Laboring on Labor Day

Published on by Our Humble Abode20 Comments

Nope, not pregnant.  No new baby here.  I’m talking about windows.  Now that all most of the windows are in, let’s go inside to take a look at the difference the new windows have made.  First, check out the kitchen in all it’s 70’s wallpapered, oak, bay window goodness.

And now with the sliding white window.

Making this window flat lets in so much more light, and the window seems bigger without dividing it into three sections.  Oh, and the fact this window actually opens.  Go figure.  The same can be said for the breakfast nook window.  Before, V and E used the bay window as their personal dance floor/kitchen/play room.

Despite shortening the window, I think it feels more open.  Perhaps not having a mass of dark oak helped?  Whatever it is, I’m liking it.

Just a breath of fresh air to see a lighter, brighter kitchen.  Removing the ugly wallpaper definitely helped.

In the family room, we replaced the two stationary side lights with shorter double hung windows.  Hooray for air flow.  For some reason, I always feel guilty putting furniture in front of windows.  So this arrangement works better for us.

Also, I think the shorter windows feel more intentional and less like “this is a door, but let’s just take off the handles and no one will know.”   The window height actually matches, instead of looking like someone scored a lot of assorted windows on Craigslist and made it work.

Oh, and these windows and doors are so quiet to open and close.  The old door squeaked and squealed.  Ben is a ninja leaving in the mornings now, sneaking out the quiet door.

While window shopping, we discovered most energy-efficient windows have a low visible transmittance thanks to the UV blocking coatings.  This concerned us, because about 50 or 60 percent of light makes it into the house.  Luckily, we don’t see a drastic difference.

To gain egress in the bedrooms, our city requires 5.7 square feet with a minimum opening of 24 inches tall by 20 inches wide within 44 inches of the floor.  The original height of the bedroom windows was fine, but our casement windows only opened about 18 inches by 4 feet.

To use the same brand and line of windows throughout, our only option was a large (4 foot wide by 66 inch tall) double hung window.

Luckily, our windows sit about 19 inches off the floor, so we didn’t have to use tempered glass.  Wahoo for saving a little money.

These are my favorite windows.  I love the cute courtyard feel of the back yard.

And from outside, the windows are almost the same size.

No more awkward bay windows bumping out, either.

Ben used three layers of 2 by 4s to get the windows out.  When he wraps the house in insulation, the siding will sit flush with the edge of the window.  Using the 2 by 4s is a simple and strong way to support the windows while extending for the future insulation layers.

Now to get the insulation on the outside and frame the windows on the inside.  Of course we’ll keep you updated on our progress.

What do you think of the new windows?  Have you gotten new windows recently?  Did it make a world of difference?  Both in looks and monthly savings?

Brothers from Another Mother?

Published on by Our Humble Abode11 Comments

I hope you all had a fun and relaxing Labor Day weekend.  If you didn’t, I hope you got some work done, like we did.  Our weekend started with a bang, literally.  Ben finished demoing the pool house wet bar with the help of his trusty hammer Meowmeow.  Thor has Mjölnir, Ben has Meowmeow.

Do you see the resemblance?  Sure, Ben can’t grow hair, but he can rock a mean hat.  Though Ben rarely wears a cape.

{unedited picture via}

For now the doors are awkwardly low, but that will change.

A little more digging and knocking down the stone wall to go.  Then we can have someone come in, cut the concrete, and we’ll have a ground level opening to install the new door and window.  Ben will build a lower header to make these the same height as the rest of the house windows.

Thor Ben and Handy Sammy started in the kitchen and worked their way down the line to the rest of the windows.  Taking out the bay window wasn’t terribly difficult.  Some prying, hammering, and wiggling and it came out.

After installing the kitchen window, the big window in the breakfast nook came out.

The original bay window sat about six inches off the floor.  We don’t consider our patio a view, so we decided to shorten this window by about a foot.  Ben built a short wall to raise the new window up to the header.

