Dumpster Diving!

Happy Friday! David and I are laying our floors in the den, kitchen and hallway this weekend. Dave has a lot ahead of him the next few days and our little family want to pitch in as much as we can. So I've got my gloves on and ready to start working. Tux is even in on the action. Usually Tux just poses for the camera but Dave wanted him to help out a bit more! You think he has a new career opportunity as a paperweight?

Happy Weekend!

Demolition Days

So we've purchased the floors, now what? David and I have entered, yet again demolition days. We have been ripping, scraping, and sniffling our way through our layers of linoleum and carpet. First we were pretty excited and very eager to get it all done...here we are taking the linoleum out in the den on demolition day 1.

Here I am on day 3. David said my expression said it all. I was now wondering why we were still doing this. We even had a slight injury, David cut himself on some wood that was sticking out around the refrigerator.

Nasty right? But as days of work set in, we ended up beaten, broken and sick. A word of warning, please make sure that you wear masks when you are doing the work. It took us a little longer to get our floors prepped because we got sick due to all of the dust, maybe some fiber-glass and a little bit of asbestos. I'm a lot better but Dave still has the sniffles and a slight cough. Now we are done with the first part of our floor prep. We still need to lay the felt, get some of other stuff in order and then begin laying the actual floor down. After this part of the house is done, we get to start the entire process over again with the living room. Luckily we don't have to deal with linoleum! Take a look at all of our hard work.

Living Room Pump Up

This is currently what our living room looks like. It needs a plan of some sort. The sofa and coffee table will stay in their location. The sofa is a little dated but its really comfortable and easy to keep clean. I think with the right coordinating pillows, it will look much better. The rocking chair will be moved to the office or the den. The wood side table (which Dave calls 'a stump') will go in the den. Once David and I get finished with the floor installation, I can really start getting our furniture where it needs to be. In the meantime, I've recently put together another mood board for our living room. Since we've lived here for a bit, I now know what I want each room to look like.

1. The living room and dining room are painted the same color, Lovely Buff by Valspar. The other colors will be accent colors throughout the room. 

2. I found this print at Z Gallerie and I thought, I can just paint this on a gallery canvas. I think adding some contemporary pieces to our home might add a little spunk but still keep it classy. Plus, if you know me and know my style, you know I love anything that has any circular design to it. I can blame my freshman design instructor, Professor Dunlap, for that obsession. This piece will be hung at the top of the stairs. (above tux in our current living room photo)

3. We are keeping our coffee table just as it is. I don't want to overload the room with multiple different types of wood stains so I want to add two glass side tables from Crate and Barrel on either side of the sofa. I hope by doing this, it will keep the room looking large and give it some airy-ness (believe I just made up that word). 

4. I found two lamps at TJ Taxx very similar to this one that was at Crate and Barrel last fall. Not bad for $30.00 a piece. The lamps will of course go on top of the glass side tables.

5. I love, love this rug from CSN Rugs! It reminds me of one that Pottery Barn use to have. This yellow rug will show nice contrast between our floors and our wooden coffee table. 

6. I have been eyeing this linen slipper chair at Target for almost a year now. I promised myself I wouldn't buy it until Dave and I were ready for our living room to become the living room. The chair will be in place of the rocking chair. The linen fabric will hopefully add some texture to this boring room!

7. Black console table. This console table once was David's mothers. She never liked the stain and didn't have room for it in her new home. So like a lot of our furniture, it was handed down which we are very grateful. I painted it black and it looks like a brand new table. A new table that was made well. This table will be at the top of the stairway, across from the slipper chair and sofa. I plan on hanging an arrangement of photographs and prints in white frames to create a balanced collage.

8. The Bar/hutch, another hand-me-down. I really like the shape and its the perfect size for a bar, but it needs something. I first thought about just painted to back bead board, but after thinking a bit more; that just isn't enough. Another thing that I had to consider now is that our floors and the hutch are pretty much the same color. If I don't do something to it, its gonna look like a big 'brown' blob extending from the floor. So I've decided to paint the entire piece a lovely blueish-teal and replace the knobs with clear glass knobs from Anthropologie. The official color is Lagoon from Martha Stewart. The teal color will really make the piece stand out. Some people might be hesitant about painting a piece of old furniture but I think paint gives some of those old pieces a second life. One good thing about the color I have chosen, lagoon, is that it can be inter-changeable throughout the seasons. The bar/hutch will be moved over to where the entertainment center is currently living. 

In the area where is bar is, I am gonna get David to hang a photo collage of David and I when we were kids. You'll see that update real soon! I'm really excited about seeing it all come together. Happy weekend everyone!

Floors Galore!

Good afternoon! Its been a couple of weeks for me since I've said hello! But not much has been going on in the Simon house, until now. Dave and I went to Seagrove Beach for the 4th of July to see family and hang out with a few friends along the way. I am so thankful that we have family who get to live in paradise. It was a nice little getaway, we even got to bring the ol' dog down for some R and R. 

 

Here is our little king of the mountain. Tux absolutely loved the beach. This was much to our surprise but unfortunately he brought lots of friends back up to Auburn with him...fleas. I think Dave has given him a bath every other day now. But after Tux's baths/pills (etc., etc.) kick in and we share our most recent news with you, the fleas will have lost their rein over at the Simon house. Please don't think that we live like animals but when you have old carpet throughout the house, these critters have a slight advantage. Well, drum roll please...yup, thats it. We have floors! 

