at our home the other day, and came to the stark realization that we don’t have a fireplace. Period.

For a home built in 1900- even in Florida this seemed a bit odd to me. My mothers house which was built in the 50s has a huge brick mantle and fire place in the living room. Contrary to what most people think- Florida has pretty decent winters- granted they don’t last long- about 2-3 months- but we usually get a few days in each winter that go into the 20’s. Generally speaking it stays in the 30-40 degree mark at night during winter. Winters here are my favorite season. Summer is likely my least.

So, I went inspecting around the perimeter of the house and found a decent number of old bricks lying around the west side of the house. I did recall when we had our home inspection done, he had told me the only addition to our home was the kitchen which is on the west side of the house. Apparently the Solarium on the East side was originally a porch, that was later enclosed, but still remains as part of the original foundation.

My theory is there at some point in time was a brick chimney on the west end of the house. Which was torn down to make way for the kitchen that was added later. So here I am, fireplace-less. So, I have been scouring antique stores down town as well as Craig’s list looking for a fireplace mantle for which I can have my brother build out into the wall in my dining room. Of course it will be for show mostly. But at least I can say I have one. Even if it is pretend.

In an effort to preserve some of what was once my chimney I have managed to dig up a couple dozen of the antique bricks and plan on using them to line my gardens.

Case Solved.

Spinning Bookcases. Who knew?

I think the main selling point of my house for my husband anyways was the spinning bookcase or “The Bat Cave” as he calls it.

Currently, the upstairs of our old home is host to a small 6x12 room complete with a spinning bookcase door that conceals it. What exactly this room was used for is still a complete mystery to me. The room itself gets quite hot since in the Florida heat since the tiny attic access goes through this room and the drywall was never fully installed.

My husband has since lost interest in this room, and has bigger plans on turning the carriage house into a “Man Cave” for himself. I should have never showed him that HGTV show or what ever channel it was on.

So now I was left with two options. I could, make this room into something useful and fully functional, or I could just use it for storage. It was with this in mind that I had an epiphany! Since the room in question had no windows and really only one light, I could transform this room into a photography darkroom for myself!

Since I have been lugging all of these chemicals, and papers, and reels, around for a few years- I figured this would be my way of actually being able to put them to use again! Really my only main concern is running water, which my good friend Paul the plumber will be helping me look at this weekend. Keep your fingers crossed!

The 'Bat Cave' is located on the left side.

Bathroom Nightmares...

Both bathrooms in our home are in dire need of attention. I hate both of them with a fiery passion doesn’t even begin to cover it. The upstairs bathroom is … more tolerable then the down stairs. Here’s a painful piece by piece of them both. Just keep in mind, these pictures add a bit more glamor to them then they actually have in reality. Having done my fair share of bathroom remodels, I look forward to demolition of both of these little beasts.

The window even though you cant tell in this picture is crooked by about a half inch. And the poorly domed ceiling in this bathroom are extremely crooked giving you that awesome 'fun house' effect. The two things I can appreciate in this bathroom, is the gorgeous (and original) claw foot tub, as well as the new toilet that was installed incorrectly. If your wondering where the sink is, its in a nook behind the door (left).

I have come to find that all good things in our home, are only good to some extent. While I love the claw foot tub, and dream of taking baths in it (literally). I cant bring myself to do it. The previous owners, and this is my guess were on their way out of living there, and in an effort to make the house clean they used too harsh of a cleaning detergent. As you can see in the left photo, the tub is up on blocks to keep it from scratching the floor which weren't cut evenly causing the water to pool to the back of the tub. So the chemicals sat, and sat for a year and a half eating away at the porcelain. The fixtures on the tub are... out dated and don't function (as you can see by my very fashionable straw holding the drain open. I scrubbed to no avail, so when funds are more readily available. I'm going to call in a pro to re enamel.

Textured walls. Textured ceilings. And not just any texture, the best and cheapest kind out there. Hand plastering / lathering. (you can see some of the crooked ceiling in the back ground of the picture on the right.) I have big plans for this bathroom like much of the house. I recently purchased a new white pedestal sink to go in this bathroom, which will replace this ... thing.


If you were wondering where the faucet is, that little tab in the middle is the built in faucet. Yes, its actually a part of the sink. I have seen bathrooms in worse shape, but, I am most excited about this bathroom being completed. I am fairly certain I can keep the cost of this small remodel to less then $1500, and come out with a beautiful authentic looking bathroom. The girl who previously owned this home, really cut corners when it came to a lot of things. Cheap carpeting, crappy painters, crappy mason work. It has really made more work for us then anything, having to go back and fix all of the damage. But, I wouldn't have bought our home any other way. Its been an adventure thus far.

My plans for this bathroom, (which hopefully will be in process here in about 2 months) will include bead board and chair rail around the bathroom, but I'm still debating on the domed ceiling, which makes the bathroom feel a lot smaller then it is- but kind of cozy at the same time.


Some of my inspiration...

This is a super long post already...

Bathroom Number 2.

From the chipping filthy linoleum, to the yellow fixtures and teal tile, this has fast become my least favored room in the house.

