Humpty Dumpty: Renovation Takes a Backseat
Well, it has been two weeks since you last heard from me, and unfortunately that is not because I have been too busy with the renovation to sit down and share our fun times with you. I ended the last post with hopes that we would be moved into our new home by the end of the following week, but sometimes life has other plans in store. Just two days after my last post, after I had finished up trying to wash the joint compound out of my hair, I stepped out of the shower to find a message waiting for me. My father had taken a bad fall and was in the emergency room waiting to have x-rays done to find out how bad the break was. He had hip replacement surgery the next day, and I was on my way down to Florida that Friday. Renovation set aside, I have been playing caretaker ever since, cooking and cleaning and spending quality time with Pops. I am so happy that I was able to get away and come help my Dad for a while, but I am getting anxious to get back to the renovation and finally get moved into the house. I thought I could at least sit down while Pops is napping and write a little bit about it.
In the few days between the last renovation update and my mad dash home to Florida, we actually got quite a bit done in the living room. Remember how I decided to sand the entire ceiling, and I was so sore from all the hard work? Well, that didn't work out as well as I had hoped. After we got the first coat of primer on the ceiling, it just looked awful; every little imperfection was highlighted with the clean coat of white paint. Adam and I were devastated by this for about ten minutes, then we pulled ourselves together, went out and bought a fifty pound batch of joint compound and got to work adding texture. Of course we could have done it the easy way by lightly watering it down, rolling it up, and stippling a little texture into it; but come on, obviously we decided to do it the hard way. Even though it is a MUCH slower process, it really does look a lot better this way, and I kind of enjoy doing it (unfortunately, it was in the middle of this project that I had to leave town, so Adam has been stuck finishing it up on his own). I have added a brief explanation of my process with the photos below, if you're interested in doing things as ridiculously difficult as me. It is a killer on the old shoulder, so make sure to take breaks and stretch often.
Luckily, we were able to get the living room completely painted before I left, which I am beyond thrilled about. Since the room is nice and large, and we plan on staining the wood flooring a lighter shade, we were able to go a little darker on the wall colors. It turned out so warm and cozy! I cannot wait to get some furniture in there and start spending time curled up with my crochet. The paint color for the one accent wall is called Jasper, which is perfect because it happens to be one of my favorite natural stones. Sitting against this darker color, the old furnace no longer pulls so much unwanted attention. I actually kind of like the kitschy faux wood finish on it now. For the other three walls, we chose a warm dark cream color called Hot Baking Stone (the photo makes it look much more yellow than actually is). Both are Valspar Signature paint colors and I am so in love with the combination. I'll make sure to post some good photos of the finished room once we get some better lighting set up.
While I have been sitting around with Pops in Florida, I am keeping my hands busy with a little beading and crochet. I figured I may as well get a little work done while we sit around waiting for the new hip to heal. This bracelet is a little sneak peek of a line of natural stone jewelry that I have been working on here and there, in between all the other craziness. My goal is to have the collection of bracelets and necklaces available for purchase in the Maple & Orange shop in time for the holidays, so stay posted for shop updates! The mitts are a little treat to myself to help keep me warm this winter. I found this pattern by crafter Nyss Parkes on her blog, Pixelated Mushroom - pixelatedmushroom.blogspot.com. It is a simple pattern and I love how you can just sort of mold them into whatever shape you feel like wearing. It has been nice to put my hands back to work on some crafting projects.
Meanwhile, Adam is back in Missouri plugging away on the house without me. He has been working hard on the bathroom and I cannot wait to see his progress. (I haven't seen any pictures yet; I want to be completely surprised) He has also been dealing with the nightmare that is hiring sub-contractors through Lowe's. Let me briefly explain...If you noticed in the above photos, we have beautiful wood flooring in the living room and the front guest room, but a couple of the bedrooms (both later additions onto the original house structure) had only concrete beneath the old carpeted floors. Our plan is to install laminate flooring in those two rooms and stain the real wood to match. We decided that since the old concrete needs leveling beforehand, we should leave this job to the professionals, and we turned to Lowe's. This job was supposed to be done weeks ago, but Lowe's and their sub-contracting company could not seem to get their communication skills together enough to write up the job properly. We have had people show up two different times ready to lay down the laminate, completely unaware of the fact that the existing concrete first needs to be leveled out. Each time this happens, we have to go back to Lowe's to get it straightened out and the job gets pushed back and further delayed. They have FINALLY straightened everything out, and today (right now, actually) they have a very nice gentleman there getting our floors installed!! It really is such a relief to finally (almost) be done with that frustrating back and forth confusion.
After nearly two weeks, I am flying home to Missouri tomorrow. Dad is doing so much better in the short amount of time since his fall; getting around a little bit more on his own. It will take a long while to fully heal, but it is truly amazing to see his quick progress. I feel bad for having to head back home, but I am so glad I could be here for him through the most difficult time. I am anxious to get back home and get back to work on the renovation. Tomorrow is going to be quite the day for me, getting to see all the new touches on the house! Maybe it will even be at a point we can move in and we will get to sleep in our own bed for the first time in over a month - fingers crossed!