Archive for the ‘our house’ Category

I don’t know what to title this post with pictures of my cat’s haircut

Mojito loves laying on dirty clothes right before they get thrown into the washer. Look at his mass amounts of fuzz!

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new year new art goals

2009 was a very slow year for this blog. There was so much change in my personal life (new job, tons of freelance work, marriage, house remodeling, husband’s job change to full time freelance) that I needed more time to myself until I got back into a normal rhythm before seriously blogging again. (more…)

gardening and new windows

I’m so glad that all of the hail damage has finally been repaired on my house, we now have a new roof, new skylight, all new windows, new french door, and hardiplank siding, it looks great! I’m also finally making progress on cleaning up my garden after the construction workers made a big mess.

See more photos here.

carnage

March 25, 2009 we were hit by a terrible hail storm in North West Austin. It seems like my neighborhood was the hardest hit, the storm didn’t last very long at all but left behind a giant mess of damaged cars and houses. I took tons of photos during and after, for insurance purposes, and for my own (future) amusement. Thankfully David, Mojito, and I were safe and no one was hurt.

You can view a lot more of my photos of the hail storm on my facebook profile.

fireplace shelf

I have been thinking about an inexpensive way to spruce up my fireplace, since it was pretty plain and boring. I always liked the recessed boxes above the fireplace especially after I painted them white with light gray sides, but the fireplace itself has always been lacking something. Instead of a mantle, since our fireplace is off the ground, we got a chunky floating shelf that I wanted to put above the fireplace to see if it would bring extra interest to the area. We like it! Here are a few “before” photos of the fireplace too, enjoy!

In the listing photo, the previous owner had hidden the fireplace completely behind a large TV, not sure why you would want to do that.

Uncovered.

While we were painting.

While we were decorating and finishing up.

Aqua mailbox and other home improvements

Last weekend, David and I worked a little bit more on the house. It was really nice, and I wanted to post some photos, but David beat me to it and posted them on his blog. I’ll Show you guys too, with some before and afters.

Cuttings of rosemary and salvia greggii I’m trying to root. And, I didn’t really “steal” them, pfft, don’t listen to David.

Cutie pie, Mojito.

I spray painted our mailbox and outdoor lights the same aqua that I used on my vases indoors. Soon, we’re getting hardiplank installed and that ugly wood ripped out too, I can’t wait. Oh, in this shot you can also see the solar walkway lights I installed and my new red car. I also have several plants planted in the walkway to the front door, but I’ll take photos of that maybe in the spring when they get bigger and bloom.

Another shot of the mailbox. In spring, I will be planting Four O’clocks and other lovely plants around the mailbox and front yard too. Exciting!

Here was the mailbox and lights before we purchased the house.

That same weekend, we also got a lot of painting done in the guest room, and some more work in the master bedroom too, I’ll post photos when that is finished.

finished hugging

Phew, this weekend I put in more hours on this painting then I had since I started too many months ago, and it’s done. Weee!

painting vases

I took the aqua spray paint that I used on the planters in the back yard and painted the vases on one of my bookshelves to brighten them up. I was tired of all the brown on brown.

Before

After, including the large post modern floor lamp that I purchased, and my Audrey Kawasaki “Claudia & the Coelacanth”.

Ah, and we have a new bonsai on the dining room buffet. He looks a lot better than our older bonsai… who might be dying. Damn these little trees, they are not easy to take care of.

mortal kombat

We’ve been working on our house a lot more recently, as well as outside in the front and back yard. More painting, fixing faucets, placing vent covers, installing solar walkway lights, buying a very large new post modern floor lamp, etc. I’ll get some new photos up sometime!

home alone

I’ve been home all week, save Christmas where David and I went to spend the day with family. David has been working a little bit so part of the week was spent alone, just me and Mojie. Did you know there’s not a lot of good on TV ALL the time? The internet has been boring me a lot too, but I’m sure I’ll be more interested once I get back to work. Being home so much has allowed us to finish a lot more painting work, put up a new kitchen light, new door handles, and hang about 57 frames with photos and artwork.

