First of all, thank you all for the kind emails checking in on us. We’ve been MIA because things have not really gone according to plan with this move! Our washer broke the first day and we were on the hook for a new W/D right off the bat. Don’t get me wrong, we are beyond blessed and thrilled to be out of the other house (the money pit) and into a much more affordable one that is close to family and school!
Thanks to our great family and friends, we moved everything in a day. It was hotter than hades but the troops still had a great time just being silly and all were in good spirits. Remember that, my friends — it is FUN to help move us! Not that we plan on moving again, the next one will be vertical – to the pearly gates. Or to the home.
Poor Liberty just paced the entire day and was a Nervous Nellie. She simply didn’t know what to do with herself. She wore herself OUT with all that nervous energy. Enter exhibit A: we could have layed a steak in front of her nose when we snapped this pic. She wouldn’t have budged.
Before, I’ve shared one of our first projects which was creating a built-in entertainment center from a unit I found on CL. After Kevin added some trim moulding, cut out the wall, added drywall and then having me paint the whole unit, here is the official “after” with his our t.v. mounted. I just need to add accessories to the glass shelving.
I mentioned when we found out that we got this house that I had a new décor scheme in my head. Well, it’s slowly coming together, mostly because I like to wait until I find what I want on CL and can stand to live in disarray for a while. I’ve searched for months for Windsor chairs like these and finally found them for a great price! Of course, we don’t plan on eating on this folding table forever. We are going to make a rustic, farmhouse table that will fit the space perfectly. I’ve also sold a lot of my old furniture to make room (and cash) for the “new” furniture.
And, I put this “family rules” sign right where you walk by it a hundred times a day.
Now here is where things have turned to pot! I painted the kitchen cabinet casings before we moved in. I’ve done so much cabinet and furniture painting that I never saw this coming – paint peeling off like you’d peel an egg shell:
Here is what it looked like before the fiasco, all ready for their new doors to be painting and put on:
Nice, eh? Well, there WERE nice. Actually, beautiful I might add. But…I need to release some energy here…(insert my best George Banks voice, in the supermarket hotdog bun scene of Father of the Bride)….’because some big shot homeowner (that would be me) got together with some big shot (that would be the paint company) and conspired to make this DIY project a living nightmare!
Actually, the paint company did nothing wrong. This was user (my) error. I think the original owner used heavy oils on her cabinets and I didn’t clean or prep them enough. I was hasty and just wanted it done. Totally my own fault.
But this does mean that we are sanding the ENTIRE kitchen down to the bare wood because we don’t want to risk it happening again. Dust soup anyone?
So, this is now how the kitchen has looked for two weeks! At least we recently found some pendant lighting for the island, which brightens my state of mind when I walk into this room. We are also in search of a lot of lighting fixtures since the owners took it all with them, along with the grass in the backyard.
I am, however, loving my new office and it’s coming together easily. I enjoy working from this desk that I refinished a while back (another CL find), and the units we had at the old house fit well into the corners for a lot of storage a Mother needs. We just have some finishing touches to do in here and I’m calling it good!
I’ll try to be better about posting our progress! You can read how this house of ours has evolved in previous posts.
What about you – any move in/DIY headaches?
I am so sorry to read about all that peeling paint. Our current home has a simular problem. Someone painted latex or oil paint without priming and now if you use anything with water in it to clean the doors, windows, or trim the paint peeling off. So I have to sand and prime everything. I have made it around to about half the house so far and I am feeling your pain. I hope the rest of the transformation goes more smoothly.
Traci
oh Christa – what a bummer about the peeling paint. that is so upsetting (especially for a painter such as yourself). hope it all gets sorted soon for you.
cheers Fiona
Yikes! What a mess and process to repaint! This is making me nervous… I started my first cabinet painting project last night. I hope it doesn’t peel! I actually bought that paint and wanted to call you to tell you about it. LOL I picked up BM’s mascarpone, but got it in Valspar decorators gloss paint for cabinets. Hope I’m doing things the right way….
Good luck with repainting! I’ll keep checking in on your progress. Your office looks great by the way. Is that chalk board paint on one of your doors?
You find some amazing CL finds!!! I think I need to hang out there more often!!!
I don’t have any move – in fiascos like you are having but I have had my share of DIY disasters! One that stands out the most and will be forever etched in my memory: while renovating our stairs, i.e. pulling out carpet and putting in new wood treads, I fell from the sixth step and landed face first into the oak hardwood floor. And let me tell you, it was HARD WOOD! $1200 in dental bills later…… Hey, the bright side – I have a beautiful new smile!! Got to keep smiling ’cause we still have the rest of the staircase to go!
Your home is beautiful. Coming together very nicely. And i love your colors.
What a pleasure to click your icon and see the post. I’ve said the same words about ‘my next move will be vertical’ and have realized that was three moves ago… So sorry to hear of your paint problem. You still sound sane so we are happy about that. It is all coming together and you will be enjoying a beautiful FINISHED home before too much longer I’m certain. Love, love, love it all. Can’t wait to see the end result. Thank you for taking time to share a bit of your life with the world…
Oh no! ~ about the re-painting. Dang it. Lookin’ good tho ~ love the entertainment center.
When you said “George Banks” I thought you were talking about the dad from Mary Poppins (his voice actually works for the rant as well!) Your office is gorgeous! All your hard work is really paying off!
Christa where did you find your Family Rules sign?
TJ Maxx
TJ maxx
I was going to ask the same question as Lisa – where’s the Family Rules sign from???
They are from TJ Maxx
TJ Maxx