Saturday afternoon brought on an unexpected complication, this:

So many problems here.  First, someone cut out the rim joist.  Bad. idea.  Unlike Nike’s slogan, just don’t do it.  Then, some genius ran plumbing for the solar panels outside, only insulating with thin foam.  And we didn’t have any support for the window.  Good thing those solar panels aren’t there anymore.  Ben cut off the water lines inside the house and replaced the cut rim joist.  We also shortened the stationary panels on either side of the sliding door, so he built a short wall to raise these windows to the headers.

The sliding door at the back of the house is the first of six we’ll have in the house and pool house.  So, it was a good learning experience.  After reading the instructions, install was easy enough.

I guess the panels are crazy heavy though.  Oh, we found another no no when removing the old door.  Wiring for the scones doesn’t come from the floor or attic.  The right sconce is looped from the left over the door.  Fortunately Ben didn’t cut at that door to get it out.  One more reason those have to go.

Soon, Ben will start wrapping the house with insulation.  To accommodate the added depth, the new windows have supports made of three 2 by 4s.

While we love all the new windows, our favorites are the two larger bedroom windows.  For egress, these double hung windows are 4 feet wide by 5 1/2 feet tall.  In a word, huge.  And fantastic.  The guest bedroom window is about ten inches closer to the floor than the original.

And the boys’ window is about 18 inches closer to the floor.  

An outlet right below the boys window was in the way, so Ben turned off the breaker, cut down for the window and added an outlet on either side.  A nice little two for one special.

Now we’re really excited to get the pool house windows cut and installed.  That means this whole window process is done…until we’re ready for the other three sides of the house.  This is a nice stopping point as the back of the house isn’t easily seen.  And it will give us enough to do before winter sets in without being rushed.

Bring on the insulation and siding.  And tearing up the back yard.

Because this post is already long, I’ll share pictures of the windows tomorrow.  Until then, tell us what you did over the long weekend.  I saw a lot of camping pictures on Instagram.

Climbing a Dusty Mountain

Published on by Our Humble Abode17 Comments

Not long ago, we had a ketchup and mustard look on our unfinished entertainment center.

After my bathroom painting marathon, I decided to knock out the entertainment center so we didn’t think of hot dogs.  While I painted, Ben added the face trim, side detail, and crown molding.

Of course painting isn’t that easy.  Oh no, first I had to fill every nail hole, wait for the filler to dry, then sand it smooth.  And then the priming phase.

Man was I ready to start painting.  Originally Ben and I had agreed on a white entertainment center with a colorful backing.  So I tested out my options inside the cabinets he built and liked Ben Moore’s Yosemite yellow.  But then we started talking it over and decided white wasn’t the direction we wanted to take.  Why the sudden change of heart?  Well, Ben pointed out how much light the front window lets in, which also means a lot of glare.  Bright white might cause a lot of eye strain when we’re relaxing in front of the tv at night.  White is a safe choice, and maybe too safe.  Let’s try a darker color, like gray.  But I didn’t want a sea of gray, so it had to be different enough from the wall color.  I picked out two Ben Moore colors, Kendall Charcoal and Amherst Gray.

Kendall Charcoal was a great deep gray, but too blue for our liking.  Amherst Gray was too light.  While at Home Depot shopping for some other supplies, we walked to the paint department and looked at more swatches.  I pulled out a Behr color that I’ve liked for years, Squirrel.  About six years ago, I painted our master bedroom this color, but Ben said it felt like a battleship.  Since then, he has come around to more modern designs, and doesn’t hate all gray paint.  But we quickly agreed Squirrel was too light.  That’s an easy fix, we just chose the color below, Dusty Mountain.  Without hesitation, we bought a gallon of eggshell paint and headed home.

In the pictures above, you can see we bought the paint before I was ready to paint.  After finishing the prep and priming, I started with the color.

Love at first sight.  Especially paired with the reddish Bubinga top.  Yum.

Ben came home, saw this and proclaimed his love, too.

I think the green undertones are lovely and reminiscent of an expensive library.  Just picture this color on crazy tall shelves with a brass bar for the sliding wooden ladder.

