Wills Casa Dos

We've Moved

2012-01-16T18:41:00.000-08:00

We've moved the site to willscasa.com. Our life posts are here too. So go check them out and update your rss feed!

Problem Solved...er...Maybe Not

2011-07-13T19:50:00.000-07:00

We will go with Bentwoods (#2 Viennas - sorry to change lingo on you but we found out that's what the style is actually called) for the formal dining. We actually never really said it out loud. We just started buying chairs. At one point I did ask (after several purchases were already made), "So are we going to do all bentwoods?" (I just wasn't sure if Nick had ruled out the mismatched thing.)

We bought 1 chair at Benbrook Antique Mall. Then another the following day at Handley Antique Mall (sorry they don't have a web site so here's their location).

I'm sure you notice that they are different. Oops. Of course the color but that won't matter because we are going to paint them anyway. We failed to see that our first chair had little arm-ish brace to the side while the second chair was clean just like the Viennas from Crate & Barrel. We thought okay not a huge deal. We like the cleaner look, so we will pay more attention when we look next time. We will focus on the cleaner look and hope to find more beautiful ones in no time.

We started to feel a little discouraged because we weren't finding any. (That's the way antiquing go - Ron Washington voice). We headed back over to Handley because they had 2 there that we didn't buy the first time because we thought we could find sturdier ones somewhere else. They had 1 left! The guy who owns the store asked if we were looking for more bentwoods. (I think he could read it on our face.) He said the lady up the street had 4 chairs yesterday at $5 a chair (cue mouth drop to the floor pose). We bought our 1 chair there for $18 (since we still needed more even if we bought the ones up the street) and headed up the street.

There were 4 bentwood on the lawn of A Little Old, A Little New with a sign $5 a chair. One of the chairs was broken at the back, so we though okay we will just get 3 of them. The owner was so sweet she said she'd throw in the 4th in case we needed it for parts (haha as if we are that handy). She said they were in her carriage house that she is trying to remodel. (They come with a story too bonus.) Plus they were having a sale, so our total was just under $13 when we checked out.

We skipped the whole way home. Then we noticed something.

Oh yes friends there was like no attention to detail on our parts here. I noticed there weren't side arm brace things and that the seat had sort of an emblem (which I thought was cool and wouldn't be noticeable enough in relation to the other chairs). I blame the price tag. The chairs are actually like the ones DWR sell for $175 a chair. DWR calls them the Era chair. So now we have 3 chairs that look like the Vienna style bentwoods from C&B and 4 (technically 3 since 1 is broke) that look like the Era style bentwood from DWR. What are we going to do now? Find more Vienna's? Eras? Actually learn from our mistakes? (haha no that last 1 is way overrated)

Seat Situation

2011-05-18T16:00:00.000-07:00

What chairs are you thinking for the dining room? What about...

Oh the topic of much conversations these past couple of weeks. We currently have 4 chairs from craigslist which we have talked about slipcovering but will most likely end up back on craigslist. We've always wanted wingbacks to flank the end of the table like these discontinued beauties from West Elm.

Wingbacks for the end is pretty much a solid, going-to-happen-eventually thing. It's the rest of the chairs around the table we need to figure out. Here is our brainstorming thusfar.

1. Faux Eames (because we are too cheap/can't afford real ones/not worth the extra $$)

These are 99 per chair, so roughly 769 (with shipping) total since we need 6. I was sold on getting these before we decided to ~~overthink~~ be thorough on this decision making process. We could get these chairs from overstock for 139 cheaper, but they only sell white.

2. Vienna Side Chair from Crate & Barrel

I dig these chairs. It might be my new found love of Boardwalk Empire (thank you HBO). Originally I thought we might just round up a bunch of these from flea markets, etc, but I don't know if we can find 6. Then we would have to paint them. However it may be worth it since our grand total would be 821.40 if we purchased these new.

3. Jackson Metal Tub Chair from World Market

The more we think about this option the more we think it's not for us. I like them yes but I'm not sure it's the feel we want. These are 109.99 per chair, so 659.94 + tax. Overstock has some similar that are 197.99 for four (dirt.cheap.) which would put us at 395.98. Overstocks look shinier plus we don't need 8.

4. Random collection of chairs from random places painted the same color
Of course there is no source for these said random chairs, but here is some inspiration for you ~~so you don't think we are crazy~~ to envision with us.

This is Sarah Jessica Parker's Dining Room

via Decorologist *Note I can still have a Vienna chair

There is no defined amount for this option since you never know what you're going to find. The price per chair could be from $15 to $50 which is cheaper than the previous option. However we then need to factor in painting the chairs which for materials, etc shouldn't be too terrible. Rather it shouldn't be more total that all the previous options. Of course this option is appealing because it means we can have 6 different chairs that we like (in addition to the wingbacks). We found a chair when we were antiquing in Denton this weekend that I loved, but sadly I had no purpose for. This would give me an excuse to buy it and other exciting chair finds. Coincidentally, this is also slightly unappealing because it may lead me on an extended search for 6 "just right" chairs that seemingly has no end in sight. Okay I take that back it doesn't sound that unappealing after all.

Dining Room

2011-05-17T19:18:00.000-07:00

We are attempting to get back into the swing of things here at la casa. We took a long hiatus after the 1st birthday bash. We were just worn out. Add in new job (for Nick)/budgeting to be single income (yeah that's right I'm staying home...yikes)/life into the mix, we are just now mustering enough energy to deal with the massive amount of things left to do around here.

We are focusing on the formal dinning room of all places. We found this really cool piece at an antique mall in Dallas, so we've been bouncing ideas off each other ever since. (Side note: Yeah big step for us that we didn't buy it immediately without having a clear direction for the remainder of the room. Hope it's still there when/if we decide to pounce.)

We both love it. Nick fears that the room could go uber shaddy chic or traditional in a hurry if we aren't careful. This would go to the left of the window and serve as a mini buffet - a place to decorate and a little more storage. We are still debating on the "real" buffet for the long wall. Here are a few options.

The Concord Media Cabinet from Room & Board (in walnut, not the ebony that's shown)

We both really loved this when we saw it in LA. We don't so much love the price. In fact it makes me short of breath thinking about it. Maybe I can find one on craigslist in the free section.

The Luna Buffet from Organic Modernism

Nick passed by a store in New York that carried Organic Modernism. It immediately perked his interest thus spurring him into research on this option. A huge plus for this is it's reasonable and modern. Two things that rarely go together (unless you are talking about cheesy modern). It's 18.5 inches deep though which might be too deep for the room.

