a banister

Remember this ugly railing? 

(remember this ugly kitchen?)

Many years ago, before Maddy was born in fact, Scott ripped it out and built a lovely wood railing with wrought iron (new, pretty, updated wrought iron). Originally we had fencing between the wood balusters but decided that, though inexpensive, it wasn't the look we were going for. We took it all down and bought the "basket" rails and put one section in to see how it looked. We lived with that for awhile

Then Maddy was born and then she started walking so we tied on the old fence rails with fabric to baby proof. And we lived with that for awhile.

(Sidenote: Oh. My. Goodness! That is one stinking cute little girl. It's so hard to believe that she was that little. I do so love her as a 5 1/2 year old but oh how I miss these days! Thank heavens for photographs.)

Eventually we installed the rest of the balusters but lived with unfinished wood for the next 5 years. But now, with the kitchen nearing completion, we had to do something about the stairs. I don't actually hate the unfinished wood and considered just putting polyurethane on the thing and going au naturale, but, the dark of the wood cabinets called for a dark railing. 

We were a bit worried that all the holes from the other iron wouldn't stain well. I figured I could stain it all first and then if that looked bad, paint the wood balusters white leaving the banister and newel posts stained dark. Then if that looked bad, I'd paint the whole darn thing white!

After many months of thinking and planning but not doing it was time. So during conference this past weekend I sanded, and sanded, and sanded and sanded some more. Then applied stain and three coats of poly. 

Gah! I am in love!!!

If you can ignore the giant maw of the unfinished basement, I think you will agree that it looks great. Scott and I make a fabulous, though slow, team.

a long awaited kitchen report

I love looking back to these two pictures taken on the day I first used my key to enter our new house. So much has changed and I sometimes forget how far we have come until I pull these out as a comparison.

The last time I posted about the kitchen was in 2013 after we had just had new counter tops installed. Oh, they are so beautiful. As much hype as granite gets these days, I feel these deserve that hype. I'm pleased with the color and the detail and - well, they are just so much better than the faux butcher block laminate that was there before.

We installed a new 5 burner gas cooktop and couldn't be more pleased with it. I had to take a photo of the first meal I cooked in more than 6 months. We were so tired of microwave meals and crock-pot meals and eating out and mooching meals off of our parents. It was so nice to even cook ramen noodles on the stove. What a blessing to have a stove!




And then Scott broke his arm in July and things slowed way down while he recovered from the surgery that pinned his arm back together. A nerve was pinched in the accident and the resulting nerve damage meant that his right wrist and hand were paralyzed, which as a right handed person, put a heavy cramp in his style!

(Luckily, as I write, he has probably 85-90% functionality back in his hand, I am constantly amazed at how miraculous our bodies are and how they are able to heal themselves.)

At least with the ovens, stove top and sink, we could now cook in the kitchen. So, months went by moving along slowly with the tile back splash (two versions before ending with the white subway tile I had envisioned from the beginning).

We've added a new dishwasher, double ovens and upper cabinets, the new sink and faucet, and then finally in February added the new floor tile. Before Scott had a chance to grout and clean it I was worried that it almost looked the same as the cement underlayment. However, now that it is all clean and finished up, I am very happy with how it turned out.

We installed some board and batten trim around the walls and new casings around all the doors, windows and openings - with a craftsmen style inspiration.

In went a new pendant over the sink and hanging light over the stairway and chandelier over the kitchen table.

Crown moldings were installed just a week ago and now all there is left to do is for me to finish caulking, puttying and painting all the trim work, touch up the original gray wall color, and stain the banister. There are the few little tiny things that have to be done here an there (a new switch plate cover, a weird shaped tile, the trim on one can light) but for the most part the kitchen project is coming to an end. We do have to spend a little time now on the family room side of the wall where we need to texture and paint and put the moldings around the opening, but we can see the light at the end of this tunnel. 

And then there are the back yard tunnel and the basement tunnel still to come, but I will just be happy for now that I'm almost out of this tunnel. At least we don't have to "live" in those other renovation projects on a day-to-day basis. If I can manage to clean my kitchen I might post some more "final" pictures of the room, the above pic was to show dad the crown and is not the best angle for showing off the whole room. Yippee!

March in review

March is a big month for this girl. Particularly this March since her birthday was celebrated while we were vacationing at Disney World.

But, that post will take more time and be many more photos than you ever wanted to see. So I'll tell you about the rest of March . . .

Once a year the Young Men and Young Women have a Chili Cook-Off and Auction as a fundraiser for the coming year's activities. The Youth auction off services and baked goods. Other members of the ward donate services (last will and testament, dance lessons, weekend boating excursion) and elaborate cakes and chili and soup for judging.

They decorate the cultural hall and bring activities for the kids. They set up a photo area and encourage everyone to come in western wear. It is one of the best activities we have all year.

