Our, no ... One of Our 4-letter words ... S-H-E-D

Taking some time away from the kitchen this week to work on the shed, garage, whatever.

Not my favorite project, for sure. But, while we have some extra manual labor available to us (our youngest, Blair, before he goes back to college), and we had a nice break from our standard 90 degree days, the proverbial opportunity was "tapping at my chamber door," to quote Poe.

Garage during construction, March 2013

 

There are a couple great things about our shed; it hold lots of stuff & it has electricity!

 

These are the problems:

• Color. Now that the house is blue-gray, the yellow looks pretty terrible.
• Vines. The vines that you can see above are Carolina Jasmine (with the yellow flowers). They are really pretty but they had become overgrown. Also, on the left and back of the shed the walls were covered with Ivy (so wish I had taken a picture!).
• Water damage. On the foot boards and some of the fascia boards.
• Animal, and I say this with a cringe, activity. Eeeeeeuw.

 

The first order of tasks was to eliminate the vines. You would think it would be fairly simple to pull the Ivy away from the side of the building but when you pull it, it breaks off into pieces. So I pulled as much as I could and I was left with bits and pieces, all over. I scraped those with my 5 in 1 tool that my friend, Geri, gave me (a putty knife works well too). Seems like an unusual gift for a lady friend to give another lady friend but, what can I say, she knows me well.

 

 

But then, I was still left with furry vine remains. What I should have done next is brush with a wire brush but since this is a shed and not the house, I let that go.

 

As for the Carolina Jasmine, when we cut that down, we had some staining from the vines but also some ... animal evidence.

 

 



According to my neighbor and neighborhood handy-man extraordinaire, Ron, those black stains were left by rodents who used the Carolina Jasmine as a ladder to get into the shed through this neatly crafted portico (I say as I squirm). Ugh!

 So, after removing all the vines as best I could, we power washed the whole shed. It didn't take everything off, but the surface was in far better condition to paint. 

Next, I primed the trim - the trim that we don't plan to replace. I purchased exterior paint with primer in it and had it color-matched to the Hardie Plank siding on the house. Blair's job was to roll on the blue-gray and I did the cutting-in.

It's not finished. We haven't painted the trim, the siding needs another partial coat and all the bad wood needs to be replaced but here is where we are for a little over $100 in paint w/primer and tools and supplies we already had:

 

 

 

  

Much better, right?

 

 





 



The Kitchen: Where to start?

As promised, we've moved on to tackle the kitchen. This will NOT be a quick project.

Moving day, March 21st, before the boxes



There will be multiple steps to spiffing up the kitchen but we won't be doing any major remodeling. We like our kitchen, tiny at it is - except for the floor which looks fine in a picture, just not close up!

These are the problems/things we hope to solve/improve:

1. Change the wall color to match the family room (Sherwin Williams celery)
2. Window treatments for sink window and door (every other window in the house has faux wood blinds?)
3. Rug
4. Organize the counter tops. Remove as much as possible from the counters and find better organizational solutions.
5. Organize the contents of the cabinets utilizing the tall retro-fit cabinet in the family room and the closet in the family room.

The third item was fairly easy. I found a great rug on Wayfair. It is a Dash & Albert indoor/outdoor rug that we can take outside and hose off when it gets too dirty. Perfect! I bought it immediately when I saw it because it has the green from the family room, the blue from the dining room, the beige from the floor tile and some gray that looks great with the stainless steel appliances.

 

Next ... paint.

 

Easy in theory - I knew I wanted the same green as we have in the family room. Why not something different? I wanted to create continuity between the rooms because we put a kitchen table in the family room, making it an extension of the kitchen. Also, our kitchen has a lot of little patches of wall - not enough to pull off a new color (in my opinion). But, difficult in practice - it is mostly cutting-in, ugh!

 



Third ... window treatments.

Honestly, I wouldn't have wanted window treatments in the kitchen because we have a fenced-in backyard. But, we get pretty intense morning sun in those windows and it can get really hot. So, I found these at Smith & Noble. In an effort to have something different than the wood blinds that we have on most of the other windows (wouldn't do well on the door), I chose natural woven shades in white with banding in a leaf print that includes a green very similar to our new paint color. They will look something like this:

 

Organization is by far our biggest problem for both the counter tops and the cabinet contents. So I have a couple ideas for the counter tops but the cabinet contents will be the subject for another day!

 

This is what the kitchen looks like on a regular basis (minus the paint can). We just can't keep it neat because it is so small. A great challenge!

 

 

So, I found these great hanging containers at IKEA - love them! They are from the FINTORP series. We got a couple different types and so far, we have installed the baskets. I can't tell you how much bigger the kitchen seems since you can now see all of the counter top! Amazing! A great start at clearing the clutter (I sound like a stager, don't I? I should take my own advice more often!).

 

Also moving the coffee pot to this spot takes it out of sight from the family room and dining room. Better!

 

For the other corner, on the right side of the oven, we bought the little bucket type containers for condiments and utensils. When we get them installed I will show you in another post.