Of course that all depends on the chairs we go with...

Bring in the New

2010-12-31T08:00:00.000-08:00

Here are the reupholstered cane chairs that we bought from the Dallas Flea last spring. We got some charcoal linen (and washed it twice per Emily Henderson). Gave it to someone who knew what they were doing and ta-dah beautiful.

I bought the pillows from Target because I thought they were cool. Plus I didn't have time to make any pillows and I don't think I'm good enough to pull off ruffle pillows.

2010 was filled with lots of changes for the family and la casa. I hope everyone has a happy new year. Here's to more projects at the Wills Casa and goals achieved in 2011.

1 More Thing

2010-12-30T08:00:00.000-08:00

I forgot to mention the landscaping clean up we did before R's birthday too. We took out all the overgrown mess that was crowding our beds. We haven't tackled the re-landscaping action yet, but we are enjoying how much brighter the dining and living rooms are.

I was using an electric chainsaw and definitely chainsawed the cord.

Landscaping = not my thing

Layout Set in My Corner

2010-12-29T19:26:00.000-08:00

I think I have the bones in place for the sew corner. The decor and details aren't there yet, but here's what we are working with people. I moved the table against the other wall. My heart still pounds a little fast when I think about it, but I'll just have to lock the door when I'm sewing so no one can sneak up on me. I stole Ramona's 4x4 Expedit shelf. Sorry baby girl. Actually, I think she will like it better because when we get a 2x4 Expedit for her room I think there will be enough space left for a slide of some sort which is her hearts desire.

My punch list for this room includes but is not limited too...

obviously a task chair (I like the Jules from Ikea, but I don't really care for the color choices.)
a better solution for the thread
more fabric because well I have 2 empty slots and that's just not ok
mount a shelf above the table
add decor like maybe a letter A and possibly a drawing from Nick

I think this is definitely a starting point. I feel like I can cross craft room off my to do list and just work on the punch list as I find things that fit my needs.

Craft Room...er well corner

2010-12-28T18:02:00.000-08:00

I really wanted to have my craft room set up while I am on Christmas break. The problem is this is sort of my area, so that means I'm the one who has to do all the setting up and decision making. I'm not so good at all that. Mainly because I'm lazy, but regardless I have no choice here.

I bought the rug on overstock. I got one of the last 3 they had left because it was featured on a blog I follow. Of course you'll notice from that blog post that it's a Jonathan Adler copy which of course is a win-win in the Wills house.

I know this pictures looks a little weird because the rug should run the other way with the table length but it's too long for the space that way. I would just turn the table against the other wall, but that means my back will be to the door while I craft which gives me anxiety just thinking about it.

I was going to move Ramona's 4x4 EXPEDIT shelf into the room and get her a 2x4. However I think I might leave the big one in her room and get myself the smaller one or just buy a bigger one for me. I am not sure yet. (Again the whole research thing.) The real struggle is I want it done right. The thing with a craft room is I don't think it's something that will ever be "finished." I mean I need to just get a general idea of what I want, set it up that way, then use it, and make changes along the way.

I am doing my research though, so here are a few craft room that I lust after.

From Craft:nosis

This is what I was originally thinking...

From Don't Call Me Becky

So we aren't the best bloggers

2010-12-27T18:36:00.000-08:00

We made a mad dash of last minute projects and a serious (slightly unrealistic) to do list for Ramona's birthday in October. We were so overloaded with the amount of home improvements and the tight time line. We scrapped the whole blogging thing and figured we would catch you up later. (And by you I mean the 2 other people who even read this blog other than us.)

So here's the run down...(and sorry for the black dot in the corner of all the pictures not sure what's up with the camera)

We repainted the entry, hallway, and formal living. Technically, this was not a must since we painted when we moved in. However, Nick could not stand the sheen. Thus, we repainted. Oh yeah since we repainted those areas we had to repaint the ceilings in those areas too. (Worst. Thing. Ever.) We decided to paint the ceilings white so we wouldn't have to ever do it again if we changed our mind on the color.

That was a good call in theory, but it took us more coats with the ceiling paint than with the awesome wall color we used. We will never paint with anything other than Behr Premium Plus. It has amazing coverage. We only had to do 1 coat and some touch ups.

We were back and forth on the color at first. Nothing looked quite right, so Nick changed out the can light bulbs in the formal from the energy efficient ones to the normal indoor flood lights. That did it we found our color, Sculptor Clay and painted our heart out.

We started to change our dining room light. Then scraped that idea and just cleaned and kept it. It's very Anthropologie-esque.

We painted the remainder of the kitchen. (We had already bought the paint for it from Sherwin Williams, so we didn't get to use Behr.) We attempted to take the fur downs out when we realized there was a pipe for the AC unit hiding up there. We decided not to tackle that now since we were under a budget and time crunch.

We painted one wall in the kitchen chalkboard. While I was painting it, I thought this is either going to be epic or a total fail. Luckily, we love it. It has been so much fun. We have used it for her birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and a few to do lists! It's a statement and a lot of fun!

I painted the bath and 1/2 bath. I do not love the color, but I just kept going because we didn't have the time. It's a Martha Stewart paint from Home Depot. Again we did this before we discovered the awesome-ness of Behr. The coverage of the paint is horrible. I will repaint later.

We replaced the toilets in the bath and 1/2 bath. Along with a new pedestal in the 1/2 bath.

I made 9 (yes seriously 9) panels of drapes. The formal living room got 4... and the kitchen got 5. They are a bit messy so don't examine them too closely!

and the kitchen got 5. They are a bit messy so don't examine them too closely!

I am getting tired just blogging about this. It was so exhausting for us. We got to work as soon as Ramona went to bed and did not stop until midnight every night for weeks on end. My mom took Ramona one night so we could paint the living, hall, and entry. We didn't want her around the fumes. Plus she would get into everything!

Thus, the exhaustion is to blame for the abandoned blog and stopped home improvement afterwards because we were burnt out on house everything.

Seriously Dad?

2010-08-13T20:34:00.000-07:00

Tonight Ramona let me know that I might have been going to Home Depot a little too often lately...Maybe she's right.

Eat on this, Not on that...

2010-08-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

So last week, I took a day off of work because we thought our dogs had mange and we needed to take them to the vet (they don't, just dry skin). So in order to celebrate the good news, we decided to do what we always do: hit up shops and look for crap for the house.