This year, Scott made a chili that was VERY hot and bean-less. His "No Beans About It" chile took first place in the competition!! There is a panel of judges that taste each submission and vote. There is also one crowd favorite. I think next year I need to submit my (well, Sarah's) can-opener chili and also Aunt Dawn's white bean chicken chili because with one of those I think I could maybe win the crowd favorite.

March was also a big month for the kitchen. In the past two months I've spent many weekends taking my turn. Scott does the big construction stuff with the drills, and nail guns, and skill saws - and then I come in with the caulk, and putty, and paint brushes, and do the finish work. In March I finally painted out the built in coat nook. 

We've turned that old laundry closet had no doors into a walk in pantry and a coat area. I love the way it looks and actually hate actually hanging anything up on the hooks. That of course defeats the purpose so, up the coats and shoes and purses and bags go. A much more functional space for sure.

From the week we moved in

DIY chairs

It has been a busy past two months with Tax deadlines, a trip to Las Vegas, my work convention, Scott's surgery, my bronchitis and then strep, Maddy's Hand, Foot Mouth virus and then the flu . . .

But despite all that, things are moving along in our kitchen. I need to clean up the kitchen and then take some pictures for you of how things are looking. But for now, I'll brag on my recovering of the kitchen chairs. Eventually we will probably get a new kitchen dining set but for now, a little change on the kitchen chairs goes a long way to update them.

Dad reminded me that there is a lot of history in this dining set. . .

"Mommy and I put the blue seat covers on many years ago. At one time, back when we bought those chairs in the 1950s, they had a floral pattern. This is at least the third iteration. Maybe even the fourth. In fact, I seem to remember that perhaps these chairs had a red and green plaid on them before the blue. Hmmm. I remember totally refinishing the table and chairs in our garage on Quailstone. Indeed, the chairs had gotten separated somewhere along the way and one or more had been painted. Probably that was the one with the plaid seat. Anyway, we stripped off the paint and refinished and reseated them into a complete set again. Turned out pretty nice, actually."

All that history is what makes my sentimental side scream "Out with the new - keep the old!" For now, that's just what we'll do. Unfortunately, a young, bored Toby chewed a chair leg or two  back in the puppy days and we'd probably have to find someone who could fabricate a new leg to match the correct shape. A dining set from the 50's is likely not worth the money.
























A little fabric, new cushions and some tacks to keep everything together and I say they look pretty sharp. I love DIY projects especially on a stay-home-from-work day while watching Hocus Pocus on the television!

a photo update





 Maddy has discovered the bicycle is way better than the tricycle. And don't worry, she normally does wear a helmet . . .!



 

Yes, a coat, dress, jean shorts and cowboy boots was her outfit of choice for our outing to Uncle Cody's - on a Sunday afternoon in August! 



 

 We ran into Maddy's long lost best friend Lyla at a birthday party. Lyla's mom isn't working anymore. We miss her at preschool.

Performed a concert "Up Close with Lex de  Azevedo" this past week. What a wonderful experience. 12 year performing with such a talented composer has truly been a blessing.
 



Yup. Countertops. Not a great picture so don't bother enlarging it - I'll have to blog a better photo later 

 

Maddy and the two boys from around the corner decided to have a punch fight. They went through a brand new package or two of Squeeze Its. Maddy must have had the "cool raspberry" or something since the boys were blue.

 



A selfie at the pool. Tyra would be impressed with me for practicing my "inhale"





Maddy's crazy hair from this morning. How in the world does she manage to do that in one night ?!!!?

 

check this out!

Wanna see something totally cool?

 

 

PAINTED CEILINGS AND WALLS!

(thanks Grandpa choo-choo-train for coming to help texture the ceilings and grandma for the hoagie sandwiches for dinner and for keeping Maddy occupied)

 

 

CRAFTSMAN STYLE TRIM!

 

 

BOXES BEING OPENED AND TURNED INTO . . .

 

REAL LIFE CABINETS!!!

 

Can you tell that I'm just a little bit excited about the progress we made this weekend?

staying cool

I realized that I never posted these pictures. I should have added them to the post below but figured that for posterity's sake, I'd add them now. This is the pulling down of the kitchen ceiling. Scott blocked off as much of the room as he could - the doorway into the family room and the stairs going down. All the sheetrock came down and so did the insulation. Scott had something like 24 bags of insulation in the driveway for several weeks.

He got the new ceiling up and the temperature started rising, so last weekend he shoved all the bags up into the attic and then himself and spread it all back around. It's amazing to me what a few inches of insulation will do to keep the whole house more comfortable. 

 

So, there you have it - a terribly exciting post about insulation. We now not only have sheetrock installed but the first coat of mud and tape has been applied. Progress!

an update for Mary

We have closed off the floor, no more holes. The wiring is completed and we have outlets and fixtures. Next up, mud and tape and then (fingers crossed) I believe it's on to base cabinets. WAHOO!

 

 

We have not had sheetrock on this wall into the family room in years. Happy day!

 

And so, the work continues.