October 2011

There is still a lot to do on the kitchen, but the end is sooooo close I can almost grasp it! All the cabinets are cleaned and ready to refill, the floor is in the process of being top coated and we are staying off of it for a few days, so all production is halted while waiting.  I also need to finish some of the wall paint, repaint the pipe on the wood stove with high heat paint, and then paint and caulk all the baseboard and crown moldings.

Not to mention putting everything back in the room and getting to the fun, foofing part!

I'd hoped to caulk and paint the crown before the floor got done, but we've had lots of time with the little grandfairies, and have let that be a priority.

It'll get done. But those sprites won't always be tiny and here to cuddle with us.

While I am waiting to get back into the room, I'll work on these vintage curtains that I found this summer on my drive to Indy at a shop along I70.  They were only $12 a panel, and will be a nice shot of color in my tone on tone kitchen. I only have two panels, so they will hang on the big window by the dining table only.  I need to let the hem out and remove the pleats so I can hang them on a rod.  I hate needlework, but this is mostly just ripping out, then a quick sewing machine hem, so I think I'll survive.

(the roses in the curtains are more deep pink than they seem in the photo)

 
Remember my dilemma with stain colors?  Well, I tried. But- the color I chose just wasn't destined to be. Trouble is, old houses like ours were often built with whatever trees were growing nearby.  We have discovered that the floor is cedar, walnut, pine, yellow pine, fir, and who knows what. Our floor is a mutt.  And the stain took differently on different types of wood. Its over all, a gorgeous, dark tone and I love it because it is so unique.

It was important to me that the new space was a contrast from the adjoining rooms, because I was afraid that if I tried to match them, it would fail and look close, but not close enough.  So, I think this stain accomplished the contrast that I needed.

As much as I loved the dings and dents and scratches and other distressed marks throughout the floor, I did NOT love these scrapes of paint here and there. They didn't show up until after the stain was on.

So, I bought some model car paint and touched up the scratches with a tiny brush.

I think it worked well. The scratch marks were in front of the cabinet with the hand painted rose topiary on it. Not there now!  There were some here and there around the room, and I'm so glad that I fixed them even though it set us back an extra day on completion of the room, we had to wait for the oil paint to dry over night before the top coats were added.

  I'd never have been able to live with those glaring marks.

This is another place that needs my help. Our stove will be sitting on the far wall and will be facing the door way, so you'll see it when you first walk in.  Its not an old stove, works great and I don't want to replace it. But, it has this dark rust line along the bottom of the door.  Today, I plan on sanding and repainting it with white appliance paint. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Our biggest splurge for the redo is this new fridge!  I'm so excited to get it installed.  Those double freezer drawers will be wonderful for sorting and being organized. 

And looky here!  The guys had enough scraps of tile to cover my guest bath ceiling.  Or as Sugarwings calls it, her bathroom. She gallantly offers the room to others to use, but makes sure they know it is hers.

I had the guys stop the tins at the edge of the tub.  I was kind of worried about rusty drips on people's heads while they showered.

(the hole is where the fan goes- this is looking up at the slanted ceiling from the tub)

Screws will need to be painted, but I'm not sure if I'll paint the tiles. The mismatch look is something I love. I wonder if that comes from growing up with a mother who is a quilter?  I love patchwork styles.  That might be why I love to set my table with a variety of floral patterned dishes too.  They remind me of the look of vintage quilt fabrics.

Just in case you are sick of remodelling photos, I thought I'd throw in this picture of our happy little Fairy Girl. She is doing well in her Montessori PreK classes and I've been lucky enough to have her staying with us part of this week.  We've been camping out in my bedroom, cooking on the grill and eating dinner outside.  What perfect weather to be without a kitchen!  We've spent all of our time outdoors.

See that ribbon in her hands? She has learned to tie knots and now everything she sees has potential for being tied together. Her #1 hobby is now tying long rows of knots in anything she can.

We're on the home stretch with the kitchen now.

Thanks for all your input on floor colors.

I chickened out on staining the floor myself. For one thing, just testing the samples gave me a headache from the fumes. For another, I was worried that I would screw it up.  I've had a talk with the expert floor guy and he assures me that he can achieve a darker brown that won't be red and that will not cover all the cool old distressing. 

We are still under budget, so I didn't feel bad about having someone who knows what he is doing finish the floors instead of me.

I had considered painting the floors, but decided to go low maintainence instead. A nice brown, the color of dirt will hide a lot!

By the way- that plastic does NOT hold back the sawdust and mess. The rooms beyond the curtain got a heavy duty coat of the stuff.  All the way up the stairs. I feel like it will take a lifetime to clean it all up.

While the floors are being finished, Sugarwings, Mayara,the dogs, my husband and I will be camping out in his office. We all want to escape from the fumes.  There will be a couple of days when we can't go in the house much. But there was no way we were going to turn down time with our little fairies just because we had a few minor inconveniences like a ripped up house and deadly fumes. 

When I am not shovelling up sawdust or squirting gallons of caulk into cracks and crevices, or babysitting fairies, I've been making my kits for Once Upon A Dream.

I've pre-written a post with directions on how to dye crepe paper like I did for these Prize Ribbon Sprites.   It will be up while I am away at Jenn's event. I'll be gone about 10 days, I'm stopping to see my sisses on the way home, since I am driving to Asheville.   While I'm gone, I'll still have posts popping up every couple of days.  I'll also have my Ipad with me and might do some "live" posts from it.