The House

Although we did get a great deal on our house, there were a few things wrong with it that we could live when we bought. Those things have been on a list of things to do ever since we got back from Arizona in November 2012.  Repairing, or redoing, the front porch is one of those things.

The issues with the porch include rails that wiggle and threaten to fall over when you set something on it, such as a glass of water; rough sawn boards nailed up to comply with code to get a VA loan to buy the house; and steps that were built in a rather unusual way, and made them dangerous.

Whoever built this porch didn’t do a good job of it to begin with. The wood planks that make up the rails were nailed to the uprights without cutting any angles on the ends of them. Every time my oldest grandson comes over, he tries to sit on this rail, and we have to tell him not to. It’s not that I don’t want him sitting on the porch, it’s just that these rails are rotten and it wouldn’t take much to break them. I just didn’t want him to get hurt.

The rough sawn boards used as rails to comply with code have really been getting under my skin. They are ugly, and just look like “poor white trash” to me. I have no other way to describe it. I love my house and where I live, but I am so glad to be getting rid of this particular aspect of my porch. It is, after all, the very first thing people see when they come to my house. You know, that whole first impression thing.

Last of all, the steps to the front porch are dangerous. Fabgrandpa has already fallen once while bringing in the groceries. He could have broken his neck, not to mention those expensive eggs. (can you believe $4.80 for a doz and a half of eggs???). The bottom step wiggles, so for someone who has balance issues, it is very dangerous. And the top step? We have not been able to figure out what the original builder was going for. That step is sort of curved, the result of trying to nail two skinny boards to a rounded top stair riser. And none of the three steps is wide enough for an adult foot to stand on.

So, our neighborhood handy-man came today to start work on making the improvements to the porch. I’ll show you the finished porch when he is done with the job tomorrow. I had wanted to extend the porch past the window to the right of the front door, and add a handicap accessible ramp, but the added cost made that part of the job unrealistic for us at this time. We can always add that later if we need to.

Does your house need any functional or cosmetic work done? What would you do first on your list of to do’s?

This post is brought to you by unhinge hardware. 

After three going on 4 years of living in our house, I finally decided I could not take another minute of the ugly that was my bathroom. It had an outdated gold framed shower door, holes in the walls, that hideous wallpaper strip, and grout coming out of the tile floor. So, we hired our handy man to do his magic, and here is what it looks like now:

We started out with a paint that didn’t actually work for us. It left streaks, roller marks, and places not covered after three coats of paint in two day. (and yes, my handman has painted for us before, so we know he does a good job. It was the paint.) So, back to the store for a different brand, and a bucket of Kilz to cover the previous paint that didn’t work out. This set us back three days in getting the project done, and add $$ to the total price of the finished project. But, as usual, good things come to those who wait, and the finished (or almost finished) room is so pretty.

We wound up using Glidden Matte Latex paint in Orion Gray and Spirited Yellow. At first I felt like the yellow stripe was too wide, but as time goes on, it looks just about right to me. I decided to use the stripe to add some spark to what would have been otherwise dark room.

I had received all the fixtures to use in the bathroom redo from unhinge  back in June. They give the bathroom a more modern look, and absolutely look so much better than the old cheapies we bought to get by with. They sent me two of the towel rings, a towel bar, a toilet paper holder, and a robe hook, all from the Austin Collection. I also received two grab bars to help make our bathroom a little safer for us.

The next thing I need to do is stencil the yellow stripe. I got this stencil at Joann Fabrics. It’s a bit wider than my stripe, but I think it will work, and be very pretty. I have some white paint, and a stencil brush, so I’m ready to go when I get the time.

So, what do you think of my updated bathroom? Do you like that stencil, or would you have picked something else, like a butterfly or a vine?

When we moved into our house in November of 2012, there was a lot of remodeling, redecorating, and fixing up to do. We did the stuff like installing new windows, and fixing up the kitchen first, because they were the most needed of the things we needed to do. So, the bathroom waited. And waited some more. Last week, I decided I did not want another holiday to come and go without fixing up the bathroom. I couldn’t stand looking at all the things wrong with it for another minute.

First of all, there was this ugly (to me) gold shower door. I have never liked shower doors in a bathroom. I know some people do like them, but I much prefer a pretty shower curtain instead. So, that monstrosity had to go. Next. there were holes in the walls in the bathroom, where the previous owners had pulled all the fixtures out, I guess to take with them when they moved out.

On top of that, when we moved in, there were no fixtures, so we bought the most inexpensive ones we could find just to have a place to hang a towel and some toilet paper until we could get around to fixing up the bathroom. They were ugly. Fake wood, didn’t match anything that was already in there, and just yuck! Also, I am sure you can see that awful floral wallpaper strip that goes all around the bathroom. Why?

Yes, everywhere there was a fixture in the past owners life, there were holes in mine. The walls were scratched up, and dirty too. So, for three long years, every time I went to the bathroom to shower, or use the toilet, there was all this ugliness around me. It had to go. I had these paint colors hanging on the wall in there for about a year.

Oh, and you can probably see those fake gold colored water faucets in there too. Maybe they looked good to someone at some time, but I do not like them.

Come back tomorrow and see what we did in there. It is soooo pretty now. I still have a little bit to do, but fixing up the bathroom 98% finished. I can’t wait to show you.  We did not get the faucets changed yet, and that is going to have to wait until after Christmas, but the room is looking very good now, and I can deal with that small detail for another short while.

If you were fixing up the bathroom, what would you change? Do you think those gold faucets are pretty?