Dining Room Remodel complete

It's been a long time since I've posted anything about my new house. I guess I've been so busy getting things done that I haven't had time to share my progress.

When I moved in this room , like the rest of the house, needed paint and new flooring. It had the same dirty mauvy/rose colored rug (YUK) as the rest of the downstairs. When I pulled it up in the dining room I discovered that there were two more layers of flooring underneath. I was discouraged and worried that I'd find a subfloor, not hardwood under those layers.

But you know me, ever the optomist, I decided that I would pull up the vinyal floor and the particleboard subfloor and uncover a beautiful hardwood floor. My family wasn't so sure, but I was convinced (mostly) that I was right.

I got an estimate from the first floor re-finisher which included $500 for removing the 2 layers of flooring from the dining room. He said it would be really hard to do and take him the better part of a day. I thought he was right about it being hard work, but $500? I wasn't so sure about that. So I grabbed the floor tool that my brother insisted I buy, (I didn't want to buy it, it was $30) and got to work. Well, I was right, it wasn't a $500 job. If I could do it with just a little bit of help from a friend with a power saw for the edges near the heater, I figure it was more like a $100 job. Anyway it took me 2 evenings and a morning, plus a trip to the dump and I saved myself $500.

When the second floor re-finisher came his estimate was lower and he was going to do more than the first guy, so I went with him. I'm going to remember that for the future, always get more than one estimate. So it took about 4 days to have the floors refinished and it was inconvienent for my sons because they couldn't walk on the floors most of those 4 days. I went and stayed at a friends house. I don't like being inconvienenced. LOL

I was pleased with the way the floors came out, they are the original floors so do show some wear, but they're clean and shiny and easy to keep that way so I really can't ask for more.

Dad painted the room, and it came out great. My daughter-in-law arranged the furniture and the few knick-knacs I have, I made the centerpiece for the table.

I love the way the room turned out.

I've recently become an affiliate for Artella. Artella is one of my favorite places to get images and ideas for my mixed medial art work and my ATC's. None of which I've been doing since I bought my new house. I'm hoping to get some time away from home improvements and home decorating projects soon. I really miss swapping ATC's.
Here's a freeby from Artella that I think you'll like and is very appropriate this time of year. It's an ebook on card making.
Follow the link and download your copy today.

FREE Giveaway: Stunning and Simple Seasonal Salutations eBook!
Download a FREE copy of Stunning and Simple Seasonal Salutations, an eBook featuring10 beautiful handmade cards, complete with photos and descriptive "how-to" instructions, showcasing a variety of techniques such as rubber stamping, collage, and innovative paper and mixed media arts. Download your copy at Artellaland.

Image Giveaway

Check out Take Ten Studios annual holiday image give away. Most of the people who download these images use them for paper crafts and mixed media art, but I was thinking the images could be printed on fabric and used to embellish quilts, bags and other "quilty"type things. Here's the link :
http://countdown.tentwostudios.com/

Quilt related Thanksgiving drawing

Visit Caron Mosey: Michigan Quilts to participate in a Thanksgiving drawing for a FREE copy of Contemporary Quilts From Traditional Designs.

Her site has lots of eye candy, definitely worth a visit.

I'm done moving!

It's October now and I'm all moved in.
When I had all the floors stripped down to the hardwood I found a floor refinisher. He stripped and sealed the floors in a week. They came out great! Well worth the time and expense.

I waited another week to make sure the finish was good and dry, then I started to empty the storage unit of all the boxes. I borrowed D's pickup every night after work and on my days off. It was hard work and it took me about 7 days, but I got all the boxes and some of the lighter furniture out all by myself. Boy do I have a LOT of stuff!! Too much sewing stuff, too many books!!

Last weekend, with the help of some friends and my sons we moved all the furniture and appliances out of the storage unit. I feel much better now. That was weighing on me. I wasn't sure I could get enough strong men together on the same day. That's me though, I worry about too much. I'm trying to stop that.

