Poolside Color

We did not have much time to clean up around the pool during our first summer in the house. Since most of the projects inside the house are complete, we can focus this year on the outside, especially around the pool.
Before uncovering the pool, we power wahsed the parts of the house that had not been resided, like the bump out near the pool.

Even cleaned up, it still seemed drab, so replaced some mouldings and painted badly chipped the eves and trim. Better, but we need some color, after all this is supposed to be a fun place to spend time. Even the furniture we put outside was old and dull, so we might have bought new furniture, but then we thought, "Why?"
At $4 a can, spray paint seemed like a good idea, so we stocked up on some Caribbean colors like yellow, pink, bright green and blue. Hmmm this might just work!
We were happy. The cement patio will need to be addressed, some of it is crumbling around the fence, then we will stain it but that can wait for now.

A bright blue base around the bottom of the house and re-painted entry floor brightened up the patio and helped bring out the color of the pool while the light blue ceiling in the entry added a "sunny" effect.

Okay, we are not ready for House and Garden magazine yet, but its an improvement.

This Really Is Cosmetic

Finally, a job that was cosmetic. The room did need a paint job badly. We had already fixed the guestroom and many have spent the night in this room already.
We put it off a while, but a rainy weekend afforded us the chance to do it. We had already purchased the paint and new beddings, which is really all this room required.
After cleaning up we painted the room blue. The convector covers had been cut, we suspect there had been shag carpeting in the house at one point.
We set the room up the same as it was before, though the desk chair got a coat of paint and we included some details that had been stored away since we moved in.
The new paint brightens the place up substantially and the blue will blend with view of the pool right outside the window.

The Livingroom

Our livingroom was decorated in a random fashion, combining new purchases with furniture from each house. The woodburning insert kept us warm and added a finished look to the fire place.
We decided on a leather sofa that we ordered in January. The dark burgundy color was a nice contrast to the marzipan walls, yet blended with our new area rug and Lee's re-upholstered chair.

A bookcase was harder to find than we thought. We searched various furniture stores trying to find something that fit. We hemmed and hawed over style and size, we knew it needed to hold the fish tank and old books and the clock Karen gave us for Christmas. We finally had this custom built at Patterson Woodbench. It held everything we needed and it fit the wall perfectly.

Once complete, the living room was comfortable and inviting. The picture window offers plenty of light during the day and because of the location and position of the house it can remain uncovered at night.
It's the first room you see when you walk in, it was one of the last to be completed. The attention we gave it was sporadic but we ended up pleased with the results.

Busy at Christmastime

Christmas arrived before we knew it and we hemmed and hawed about putting up a tree. We knew the new bay window called for one, so we got a real tree.

That did not stop us from continuing work on the house. Our wood burning stove finally arrived and we installed it immediately. With winter upon us, we knew that the wood stove would help keep us warm.

Unfortunately the fan did not work but we later found out it was just a loose connection and Lee fixed it. The fireplace looks great, even if it wasn't working yet.

We decided to upgrade the one room we thought we wouldn't have to work on. After the cousins left at Thanksgiving, we realized that the TV room did not fit everyone comfortably. We decided to remove one of the closets and install built in bookcases with room for a big screen television and the video equipment. The rest of the room could be opened up for more seating.

After we ripped out the closet, we were up against what used to be the outside of the house, and we had to match new tongue & groove panelling with the existing stuff.

Getting the matching wood was easy, Paul toiled to match the ten year old stain by mixing various tints until he got it right.

Once the panelling was up and stained, we built a stand that was sturdy enough for a big screen TV and also as a home for our many books, which remained stored in boxes.

After the bookcase was stained and finished we bought a new TV. The hook up was easier than we thought. We cleaned up the bookshelves and displayed some of our long lost books. This was unexpected but we are ready for anyone who wants to watch a movie. Also, Keith Olbermann is huge now. Pitoune is still more interested in what is out in the snow than what is on television.

We got a lot done over our Holiday vacation but still took a few moments to appreciate our blessings and look back on a very eventful and busy year. There is still more work to do in 2010, which we will try hard to capture on this blog.

Preparing for Thanksgiving

The cold weather was approaching so any work we need to do outside or that involves letting the heat out was getting more urgent. The paint needed on the exterior rear entrance will have to wait until Spring.



In the mean time, we located a second hand upscale sliding door for the dining room that matched the new windows but we needed to install it ourselves. That meant ripping out the old door, which we did to get the refrigerator in, but we needed to remove the frame as well.


We installed the new door with some difficulty but an not insurmountable effort. The one problem we ran into was the seal had broken, so the door that we picked up for nothing would end up costing a few hundred to fix, but we were still way ahead of the game.


We invited a house full of company to spend Thanksgiving and we found ourselves short on time with plenty of work still to do. In order to make room and clean up boxes that were still everywhere and we tackled the master bedroom first.

