Category: Our First House

Our first house, a 1960 ranch home.

Basement Progress: Small Bedroom

Published on by Our Humble Abode33 Comments

The last you saw of this bedroom, we had installed most of the trim, but nothing else had been done.

After filling and sanding millions of nail holes, caulking miles of seams, 20 gallons of white paint (for the entire basement) and hours of spraying later, we were ready to put real color on the walls.

After painting and installing carpet, we put a king bed on the floor before my family came to visit.

And now, here’s what you see as you enter the bedroom.

The bedding has changed and we’ve added some art recently, but we have tons of decorating to do.

That is the prettiest view, so in the interest of keeping it real, here are some other, not-so-pretty angles.

Here’s our still doorless closet.

I really like the idea of a pink and blue color scheme for this room, but we’ll see.  So, what are your favorite colors to pair with blue?  Any other color schemes you’ve recently fallen in love with?

ABC

Published on by Our Humble Abode6 Comments

Its easy as 123.  As simple as do re mi.  ABC, 123, baby you and me girl Everett and Vincent?  Now that I have the Jackson 5 stuck in your head, let me show you a new print I’ve added to our boys room. 

It’s from Made by Girl.  Jen also has a really awesome, inspiring blog.  I really liked the bold font of this wedding print, but of course I wanted it to represent brotherly love, not a marriage.  So, I contacted Jen to see if the design could be customized.  Luckily, Jen was very accommodating.  I ordered a custom size (8 inches by 10 inches), sent color swatches for her to match, and of course customized with Vincent and Everett’s names. 

I bought a cheapo set of white frames from Michael’s ($7.99 for two 11 by 14’s!) added a mat and placed it on the picture shelf.

Of course, I love personalized art, and this print is great next to framed hospital bracelets.  The colors perfectly coördinate with their aqua, lime and sun yellow color scheme.

I have more artwork on order for this wall, so ignore the bare walls for now. 

What’s your favorite art piece?  A DIY project?  A gift from a family member or friend?  A cherished photograph?  Something you picked up on a vacation?  Do you have items you try to pick up from each place you visit?  I collect spoons, but I also try to get a photo book from each place we visit.  I think I’m going to start collect art from our trips, too.

Basement Progress: Large Bedroom

Published on by Our Humble Abode8 Comments

I have meant to post about the progress of our basement for months now.  I’m a bad friend and haven’t shown you, until now.  We’ll start with the first room we finished down there.  This room is sort of the ugly step-child of our house.  We were given loads of free solid oak trim, so we used it in here.  Now we want to change it, but don’t really care to get around to it.

Anyway, here’s what this room looked like in 2006. 

When we learned we were expecting a baby in 2007, we kick started this project.  This is the view from the entrance.

All the furniture were hand-me-downs from Ben’s boss.  This room is really long, like 18 feet by 12 feet wide.  This is the other side of the room.  The door to the left is the walk-in closet and the door on the right is the entrance.  The window is egress, too.

Last February, while scrambling (I was 8 months pregnant with Ev) to finish the rest of the basement, this room became a storage room for everything that was downstairs. 

Yes, those little legs belong to Vincent.  And yes, our sectional was a pain to get into this room and up on the bed frame.

The next shot is from June 2010, after we cleared the room of most everything.  You will notice a gradual accumulation of stuff from this point on.  Everything that is in this room is left over and unwanted junk from the main level.

We haven’t done much to this room but turn it into an exercise/storage/dumping ground and occasionally, we banish our guests here. 

Yep, not much progress, just junk.  (This is exactly how the room looked before I decided to take pictures.  In the interest of keeping it real, I left the stack of pillows and sleeping blanket on the chair.)  I have decided on a color scheme for this room.  We’re keeping the wall color until we get the energy to replace the trim and paint, but I want to add yellow and grey for a cheery, modern feel. 

Moving the exercise equipment should help, too.  Those boxes are the filled with hardwood flooring for our kitchen, by the way.  See what I mean about a storage/dumping ground?!?

