Before & After

I know, right?! I wouldn't put my food in the first closet either.

Butt Strips

Did you know there was a construction tool thingy called butt strips. Not joking. I'm not really even sure what they are used for - but my handy dandy hubby began stapling these strips to the exposed wall behind our kitchen sink. The ultimate goal is to tile this wall - but first we must install Hardie Board (it helps the tile stick better, I think). The butt strips are probably installed to make the wall a little more even, making the Hardie Board install a little bit easier.

Either way, the strips are in, the Hardie Board is ready to be installed, and the tile is cut. We just might have a completely tiled kitchen by the end of the weekend!

Kitchen Collaboration

We've been slowly working away on our kitchen update. The first update is intended to be Step One in the kitchen remodel. Basically, the original kitchen was so covered in yuck* that we decided to do a simple clean up (sand and paint cabinets and cupboards, paint walls, replace countertop and backsplash with tile, and rewire some outlets and light fixtures). This is an effort to tide us over until we can afford the big renovation (tearing out the wall between kitchen and dining area, re-plumbing and moving sink, adding a dishwasher and water line for the fridge, and installing new cabinets).

This brings us to our lovely friends. Since the day we moved into our beloved 'fixer-upper', we've received countless offers to help with fixes. But how do you ask your friends to help with the really yucky* stuff? Well, we did and they came to help!

Thursday night Michael stopped by, not only to help rip out the Formica backsplash, but to loan us his pickup for the weekend. Home Depot - here we come!

Saturday Matt came over to help rip out the old countertop and install the new tile. (On a side note: Erin, Matt's lovely wife, assisted me with painting and sanding the dining room furniture that we're fixing up - more on that project soon.)

Finally, after handwashing dishes in the bathroom sink (with the help of Whitney), Adam was on hand to assist with the re-install of the sink. The pipes below the sink are still leaking, but we're well on our way to semi-functioning kitchen!

On a side note: It makes it so worth while to invite your friends over to help if you celebrate the hard work with food and drinks after!

*Yuck/Yucky (Very technical term to describe the level and age of grim/dirt/scum buildup in any given area of the house)

No Excuses!

There's no excuse for how long it's been since the last posting. Between being out of town for a wedding in Sonoma, a surgery in Seattle, and another family visit to Portland, we are starting to feel overwhelmed.

I'll give you all a little insight inside my mind (which I may regret sharing) of all the things that need to be worked on.

The short list:

-finish sanding, painting and installing kitchen cupboards

-install new kitchen countertop (tile) and backsplash

-paint bedroom closet

-weed yard

-clean closet built-ins

-hem/shorten last set of living room curtains

-repaint kitchen (find color less like neon pickle juice)

-more yard weeding

-find shelving for basement

-hang bedroom curtains

-hang more pictures

-clean, paint, and hang new picture frame

-more yard weeding, plan out garden space

-plant in new outdoor pots

There's more...but I don't want to overwhelm anyone else. For the visual portion of this post I'll share pictures of what we have accomplished in the last month!

Kitchen before paint.
Kitchen after paint (color looks ok on the blog - but in person it's almost blinding!).

Kitchen cabinets before.

We're not totally finished with the cabinets, but the lower portion of the kitchen is almost complete. The newly painted drawers have been installed and they are now being used to store actual kitchen stuff!! Very exciting.
At some point, I'll create an entire posting about the yard (er, weed garden) but for now I'll showcase the very little progress that has been made so far. This is a pile of weeds removed from a very, very small portion of the backyard. I think this section took me a good 3 hours. At this rate, I'll have the entire yard weeded by 2011. Maybe. This brings me back to that place in my head where I contemplate what to do next, (inside: painting, sanding, cleaning. outside: weeding, planting, weeding, mowing, weeding) Ahh, the JOY of homeownership!