Can you believe it's been 3 months since I last posted in our home blog? I had a really tough semester at school and at work which prevented me from anymore home improvements. As my AE professor would said, "Good. That means I am doing my job." Now, I am actively wedding planning and I squeeze in blogging when I can.

I did take pictures of the house through the changing seasons. In the fall, we had sooooo many leaves to rake! Fortunately, it was only in the front yard and not in our massive back yard.

The best part about having a cozy home to yourself is making it festive for Christmas. We did some minimal decorating this year since we're saving for other things. Once we brought the tree home, decorating became an addiction. We bought a real tree. I read we have to water it every 8 hours. Good luck with that!

After rearranging the living furniture 4 times, we finally found a comfortable spot for the tree and began decorating.

Do you all remember my peony bush that I was so proud of? Well it's bald now, but hey atleast it has accessories!

Dining Room











The living room

September 22nd 2006 - The "Finished" Dining Room

Finally the dining room is complete.






Well, not totally complete. We still haven't done the crown moulding yet. My mom still needs to sew the drapes. It's almost a shame to put drapes up and cover the pretty moulding around the windows. We love the pop of the white against the green.




We love the lime green hydrangeas.




Grandma's dining set fits beautiful in the room. We're so grateful to have it. Everything is within my short reach. It's like playing with my old doll house, but now everything is real.

Here are the before pictures.

September 23rd, 2006 - Our First Party

To our wonderful friends and family,
Thank you all for coming! Especially those who entertained us by partaking in the karaoke! We're so glad everyone enjoyed themselves.

You are all welcome over anytime!

Love,
Keith and Anita

For the Block party, I made these treats for the kids for the community dessert table. (We belong to a community now! It's just starting to sink in.)










I made rice krispie treats using the "berry" rice krispies. After they cooled in a large pan, I cut them out into flower shapes. I stuck a shishkabob stick into them and trimmed the point off. Then I wrapped them with cellophane bags and tied it with a ribbon, which helped hold the treat up. Then I stuck them into a clay pot with floral foam in it and covered it with chocolate covered raisens (aka Dirt).

September 22nd, 2006 - Repainting the Guest Room

Before - This was the office before. It was lavendar from ceiling to floor.









After - "Grass cloth" from Behr. This color didn't turn out at all as expected. It was far too bright for walls. During the bright day light hours, it looked beautiful, especially around the windows. It really made the moulding pop out.









But for the most part of the day, it was Chartreuse.









And at night, it would look Mustard.









It just had to go!

After AGAIN - I used "Dubai Sand" from M.A.B. Paints. I love this color so I didn't think it would hurt to paint the room neutral. The room itself isn't finished yet, but it will have to do for now.

September 15th 2006 - Oohhhh Aahhhh

Another culinary triumphe! Cornish hen seasoned in a homemade pesto rub I made from scratch. With cornbread stuffing and green beans.

Keith's new toy. I got Keith this magnetic bottle cap opener by Tivolo. It's cool looking and the caps are attracted to the magnet so I hope this encourages Keith to throw them out now.









IT'S ALIVE!!! For weeks I tried to nurture this baby back to health. It has to be watered constantly and kept in 60-70 degree F weather. Keith left it in his office for a week without water and it dried out. Air conditioning, outdoors, rain, soaking it in the sink...I trimmed it every weekend. Nothing worked! This was one stubborn plant. And FINALLY, when the weather sunk down to the 60's, the thing flourished!









We continued to paint the hallway. The doors are so tedious; however, the lighter colors really brighten up the hallway and stairway. Teeheehee I can only reach up to a certain point, so Keith has to paint the rest.









That's all for this week.

September 15th, 2006 - Living Room set

Yippee! We finally got a living room set. Now it's beginning to feel like home when we can sit down and actually relax. After much thought, we decided not to invest in a really fancy set for the time being.

The set is actually green, but looks brown in the picture.














Here's a before pic.