Oh, and our Target rug has found a temporary home until our laundry room is finished.  Who knows when it will make it there.  Also, would anyone be interested in a messy house tour?  Is your basement a warehouse, too?  What do you do with your exercise equipment?

The Award and Awarding…

Published on by Our Humble Abode5 Comments

I’ve been given a Stylish Blogger Award from Vonda at Newlyweds and the Old House!  Thanks, Vonda!  I’ve never received an award before and I’m a little late to so this, but here are the rules that go along with it: 

A. Thank and link back to the person that awarded you or me in this case.

B. Share seven things about you.

C. Pay it forward to 15 (or so) recently discovered bloggers

D. Contact those bloggers about the award!

Here are my seven things:

1.  I was born and raised in Minnesota, moved to Montana because I met and fell in love with Ben.

2.  Ben is one of 7 kids, 6 of which are boys.  I’m surrounded by a world of testosterone, which is strange because I came from a world of estrogen.

3.  We added more testosterone to my life with our two boys. 

4.  Over the past three years, I’ve been teaching myself graphic design.  No formal classes or books, just trial and error and a lot of time spent with my friend, Photoshop.

5.  I’m a neat freak to the core, but don’t confuse that with being a clean freak.  My house is rarely messy, but usually has crumbs, dirt and dust bunnies. 

6.  I have never been skydiving, but I would love to go.

7.  I am envious of those out there that have the freedom and ability to travel.  If I could, I would take at least 3 vacations a year.

On to part C, here are my recently discovered bloggers:

1.  Hernando House

2.  Kara Paslay Designs

3.  IHeart Organizing

4.  Just a Girl

5.  House *Tweaking

6.  Yellow Brick Home

7.  Bryn Alexandra Interiors

8.  Everything LEB

9.  Thrifty Little Blog

10.  Chantal Vincent Art

11.  My So-Called Home

Now, I’m off to contact my awardees!

The Crowning Jewel

Published on by Our Humble Abode12 Comments

When we asked our readers to take a brief survey at the beginning of the year, we asked if you’ve seen something in our house that you would like to know more about.  One reader was wondering how the lighting in our master bedroom worked.  Let’s start at the beginning, the trim.

We decided to install crown moulding over the doors and windows of our master bedroom and adjoining bathroom.  Ben had a great idea, why not install rope lighting on a dimmer switch above each?  I said, “Sure.  You’re the one doing the wiring, so if it’s a pain, you have yourself to blame.”

You see, I have a tendency to come up with tedious projects that Ben has to complete, so this was all him.  Guess what?  It was a pain.  But I already said that.  Why was it a pain you ask?  Well, dear friends, because each window and door has a header above, made of 2 by 4s, to give the structure strength.  So, Ben had to drill through finished sheetrock, through each header, then fish his wiring through his holes.

Once he ran the wiring, it was easy.  Ben wired outlets, all set on a dimmer switch, inside each crown piece.

(Please disregard the dust, its there for moral support, though I did vacuüm inside for you.  Oh yeah, you see the traces of red, that’s not blood, it’s paint.  Yeah, Ben wanted our bedroom burgundy.  So, we painted it, then quickly painted it again).

Then, we bought basic rope lighting from Home Depot.  Home Depot has tons of rope light options, but we chose five 6 foot lengths.  Why 6 feet?  Rope lighting isn’t especially bright, so we decided to double up anything that was shorter than 6 feet.  Next, plug the lights in.  Luckily, the windows and doors don’t look any brighter than the closet.  After tucking the lights down in the crown moulding, Ben used plastic fasteners to keep everything tucked neatly in its place.

Here, you can catch a glimpse of the crown construction.  Ben cut the crown pieces to size, then applied glue to the joints and nailed in place.  Ben always goes a little overboard to make sure things he builds are super strong, so he cut scraps of wood to match the angle of the inside corners.  Then, he nailed the crown into the blocks and they’re like a rock.

The room glows with the lights on at night.

Please note:  If you are not an electrician or comfortable working with electrical systems, please do not attempt this your self.  This post is not a step-by-step tutorial, just a guide on how Ben created our lighting.  We are not liable for any damages or injury.