My least favorite, and most time consuming task right now is painting all of the wood trim and wood doors a high gloss white. It takes for-freakin’-ever! Drives me nuts. Regular wall painting=easy as pie. Stupid wood=work of the devil. I don’t know if painting them white was the smartest thing to do, but I bet stripping and restaining them a darker wood color would not have been any easier. At least it was less expensive than replacing everything with new trim, doors, and everything.

David and I have decided to try for stained concrete flooring, I think it will look so nice. My old home renovation list has been updated slightly, and grown with a lot more details. Mostly with the kitchen revamping. The wall between the kitchen and living room is coming down to become a bar, and I need a new counter top but I still haven’t decided what I want, I’m thinking of concrete counters, but I’ll have to see if that will work well. The cabinets need to go, and new sleek modern ones need to come in their place. We like these white ones with some glass thrown in.

The plain rectangular bathroom mirrors with no frames I want replaced with contemporary oval mirrors like these from Ikea, with a stainless steel frame. I’ll need new sinks and vanities as well.

So, lots more work to do, but at least the bigger things will be done by someone other than me, hello contractors! I should get back to work painting some more trim, yay. I hope you guys had a great week and holidays!

productivity to the max

After spending all day with our three families and eating two thanksgiving meals, David and I headed back home for a long weekend of home renovation. The living room and dining room are getting so close to being done that they make me pee my pants a little each time I walk downstairs.

The ceilings are a little streaky but they won’t be after a little touch up work. Can you spot the little Mojie? He is hiding.

Commence jealously, now.

never again

For my next house, if I ever say anything about wanting to renovate or remodel or paint ANYTHING myself, you may take a dull knife, stick it into my gut and wiggle it around nice and good.

I hate you HGTV, HomeDepot, and all you others who try to make it look so easy. I never want to hear the words DIY, sweat equity, or weekend project ever again. I’m never going to be able to finish this in a reasonable amount of time. So far, I have only been able to finish painting the baseboards in the living room and dining room white, from their ugly wood origins.

Original ugly colored wood that I have to paint over

Before and after dining room

I have been painting all weekend, trying to finish the edges where two different colors meet, trying to make very straight and perfect edges. Maybe I will win the lotto in 2008 and then pay someone to finish all this work.

what does your front door say

David and I haven’t done any work on the exterior of our house yet. Our plan is to get a bluish gray hardie plank on the front exterior, the back already has a white hardie plank. Then the stucco will be painted white. The bluish gray and white combination is one that I really like, and which is very similar to what we have in the interior.

We have been trying to decide what color to paint the front door. I was leaning towards red at first, but since our neighbors have painted their house GREEN! it would look like perpetual Christmas. So red was thrown out. We could go with white, a beautiful and safe choice, but I want something that stands out. So now I want a very high gloss black door. It’s more traditional European but I want a really cool door knocker to go with it, one like this:

Wouldn’t that be sweet?

UPDATE: Oh hai, Justin, you are the best! Thank you, for buying me this door knocker as soon as you saw how much I liked it today.

And also: I was showing my dad the door knocker and saying how cool it was, and he told me that when he was a little boy they used to have this same type of knocker on their front door in Iran. Holy coincidence Batman!

painting as exercise

What a productive weekend! I painted all of the wood baseboards, trim, and the banister a high gloss white, in the living and dining room. My body also feels like I did squats for eight hours, which is pretty accurate. David was in charge of organizing books, movies, and the second bedroom. That second bedroom/office is now put together and usable! I no longer have anxiety attacks as I walk by it, no more giant indistinguishable pile o’ crap! So, good news all around.

furniture, faucets, and fun

I’ve been doing a lot of shopping recently, buying new stuff for the house, it’s really pulling everything together and making a very cozy home for us. Yesterday we got the cutest kitchen faucet, I know it’s just a faucet, but I love it! I feel compelled to comment on its cuteness each time I walk by. It has “Hot” and “Cold” written on the handles!

David got a Japanese Elm bonsai tree, we hope that he has more of a green thumb than I do.