First we went to the fabric outlets off of Harry Hines in Dallas. These places are like the mecca of cheap fabrics in the DFW area, as long as you can handle the no A/C situation that they have working (I sweated my balls off). We snagged some drapery lining for for about $2/yd (Amber told me that was a good price, but she's probably lying). She's got about 324.3 sets of drapes to sew right now. GET TO SEWING AMBER!

Then we went to ikea and bought a frame and a bath mat. I know what you're thinking at this point, and yes, we are super rich.

Then, and here's the big one, we stopped into the Wills family not so super secret source for furniture, WEIRS in Southlake. While we were there, we saw this table and could not believe the price. It was a special manufacturer closeout and only 399 buckaroos. That's right a 112 inch, solid wood dining table (that is quite beautiful if I do say so myself) for less than $400.

We couldn't believe it. We weren't intending on buying a dining table that night, but we couldn't pass this sucker up. After having a hernia a piece, Mark (the father-in-law) and I got it in the door. It weighs 3000 pounds, I swear. The next night, we cleaned out the formal dining area and voila, we have a new table. The herringbone detail on the top is sexier than Rita from Dexter.

We still have a lot to do on the formal: Slipcover the chairs and re-stain the legs, get a rug, get a buffet (maybe), make drapes, new light fixture....

But it feels good to have gotten the major piece at such a discount. The style is a bit traditional, but I think we can make it look great.

Super Blog Mega Update, Great Job!

2010-08-09T12:14:00.000-07:00

[Picture of the Ramo-hawk has no relevance, I just think it's funny]

Hey dude, can I ask you a question? So uh.... what happened to July? Did I Rip Van Winkle that biatch or what? I mean, it was just June last week and now it's August. What the F dude, what... the.... F?

So what's been happening man? What have you been doing on your blog hiatus?

Well Let's see what has happened since I was last flabbergasted by the inordinant amount occasional seating:

Landscaping: still sucks
Pool: Looks better
Bought a sofa
Bought a big ass dining table
Started painting the kitchen, putting the knobs on the cabinets
Finished Ramona's side table
Restored the finish on the cane chairs (using the Restor-A-Finish stuff from your gramma's garage)
Took seats off of cane chair, currently trying to find the perfect charcoal-y linen-y textural fabric to reupholster them with (any suggestions people?)
Been to about a million antique/thrift stores looking for goodies...

Blogging has been my red headed step child lately. Our nights generally go like this:

6:00 I get home from work. We cook dinner, clean up (maybe), and try to spend a little time together as a family.
7:30 Ramona goes to bed. Amber and I look passionately into each other's eyes. Steamy love making ensues (not really).
7:45 We begin doing things around the house: staining, painting, sanding, priming, caulking (spelled correctly, I assure you) and all kinds of other home improvement goodness
9:30-10:30 We finish whatever we were working on that night, sit down, turn on the TiVo and start catching up on other people's blogs.

So, once you figure in all the time we spend doing it, we've had little time left for the blog, but we're working on it, I promise.

8. You heard me, 8.

2010-06-20T20:14:00.000-07:00

That's the number of chairs we have sitting in the formal living that are needing to be reupholstered or restained or repaired or have a slip cover made for or some combination of all of them.

SOMEONE CUT US OFF! WE ARE ADDICTED TO OCCASIONAL SEATING!

You probably saw this coming if you read my post about me attending the dallas flea. The cane back chairs beckoned us.

Amber has been lusting after cane back chairs for a while and we've discussed 2 or 3 different finds thoroughly. For one reason or another, we didn't pull the trigger on any of them. Since these were a great deal (only $95 for the pair), we decided to go ahead and add them to our collection of projects.

Here they are with their siblings. Waiting patiently to be redone. I think the cushion will need new foam, but I love the detailing of the legs and the little wheels on the front legs add a lot of interest.

Now, we need to decide what to do with them. Maybe we will paint them white and reupholster them in a bright, punchy fabric

or maybe we will ebonize them and reupholster in a neutral, calming fabric

So many decisions to make...

Sew More

2010-06-17T10:07:00.000-07:00

Here's a look at 2 dresses I sewed for Ramona. One is reversible. You can read all about it on the family blog.

Picture This

2010-06-14T20:49:00.000-07:00

A little under a month ago, we had a garage sale at ole' wills casa dos. Both of our mothers brought us items to sell. One item that did not sell was a little picture frame from my mom. It was a rusty green color and not really our style, but I thought with a little spray paint we could make it into something cool. So we kept it and I decided to buy some spray paint one day while I was at Home Depot.

First thing I had to do was prime it. (I didn't take a before pic because I stink at blogging).

Then I applied a few coats of yellow spray paint and let it dry for 24 hours.

The final product, turned out like this:

I think it turned out pretty well, now we just need to find a picture to put into it.

Amber's getting sew good...

2010-06-13T18:49:00.000-07:00

Amber made this dress for Ramona last week. Check it out on our family blog.

Her sewing skills are coming along nicely. Now it's time to start working on some items for the House! (I'm thinking pillows, curtains, slip covers, this list is endless....)

We Meet Again Mr. Adler

2010-06-13T18:41:00.000-07:00

Nick, Ramona, and I were killing time in Barnes & Noble off University today. We ran across a line of stationary and things from none other than Jonathan Adler. There were some cool notebooks and notepads, but the coolest thing was the dachshund bookends. Check out B&N for Jonathan Adler stuff on the cheap (for the 2nd straight weekend)!

Dallas Flea

2010-06-12T23:32:00.000-07:00

Today Amber needed to work on her paper. So Ramona and I headed over to the Dallas Flea so that she could keep focused. We'd never been before, but it had a lot of etsy artists that we're familiar with, so we had a good feel for what it'd be like.

**Sorry about the crappy iphone pics**

When we walked in there was a vendor who was selling all sorts of lamps. The prices were $60-$100 for table lamps and $180 for floor lamps. Not too expensive, but not too cheap either. Not sure of this vendors name.

By far, my favorite booth of the day was little bean shop. I got to talk to one of the owners (the husband) for a sec and he seemed like a really nice guy.

They had all kinds of cool baby clothes made by the owner

and they also had a really cool selection of other handmade items

Their shop is in Dallas and we will definitely be checking it out when we are in the area.

My other favorite shop was bows and arrows. They were at the etsy dallas spring bash this year and I talked to the owner for a sec. He was very cordial as well.

They carried a few areaware items (the piggy bank and rollerskate) which I am a big fan of (Amber not so much). I also really liked their quirky pillow selection too, especially the two seen below.

The also had a cool selection of purses, dolls, artwork, etc. All of it was really cool.

