In Our House

Welcome to 2012! I don’t know why but even numbers (and right turns) are more appealing to me. Call me a weirdo. But I could be extra excited about this year because we’re so in love with our first home. Greg and I jumped right into projects. I attacked a few closets after oh, about 5 minutes in the door.

We’ve been here for a little over 2 weeks with most of the work happening over the extended weekends (too bad those are gone for a long time). Hello, hammer, crowbar and being exhausted in the best way!

I’ll spare you most of the boring details of our holiday season, resist posting a “best of 2011” or the “what I learned in 2011” post and instead show you some pictures of the house with a few shots of things that went on in my writing absence.

I insist on updating you about the house here at the Dabble for my first post of 2012 but will most likely continue house updates at my other blog- the Wits– which focuses on furniture, design and décor. You can subscribe or stop by there once in a while if you’d like.

Anywho, I find myself, in moments of rest, saying “I can’t believe we have a house” followed by a big smile. Greg does the same. It’s bigger than we thought even with our oversized, modern furniture. The ceiling is awesome. The soft water rocks. The dishwasher actually cleans. We can do laundry whenever we want in our very own washer and dryer. We have a basement and garage. We have nice neighbors that bring us welcoming gifts-a candle and some homegrown frozen raspberries.

We’re working to make it great for resale in 3 to 5 years and at the same time, work within our tastes as much as we can but there will have to be compromise. Our style is not your average Midwesterner’s ideal. (I’m having a hard time finding super dark hardwood flooring in a 50 mile radius.) We also hope to get a renter in a few months to help with the cost which gives us incentive to get that area remodeled pronto.

Plans have changed since we’ve had time to live in the space. We’ve changed our layout idea downstairs to accommodate something open in place of another bedroom (would have been the 5th). We’re extending the bathroom wall down there and opening up the hall to mirror the openness of the upstairs. Which means we’ve decimated a room we intended to leave intact for a project much further down the line and are using the room we intended to work on first as our dump. All of the material needs to go before we can continue…something in the works for the weekend. No dumpster for us. Why spend that much money when you can haul the material to the dump a lot cheaper on a trailer? But you have to have access to a trailer and vehicle to transport it or know someone who does. We know someone.

Thus far it doesn’t look like much and I’m light-years away from getting to the decorating portion. It doesn’t stop me from planning though. Anyone looked at my Pinterest boards lately? Crammed full of inspiration.

Greg and I spent Christmas Day working on the electrical. While the homeowners took care to maintain this ship, they hired someone who wasn’t as organized and tidy. It’s crazy and haphazard. A job we now get the pleasure of fixing and grounding. Most of the upstairs is finished. We also had cable and internet installed. When we get the other rooms finished, we’ll install the cable ourselves this time and save hundreds of dollars.

I’m learning from my experienced husband, absorbing information like the crazy-eyed, new home buyer I am. Our evenings are spent doing demo and repairs followed by a meal, shower, maybe a little tv watching or research online.

So some electrical, insulation, demo, utility room overhaul, organization and a bunch of tiny things have been accomplished. The furniture refinishing room is set up and ready to go (something I will be working on during the week). Good thing because we have a nursery dresser to start for a client. I also scheduled to pick up another dresser.

In the midst of working on the house, I started sewing again after a long time away. Not to paint the picture that I was ever an avid sewer. Not me. I also started working on a few projects for our etsy store-think along the lines of picture frames, fabric and wallpaper. Plus we picked up a cane barrel chair for $19 at a local shop which will be for upholstery practice. I love being busy.

And then there’s the cooking, writing and taking photos. There will be a recipe next time. I’ve collected a multitude of ‘em over the last month. Anything I should try come across your radar?