Today David went to Lumber Liquidators in Montgomery to purchase our new floors, new base boards & shoe molding, and stairs for the entry way! In the end, we decided to go with an engineered floor rather than getting solid flooring installed. This way we were able to cover more square-footage with the money we saved and we able to get the style and look we wanted. Once the manager at LL pointed out this hickory hand-scraped wood to us which was on sale at the time, we decided to go for it. David hauled 55 boxes from Montgomery with the generosity of a friend's trailer. In the next week with a little help hopefully from friends, we plan to install the floor ourselves. Once we rent the correct tools from Lowe's or Home Depot, it should be a no brainer. Dave found a link on This Old House that is gonna help out a bit. Easy-peesy, they say...but I'm ready to roll up my sleeves and get this show on the road. We are pretty happy to finally move into the den when its all said and done. 

David Battles the Basement

So we have very usable 700+ square foot basement/Garage. The picture above demonstrates just how usable we have found it though. Thanks to busy schedules, traveling, and some good old fashioned lazy, the mess has gotten pretty crazy. Fortunately for us I have decided that the only way to get myself motivated to start working on the house again is to start a project that I can finish completely.

Imagine this scene:

(It's Monday around 6 PM, David comes home from working hard all day)

David: Honey, I'm home!
Adriene: Oh David I am glad your home. I love you so much!
D: Thanks babe, whatcha' wanna do this evening?
A: I was thinking that I would make your favorite dinner and then give you a back rub while you watch Arrested Development and play video games.
D: That sounds pretty good but I think that I would like to work on the house some more. Which project would you like me to work on?
A: Are you sure!?! I know that you worked very hard today assuring the students that all their information technology continued to work flawlessly.
D: Yes, my priority is to get this house fixed up just how you want it Dear.
A: Ok, if you insist. You truly are the best husband ever!!!

(Next scene: David has grabbed his tools and looks into office)

David: Time to finish the closet to desk conversion I started the other day.

(David sees the doors that need to be rehung and exits office)

David: Nope, not doing that.

Fin

Somehow after all this I found myself in the basement/garage and decided that there was no time like the present to start in on the clutter:




So after one truckload, to garbage cans, and a whole pile down by the street, we are coming close to having a great new usable space for arts and crafts, etc. Seriously though I intend to close off the area around the washer and dryer (if you can believe it a dryer has a tough time drying your clothes when the temperature is in the 30's) so that Adriene has an acceptable washroom. Also there may be a chance that I will build myself a little shop and possibly a closet or two down there.

I will add more pictures when I have finished the project. I guarantee that you will be amazed with the transformation. Sorry though folks Adriene owns the copyrights on all my great ideas and designs so if you were thinking about hiring me (!!!) call her.

PS. Special thanks to our newest follower. He is a good friend of ours and gave us some really good feedback after my first post. I won't leak his name out on the internets but I will post a picture. Sorry ladies, he's taken.

Birthdays and Bedrooms

Well David didn't hold back for my birthday this year! During a breakfast birthday celebration at the Crepe Myrtle Cafe with the moms, he gave me a down comforter that actually fits a queen bed. Let me just say that if you haven't tried the Crepe Myrtle Cafe in Auburn, its a must. They do all sorts of different crepes for you to choose from like the Florentine, which has egg, spinach, mushrooms, and feta. They even have dessert crepes! Plus you can check our Blooming Colors fresh market when you are there too. Back to the fun part, the gifts! The trick with finding a comforter that look good with your duvet cover, is you must get a comforter that is 90 x 92 inches or larger. A full/queen comforter with the dimensions of 88 x 89 inches or similar measures will look a little frumpy and your duvet cover won't be as full as you would like. So remember to keep your measurements in mind when you are looking for a down comforter.

After we got home I immediately put our bedding together and presto! Now David says its like his in a sea of pillows. I love it. I still need to work on some of our vignettes in our bedroom. Right now, they look a little rough.

Here's a before shot, the head board and comforter bring more "umph" to the room.

Not only did I just get a comforter, I got a lovely dinner at a great restaurant in town, Zazu's. Dave did let me that I was to get something else but I had to wait for it to come it. And Yes, it was the HTC Droid Incredible from Verizon. Its pretty awesome. But of course my luck would ring true, they already came out with a new version. Oh the joys of marketing!

No Time Like the Present!!!

Ok, so Adriene has mentioned in the past that I should jump in and gift the world with my two cents. I guess that I have starved the world of my literary prowess for much too long now... here goes nothing.

I think that if I can add anything to this story it will be a little humor (mostly sarcasm). My lovely wife has done a great job so far, but sometimes you need to hear the story from the one who squeegees the basement and trenches out the crawl space. These are the truly fun stories!

Hopefully over the next few days, weeks, and months, I will entertain you with some of the pleasant un-pleasantries that have been suffered (I mean enjoyed) to make the house as charming as it is so far. Maybe a post on how much fun it is to mow grass at a thirty degree angle, or a tutorial on the futility of bamboo removal.

Please do not ever take my posts too seriously, or do, but know that regardless of just how much (groan) fun it seems like I am having complaining about some of these jobs, I really do love it. I am a fixer/project kind of guy and I couldn't imagine a better partner in crime to tackle this with.

So ready your laugh-ers, because the nitty-gritty is poised to come out in my posts. Remember the best part of hanging the shelves from IKEA is finding forty-seven and a half studs to attach it to!