But the real winner to me was this

A pair of cane back club chairs. $95 for the pair. We've been looking around for these and are going to try and get them this week.

Overall, it was worth the trip out there even though we did not purchase anything. We learned a lot and may even purchase those chairs this week (if still available).

Jonathan Adler Score

2010-06-09T18:58:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Amber went shopping with her sister and Mother at Grapevine Mills Mall. She called me (a bit hysterical) saying that they had some Jonathan Adler merchandise at (of all places) Burlington Coat Factory.

After a return trip the next day to make some exchanges, we ended up with the following:

4 pillows (2 shown, 2 of a different style not shown) - $9.99 each
2 full size sets of green chevron sheets (bottom right) - $9.99 each
1 Queen Size set of brown sheets (bottom middle) - $29.99
1 Full/Queen Orange Duvet (bottom left) - $19.99

That's a total of $110 for all of that. Pretty Insane!

The plan is to use the sheets as fabric for an assortment of projects. Pillows, drapes, roman shades etc. We'll probably keep the queen sheets and duvet to use on our bed as backups though.

A quick glance through the blogosphere yielded a few people that had the same luck as us.

If you haven't gone there in a while, BCF might be worth a trip.

Door Knob Dilema

2010-05-31T17:12:00.000-07:00

One crazy day at Home Depot, Nick and I decided to purchase hardware for the kitchen cabinets. We bought some we liked for all the cabinets and even threw in pulls for the drawers. Well that may or may not have been before Ramona was born. I can't keep track of the spontaneous home improvement purchases we make. Anyway Nick put 4 knobs on and wasn't really impressed, so that was the end of that project...except that we have all these knobs and bare cabinets.

This memorial day I decided to purchase another knob during one of our visits to HD. I just bought 1 to try out. (I know, we are getting smarter already!) Here they are:

Which one do you like? Or you might not like either whatever just let us know what you are thinking. The one on the left is round (I know it doesn't really look like it, but it is.), and the one on the right is oval.

Fabric, Fabric and more Fabr...

2010-05-30T07:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went fabric shopping at the outlets off of Harry Hines in Dallas. The places were a big warehouses piled with all kinds of fabric that you had to dig through to find what you want.

Here was the take from the day:

Here we are trying out some of the fabrics as drapes in the office. I think we've found a winner!

Chill Out...

2010-05-16T20:38:00.000-07:00

This spring as it started to heat up the east side of our house was heating up as well. The A/C was blowing, but it wasn't cooling off. The inside unit was kicking on, but the outside unit was not.

Saturday morning I went to work on it. Initially, I replaced the capacitor to the fan motor. It was bad, out of spec, and had to be replaced anyways. Unfortunately, it did not solve the issue. Next, I replaced the capacitor to the compressor. Once I sent power back to the unit, the compressor powered on. One problem down, but unfortunately the fan didn't turn on still.

The last option was to replace the fan motor on the unit. I took it apart at about 8:00pm and took it up to Metroplex Electric Motor Service that night. We took it apart, and it was all burnt up.

At about 11:30pm he had a new motor ready. The next morning I woke up early to replace the motor, and once I got it in there.....VOILA! We had cool air on the east side of the house again.

Dave at metroplex electric was so impressed with my handyman skills that he told me that I might look into a career in A/C repair (I probably won't).

Fixing it was a great feeling, especially since I saved us about $1000 in parts and labor. First I stood under the vent in the kitchen enjoying the cold air (it was only 68 degrees outside but I didn't care). Then I did a celebratory running man (with a couple gratuitous pelvic thrusts).Then I called my dad to ask him how it felt to be the father of the smartest man alive right, he said he wouldn't know.

Knowledge is Power

2010-05-10T19:48:00.000-07:00

Some things I'm learning as we trudge through this remodel/furnishing process are as follows in no particular order:

1) It's way more expensive to remodel when you're house is huge.

2) It's way more expensive to furnish large rooms.

3) Sometimes you find good deals on Craig's List.

4) Sometimes you get a good laugh on Craig's List.

5) Sometimes (unfortunately most of the time) people think they should recoup at least 75% of the purchase price on their furniture after 5+ years of use.

6) I'm not crafty and can't see the final product in anything. (I actually already knew that, but this process just keeps reminding me.)

7) Everyone has an opinion about everything even if their style is completely different from yours they want to convince you that in fact it is you has no style.

8) It hurts my feelings when Nick shoots down my Craig's List finds.

9) It hurts my feelings when my bank account shoots down my Craig's List finds.

10) This process will never be complete at this point just getting functional is the goal.

Nursery Curtains

2010-05-09T18:41:00.000-07:00

This weekend we stopped by Calico Corner in Southlake to look at fabric for curtains in the nursery. Amber is taking sewing classes at Make in Dallas on May 15th (an anniversary gift from me) and the curtains are going to be her first sewing project.

We brought home 3 swatches.

Key West

Stockholm Sungold

Aviary

Thanks for modeling Amber! I don't think she is sold on any of them, but I really like the key west fabric. It matches well with her bed set, the others are a bit too gold.

We shall call you.... Craigslist chair.

2010-05-09T17:52:00.000-07:00

This past week Amber has acquired a new hobby. She looks on craigslist for interesting furniture. While there have been quite a few interesting pieces on there, the chair in the picture is the first one we pulled the trigger on.

It was on there for only $30, so we called up the man and (after trying unsuccessfully to work them down to $20) we agreed to meet him that afternoon.

I was a bit skeptical. The photos on craigslist were not that great and I figured it would be a piece of junk. When we got there and saw the chair however, we couldn't believe how good of condition it was in (aside from the cat hair on it).

We purchased it and after stopping at Fuzzy's taco shop for dinner with Allen and Sara (sorry about the wait guys!), we brought it home.

We plan on getting it reupholstered and maybe re-staining the arms and legs. We've already begun gathering quotes. Here it is next to the Bernhardt chair we picked up last year (another steal).

Hello, Old friend...

2010-05-07T11:40:00.000-07:00

I generally hate blogs in which every post contains an apology from the author for never posting. So, in an effort to avoid that, I will resort to letting you know what has been going on for the last 5 months: a lot and a little.

So much stuff has been going on in our lives since baby R got here, that we've had little time for home projects. Add on top of that the tight financial quarters that we've been operating in and we haven't been able to pay anyone else to do work on the house either.

The last 5 months, we haven't been bad at chronicling our home improvement adventures, we've been bad at having them.