Staircase and Hallway

September 10-15th, 2006 - Stair and Hallway

For uniformity, we painted along the stairs and hallway the same color as the living room. The lighter color also really brightens up the whole area. This was pure torture.


We have six 5-panel doors in the hallway and 2 windows in the stair. Each one required prepping, priming and then paint. I have the whole technique down to a science now.









I also had to tape around each railing and paint it carefully.









We decided to keep the wallpaper on the post for sentimental purposes and we thought the previous owner did a nice job of it.










It's a never ending process. Once you start in one corner, you can't help but continue.

August 28th-September 10th 2006: The Living Room continued...

Paint color: "Dubai Sand" from M.A.B. Paints

I began removing the wallpaper a little at a time each night after work. (5 hours) I didn't bother with the steamer this time. I wet it, ripped off the "top" piece of paper. Then I soaked the brown paper left behind. I removed that off easily. Without the steamer, the glue was more difficult to remove. I wet it again and scraped it off with an old plastic spatula. Later, Keith scrubbed the rest off with a sponge. (2 hours)

I thought I could just prime over the little bit of leftover glue, but the primer actually acted as a solvent and saturated the glue. The glue was more visible now. Ironically, I was able to scrape that off more easily.









Then it's TIME to PRIME! It was incredibly tedious this time around. We have so many windows, doorways, and 10 foot ceilings. We had to tape everything off first before we could even begin. (4 hours)









I made us a snack. My basil plants are really beginning to flourish and I have so many leaves now that I have to use up my basil. (20 mins)









After we primed everything sufficiently, we began painting all the edges along the ceilings, baseboard, windows, and doorways. (1.5 hours)









Then came the easiest part which is painting the walls. The walls are high and we had a hard time getting leverage to paint the higher portions of the walls. The results and color are beautiful.









While we were at it, we decided to get started on the stair and hallway. Again, it is a tedious task with the stairs, rails, windows, and 6 doors to prime and paint.










to be continued....

September 3rd, 2006 - Refinishing wood furniture

Move over Bob the Builder and Tim the Toolman! Make room for Keith the Kraftsman!

I have always wanted an office of my own after years of college-like living. My own santuary outside of my bedroom. I have always loved antiques. I envisioned my office would be out an Edith Warton novel with high Victorian decor. Alas, with dreams like that, you better come from old money like an Edith Warton novel as well.

A desk like this from Horchow comes at a whopping $1299! (Chair $839 is not included) The same goes with Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware. Also keep in mind, those large pieces made now don't quite fit in an old house with odd dimensions.












So the other alternative is to scour the net and local antique shops for a "lovely" (worn) antique (old) with lots of "character" (scratches) as I did. I found this desk in "good condition".

French style desk in Mahogany circa 1935. What caught my eye was that it is extendable (for crafts) and still ornate as is. The flip side was in excellent condition, but the closed top side was very worn.











With some $5 quart of gloss wood furniture stain (in Walnut) and a sponge brush, Keith was able to restore it back to new! He used a small sander ($49) and 3 different sizes in sand paper. It only took an hour. Sand it. Clean it off. Then paint the stain on it. Let it dry 24 hours and then apply another coat.









And tadaaa! The finished product!

September 4th, 2006 - Ice Ice Baby!

Our first proud purchase was this refridgerator! Say goodbye Manolo Blahnik. It's nothing but appliances from now on. We were so excited that it came with a water dispenser and ice maker. Took it home. Our friends put it in for us and took away the old fridge. Darn, it can't make ice until you draw a water line to it!



It was quite simple. Buy this icemaker tap kit ($12). Keith drilled a hole through the floor and connected a wire from the cold water to the refridgerator. Go with the heavy duty wire and fastner. The cheap ones leak. It involved some reading and disciphering.




I think I can I think I can. Hooked on Phonics worked for me.









I was quite proud of Keith's skills.

August 27th, 2006 - Barefoot Anita

On today's episode of "Barefoot Anita", I decided to get ambitious and make a rib eye roast and lasagna in fresh pesto. As part of playing house, Keith and I love to entertain and cook for our friends. Our friends Andrew and Corina were nice enough to share with us and be my lab rats.

