Update tour: The Kids Room

For a lot of reasons, many of them quite valid, the Kid's room was the last bedroom to be painted. It went on for far too long, but now his room feels more finished than ours. Maybe because he actually has things on the walls. It's the same color as the playroom, Cincinnatian Hotel Abbey. The yellow duvet cover makes it read a little more aqua than it does in real life. 

His tiny closet was a bear to paint. The high ceilings required a ladder, it's too narrow for a stepladder, and I did a number on my knee while I was squeezed in there trying to paint it. But it is done. There is a small hole in the wall on the upper right. 

His much beloved Star Wars posters. 

He still has not seen Eps 1-3, but he loves Obi Wan Kenobi in his prime. He also has his own yoga mat, where he can practice his yoga. Yoga has been very important in his recent improvements at school, and we're trying to support that and also maybe burn off some of that cabin fever.

So far his Ikea star lamp is the only other Star Wars decor. He is still begging for more Clone Wars decals, all of which he used in the playroom. The dresser was a total find at our local thrift store. So glad I thrifted instead of getting something particle board. 

Also from Ikea, his beloved foxes. In the spirit of Toy Story, I got them as his 'move buddies' in late November. He has never really cared much for stuffed animals and hadn't seem to miss his collection when it went into storage in the spring (it was at Grandpa's so he could still visit them). But LaLaLoopsy (the mommy fox) and Pono (pronounced "puhNo") are his very best buddies. They have definitely helped him transition from one house to the next, from one room to the next, and seemingly most difficult, from one wall to the other. 

Aaaaaaaaand now you can see the big reason this room wasn't painted. Installing the niche in the shower ended up busting this enormous hole in the plaster. It will be fixed. Some day.

Grandpa's suggestion was to call it a map of West Virginia and think of it as a "feature". Ha ha. 

The original red room of pain:

I just remembered that there were blinds hanging in here once. Rest assured, our current blinds are Ikea circa 2013. 

Update Tour: The Master Suite

Somehow it seemed much easier to photograph progress on the house before we actually lived here. Now it's all, look at this basket of laundry! This rug is too small! Someone's been sneaking laptop time in bed! Too many library books!

Also, this room needs to be rearranged. It is a source of some degree of marital tension, I believe directly related to someone's deep seated fear of moving heavy objects. It seems like it would make sense to have the bed along the south wall, because that's the only flat open wall in the room. However, that also means that my head is about three feet from the door. So easy to fall asleep and relax when this the view from my pillow:

It's actually a lot better now, but it's definitely the prime crap collecting spot in the house. The other problem is that there isn't a clear workflow or path through the room, since you get stuck on the too big nightstand and then fall into the bed. Or bang your hip on the dresser. Whatever. 

This view is not too shabby once you get in the bed. 

Unfortunately, this opportunity is available to a very select few. 

So what I want to do is put the bed on the north wall. Yes, there is a window. Yes, there is a bump where the chimney starts. I think these issues can be creatively addressed with window coverings, and the entire flow of the room improved about 300% by having a clear path. 

In happier news, shoes. 

Happiest of all, the long awaited make up station. 

Which is not quite as glamorous in its every day life, but who is, really?

The desk and chair are super temporary, because they stick out from the wall too much and are too short. But they were free and in my house. It works for now. The electrical in the master bathroom is complete, as is the drywall and trim. This room is on indefinite hiatus while we work on some other things (fence, floors refinished, etc). In the meantime, I'm casually thinking about tile choices. I have been thinking about going dark, possibly with a wood grain? But the whole tiling of the custom shower thing throws me for a loop. 

No need to decide for a year or two. And in the meantime, make up!

From the listing:

As evidenced by the wear pattern in the carpet and on the hardwoods, 

generations of masters have put the bed in the exact same spot. 

 Master bathroom. 

 This view doesn't really exist anymore. Now you'd be looking at the shower wall and the side of the make up station. 

Update Tour: Orange Bathroom

This room is now referred to as the orange bathroom, because it is. The color is Orange Crush from Valspar. And I heart it. I heart it so hard. 

This picture strangely cut the walls into yellow and red. Rest assured they are very orange. I love the shower, and the epoxy grout means there isn't a line of caulk in any seams. They grey plays really nicely with the orange.

