![]() Hope you all had a great Fourth of July! I sure did…a very much, needed vacation! From babysitting cousins to hosting three community health events to weddings and much more, this summer has been turning out to be a busy one...and did I mention I am down to the last three weeks of my apartment lease. With that said, we have been working hard to get things done and ready. I can say that I now know every nook and cranny in house…and all of it has been painted. ![]() Project 1: Painting every inch of the house…literally To the people I work with or those who see me on the street, yes, I do know that I am covered in paint. To my dad, I apologize for saying you are a messy painter because I think I am worse. I paint well…but the trade off is that some of my t-shirts have become permanent painting shirts. If you are like me, don’t wear anything you don’t want to ruin. I have to thank a lot of people who have helped with the painting. Our family friend/my dad’s best friend, Mr. Mark, is a great painter and has been at the house painting during the day when we are all at work. He has some great tips, like storing rollers and brushes you will be continuing to use in Ziploc bags, that has helped a lot and saved supplies and money. He also is great with painting trim…brush first, roll second. I really cannot thank him enough for all the work he has done. ![]() My mom has become an excellent taper and helps with the painting when she can [even though she goes a bit slower ;)]. She always points out that I get things done so much faster than her…but what she does get done is greatly appreciated. And she was the smart one to wear one of my dad's shirts while painting so that she did not ruin anything of hers! I thought picking out paint colors was going to be an easy task. I realized that you really need to have a look you are trying to achieve before getting paint colors. The first room I got paint for was the new full bathroom. I wanted to go with a lighter blue color since everything else was going to be white…what I picked out ended up looking like cotton candy. So I ended up taking some time and researched and planed what I wanted. I found some great blogs in the process with ideas for my home along with some really great colors. I want my house to be somewhat of an oasis. I am trying to keep it very neutral with tans, grays, and hints of blue. Here are some of my inspiration pictures (screenshots from Pinterest): Project 2: Tiling the Bathroom Floor Once the walls were painted (with the right color), my dad ended up tiling the bathroom floor really quick. The tiles are large and a light gray. I think it will help lighten up of the room and make it feel bigger. The grout we will be using will be the same as the one used for the subway tiles in the shower. This will be the next big project. Project 3: Washing the Basement Walls My mom and aunt helped with getting the basement walls ready for paint. We put trisodium phosphate in hot water and scrubbed the walls clean. This was not the most glamorous job but the paint is sticking to the walls much better than if we did not clean them. Project 4: Sanding the Floors As you have seen in previous posts, my home has hardwood flooring that needs some TLC. My dad, being the woodworker he is, took on the task of sanding all the floors. Some of his buddies came out to help. We learned that stripping gel is vital when dealing with old finish. The old finish kept gumming up the sander. Once everything was stripped, the sanding began and I stayed away. We have met some other milestones…first, all my new kitchen appliances came in (although, they are not hooked up yet). When buying appliances, take advantage of holiday sales. I also got appliances that had a rebate and ordered them online so that I could get cash back through Ebates (ebates.com: if you have not signed up, do so right now…especially if you are an online shopper). Also, my electric provider gave $50 for my old refrigerator and they even picked up. Next, my dad blew the first fuse, which also started smoking…don’t worry we had an electrician check it out and got it all back up and running. Third, I have managed to have flowers stay alive without watering them. I by no means have a green thumb, so when I got to my house one day and saw beautiful orange flowers blooming without me having to do anything, I was happy and they are so pretty, which makes me want to learn how to really put together a garden. Lastly, I have been meeting my awesome, new neighbors...I am one of the younger ones on the street but I love hearing about the history of the street from those who have been here. There is one older couple who go on walks in the morning and afternoon with their canes in hand. The wife walks the sidewalk while the husband shuffles down the street talking to everyone...if you pay close attention, you can hear the wife say "Well are you going to catch up or just let me win another race?" It's really sweet. We have only a few more weeks before I need to move in so we will be working hard the next few weeks. And hopefully in a few weeks, I will have all this paint off my hands!
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AuthorA twenty something about to embark on one of the biggest adventures of my life…buying a fixer upper. Archives
September 2016
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