Our First House

{Silver} Dropping In

Published on March 6, 2012March 26, 2013 by Our Humble Abode24 Comments

Since we finished the sheet rock work in the kitchen, we’ve needed to paint the living room. I procrastinated because I don’t like painting and once I started on the living room, I’d need to carry the color down the hall. On Thursday, I picked out a paint color, Silver Drop by Behr (color matched to Glidden) and got started. Nothing like selling a house to get your butt in gear, right?

I started by taking the pictures down and repainting the trim, just to cover any areas where the original tan color may have seeped under.

I filled about 50 nail holes at the same time.

Using Frog Tape, I taped off all the trim. There goes a whole roll.

The boys decided to make a fort out of the rearranged furniture.

Then I started rolling. And rolled, and rolled, and rolled. And that’s when I remembered why I usually make Ben roll.

After doing paint related work all day, I finally finished just as Ben was getting home. When I asked him to start peeling tape he didn’t understand. I told him I had just finished the second coat. He was amazed I had done it alone.

It’s lighter than I would usually go with, but I thought it might be better for resale.

The hall feels so much brighter.

I’m not going to bother hanging pictures before we move. It’s not worth the effort. So I’ll stare at blank walls for the next month or so. It already feels strangely sterile.

You’ve seen our most recent painting adventure. What is your favorite gray color? Do you prefer light or dark colors?

This Little House Went to Market

Published on March 5, 2012March 5, 2012 by Our Humble Abode39 Comments

Went to market implies we’ve sold our house. Technically, this little house is on the market.

That’s right, we’re selling our humble abode. Today is the first day it’s up as a for sale by owner. I literally put the sign out and finished listing info an hour ago. We’ll write another post with more house selling details once we cross that bridge. Sadly, we won’t have any house hunting to share, but I’ll explain that in a minute.

I’m sure some of you are thinking we’re crazy, but let me explain. Now that we’ve wrapped up the kitchen remodel, our house is nearly done. Sure we’ve got little projects we could tackle, like the steam shower Ben dreamed about, the concrete patio we planned to do last year, and minor exterior projects. But we’re already close to the top of what our neighborhood can handle. But we didn’t start thinking about any of this too seriously until recently.

This whole situation is very serendipitous. About a month ago, Ben showed Handy Sammy a piece of land he lusted after several years ago and had already mentally constructed his dream house on. Three years ago, we weren’t in a financial position to buy that chunk of land. While driving home, Ben and Handy Sammy saw a run down house for sale on the same street. Ben gave me the address and I looked it up online. The price was out of our budget and the pictures weren’t very good, but we were intrigued. For a week, we talked about this house; what the layout might be, level of finishes, and if it had views.

If you follow us on Facebook, you might remember this post about online houses.

Well, that post was in reference to this house.

Ben decided he needed to see it with his own eyes. He called the listing agent who said we couldn’t see the house until it had been cleaned. So we waited. And got impatient. Ben talked the agent into letting us see the house. It was full of potential, but maybe too much potential. It needed a lot of work like a new roof, siding, windows and doors, the pool room had to be completely updated, plus all of the interior stuff we’ve done to our house. At the list price, we couldn’t afford to make the changes we like.

True to form, Ben started calling local companies to get quotes for shingles, siding, windows, and the pool. It turns out, it wasn’t as expensive as Ben originally thought. Armed with new information, on February 21, we made a low offer on the house. The next day, we received a counter offer. We thought it was too high and pulled out of the running.

Then we had a real estate agent over to perform a CMA on our house. She thought our house could sell very close to the counter offer we received. Which switched us into over drive on our potential new house. We accepted their counter offer, signing papers on Friday. Assuming all goes according to plan, we’ll close on the new house sometime in April. So excited to share pictures once it’s officially ours.

Over the weekend, Ben and I have diligently worked to make our to do list shorter. We also did a few projects to get the house ready to sell. More details on that later this week.

Most likely, there will be some overlap of ownership of the two houses, so wish us luck to get this one sold quickly!

This whole process has gone quickly, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t consider the pros and cons. Yes, we just finished this house. Yes, we have plenty of space here. But we’re reaching the limit on this house. And, the new house has everything this one does and more. The neighborhood can also accommodate the upgrades we’re planning. Bottom line, it was a house and a deal too good for us to pass up. We still love this house and it will always be our first love. It will be a sad goodbye, but we’re excited at the prospect of a new project home. As Ben likes to say, we’re leaving this home on the top floor and entering the new home in the basement level.

That’s what we’ve been up to this weekend. What did you do?

February Acronym

Published on March 1, 2012March 1, 2012 by Our Humble Abode2 Comments

Time to remember the work we’ve done in February with the monthly acronym.

