Some of our DIY Home Renovations

The work at our house is amazing. I'm saving the pictures of the work being done by the pro's for later.  This post is about our personal DIY efforts.

We started with finishing the trim work in the girls room. This was the last step in their redo's. Having the carpet replaced (added in Ky's) made a huge difference! Doug did the prep work and I painted.

 

We then moved on and painted the living room and hallway. The problem here is that now the fireplace looks dingy... guess I know what's next.

 

I desperately want to change out the doors.. but that is not in the budget this time around.

Maddie helped out by working on my bedroom painting while I worked on her bathroom. So thankful for her sweet worker spirit!

I've also worked on the laundry room. It was BAD. I looked to see if there was a before picture. Nope. It was that bad.  Here are my in progress pictures.

 

And then I decided to tackle Maddie's bathroom. The floors were being redone and I knew that while I wanted to renovate it, I couldn't afford to right now.. so I painted (am painting) the tile. It is incredibly stinky.

The before.

During.

The paint that I used previously for a tile project was a little different, so it took a while for me to get my groove. I should have started on the wall behind the toilet! Where the inconsistency didn't matter. ugh. Now I have to go back and sand paper the drip marks. But oh well, it looks soooo much better already!!

This is truly stinky stuff.

And here we are after the first few coats.

 I am in love.

I'm hoping that a new counter will just magically appear on Maddie's counter. If not, we will wait till the next round of renovations!

What a difference.

That's pretty much been my mantra these days I have been spending around 8 hours each Saturday and Sunday working on the house. It will be totally worth it. But in the meantime... I'm tired.

SOLD

After 4 years and a few false starts, our house finally sold.

We got the minuscule check yesterday. But truly, we were just thankful to not have to WRITE a check to the bank.

Whew. Back to one house payment.

Thank goodness!

The REVEAL!! A Refinished Bathroom makes all the difference.

I'm thinking that I just did a $10k upgrade on our house this weekend.

Really.

It made THAT MUCH OF A DIFFERENCE!!

I was planning on getting a new shower curtain and a rug, but we had a request to have the house
shown this morning and there was NO WAY I was going to say no to that!

So here it is!!

Yes, this is the same bathroom!!

Let's revisit.

A side by side comparison.

It's incredible! You don't even see it as the same bathroom!!

Now I just PRAY that the people who look at the house today appreciate my hard work and can look past the stink of the epoxy! But to make me feel good... let's take one more look at the finished bathroom!

District Band, House Showings and Running

District Band

So Maddie made the District Honor Band last Saturday. It was the first truly older kid thing she has done. Doug said when he dropped her off he got a little teary eyed. It was the start of a new chapter in our lives. The chapter that I truly LOVED growing up. Extracurricular activities on Saturdays! I competed in so many events in junior high and high school. 

Given that Maddie didn't pick up a clarinet until June, it was scary that she was trying out at all. But we were supportive. 103 clarinet players from 7th and 8th grade (most whom played in 6th grade as well) were vying for 48 spots. Maddie placed 43!!!! So proud.

So this Saturday, we will go drop her off early in the morning again and she will travel to do a band workshop all day and then we will go watch the concert.

It makes me cringe when I think of how fast these years are going to fly by. Truly, it seems like just yesterday we were starting pre-k. Yes, I will be one of those melancholy mothers.


House Showings

How does 3 times in 24 hours sound? Awesome! Not sure if any of the lookers are serious or will be interested, but I love the traffic!! And, our realtor uses a company that will text to schedule and confirm showings, it is awesome.

Running

And last, running. I really try to not talk about this new love of mine. But, in case you were wondering... yes, I'm still running. I've even started reading books about running. On days I don't run I think about running. Who am I????   I'm not really sure, but I love the way I feel and look, so I think she's a keeper.

For Sale.

We have listed our house. Check it out.

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1302-N-Cleveland-Ave_Stephenville_TX_76401_M73486-04341

Please send a buyer. Thanks!

Why should you have flood insurance when you live in Texas in the middle of a drought? This is why.

In case any of you dear readers didn't know, I live in Texas. Actually I live in Central Texas where water is at a premium. In fact, we are in the middle of a drought.

Things are dry. Well, they were.

Until a week or so ago. Then it rained.

Six inches in one day. On dry ground.

Dry ground does not absorb water, it causes it to flow.