Now as every teacher's best friend (summer) approaches, we are beginning to get a second wind (actually it may be fourth or fifth at this point) on improving our little abode. Our goal is to have it at least presentable by Ramona's first birthday party. There's a lot of furniture to buy to get us to that point, but we're working diligently.

Stay tuned, we may actually have another post this month....

Nursery List

2010-01-02T11:12:00.000-08:00

Okay so I am going to make myself a semi-shopping/semi-wish list on here while I am preparing Ramona's nursery for her to actually stay in it. (Or at least have all the appearances of her staying in her room.)

Near future:

2 (possibly 3) wicker (maybe?) baskets to fit in 11 1/2 deep x 16 wide x 9 tall space (However, if I want to take out her existing closet until I might not want these.)
Touch up paint where the dirty men messed up the beautiful stripes
New handles on closet door (already purchased just need a slight adjustment to fit)
Change to white: 1 phone plate, 5 outlets, 5 single plates for outlets, cable outlet, 2 switches, 1 double plate for switches
A/C vent on
Pictures for a 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 frame and 4 x 6 frame
Stickers for her piggy bank (spoiler alert: really cute idea that we are going to pull off)
Hamper
Some basket-ish thing for books
11 x 14 frame for her alphabet poster (might go in her bathroom but needed anyway)
A cute something something to hang the diaper bags
42 3/4 x 70 1/4 faux wood blinds
Window covering (no direction here)

Wishing and hoping:

Coffee table type thing to put by the Monte (Yes, I refer to my glider by its brand because I am that big of a snob.)
Rug (Wish we could find one we like but it isn't looking promising yet.)
New closet setup (Ikea probably)
Closet fixture
Intercom system (We have it all purchased and have had it since we moved it, but it has yet to grace us with its presence on the wall. Therefore, we have wires hanging out of every room where the old intercom system used to be.)

Organization Sensation

2009-12-29T17:40:00.000-08:00

I finished up the master bath tonight. There isn't any more clutter! Of course there are still some issues with the master bath that we need to tackle. There is not a towel rack in the bathroom nor is there a good place to put one. We have a hook near the sink that we had been using, but it doesn't allow the towels to dry and it is so close to the wall that it gets moldy. We need a better solution for our towels besides having them on the bathtub where they are now, any suggestions?

What a good looking closet! Nick and I both rid the closet of unwanted clothes and put everything else in an orderly place. All my purses are up in their dust bags waiting to be returned to my shoulder when I no longer need a diaper bag...so basically years and years.

What a relief to have that finished! I am going to tackle the master bedroom tomorrow. We really need to get the living room and kitchen done because we have friends coming over for New Years. I get fixed on a system though, and it's difficult for me to stray from it. Plus it's working! Things are finally get done. I keep telling Nick if he puts something where it doesn't belong I'm going to kill him.

I figured I would get the master finished tomorrow (hopefully), and then focus on the areas that need to be done for New Years on Thursday.

What a whip

2009-12-28T19:07:00.000-08:00

I worked all day...seriously all day. I only stopped when Ramona wanted to eat or needed to be changed. What did I get done? When you look at it basically nothing, but I cleaned the shower and the vanity in the master bath. I know that doesn't sound like much, but here's the breakdown. I wiped the nasty drawers in the vanity down and put some sweet green paisley contact paper down. I organized all the drawers and under the sink because we seriously needed it. I wiped the drawer and cabinet faces down with bleach wipes because they were gross. Then I cleaned the shower. Here's what it looks like now.

Pay no attention to the clutter in the mirror. I haven't gotten that far yet. I was just absolutely fed up today and figured I would start in the master bathroom and work my way out. I didn't think I would take me all day to do 2 things. I initially told myself to just clean and declutter and NO perfecting it, NO deep cleaning, and DEFINITELY NOT putting contact paper down until things were more manageable. Well I didn't listen to myself. It's done now though and I am glad. I think the problem is we are always trying to play catch up. We've lived in chaos for so long waiting for the remodel to be done and telling ourselves well one day we will change this...fill in the blank.

I think that's the most difficult part of taking on the huge project that is our house. We need to just accept that the majority is finished (thank you home improvement loan) and make the rest of the house our own working on it at a later, undetermined date. We know that the bathroom is not going to undergo a major (and much needed) face lift in the near future, so we need to clean it up and live with it until then.

Ramona will be getting into everything soon enough, so we are now on a new strict timeline. We can't have her crawling around in this mess. We'll see how much I get done tomorrow...maybe I'll actually get out of the bathroom! I hope our sweet girl is as wonderful tomorrow as she was for me today!

Remodel Update 10/16

2009-10-16T21:54:00.000-07:00

For the Nursery

2009-09-29T17:59:00.000-07:00

We're getting close to blast off, T-minus 4 days and counting. Today we paid for ramona's nightlight. I had it custom made for her by fruitflypie. She makes some amazing ceramics by hand. When I saw her light, I knew immediately that it was perfect for Ramona's room. I messaged her and asked her if she could make it in yellow, our nursery accent color. She obliged and we think that the result was amazing!

UPDATE: It looks like she is selling it in her store now. So if you would like one, order it at: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=31813854

Floors being stained

2009-09-29T08:58:00.000-07:00

Sunday we moved in with my parents to prepare for the floors being stained yesterday. We can't walk on them for the 3 days, so we'll be back in the house on Friday. It's cutting it close!

Remodel Wrap Up Days 14-18

2009-09-26T17:34:00.000-07:00

Lot's of stuff has been happening around the house this week. We took out the trash compactor in the kitchen, but had little ideas about what to put there. Putting a door there would have been too expensive because the only way they can match our does is by creating a custom bit. We could have put an ice maker in there, but we didn't feel like we'd use it. So what we came up with is shelving it and putting baskets. I think it turned out really well and will look amazing once the cabinets are painted:

Then thurs we had 2 giant developments: The kitchen appliances got dropped off

And we got the granite installed! Here is a sample from the wet bar

The rest of the kitchen will be pictured soon. The funny thing is, when we pulled the backsplash off of the wall, we found this amazing wallpaper:
Pretty sweet eh??

Remodel Wrap Up Day 4-13

2009-09-21T20:00:00.000-07:00

We have been super busy with the house and on top of dealing with all of the issues that arise when you are expecting a newborn, that both of us haven't been able to blog. Good news, the project has pressed on.

The wood floors have been completely installed, we are now have (had) to wait for 10 days until they settle and can be scraped and stained. We are currently on day 5, so only 5 more days to go. This past weekend, we pulled out the countertops, sink, cooktop and old trash compactor.