Favorites and Freebies: We shared our favorite painting supplies, heart and love finds, and most recent Etsy additions. To share the Valentine’s day love, we offered up free Valentine cards and a print.

Eventually added cabinet doors and answered cabinet questions: That’s right, our kitchen is looking finished.

Balloon animals: Planning a balloon animal themed party for Everett.

Rockin’ to the blues: Paint, that is. And our kitchen is rockin’ it.

Undermining tradition: By buying a potted rose plant instead of cut flowers for Valentine’s day.

Art challenge and an afternoon craft: Some blog friends and I posed a Pinterest inspired art challenge and shared our projects. Vincent and I also made ‘stained glass’ hearts for Valentine’s day.

Randomness and Rope lights: We’re wrapping up the kitchen, including fun accent lighting.

Yet again: We have a broken living room lamp. Luckily, I found harder to break lamps at Target for under $30! If you’re in the market for new lamps, here’s a round-up of my current favorites.

One Percent {P}inspiration: The Artful After

Published on February 29, 2012October 18, 2012 by Our Humble Abode54 Comments

Well friends, it’s been nine days since my pals Ashli, Sara, and I announced our Pinterest art challenge.

After some deliberation, I decided to put my own spin on the Wild Herringbone art from Cozamia.

I just loved the clean, colorful, graphic design. And, I recruited some help on this project. To start, I grabbed plain white card stock out of my printer, hauled my craft paint box out, and tossed one of Ben’s shirts on each of the boys. I let V choose the colors he wanted and he started painting. E was hesitant, but got a few strokes on the paper.

V made several paintings, E, only one. I made a few for fillers, too. Using my handy paper cutter, I cut each sheet in half length wise, then into 1 1/2 inch wide strips.

I have a large roll of white paper, so I tore a sheet off to use as my backing. A few pieces of double sided tape on the back of each strip to hold in place and I started arranging. To keep things straight on the first row, I used a ruler to line up the edges.

I made sure to mix the paintings up to spread the colors throughout.

After about twenty minutes, I had covered the paper and had to fill in the edges.

Here she is, edges filled and trimmed, ready for a frame.

So I popped it in, hung it up and took a few steps back. That’s when I realized I didn’t like the pink V had used.

While E took his nap, V and I painted more. This time, I limited his color palette to blues, greens, yellow, and silver.

I followed the same steps, but loved the result this time.

The pop of color in this corner is perfect.

And, I love that it’s not kitchen specific, so it can travel around the house if we ever tire if it in here. The best part, this art was made using everything we already had in our home!

Now it’s your turn to share your Pinterest inspired art project with us!

Favorite Painting Supplies

Published on February 28, 2012February 28, 2012 by Our Humble Abode26 Comments

I’ve been painting again, this time in the dining room. Are you ready for the biggest before and after of the year?!? Here’s the before:

During:

And after:

Such a big difference, right? Not. I knew when we started the kitchen we’d carry the color from the dining room through the kitchen. I also knew we didn’t have enough of the blue paint on hand to cover everything. So I bought another gallon to paint the kitchen and dining room. If paint doesn’t come from the same can, there’s a chance the color will be off. This was the case for the new kitchen paint and the old dining paint.

Before I started with the blue, I repainted the white to give it a nice, fresh coat. Then I painted the walls. While painting, I thought, “Hmm, I don’t think I’ve ever rounded up our favorite painting supplies.” Today, I’ve wrangled our favorite painting supplies including

Purdy paint brushes: A good brush can make all the difference. I like an angled brush to get in corners and crannies by trim. Remember to clean the brush well to prolong the life of your brush.

Foam roller covers: For a smooth, professional looking paint job. These high density foam roller covers don’t shed and the low nap leaves the surface as smooth as possible.

Frog tape: I think the old phrase, “The coolest thing since sliced bread” should be updated to “The coolest thing since Frog Tape.” Yes, it’s more expensive than regular masking or painters tape, but the results speak for themselves. Little to no bleed through, just crisp lines.

Tweezers: I don’t know about you, but after almost every paint job, small pieces of tape stay put. I keep an old tweezer in my painting supplies to easily get those buggers off.

Disposable paint trays or aluminum foil: Painting is enough of a pain, but clean up is even worse in my book. I’ve started using aluminum foil to cover my paint tray. When I’m done painting, just peel and toss.

Glidden paint: Remember, your time spent painting isn’t worth it if your paint is junk. In our humble opinions, Glidden is the best value paint. Easy to apply, durable, and affordable. Sure, Ben Moore is nice, but it also costs more.