The Master

Master Bedroom Sneak Peek:

Fuzzy under feet.

I apologize for the delay in the next few posts... these things have happenned in the past 2 weeks, and I've just been too busy to blog about it!

The rug for the living room arrived! We needed a big one - 9x13 at least - and one that was under 1,000 dollars - so that limited our options! Luckily Lowes.com had 3 rugs that were big enough, and all priced around 500 bucks. So I picked the least offensive - and this is what we got:

It's not too bad! It actually has the blue color in it, so I think it will match well with our paintings that we'll eventually get around to putting up on the walls.

The old rug that was in our living room at Belmonte will probably be making an appearance in the "man room" until Dave can find a nice leopard skin rug to complete the "man theme."

Throw it on the wall, and see if it sticks.

The rooms we have left to paint are slowly dwindling... I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!! As of 2 weeks ago all we had left was the hallway, 1 closet, and both bathrooms.

Our friends from Boston, Kevin and Victoria were coming into town - so in a fit of energy I decided to paint the guest bathroom. I didn't want them running out of the shower, screaming from the wallpaper, "It hurts my eyes!!"

This was a very ambitious goal considering A. I would have to do it after work, and B. The walls looked like crap. But I was determined! I am ready for the painting process to be over!!

So I attacked it with oil based Killz - 2 heavy coats. It didn't turn out too bad. Killz fills in most of the cracks and imperfections. The only thing that was so frustrating was that this bathroom has so many corners and angles!! Half the time I was balancing precariously on the toilet/or tub/or sink with one foot, one foot on a chair, arm outstretched with a paint brush full of paint. I think I have successfully killed my back, and it will never be the same again.

I did get it finished by the skin of my teeth, Kevin and Victoria appreciated it, and everything turned out great!

Four Month Update

I can't believe it's only been 4 months!! (We bought the house on August 9th) Feels like we've been working forever on it. Well I guess it's time for an overall update. Here's what we've done in the past 2 months:
Finished stripping the wallpaper in the master bedroom. Painted walls, trim, new blinds.
Finished stripping wallpaper in the master closet. Primed it.
Used Killz to paint all the insides of the closets so they are nice and fresh!
Primed and painted over the wallpaper in the hall bath.
Finished repair work on the walls in the dining room. Primed and painted that.
Got the floors refinished... Gorgeous!!
Started building wooded thresholds to match the floor.
And Dave came up with a fantastic blueprint for the garage - he is in the process of setting it all up. All the heavy stuff is already moved over - it's looking very cool! It will be the ultimate man room when he's done.
We are now LIVING in the renovation, even though we haven't sold Belmonte. We decided to do this for 3 reasons:
A. Most all the heavy construction is finished, almost all rooms are painted (Just a bathroom and the hall left!) and the floors are done.
2. All the responses from people looking at Belmonte say, "It seems small/the oversized furniture makes it feel small/It smells like cat." So I said ENOUGH! We are packing up the cat and our apparently "oversized" loveseat (Is that like a Jumbo Shrimp?) and leaving.
And C. Kevin and Victoria are coming from Boston this weekend and we are the hosts!!! So that really helped us get our butts in gear.
I think it's looking really cute! But one thing we are realizing is that some of the furniture we've got doesn't really work in the new house. We were SO particular about it because we only had so much space to work with at Belmonte. But now the rooms are bigger and our things look so small!! Not a bad problem to have I have to admit. But that's a low priority list right now.

Tough Love

We are finally living at Ardsley! It only took us about 4 months to get it ready - but hey so what! I have been packing and unpacking like a mad woman - Dave has been tying up loose ends and moving the heavy furniture - and I have to say, Arnold is.... not doing much of anything. I mean I love the little guy and all... but really I feel like he should be pulling his weight more. He just sleeps all day - and when he's not sleeping - he's hiding in empty boxes.

I think it might be time for some tough love.