We ordered the appliances Friday and they should be in Wednesday. The countertops are going in Thursday.

Here are the pics from last wednesday, when they were in the midst of installing the wood and had finished grouting the tile.

Remodel Wrap Up Day 3

2009-09-11T19:02:00.000-07:00

Today was not as eventful as yesterday, but it was necessary.

They finished the float today and finished putting down all of the tile in the kitchen. They also put the hardie board around the fireplace.

Tomorrow they will put the tile in the entry and dining room. Tile the fireplace and hopefully grout the tile.

The wood is going in on Monday! That is what we are super excited about.

Pondering Appliances

2009-09-10T19:43:00.000-07:00

We did a lot of research on appliances during the planning stages for this reno project. Our main need was a 27" double oven that was preferably a microwave/convection combo and would fit in the spot of our current oven. From there, we wanted an induction cooktop, a counter depth fridge, and a dishwasher with a cutlery rack.

We looked at a lot of brands and here were our findings:

Electrolux - We love electrolux. The design of all of their products seems well thought out. Amber especially loves their oven. Unfortunately, the double oven doesn't fit in our spot and we decided to keepy looking.
Jenn Air - These seem to be good appliances, but nothing spectacular. I think we would have been happy with jenn air, but they were roughly the same price as appliances that we thought had a lot more features. They did have a double oven that would work, so we were getting closer in our search.

Bosch - Bosch seemed like a lot of appliance for the money. They are basically the same thing as thermadors, which is a really expensive brand, but don't have the best reliability ratings. Bosch did not have an oven that would work, so that pretty much eliminated them.
Miele - We loved miele, just like everyone else does. Unfotrunately, it was extremely cost prohibitive. We mainly wanted just one of their signature dishwashers, but in the end we decided that we could live with a different brand as long as it had a separate cutlery rack like the miele.
What we went with:
We went with kitchenaid because it matched everything we wanted to a T. Here is a list of the appliances we are ordering:

Refrigerator KSCS25FVMS

Oven KEMS378SSS

Dishwasher KUDE60FVSS
Cooktop KICU508SBL

Remodel Wrap Up Day 2

2009-09-10T18:40:00.000-07:00

They started on the float today, and got most of it done.

They also began to lay the tile in the kitchen.

And that's pretty much it. We're currently already running about a day behind schedule and $300 over budget. So....we've got that going for us.

Pondering Side Tables

2009-09-09T19:33:00.000-07:00

Now that we have the perfect glider for our nursery, the search is on for the perfect side table. My first inclination was to go with the trumpet table like Nicole over at MakingitLovely did.

I liked it, but there was still something that was not quite perfect about it. Next, I was loving the the Tray Side Table from west elm.

I still love it, but it might be a little more than I want to spend.

After that I looked for a vintage saarinen tulip table, but it was hard to find one that was in good condition that was reasonably priced.

Then during a stop at the HomeGoods in Mansfield, we stumbled on a drum table that kind of intrigued me (the one on the left).

At only $49.99, the price is right and I think it looks pretty great. I'm not sure how functional it is though. There's not a whole lot of space on the top to place items and it's bowed. Other tables like the tray table could fit a lot more stuff on top, but is more expensive.

Here is a photoshopped pic of the drum table next to the monte glider:

Remodel Wrap Up Day 1

2009-09-09T19:07:00.000-07:00

Today was the day when we finally got this jalopy moving.

The work day was only about 6-7hrs long for our crew, but they managed to get the marble out of the entry and formal dining room. They also pulled the flooring out of the kitchen to reveal some sexy linoleum. Hooray!

We still have carpet throughout, but hopefully It will be out tomorrow.

Too tired to take pictures, maybe I will tomorrow.

UPDATE: Here are the pics. I forgot to mention that when we pulled up the marble, we realized we would have to float the tile. You'll see the drop off in the dining room.

Empty Again

2009-09-08T21:21:00.000-07:00

Well the flooring is being demoed tomorrow, so Nick and I have moved everything off the floors (except the iron table base and the washer and dryer) tonight. It is hilarious to see where we stashed out stuff. The bed is in the middle of the game room surrounded by our dresser and other various pieces throughout the house. We'll have to post pictures of the mad stash.

Hopefully the demo will be finished tomorrow. The tile will be down on Thursday. The wood down on Friday, so it can begin the week to 10 day settling period. If we can get the floors done and the trim finished, we can start/finish the nursery. I swear if one more person tells me I'm nesting I think I'll scream. It's not nesting when you are doing an extensive remodel! We won't be able to be in the house after they stain the floors, so it would be impossible to bring a newborn home to that mess. Let's home she stays in utero until at least her due date!

I'm extremely excited that this project is finally underway. I know everything will work out even if it doesn't work on my timeline. It's such a feeling of relief to know it is getting done. This house is about to take major steps into becoming what we've desired it to be.

Granite in the kitchen

2009-09-07T18:52:00.000-07:00

This weekend we bought the granite for our kitchen remodel. We went with stonemark granite from Home Depot. The choice seemed simple because their granite has a different finish and doesn't have to be sealed every year. It has a 15 year warranty against staining.

We were originally going to go with silestone, but were having a hard time finding a color we liked. The stonemark seemed like a good compromise. We went with ubatuba, which is a pretty common color, but we think it will look good with the white cabinets.

We're still deciding what we're going to do about faucets, but I think we have narrowed it down to these two:

- Moen Lindley

- Delta Leland

For the wet bar, I would really like something like this:

Pegasus Newbury

Nursery Splurge

2009-08-24T20:06:00.000-07:00

We've been pretty reasonable so far about nursery items. We're doing a lot of ikea and other bargain furniture stores. The one item that we decided we could not live without was a monte luca glider.

We have fought it for a while, and looked for substitutes, but we just can't find anything that compares. The reviews have all been off the charts and the look speaks for itself. Honestly, it was love at first sight. Here's Amber about 6 months ago at baby bliss in Dallas, sitting in the orange version pouring over fabric swatches for monte and dwell studio (both of which we love).

So tonight was the night when we finally pulled the trigger. Let's hope we don't regret it. No one else who has done the same thing as us (cheap on everything but the glider) has seemed to.

Bargain Find

2009-08-22T07:43:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, we went out to a furniture warehouse sale for the IBB Design Group. It was the second time we had gone out there for one. We were turned on to them by a friend of ours that works part time for them.

The first time we went, we got there late and almost all of the good stuff was picked over. This time, we got there early and there was a pretty decent selection.