{image via}

But I couldn’t let go of wanting a splash of color.  Using the yellow left over from the cabinets, I tested it on the backs.

I love the idea, but the contrast was too much for tv watching.

Ben suggested I paint the back Wood Smoke like the walls.  Instead, I took the easy way out and painted it Dusty Mountain.

Ahh, that’s better.  Ugly speakers blend in with this more.  We’ll build doors for the side cabinets, but the yellow will be a fun surprise inside.

If we had cabinet grade plywood, we could have built the drawers.  Sadly, Home Depot doesn’t have any in stock because it’s seasonal.  Ummm, what?  Hopefully they get it in, because we can’t make the fronts until the drawers are installed.  I’m telling you, our plans are always contingent on something else.

Progress is progress, and I’m happy.

So, what do you think of the color?  Are you into darker, saturated colors, too?  Or are you more of a light and airy person?  Do you and your significant other agree on colors easily?

August Acronym

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Hello and happy Labor day to those of you in the U.S.  Hope you’re having a great long weekend!

Almost done: This is the story of our lives, nearly finished projects.  In August, we made a lot of progress in the main bathroom.  We’ve added a Sky Tube for natural light, trimmed out theroom, and got everything painted.  Just have to build false drawer fronts and we can call the bathroom a wrap.

Uprooted:  A few walls and a floor.  One load bearing wall in the garage which we replaced with a beam, and the wet bar in the pool house is seeing a little demo, too.

Getting into sewing: I busted out my sewing machine to make drop cloth curtain panels for the living room and dyed them for a moody look.  Then I turned plain striped fabric into an X patterned pillow.

Unveiled:  The finished roof, shiny new garage doors, and how I make mood boards in Photoshop.

Small projects:  Adding the tops to our entertainment center base, fixed our broken couch, and V started tearing off the kitchen wallpaper.

Tried new things:  Norwex cleaning cloths (love those!) and a new Mohawk Home rug (also love!).

And now we’re in September.  Where does the time go?

What did you cross off your list in August?  What are your plans for September?   Are you excited for hot cider and apple crisp?  I know I am!

Gimme a Giveaway: Mohawk Rug

Published on by Our Humble Abode392 Comments

This giveaway is closed.  Thanks for entering.  See who won here.

A few weeks ago, I received a Mohawk Home rug to review.  We’ve lived with it and I’m happy to say it holds up well to our family and is easy to clean.

Of course we were excited to snag a free rug, but we are equally excited that Mohawk Home is giving a rug to one lucky reader, too!  You can choose any style that tickles your pickle.

Perhaps something thick and plush, like this Shimmer Shag:

Something bold and colorful like Tropical Acres:

Neutral with a playful pattern, like Granite Transitional:

Pretty Modern Botanical:

A colorful faux bois Cyclone Rug:

Or you could get a runner in the same Cambridge style we chose:

As you can see, there’s something for everyone and every style. So poke around the various retailers because selection does vary slightly at each store.

The Goods: Any rug 5 by 8 or smaller, $150 or under rug from Mohawk Home.

To Enter:  Leave a comment, which can (but doesn’t have to) include our Just for Fun question.

Just for Fun: To walk all over one of these rugs, tell us where you like to take a walk.   Through historic neighborhoods, admiring the homes?  On a sandy beach, picking up shells along the way?  Anywhere, as long as you are alone?

For additional entries:

1.  Subscribe to the Mohawk blog, then leave us a comment.

2.  Like Mohawk Home on Facebook, and leave another comment.  Get another entry if you write about this giveaway on their wall.

3.  Follow on Twitter @mohawk_home, and, you guessed it, leave another comment.

4.  Subscribe to Mohawk Home’s You Tube page, then leave us a comment.

Contest Closes: Thursday, September 13th at 11:59 pm, central time.

Number of Winners: One!

Ships: Anywhere in the United States.

Other Info: We will select the winner using random.org and announce on Friday, September 14th.  Good luck!!