Our fight for the hex tile has finally ended and its awesome. It has the same epoxy grout as the shower, which makes it super easy to bleach mop. (Which has been done - don't ask.) It runs at a toasty 73 degrees, which definitely takes the chill off. My right toes can somehow find a cool spot when standing at the sink, but I haven't heard anyone else mention it and it's easily solved by moving my foot. We actually decided to keep the original door and put some hinge pin door stops on it to protect the sink. The back of it has one coat of white paint already. The window trim is back up, and is looking NASTY, but it won't for long. We have to use exterior paint on it because it is actually in the shower a bit. 

The cabinets were hung much lower so they're actually accessible. Cabinet doors are in the cabinet workshop in the basement. Hopefully they will be hung in the next week or so. (Side note: I still hate open front cabinets! Even more passionately now that I've lived with them for a few months!)

We need a little trim around the top of them, since they were originally touching the ceiling. 

Our sink is the bomb. We have a Kohler medicine cabinet named Archer. 

Because awesome.

I went with the curved shower rod for extra space. It comes pretty close to the fan light but doesn't actually touch it. It's not exactly symmetrical, but it's definitely worth it from inside the shower. 

And the look back:

The look through...

Moving day or the day before (it's all a blur to me now):

Week One in the new house:

Update Tour: The Playroom

Yeah, this room is a hot mess. So what. It's for playing. 

It has been clean. A few different times, in fact. However, 8 snow days from kindergarten in one month will put a crimp in your crap management plans. 

From the very beginning:

From early fall:

Update Tour: Dining Room

Like all of our rooms, this room has seen a few different stages of completion since our last update. Here's the room as it was right before Christmas. The walls in these two views are the original plaster, with a new drywall ceiling. 

I'm pleased with all the paint choices in my house (which is essentially painted) but I especially love this color. Sprinkle by Valspar is the most lovely and well behaved turquoise. In some light its blue, in some light its green, but its always lovely and restful and elegant.

This is a pretty accurate depiction of the color right now, in early afternoon. The crown molding went back up yesterday, and it makes me swoony. 

Lunch by Wendy's. Because we still keep it classy like that (although dramatically less often. I swear.)

Just for comparison's sake, here it is from the listing:

And from the summer:

Insanity

The past three weeks have been a mad dash to get the house habitable as quickly as possible. Habitable might still be a stretch, but I am writing this post from my bed in the new house! 

We hired all the guys. (Our electrician is actually a woman, but you get the gist.) On the whole they have been pleasant and friendly and easy to work with, despite the logistical issues of plumbing vs. electrical vs. drywall vs. tile. I think our biggest setback has actually been scheduling around Thanksgiving. Seriously people! Quit holidaying already. (J/k)

We had a rare night out a few weeks back, and I was showing these pictures to friends who were asking how the house was going. After I asked one of them how things were going for them, and he said "Well I don't have any pictures of my water softener on my phone, so..." We are, apparently, old.

 In line water filter, or something like that. 

Our petting zoo of kitchen appliances! We have guys taping and mudding drywall as I type so hopefully these will be in the right spots soon. I made the Sears guys week when I walked in and said, "Mr. Darryl, I'm ready to buy". 

We got spray foam insulation. It is messy! It makes the Mr. very happy. 

The master bedroom. It is no longer this clean. The Mr. made the lights work and installed the ceiling fan all by himself. Still waiting for the electricians to connect the 'receptacles' aka outlets.

The kids playroom and the master as of 48 hours ago. I love love LOVE how the paint colors have been working out. Hotel Cincinnatian Abbey (valspar) for the kid and Palladian Blue for us (Ben Moore). Pantone Ecru in the landing. 

Bathroom floor!

Master floor. We used Rejuvenate to seal the floors, although the master didn't get the full dry time before drywallers were walking through it. We will see what it looks like when it's clean. 

About 3pm yesterday.  Pantone Ecru on the walls. Grandpa T did all the cutting in around the crown molding without tape. Amazing. 

About 9pm last night. Liquid level over electric heat. You might remember that we took out the heating duct to this room when we enlarged the wall opening downstairs. They will put the tile in today. 

My current view. In a blessing from the past or a show of gratitude or whatever, I discovered that someone had but screw holes exactly 40" apart which made it possible for me to hang six sets of blinds in about 40 minutes with my eyes crossed from exhaustion. Thank you, house. Thank you.