Most of the stuff they carry, I don't care for. It's a little too Haverty's for my taste. But we did find this awesome chair there for a steal. The springs on the bottom were broken (something that costs about $5 to fix), so it was only $99. The worst part was trying to get the thing in the prius and still have room for 3 of us to ride home (My mom was with us).

When I got home and looked at the tag, we realized that it was an even better deal than we thought. It turned out to be the Jasper Fireside Armchair from the Martha Stewart Bernhardt Collection. Brand new this sucker is more than likely 10x what we paid for it.

We're not sure what we are going to do with it yet, but you can never have too many cool shaped chairs in simple neutral fabrics like chocolate color velvet.

Re-Taped and Touched Up

2009-08-16T20:51:00.000-07:00

Shortly after we pulled the tape off of the stripes, we decided that the easiest way to do the touch-up would be to tape the dark stripes up and touch up the lighter pink (the light stripes were taped up previously).

Last night we stayed up late to do the taping. Today we woke up and painted a coat. Went and ran errands. Then we applied the second coat of touch ups. Ran more errands. Then came home and removed the tape and marked for what should hopefully be the final round of touch ups. Later on I will outline what the whole process has been like.

Nursery stripes without the tape

2009-08-09T20:34:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick look at the nursery stripes:

Late July Update

2009-07-29T20:43:00.000-07:00

We've been doing a lot to the house lately, but not really updating it. Some big updates are coming down the pipe, so stay tuned! I will leave you with an update of the striping of the nursery. It's a subtle tone-on-tone pink. The colors are White Dogwood and Rosy Outlook (mixed at 75%) both by Sherwin Williams.

Featured on Project Nursery

2009-07-29T20:39:00.000-07:00

I haven't updated this in a month or so, but I wanted to document that our mood board was featured on Project Nursery. You can check it out here.

Lightening the Mood

2009-06-22T16:59:00.001-07:00

This weekend's nursery project was adding the recessed lighting. Overall, it only took a couple of hours, and turned out really well. We went with the white airtight baffle trim to match the rest of the house. Now we just need to pick out a ceiling fan.

Mood Board 1

2009-06-11T21:38:00.001-07:00

They're all the rage on the interweb nowadays. So I thought I would make one to brainstorm what I am thinking for the nursery. Here is a sample of the direction we plan on going.

Possible Paint Colors : Comic Coral (Sherwin Williams), Wheat Bread (Behr)
Yellow Pillow from Pottery Barn (link) : Not sure if this is the exact pillow I want, but it has the right texture and fits the color pallette.
Bonavita Peyton Crib (link): The top rated crib on consumer reports and looks like it would fit in most styles.
Ikea Expedit(link) bookshelf: Displaying knick knacks, dolls, baskets to hold items, etc.
West Elm Capiz table lamp (link)
Pottery Barn Kids Audry Chenille Dot Panel Window Treatment (link)
Pink Piggy Bank from Target: This has already been purchased (not the exact one in the picture, but similar)
Dwell Studio Dragonfly Crib Bedding (link)
Babies 'R' Us Glider (link): and the ottoman.
Pottery Barn Moorish Rug (link): No longer in stores, so we'll have to snag one off ebay.

Extreme Makeover - Tax Addition

2009-06-11T21:33:00.000-07:00

While this update is not exactly a home improvement, it will make it a bit easier for us to make some. You see, our tax appraisal came in at almost $70k more than we paid for our house. Amber went in and protested the appraisal. After a short disagreement, we agreed on a value of about $10k more than we paid for it.

This means we will save almost $125 a month in taxes. Every little bit helps I suppose.

The Media Center

2009-06-10T10:27:00.000-07:00

As a testament to my possession of a Y chromosome, the media center is just about the only thing done in the house at the moment. Though most of the components have been up for about 3 months, I did not consider it complete until the recent acquisition of an xbox 360(mainly for netflix and guitar hero).

Overall, I have been extremely happy with the set-up. The tower speakers and turntable are probably the only things I would be interested in changing. The receiver is really a workhorse and I got a great deal on it. The remote is amazing, though I wish it was RF. The TV is exceptionally awesome, especially with respect to the deal I got on it on Black Friday.

Here is a list of the components with some linkage for specs:

TV - LG 52LG60 (link)
Blu-Ray - Sony BDP-s350 (link)
Remote - Logitech Harmony One (link)
Satellite - DirecTV HD DVR (link)

Receiver - Onkyo TX-SR706 (link)
Center Speaker - Polk audio CSi A4 (link)
Tower Speakers - Polk audio r60 (no longer available)
Rear Speakers - Polk audio OWM3 (link)
Subwoofer - Hsu Research STF-2 (link)

Turntable - Audio Technica AT-PL50 (link)
TV Stand - PB Rhys Large (link)
Other - XBox 360, Nintendo Wii

All Quiet On The Wills Family Front

2009-06-03T11:09:00.000-07:00

Hello Blog. Long time no see. I hope you are doing well.

I hate that it's been 4 and a half months since my last post, but seeing as you are a home improvement blog and very little home improvement has been done, it makes some sense. Having left roadrunner for VHA (and acquiring a commute)in March and finished up my masters degree this May, you could say life just got in the way. Lest ye fear , updates aplenty are coming down the pipe (hopefully).

We've gotten back into the groove in the last couple of weeks and are looking forward to knocking out some big issues in the next couple of weeks. We've been picking out appliances, flooring, paint colors etc. and I expect it all to hit in a quick manner. Also, we're going to give our front landscaping a complete overhaul shortly.

Also, if you weren't aware, we are having a little girl. Oct 3 is the projected due date.

Paint Update

2009-01-16T08:34:00.000-08:00

After having problems with the sprayer earlier this week and running out of paint continuously, we have the first coat on all 3 bedrooms (all that is left). Tonight I hope to put the final coat on all 3 rooms so we can start to bring the furniture in.

This is a bit tardy (I could not find the Memory card), but here's a pic of the 3 color swatches we were deciding against. L to R: Behr Sand Fossil, Behr Ocean Pearl, Glidden Parchment. As you've read, we went with Sand Fossil. I think (See: Hope) we made the right choice.

Game Room Update

2009-01-13T08:33:00.000-08:00

Sunday I spent most of the day (more like all of it) working on the media room, trying to get all of the wires run and the boxes set up. Last night I finished up the first part, and this picture is the result of my hard work. I think it turned out pretty well. Sorry about the pic quality, I had the breakers flipped and had little light to work with.

I still need to install the rear speakers and the tv wall mount. Then I can begin to set everything up.