Aaaannnnddd here is a bunch of other stuff I got.

so ridiculously busy

Well, MB (that’s Mr. Bee), I’ve been so busy at work and not been getting home until really late at night. My week, outside of work has consisted of going to a dinner party, starting to putting together the (10) pieces of furniture I bought, going grocery shopping, and cooking, for the first time, in our new home. Not that I have had much time to sit down with my laptop, but I also have not been able to think of what to write about. My brain felt like a filled water balloon, full of stuff and none of it was getting out, still squishy though.

goals for future tina

Fall brings many reflective thoughts, with the year coming to a slow close and the weather starting to change (umm, excuse me, Tina, but it’s still really hot out. Shhh! Damn it. It’ll cool off soon. Soon, right?). As I start the last quarter of 2007, I think about all of the changes that happened this year and everything I want to accomplish for the next year. Maybe things like, oh let’s say, not buying nine additional pieces of furniture when the initial plan was just to get one entertainment center! Also, I want to stop feeling guilty for making occasional purchases because I rarely spend money on myself.

Some other goals:

• Become more tolerant of music and eventually learn to actually like more songs
• Make more time for freelance and commissioned work
• Stick with a healthy routine that consists of more fruits, more home made meals, and exercise
• Watch less TV (nnnnnooooooooo)
• Finish all of the house projects currently started, within three months (interior paint, lighting, some hardware)
• Get out of the habit of touching my face and skin in general, during the day when I am not paying attention. Because, Hello? Hands are the dirtiest part of the body
• Stick with a routine for doing a small amount of chores every day
• Get out of the habit of overloading myself with unachievable goals and unrealistic time frames, hmm

painting the living room

The living room and dining room paint has made the most difference, so far, in bringing this house back to the current decade. Most of the touch up paint is done here, only needing to paint the edges, trim, doors, and stair banister which has been primed.

Now that we have some of our furniture moved in, it looks like a completely different house than the one we first saw when we decided to purchase. It is now our home, and I can’t wait for the day when I can call it completed.

painting the dining room

The dining room wall was painted Gentle Rain (after I took this photo), along with the ceilings (also not finished in this photo). The Gentle Rain color will continue into the kitchen on the walls and ceiling so prevent any abrupt color change where the dining room wall and kitchen wall meet.

Hi Andrea, Andre, and Dad!

playing keepaway

It’s always interesting what kind of items people leave behind when they move away. In our attic we found an old electric guitar from the 1960’s, a stereo, a tape deck, and a mirror. There is probably more stuff up there too, but I don’t like walking around in there (I’ll make David clean it out sometime).

In our garage we found a small tan colored figurine of a saint (I have no idea which one it is). I was in the process of throwing it out when I first saw it, (why would I want to keep around more useless junk?) when David took it from me and said that he would hide it around the house, moving it every once in a while so that I would never be able to find it and throw it away.

You can see it above the fireplace in the top right square. Now I just need to step up on a chair to get him. Don’t get too comfortable little saint, you’ll be gone in no time!

painting the tall stairway

There is the all buff and strong painting machine that is my mom. Hi Mom!

Notice how this stairway does not have the darker gray paint color on the walls. It was decided that it would be impossible to get up there while on a ladder that was standing on the stairs to paint the edges. I had already climbed up there to get the popcorn off the far wall and ceiling edge, it was scary, and there was no way to reach the rest of the wall/ceiling junction for future painting. So we painted this whole area the ceiling gray color, Gentle Rain.

Currently this area is almost done (I took the photos too soon), thank god for extendable paint roller poles and moms and dads. The only thing left is to tape a brush to the end of the pole and slap paint on the edges.

painting the guest bedroom

Here is the guest bedroom painting nearly done. This room is farther along than the master bedroom because there are less closet doors to paint (the master bedroom has three closets) and no giant beam in the middle of the ceiling. This room, similar to the master bedroom, has the edge painting half done where the ceiling and walls meet. And of course, the doors and trim need to be primed and painted as well.

painting the master bedroom

This is the current painted state of our master bedroom. There is still blue painters tape on the walls because we have a tiny bit of edge work to complete where the ceiling color meets the wall color. Then later we will finish painting all doors and trim white, including that center beam which is now primed white.