And as far as this stuff goes ... you know all the take out menus, business cards, note paper, etc.

 

I am thinking about using this wall that the back door opens onto ...

 

 

For something like these wood wall pockets from Ballard Designs. The longer one, in white. Or black? 



 

Also, I really need some kind of slim container where I can temporarily store recyclables until I take them out. Any ideas??? It would have to be only about 4" or 5" deep and possibly hang on the same wall under the pockets.

 

So here is where we are this weekend. Not too shabby for a week's work?

 



 

Master Bath: re-done and done!

 

 

Many of you know that we had some issues with the floor tile in the master bathroom. Well, the floor has been completely re-tiled! And, I swear there are no mistakes even though it looks like two black tiles are too close together in the picture above. I promise you that my camera is playing tricks. Tricky camera!

 

 

If you don't believe me, come for a visit and see for yourself (smile)?

 

 

But the main attractions are the new window treatments. They are relaxed Roman shades from Calico Corners in Virginia Beach. Love them! And love replacing the sheet that has been our curtain for the last three months!

 

 

Now, for the kitchen!

 

Another Room Off the To-Do list!

I've been working on the dining room ... decided to go with an unexpected wall color!

Believe it or not, this Behr Ultra color from Home Depot is called Ocean View (also a beach neighborhood here, in Norfolk!). Below the chair rail is another Behr Ultra paint in Ultra Pure White. I would not have tried a color this bold except that the amount is reduced: only above the chair rail, three door openings, a set of triple windows and a large china cabinet and lots of white. So, the blue, while bold, is in pretty small amounts.

 

And, it is a compliment to the light blue-gray that is our main wall color in the living room, foyer, stairs and hall. Other than paint, the only things I have added to the dining room are four new blue and white salad plates for the china cabinet, the place mats and the two blue hydrangeas in the tall vase.

 

 

By-the-way, this is a great tip for staging and for young adults building a household. Buy a big set of all white dishes - you can find some great deals at the discount stores for about $1 per piece! Then, invest in colored and printed and themed salad plates only. Mix those salad plates with the all white inexpensive set. They'll look great and you'll save tons!

 

Only one big ticket item in here ... the chandelier (top picture). It might possibly be my favorite purchase so far. I love that it is traditional in color (brass) and  concept but contemporary with the square arms and the drum shade.

 

 

Also the blue walls in the dining room reflect the blue in the painting over the fireplace.

 

 

This is where we were just four months ago. The sage green colors were pretty originally but ...

 

here's to lightening and brightening!

 



Porches ... ahhhh!

There is just something about front porches. They induce feelings of nostalgia, relaxation, friendly neighbors and idyllic neighborhoods, family, happy times and they are so Southern.

 

This little girl is certainly happy! That's me in about 1963, three years old. The photo was taken on the front porch of the house my family lived in on Colonial Avenue, here in Ghent. This was the last time I had a real front porch.

 

Maybe I have wanted to do those memories justice?
Well, I think I am finally finished tinkering with our new/old front porch.

We have added a few new things. Some new flowers (McDonald's Garden Market, Poquoson):

Two more rocking chairs so we can sit with friends!

 

And a couple pics for you of the back of the house ... before ...

 

On the right side, top you can see that plywood was covering the glass blocks on the inside.

That was in the old laundry room now the master closet.

 

After:



It was our contractor who insisted on making the windows symmetrical, and I'm glad we did!

 

And, did someone mention porches? I love that there is a lot of space between the first floor windows and the second floor windows. It would be totally easy to add a covered porch one day?

 

I said, one day!

Den Do #2

I got some great suggestions from you guys after posting Den Do-Over, and I have taken your advice and made some changes to our den. (Still need to swag over the new hanging light fixture.)

 I removed the caramel colored chair.

 

Before picture

 

Added a couple new pillows with fuchsia in them to tie in the portrait with the fuchsia background.

(Your idea and I found them both on Etsy.)

 

 

Finally got our new kitchen table (from Pottery Barn - it has two small leaves so we can seat four when needed.

 

 

I have been told that this room looks a lot smaller in these pictures so I made an attempt to show it better:

 

 

You're getting a peak at the color we're trying out in the dining room!

 

 

We've come a long way from this!

 

 

Thanks for all the input! You're the best!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Porch For the Fourth

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY

 

We're spreading a little patriotism in our new neighborhood!

 Still to add - an American flag and our red rag rug (that has gone missing).

 

Added the planters recently which proved to be difficult. We get total shade in the morning and intense sun in the late afternoon. In addition the left side of the steps gets more sun than the right side. Our neighborhood nursery Clark's Nursery, helped us out. Here's what we planted, we'll see how they do?

• Dwarf Elephant Ear -Little Black Magic (sun to partial shade)
• Dwarf Hosta (shade to partial shade)
• Double Impatien - Rockapulco Appleblossom (shade to partial shade)
• Begonia - Senator Series, Pink (shade to partial sun)

Enjoy the holiday!