A friend and I were going through this bathroom and he actually told me the tub and sink were picked in that pee yellow color. I had assumed that they had just yellowed with time, since the bathroom looks like it had been remodeled in the 50-60's. Thankfully who ever wired the house with electric decided to punch out tiles. hey, its two less I have to worry about. I couldn't even bring myself to photograph the shelving behind the door, which is not only filthy but filled with old paint cans and cleaning crap. I haven't managed to open any of the cabinets in this bathroom since we purchased our home a month ago. I know im being a wimp, I just have to wait for my courage to come full force before I take on that task.

Its bathrooms like this that make me thankful my older brother is an amazing cabinetry man. He and I already got together and drew out the plans for this bathroom which likley wont even be underway for a year. I fully expect this remodel to be up in the $5,000 range. I designed the bathroom utilizing the space to its full advantage- currently the wall which has the tub is about a 8 foot long wall. The tub takes up about 5 feet of that space. the extra three feet were tiled in. (a rough sketch will show you what I mean)

anyways, this 3 foot gap was built up to be level with the tub, and then tiled in like a huge seat. And while this might have seemed like a good idea at the time, it makes a huge water mess when your showering all over the floor. My plan is to install a completely tiled shower, add in a small partition and make room on the other side for shelving and a permanent hamper. We decided on a dark mahogany wood, with natural tile colors. The free standing vanity sink will match all of the cabinets and shelving. This was my main inspiration for the down stairs bathroom.

I cant wait to see the darn thing finished!

Long Summer days...

Its always nice to sit back after a long summer weekend, and reflect on everything you got accomplished. This weekend was a nice combination of relaxing, as well as tackling some of those smaller house projects I had been wanting to take care of. I managed to remember to upload pictures as well…

Here's the wall paper I have been making for the master walk in closet... when I'm finished it will have several layers, the first being the background which will consist of newsprint, letters, and old papers, the second which will be photos, the third will be paint and the fourth will be the sealer. I had just started on the painting when these pictures were taken. This will most likely be a on going project since I will have to continue to keep gathering supplies until 3 of the walls are completed. I still haven’t decided on the accent color for the smaller walls to be painted as of yet. Most likely a pale yellow....

These are just some snap shots to show how the house is progressing along. As you can see I xero-scaped both sides of the porches- and hand painted the mail box on our front stoop!

After many weeks of delay I finally decided to get to work on the closet under the stairs- The entire project took me about… 4 hours- which sounds like a lot for a 3.5x4 foot space. Here’s the gist of the process that I slaved over, and while it may seem like a ton of work for a minuscule amount of pay off (since no one really snoops in your storage closets.. er .. at least they shouldn’t!). Its more so the peace of mind I have when I know exactly where something is located and I don’t have to dig through numerous boxes or piles of junk to get to it. Even so, on those rare occasions when we do have guests, they can snoop through any of my closets and find them just as immaculate as the rest of my house.

1. The shelves which are individual tongue and groove planks of cedar wood have to be removed individually one at a time, and kept in specific order- otherwise its like trying to figure out a jigsaw puzzle.
2. Next to sweep, vacuum and scrub all of the walls and floor.
3. Once that’s dry the patching of the plaster can begin. Another hour before that layer is dry.
4. Then painting began, more waiting for it to dry.
5. Then the placing of the plank shelves back into the closet begins as well as cleaning those as you go along.
6. Finally lining the shelves and then placing all of your items back in them- albeit labeled and neatly organized in its own special boxes! And viola! You have your dream closet.

Since this space is a bit awkward in that it is located under the stairs and has an angled roof leaving it to be a long but narrowing space. I was a bit undecided as to what I could do with the large deep space underneath the shelves. Parking my vacuums in front of this hardly seemed like a good use for so much space. This closet being located in a small nook that connects 4 rooms has been recently given to our new puppy as his kennel room since we really disagree with crates since they are so confining for a dog to be in the entire day we are at work. One of my main issues with allowing him to have this room was the fact that any time we had guests over, it was always a mad rush for me to pick up all of his puppy toys, as well as his bed, blanket, food dishes and all other items associated with puppies.

It was with this in mind that I took the “Harry Potter” mentality with our puppy and created him his own space in my cleaning closet under the stairs. Now with his toys, dishes and bed located conveniently in the closet if we should have guests I need only close the door to the closet and the room is cleaned and clear for entertaining. For convenience I decided to place on the top shelf various storage jars for dog treats, training pads, and even a feed scoop for his kibble! Not having to run into the kitchen every time he needs more puppy chow has been really nice- and eliminating those ugly dog food bags under the kitchen since has been a space saver as well. I never close the door with the dog inside of course but, when I showed him his new room he seemed right at home.

Before....

After...

In other projects, I am on week three of our theater room and nearing completion I’d say in another 2-3 weeks it should be completely finished! I have been scouring the internet as well as several antique stores for any retro entertainment memorabilia that may be out there. I found a cute set of simple straight leg tables at Wal-Mart that I plan on getting next weekend for a range of … $60.00 or so. I have a set of 15 foot wall mount shelves I have been considering, which could be painted black and used for storing DVD’s as well as electronic equipment above the TV…

Heres a few other pictures of Copper... we try to take him on saveral car rides each week. He likes to sit in the back seat and let us chauffer him around! Hes getting so big!