We’ve moved furniture in and have it set up so that we can actually use the bedroom now. At least nothing is too heavy to move out of the way when we want to paint. It is frustrating to see all the little unfinished spots and areas that still need touch up paint. I feel like we will be spending every single weekend working on this place for the next two years.

pre mexico freakout

Freaking out about:

• House painting completion currently at 85%, and the last 15% being the most time consuming part
• Movers damaged a wall in my apartment, now I have something else to take care of this week
  

  The awesome boyfriend, David, took care of this, and the apartment management will not charge us for the damage

• NOT HAVING INTERNET OR PRECIOUS TELEVISION AT HOME, also no refrigerator until Thursday
  

  Internet and TV are up and running now, and fridge comes tomorrow

• Not having internet in Mexico for a week, but hopefully I’ll be able to forget about it and enjoy the water (by the way, I’ll try to schedule posts ahead of time so that you guys won’t forget about me while I’m gone)
• Gas company and cable company coming to the house today, so I have to drive back and forth from work to home in between my meetings
  

  All done

• Having to unpack and organize

Not freaking out about:

• Being completely moved into the house
• Our house starting to look like it really belongs in the year 2007 instead of 1980
• My shorter commute to and from work
• Buying new furniture and decorating
• David and I planning our portrait studio business (I am very excited about this, I’ll tell you guys more about it later)
• Having wonderful family that is always willing to lend a hand

I am so thankful to have such a great family. My mom drove to Austin on three different weekends to help with the renovations, packing, moving, and unpacking. I am constantly amazed at her energy and strength. She helped pack up our apartment Speed Racer style, without stopping and while ignoring my continuous freak out moments when I didn’t know what to pack where and what to do next. She also primed and painted more than anyone else. I do not know how she doesn’t get tired and how she stays so motivated. I am determined to find out her secrets. My aunt and cousin Mike, also came to help one day getting a big chunk of the painting and kitchen/closets organization out of the way.

My dad, very-soon-to-be-step-mom-Andrea, and her brother came over this passed weekend and painted like mad too. David and I could never have gotten this far so quickly without all of their help (and the help of the initial crew of friends who helped with the de-popcorning). This house ordeal has driven home the importance of family and the fact that David and I made the best decision moving back to Texas and being so close to all of them.

currently on the brain

Freaking out about:

• House painting completion currently at 15%
• Movers coming this Sunday
• Unfinished freelance work

Not freaking out about:

• The paint color chosen for the walls (milestone), ceilings (gentle rain), doors/trim (white) –

• Having a good boyfriend
• The cat showing me affection for once (of course, only when said boyfriend wasn’t home)
• Finally going on a real vacation after years of being too busy

underestimating renovations

Did you know that older houses require a lot of work? Apparently, I put this fact out of my head until now, thinking that I could do a huge chuck of the renovations in just a few weekends. Without any prior experience, and without knowledgeable carpenters at my disposal. YOU TRICKED ME, HGTV! YOU MADE IT LOOK SO EFFORTLESS!

My dad and Andrea (plus Cookie, and Bella) came to help on Sunday. My dad and his multiple power tools helped with many projects that we could not have done easily, anytime soon. We replaced some drywall, replaced and placed new baseboards, removed a cabinet in the guest bath, removed vinyl tiles, and I did a lot of caulking around everything.

If you take a close look at this photo, notice on either side of the glass door the baseboard is not on the floor. Instead they had placed a strip of carpet on the walls with the baseboard on top of the carpet strip. This took many hours to correct, but my dad mastered it all.

In the guest bathroom, there was a cabinet on the top right wall directly in front of you as you walked in. We took this out and now the bathroom looks three times larger.

There is still much more to be done.

starting the renovations

Nothing ever goes exactly as planned, of course, even with a boat load of lists, research, notes, and double checking. I called the utility company too late in the week, and with the weekend and holiday coming up they were unable to turn on the electricity or water until Tuesday for the bulk of our renovation. This didn’t stop us though, and thankfully the weather was mild enough so that we didn’t die working without air conditioning.

