Thursday, April 22, 2010

Exterior Paint Job Completed Mostly

BEFORE.....
AFTER......


IN THE MIDDLE OF THINGS.....

What might keep me from doing any more blog stuff is, oddly, not the fact that only 2 people read my blog! ha! because it really is mostly a selfish indulgence, after all! BUT the fact that I have such a hard time getting pictures from my camera to this blog is really frustrating. And then I really feel like a dunce that I don't seem to be able to rearrange the pictures after I upload them...it drives me nuts! Because you know - I just don't have half an hour to play bloggie! I have maybe 10 minutes. Anything beyond that is really beyond the limits of my attention span and/or the neediness of my other obligations.
What do you think of the mostly finished job? I haven't worked to remove that blob of paint on the brick. I think more will come off if put some elbow grease into it. Or not. And I'm getting shutters which are going to cover that paint blog somewhat. Hopefully, ALLwhat. But probably not. Worst case scenario is I have to paint the brick. Or have to look at a blob. And at this point, I'm more likely to opt for looking at blob! Kinda indifferent at this point!
I'm very very happy to see the rotten board replaced and the flakey paint fixed up, things sealed and tidy. But I'll be honest with you (tina, the only person with the patience to read this) that I'm not 100% behind this color combination. I think the colors are great together, and they really suit the house. The are kinda arts/crafts and go well with the door style, the timbers, etc. But, dear reader, the colors are much more drab and dark than I realized they would be. Like I say, I really do believe it is a huge improvement and it suits the house very well. But does it suit my style perfectly? Well, no. But then, it didn't really match me before, either. At any rate, it is a project done well! And for that I'm so happy! I might wind up having to paint the shutters a deep green/blue to add some cheer to this color scheme, though. I think the wood door complements the whole thing very well. I just need...I dunno, a little flash of brightness!
And, because I am a color nut, I'm a little disappointed that after all the time I took to make a decision, I still didn't manage to find a color which works perfectly with the color of the grilles on the windows. Now, for some people this might seem ridiculously picky! But you have to understand, I'm insanely sensitive to color! So forgive me! But the color of the window grilles is a purplish/pink/gray. And it just doesn't jive with the trim color, although I'm fond of the trim color, godblessit, I truly am!
What I learned from this: just pick colors you like, dammit!
Stella's room design service available. Please contact me for details.










Tuesday, April 13, 2010

pictures at last!!!

Trying to pick out paint colors, and decide whether or not to paint the very red brick. I decided that painting the brick a lighter color (body color) would look wrong...but I'm still not crazy about the brick red. Might try doing a "wash" of body color on the brick once everything else is finished being painted.
Laundry room project! I would like to put a countertop over the washer/dryer. Obviously the dryer would need to be replaced (more $!) to make that work! Would also need to have a cut-out in the counter to allow for the water to the washer. Got an estimate for a stainless countertop at $800!! Wow! For some reason the laminate is much cheaper, more like $300. Hmmm. Hmmm. Well, obviously these are all extra pleasant things I would like to have, but are not necessities. Might do that part of the project another year!
You can see here the side entry door which has not been opened in years! Well, not completely true, opened it this winter when the sliding door was frozen shut. Here is the plan: remove this door and window, make one larger window in their place. Between the window and door was a short wall and door into the laundry room. This made the laundry room very small. By removing that door and using the previous "hallway" as part of the laundry/pantry, it will make one more spacious room instead! Awesome!!! I'm so excited to see that wall removed!Of course there have been hitches in all this! What kinda house project doesn't have those?? Turns out I had no more of the floor tile. I ordered more, and the color and size of the tile has changed, or at least is so inconsistent that now we need to track down more tile that is the appropriate size. And all that is really needed is about 20 6" square tiles. Lotsa thought for a very small tile project!
A fun side effect of the whole project is that this secondary stair (to the right) is now gone! They needed to get the rotted deck out of the way to do a thorough job with the extra siding that needed to be added once the door and window were removed! This also means that the air conditioner gets much better air circ now because it is not blocked by the deck overhead. Super! And some day, when my tile is found, when my window and my pocket door arrive, and are painted, and installed....I will have a new picture to post! It will be a happy happy time in the laundry room!!
Happy Spring to everyone!