Quote of the Day: "I am laying in your crater."

Menu: (recipes to follow)
Plum tomatoes, Fresh Mozzarella & Basil on a French Baguette (I don't like Italian bread)
Rib Eye Roast with seasonings
Mushroom and Leek soup
Pesto Lasagna










We've been so busy with work and the house, people are beginning to wonder what we are up to. "What do you guys do in there all day long?" I reply, I pretend to be a housewife and Keith pretends he can fix things. ;)

August 26th, 2006 - Installing a Chair Rail

Pretty easy task amongst the home improvements, but it takes some getting used to.

Time: 2 hours, 2 people

1. Find your studs (2x4 beam in the wall somewhere) with a stud finder and mark it. Make a chalk line across the wall where the chair rail will go. Typically 36 inches from the floor to the bottom of the rail.
2. Measure and cut each peice as you need it. Cut the angled end first before cutting the straight end. Temporarily place them up against one another to see if they fit.









3. Predrill holes into the rail. Apply some liquid nail (optional) on the back of the rail to help hold it in place. Hold it for a few seconds.









4. Using 2 inch nails, nail the rail into the wall using the predrilled holes. Use a nail set to get the nail in further below the surface of the rail for a clean look.
5. Apply some wood glue to the corners. Use some cardboard to force the rail away from the wall so the glue can get in.
6. Use some spackle to fill in the holes for the nails. Sand it. Prime it before painting.
7. Caulk along the chair rail and the wall to seal up any open spaces for a clean look.

The corners of our bay window had an angle of 148 degrees. So the rail had to be cut at 74 degrees.

August 5th, 2006 - Why gardening is not for me.

I was feeling ambitious this weekend and with the summer coming to an end, I wanted to plant some flowers before it was too late. I love love Peonies and I wanted to plant some asap so they can be hearty next year. If I can't have them in my wedding bouquet (out of season), then I can have them in my garden.

My mom has a green thumb and I had hoped I had inherited some of her genes. How bad could it be, right?

First, I read up on the flowers I wanted to plant and how to prepare the soil. I had to buy some tools. Who knew Good Grips makes both kitchen and gardening tools! I can cook. I should be able to garden.

Oh Gross, I had to mix compost, soil and fertilizer and do all kinds of dirty dirty things! Oh the trauma! I bought myself a kneeling pad so my knees don't have to touch the dirt. Keith found it quite amusing that I wanted to garden but I didn't want to touch anything. I don't mind getting my hands dirty, but when I dug back the wood chips and saw a ton of bugs crawling around....ugh words can't describe my digust.

This is possibly why my peony plant is now crooked because I didn't pack the dirt in tight enough. One of the branches was bent, so I took a pair of chopsticks to hold it up. The other two peony plants I bought are still sitting in their pots. I think I am going to get my mommy to finish the rest.

August 19th, 2006 - The Dining Room continued...

After last week's vigorous peeling of the wall paper and painting the deck, we decided to take things easy and do some light painting in the dining room. We thought we would have the dining room complete by this weekend, but we were just too exhausted.

We removed the existing "chair rail" and moulding along the ceiling. I was able to remove the chair rail easily with a spackle knife. Keith removed the molding along the ceiling with a pry bar. Believe it or not, we're so busy that we did these little tasks in the morning before work.









I spackled some of the areas. Then I painted the wall above the chair rail Behr: Rejuvenate and below in Swan Wing. I wanted to paint the wall below the chair rail a different color, but all these projects were beginning to add up $$ and the white is crisper.









I want to bring the chair rail all the way around the room and between the windows to tie it together. The backdoor already divides the room in half so I want to take the focus off of it.









I wasn't sure how it would look, but fortunately I found a project on HGTV.com which has the same windows as our dining room. Eventually, I will add molding to give the dining room a wainscot-look.









Stay tuned next week when we install the chair rail and crown moulding.