I took some quick photos of the place before we started.

I pulled some of the wallpaper off to see how easy it would be to take the whole thing off. It wasn’t as hard as I feared it might be.

Look, they left us some flower pots! There are also a couple of flower pots and a birdbath left for us in the front yard.

This weekend we finished removing all of the popcorn off the ceilings. Before starting this, I kept reading that popcorn is an easy thing to remove. All you would have to do is spray a little water and it turns into a mud that you can easily scrape off. Apparently this method does not work as well if the popcorn has been PAINTED TWICE!

It was rough, but with our muscles burning, our bodies bruised, and three days of nonstop physical labor we scrapped every piece of devil popcorn out of the entire house. We also sanded the ceilings, filled all holes and damaged drywall, and took off the wallpaper in the dining area.

There is a lot of clean up to do this week. After everything is spotless we will prime and paint. The cleaning, priming, and painting, hopefully, will not be as difficult as the popcorn turned out to be.

On the plus side, I am developing giant guns.

getting the crew together

There is now a crew of three additional set of hands coming to help us paint and de-popcorn the house. Since this weekend is extended with Labor Day, David and I are hoping to have all the painting and de-popcorning completed by Monday evening. I hope this plan will work out well, because I would love to have another set of projects done before moving in completely at the end of September.

Project set numero two is called The Tile Trouble Trick which includes tile in three baths, kitchen, entry, fireplace, utility room, and maybe the exit to the backyard. The TTT is a scary prospect, much learning needs to happen for a successful and timely completion of the TTT.

homeowners

20% nervous and 80% excited, I hold in my hand a house key to David and my new home. Some things I found out about the place today:

• The big tree in the front yard is a magnolia tree. I can’t wait to see it bloom.
• Our next door neighbors, an elderly couple, just painted the exterior of their home bright green with white trim.
• There is a library within walking distance. This made David very happy because just last night he mentioned that he wishes our new place has a library close by.

I can’t wait to get a paint roller in my hand.

Yes, the key really has the night sky artwork on it.

close to closing

In ten days we are going to be closing on our house. I happy and stressing out at the same time. I hate packing and moving, it’s one of my all time most hated things to do, right up there with putting my clothes back on the hangers.

I’m also not looking forward to all the work that needs to be done to the place. Since both David and I will be learning how to do all of the tasks as we go, I predict that it will take a LONG time to get it right.

Wish us luck, I’m nervous.

home buying

I didn’t want to talk about this until it was finalized, but I don’t like to keep quiet. David and I are in the process of buying our first house and we’re both very excited.

It is a little (1,337 sq ft) townhouse in north Austin, it has a mini back yard, 2 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 2 car garage, and it’s 2 stories. It was built in 1980, so it is a little outdated but it will be fun to update.

I snagged some photos from the listing (so that is not my furniture), but haven’t had a chance to take any photos with my own camera, yet.

I have already made a list of the things I want to update. First thing to go will be the popcorn ceilings, followed by new paint inside and out. We haven’t decided which updates are going to be done next and in what order, but some of the more expensive and time consuming ones will have to come later (like hardwood flooring and making the attic space livable).

Walls and Ceilings
• Remove popcorn ceilings
• Remove dining room wall paper
• Paint all walls light gray, paint ceilings lighter gray, paint all trim and doors white
• Replace outlets
• Install crown molding in living and dining
• Paint and seal the outside
• Paint the garage

Flooring
• Tile the bathrooms
• Re-tile the entry way and fireplace area
• Install wood floors

Fixtures
• Update all light fixtures
• Update all 3 bathroom mirrors
• Update all doorknobs
• Update all faucets
• Window dressing and blinds

Kitchen
• Install new counter top
• Install small glass tile back splash
• Buy new kitchen appliances
• Install new kitchen sink

Misc.
• Remove half bath sink and cabinet to install pedestal sink
• Update two full bath sinks and vanities
• Front and back yard landscaping

the search