Painting Coming Along

2009-01-09T14:49:00.000-08:00

We have no internet, so the blogging is not coming along as well as we would like, but I will update as much as possible.

When we got back, the drywall work was done and we have been painting as much as possible. The entry is pretty much done along with both living areas. We picked a color from Behr called Sand Fossil (770C-3). Overall I would say we are happy with the color.

This weekend we hope to be able to paint our bedroom and the laundry room. I have some more electrical work to do and I also hope that I can get our TV and surround sound set up this weekend.

Leaving For Home

2008-12-30T19:36:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow morning we will be heading back home to resume the project of moving in to the new house. Our Christmas excursion to Lake Tahoe has been fun, but I will admit that we are very ready to get home. We both miss our dogs and miss the familiarities and conveniences of DFW.

When we get home our drywall work should be complete. The contractor we selected did work on the townhouse that my parents rent in Southlake and he does really good work. So we are really excited to get home and see the job that he has done. I'm sure it will look great.

We decided that due to budget constraints we will be doing the painting. So this weekend, we should be painting and will have some more updates.

Fin.

2008-12-21T09:37:00.000-08:00

As of today, we have officially said goodbye to homewood. It was a sad day, but we need to keep looking forward to the joys our new house will bring (hopefully, eventually). It's hard to not feel like you are leaving a part of you in a house that has seen so many significant benchmarks in our life. Now we have to move on and look forward to building even more accomplishments in the new place.

Weekend Recap

2008-12-17T07:58:00.001-08:00

This weekend I felt like we did a lot of work and got very little results. A lot of the electrical still needs to be done and the pool is still not quite up to par. Hopefully this week our fortune will turn a bit with respect to productivity.

I'm still gathering quotes on scraping popcorn ceilings and doing some drywall work. So hopefully we will have some updates on that soon.

Inspiration #1

2008-12-12T20:20:00.000-08:00

Finals are over, so it's back to work on the house now. I thought I would try keep track of some of the items that I've been using to get ideas. I always gravitate towards a neutral color palette, so that's pretty much a reoccurring theme through these.

I really dig the layout of this bedoom. It's big like ours, and similarly has a fireplace, so I can see us drawing a lot of ideas from this. Don't really like the drapes though.

Other view of the bedroom. I like the clustered frames over the mantle.

I like this bathroom. Not sure if I can use anything out of it though.

I think that I really like this shower and wall color combo. The vanity is a bit too modern, but the colors are nice.

I mainly just really like these fixtures.

I love the cabinets (not the doors), but the hardware is cool. The countertops (honed granite - absolute black) are fantastic and the backsplash is great.

I love this chair for some reason.

I love these floors and the simplicity of this room.

same deal.

Oh the joys

2008-12-08T21:09:00.000-08:00

Well I spent 7 hours working at the school, so I didn't so much work on the house this weekend. Nick and I bought stuff to clean up the brown pool (seriously I think someone took a poo in it). I figured I would leave school early (well like 4ish) and clean out some of those leaves that are completely covering the bottom pool.

After 10 minutes, I realized a couple of things.

a. There are more leaves in this pool than there in the whole world.

b. Cleaning out a pool is not enjoyable.

c. I just might get rock hard abs from lifting the overloaded leaf net out of the brown pool over and over and over...

I poured 2 pounds of chlorine into the pool because that's what the guy at the pool supply store said to do. Hopefully that will help clear it up a little if we can just get those leaves out. Of course it rained a lot tonight, so I'm guessing about million more leaves found their way into the pool.

I over filled the garbage bag with wet leaves, so I was stuck with nothing else to do while I waited for Nick to get off work. I checked to see if the shock was clearing anything up. There was a turtle trying to get out of the pool, but I poured the shock near the steps. I got the net and pulled him out. I let him down by the back gate, so he could find his way to the pond on the golf course. He was a quick little turtle by the time Nick got there he was no where in sight! He looked exactly like the picture above...red ears and all.

I really can't wait to get the pool clean. I will feel like I've accomplished something. Plus it will be one more thing we can cross off the mile long list! I just hope I didn't kill any turtles that may or may not have been left in the pool.

Test Entry and An Update

2008-12-04T05:58:00.001-08:00

This is me testing the lifecasting app from my iPhone. It should make it easy to keep up with this turd of a blog we have going.

Things should be slow around here for a couple of weeks until I finish my finals and we sell Homewood. After that things should pick up drastically.

Posted with LifeCast

Before Shots Pt. 1

2008-11-30T20:49:00.000-08:00

I've updated a flickr set of the before shots from the house. Check them out here.

The Official Game Plan

2008-11-29T20:18:00.000-08:00

I thought tonight would be a nice time, for organizational purposes, to list out an Official Game Plan for the home updates we plan accompanied by a (very tentative) time line.

All the updates we plan can be categorized into 3 main categories:

Before we move in
In the near future
At some point

Before we move in

Scrape popcorn ceiling
Retexturing walls and ceiling
Paint walls
Change hardware
Update intercom system (including iPod dock)
Update lots of electrical
Change fans and light fixtures
Run sound system
Update half bath
Change outdoor lighting
Clean up landscaping

In the near future

Update the kitchen (countertops, appliances, possibly cabinets and fixtures)
Update the wet bar (cabinets, countertops, and beverage center)
Outdoor surround sound
Convert pool to salt water
New Windows
Wood Blinds

At some point

Update the master bath and full bath
Update back siding
Landscape lighting
Furniture for whole house

Black Friday

2008-11-28T20:05:00.000-08:00

Since we closed the day before Thanksgiving, we didn't go over to the house the next day. Black Friday was a different story. Amber was sick, so she wasn't able to do much. Instead, Cody stayed with us for the weekend and helped a lot.

We started at 3am, lining up at Fry's. I got pretty much everything I was wanting (mainly items for the game room):

LG 52" 120Hz LCD TV
Sony BlueRay Player
Polk Audio Surround Sound Speakers

After that we spent the day moving items over from Homewood to the garage.

We don't want to move too much into the house right now until we finish our pre-move updates (more on those later). So as for now, it's just nice to have a bigger garage.

Closed

2008-11-26T19:48:00.000-08:00

It's official. Today we signed the papers on our new house. We are super excited, and a little overwhelmed all at the same time. This sucker needs a lot of work, but we think it's going to be something to we'll be very proud of once we are finished. Until we update further, here are some specs on the house:

Home Facts:

3 beds
2.5 bath
2,771 sqft
Lot 15,507 sqft
Built in 1985
Golf Course Lot (#6 on Rolling Hills Country Club)
Pool