How do I know this?  Look at my poor floors.

The first two pictures are of my laminate flooring in my dining room, hallway and into my living room.

Just for clarification sake, the seams should not be obvious. The seams should be flush with the rest of the board. The seams should not catch your foot when you walk. The seams should not cause you to trip. This is no longer the case. fun.

And here is my bedroom. Remember the new carpet that we put in just two months ago? Yeah, that carpet.
But the carpet is okay because we pulled it up over half of the room, took the pad out and let it dry outside and had four fans running under the carpet for days.

If only the laminate was salvageable. :(

And NO, it is NOT COVERED by our home owner's insurance policy.  Why? because once the rain hits the ground it is SURFACE WATER. It's not rain anymore and insurance doesn't cover surface water without a flood policy.  Now, if the rain had come through the roof, they would cover that. If it had come through the window, yep, that would be covered. But because it had the audacity to hit the ground first, it's not covered. Yes, I'm a little bitter.

Because really, we live in the middle of a neighborhood, in the middle of town where the closest creek bed is at least a couple of miles aways, in the middle of Texas where we haven't had more than a dab of rain in forever. But yeah, I should have been carrying FLOOD INSURANCE!

What are we going to do about the laminate? Live with it for a while and be thankful that it wasn't the whole house.

We are MOVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's been a long, long time coming.

But, or house has finally sold and we are moving!!

Not out of our town..

Just into a FOUR BEDROOM HOUSE!!!!

Yes, that is cause for major celebrations!

If only there was time.

Funny, it took like three years to sell and we had to be out in less than 3 weeks!

So, come June 1st we are out of here.

The house we are renting won't be ready until closer to the 10th,

so we (and our stuff) will be in limbo for a little more than a week.

But so what... we will manage.

Cause we are moving into a FOUR bedroom house.

And then, after we get settled.  I'm going to find some time to craft and blog.

right?

The Death of Crafting

The Death of Crafting.

Or

Why doesn't Faith, Hope and Art have art anymore?

simple.  our house is STILL for sale.

ugh

Isn't it beautiful though! :)

And an upclose of my desk.

So yeah, no crafting takes place here.

sigh.

Thankful Thursday: 5 year anniversary in our house

Five years ago today we packed up the house in Azle and moved back home to Stephenville.  I can not believe how quickly five years have passed.  We went from moving around a lot (6 houses in 5 years) to stability.  It’s no wonder that this house feels like home.

We have also done a lot of work to the house over the last five years.  In fact, we have changed almost everything.  Here are a few before pictures.  You will notice that I was pregnant then too!

   

And here are some after shots.  Funny thing is, I started painting Lexi’s room today.  This will be the third color in five years :)

 

I look forward to what the next five years holds for us and am interested to see where we will be living.  We could very possibly be in this same house.  No telling how many more paint colors could come our way!

Thankful Thursday.. Hallelujah, the house is ready to sell!

I can't believe we are back to Thursday again! Today is exactly 2 weeks since I started the quest to get the house ready to sell. It has been an exhausting effort, but the house looks great!

So if you know of anyone that needs a great place to live in Stephenville, Texas, send them my way!

Take a look at all of my work and the specs of our house by going to www.1302cleveland.com

Have a wonderful day.

And one more thing, if anyone gets this far.. pray for Maddie, she's had a flare up and has missed the last 2 days of school and I don't expect her to go today. She's only been to 2 softball practices and she can't go to practice today. I am thankful that we know what she has and how to deal with an autoimmune kidney disease, but it doesn't make it any eaiser.

Thanks.

Fixed pictures and a big "honey do" list

First off, I fixed the pictures of the cutting guide as best as I could for the computer. This should make printing them out easier. Please show me your finished projects!

Second, as some of you know, I am pregnant with my third daughter. We have a wonderful 3 bedroom house that we have really worked hard on over the past few years, but now I am really feeling the need for a 4th bedroom. So we started looking at houses. And now the fun part, finishing all of the projects so that we can sell this house! Don't you just love those lingering project lists!!

If any of you are bored and want to do a little painting, a little tile work, a little carpet cleaning or a little sorting of junk, please come on over and we will put you to work!

And last, Maddie made it through school this week! She is so excited about getting an award next week at the awards assembly. I am going to find a way to be at that program!

Have a great weekend.