The move went real well. D brought his cargo trailer and hand truck, B brought his pickup and a hand truck, J brought his pickup and his invaluable skill at moving, B
brought his strength and his "let's get this done" attitude, and M also brought his strength and willingness to work. We met at the storage unit at 10:30 AM and had everything unloaded at my house by 1 PM. That was only 2 1/2 hours! Much easier than I thought.

Now I just have to figure out where to put everything!

Home Improvement Update

Just a quick update on my progress. I will be posting some pictures soon. I've torn up the wall to wall carpeting in the living room, dining room, foyor ,stairs and hall. I filled the back of a friends pickup amd took it all to the dump. The house smells much nicer now. I still have to go over all the floors and pull out all the staples they used to tack down the carpet pad, and finish pulling up the tack strips. I had a hard time with those, they used some long nails and thry were difficult for me to pull out. One of my sons helped me with that.
My boyfriend cleaned out all three sheds, mowed the lawn, trimmed some shrubs and cut down a couple of shrubs.
My son, daughter-in-law and grandson did a bunch of stuff, cleaned out the fridge, cut some branches that were overhanging my "studio", cleaned off the roof, and tidied up the yard.
My handyman-for-hire built me some cellar steps so I can uses the bulkhead, replaced a couple of stairs on the deck and put deck hangers under the deck because there weren't any and the home inspector said that wasn't safe.
Let's see, what else? I called digsafe so I can install some fencing and plant some shrubs, Verizon so I can get TV, phone and most importantly INTERNET! They can't do it all in one day, I need to have someone at the house on 2 different days. That is VERY inconvienent!
I cleaned up all the stuff the former homeowner left on the deck and in the house, moped all the floors with Natures Miricle, a de-oderizing product for pet urine. I sure hope it will work. I know it works on carpets, but have never used it on hardwood flooring.
My brother primed the walls in my bedroom and removed the wallpaper border in the bathroom. He's going to come by today and help me choose the colors I'll be painting each room. He's great at that.
I've been to Lowe's several times buying stuff and I guess I'll be back there or Home Depot getting my paint. I'm tired of the hardware store already and I still have a bunch of stuff to buy. It took 2 trips before I got a working de-humidifier and the primer I bought from them stinks so I'm going to return the other 2 gallons and get the Kilz. If you need two coats you're not saving any money and you're wasting time. I have no time to waste, I have too much to do.
Another friend measured the yard for the fencing. I hope he can get to that ASAP, I hate tying my dogs out.
I'm feeling very tired and overwhelmed so I called Dad in Florida and cried HELP. So Mom and Dad will be coming up to help me as soon as I get my bedroom painted and the furniture moved in for them. Dad actually sound like he's looking forward to working on my house! Dad's sure are great!!
This morning I'm going over to the house and get cracking on thier bedroom. I have to wait for my brother to help me choose the color before I can paint the walls, I'll start with deglossing and priming the woodwork and painting the ceiling. I will have it ready by the end of the week even if I have to paint one wall every night after work.

Today's the Day!!

Finally!! I have a closing. Tonight at 6PM I sign the paperwork that makes me a homeowner again.
This house is perfect for me. Not too big, not too small, hardwood floors, lots of closets, wood stove, 2 bathrooms, laundry on the first floor, dry basement to store stuff, lots of light and a real cozy feel to it.
The yard is great also, 4 1/2 acres, some sun, some shade, lots of trees, a farmers porch in front, a little deck in back, enough paved parking for me and my sons.
Last, but not least......... a separate sewing studio!!
Now before you all think I'm either rich or got the bargain of the century, I have to say, it needs quite a bit of work. The studio needs insulation, a wall torn down, a wall built, sheetrock to cover the insulation, a new furnace, the wiring upgraded for my quilting machine and a new floor.
The house needs the carpets torn up, the floors re-finished, every wall painted, a cabinet in the kitchen moved, a new microwave over the oven installed, the cabinets sanded and painted, the windows replaced - all 13 of them! Oh yah, and the upstairs bathroom needs some remodeling too.
So, if I'm not posting or quilting you'll understand why.
I'll post a picture of my little castle as soon as I can.
Wish me luck!