We laid an off white carpet, it looks great, but how long will it look that way? Originally, we wanted paint the room a warm dark golden color but ended up with a brighter tone that reflected the sunlight nicely. Pitoune found it comfortable.

We were going to make two guestrooms, but decided on one and a den. We did not have time to paint, but we cleaned up what was the "staging room" where we had done all our construction prep and prepared a comfortable place to sleep.

We decided to name the guestroom "Darlene's Room", since she insisted on a room of her own in our house, but Paul's cousins, Maryellen and Mel will be the first to sleep in here and the room will be set aside for all of our special guests.

We added a few personal touches that focused on family, a couple of plants and some knic knacs. Even though the room isn't done, its ready for our Thanksgiving guests as well as anyone who drops by before we can paint and decorate.

We purchased a futon and put our desk in the den. The futon sleeps two and doubles as a couch. the underneath drawers add storage space. There is room for a television in the future if we decide that's what we want.

In the mean time, the sun room houses the TV and also has a roll out sofa for guests. The living room also has a roll out and will sleep two more. If needed, we can throw down an air mattress and we have room to sleep eleven. Wow! We are ready!

In the kitchen, we still had to install the toe-kicks beneath the cabinets and put down the remaining baseboard, moldings and floor transitions. It seems these little touches go unnoticed but when they are not done, the rooms are noticeably incomplete.

Friends and Some Finishing Touches

Click on these pictures for closeups, hit "back"
The back yard exploded with color in October. The clear skies and crisp air provided perfect conditions for working on the house and having friends to visit. There is still so much to do before the holidays and winter so the nice weather is a welcome repreive.
Vinnie K returned and brought Sue Schlagger with him. They came with pumpkins and a huge chrysanthemum for the house. We were painting the living room that day and took a break to bring Sue on her first tour of the property and through the house.
It turns out that Sue does not live far from us as the crow flies, but the roads to get back to her house in Fishkill do not follow a direct route. Still, its nice to know she is not too far away and we hope that visits become more frequent.
After we painted the living room we moved back into the kitchen, which still needed some attention. We inserted the recessed light fixtures and installed the hanging light over the island and added some of the final trim.
We decided on a creamy yellow to brighten things up and trimmed the kitchen with white molding and a couple of decorative shelves to display some of the stuff we still had packed in moving boxes.

The living room is still not finished, however its comfortable and clean. We had the chimneys cleaned and still need to install the wood burning stove. With lots of family expected over the Thanksgiving Holidays, we would like to have that done in time.
We ran into some trouble with the water before a long awaited dinner party with Jack and Annie and Jack's folks, Jan and Kate. Jack ended up helping us in the pouring rain on Saturday to fix our well problem so that Paul could prepare the feast for Sunday's party.
Sunday was a beautiful fall day. Paul prepared Yankee bean soup, stuffed mushrooms, crab cakes, hot artichoke dip, baked ham with potatoes and cheese covered vegetables. None of the food is photographed but still at least worth mentioning.
It was great having Jan and Kate back to the house for our Pre-Holiday party. The last time they visited was at the beginning of June, we had not even begun to rip out the old kitchen. A lot of work has been completed since then, the house is barely recognizable.
Annie brought dessert, two flavors of Haagen Daz (we discussed that the name means absolutely nothing) and a chocolate cake disguised as strawberry shortcake. We sat around the table laughing for hours sometimes at the expense of those wearing flamboyant jewelry!

What good is a party without someone dancing around with a lampshade on their head. Jan did not let us down. We actually gave him a fan with a light fixture that he mistook for apparel. Unfortunately, the shade did not survive, but never fear, Lee has another one tucked away for them.

Somewhat moved in

Lee had to empty his house first, so we began moving his stuff into the house. Since we were still under construction, we needed to store all his stuff in the basement temporarily using only essentials upstairs.
We may be under one roof now, but we are far from organized. Some days it seems like we are never going to get there, other days we fell like we've arrived.
We did manage to move out of the sun room where we were sleeping on an air mattress and set up bedroom after Lee cleaned it thoroughly. He's a real stickler for cleanliness, on this day it looks like he decided to sleep in a little. He deserves it, he works very hard.

Once we got a regular place to sleep established, we set up the first room anywhere near completion. Being small and out of the way the sun room gave us a place to relax and watch some TV in between projects.

Next were the animals. Pitoune, our precious dog, was easy since she goes everywhere. She has barely worn a leash since we moved in, she loves her new home and the freedom it affords. She enjoys visits from neighboring dogs, deer and bunnies too.

The cats were a different story. They just hid at first, not only because of the new surroundings but because of each other. It took a couple of days for them to adjust but Olivia ("Scootch") and Boy are doing just fine and love all the space inside and out.

They don't exactly love each other, but they are getting along pretty well and can eat side by side. Pitoune helps keep them both in check.