we have moved in and have survived the first two weeks. I am tired, I am cranky, I ache everywhere, but I am oh so happy!!
In fact, this view currently is the only way I can sit and write-
The first few days I was running on pure adrenaline and managed to get a lot done, but i just couldn’t focus on one area.
Our first goal was to remove all the gross carpeting that was upstairs and in our bedroom.
It went right out the window and into the yard. We purchased a wood plank floor that is close to the look of the tile on the first level.
Vinyl flooring has really improved since it was first introduced. It has a very close look and feel of wood unlike the original shiny printed ones. It also doesn’t have that “clicky” sound when walking on it.
Installation day was supposed to be last week but when the men started to pull up an old layer of linoleum, they discovered the original sub floor was particle board and had turned into powder.
The fact that the previous owner never cleaned out the air conditioning pans and had a flood from an open window did not help the situation. The men ended up leaving and we had to do damage control.
an unexpected $8000 later, we had the entire upstairs stripped and redone with all new plywood.
Hubby and I have officially become Tom Hanks and Shelley long in “the money pit”, although i prefer to refer to it as “the frat House”.
As we speak, I have the floor crew back upstairs for the installation. a rep from the company just came over to measure the big room over the garage which will probably be the man cave. As i got to the top step, i realized i was standing on soaking wet carpet. It turns out there is a leak in a bar sink and the refrigerator had shut off and defrosted. The poor guy ended up helping me pull up the carpet and shutting off the water.
He was such a trooper about it. This room is completely over the garage so the only good thing (?) is that no other ceilings will get wet.
So now we will have to wait for this to dry in order to finish the floor. One thing about home renovation is that it teaches you to just shrug things off, because as Murphy says, “if something can go wrong, it will”.
Besides the floor, we had a full crew of electricians here for three days. We have so many switches that we couldn’t figure out what worked where.
some panels have up to six switches. i almost Wrote on the wall but im starting to figure it out now. Some still lead to nowhere! Every room in the house now needs to be repatched thanks to all the cutting they felt free to do to get to the wires.
To make things even worse, the company thought it was ok to just tack on an additional $6000 for “extra time and services”
BIG. RED. FLAG
The owner of the company tried to give me an entire speech about their rates blah blah blah. As soon as he told me i “needed to calm down” i handed the phone to my husband. What professional would not make a courtesy call and prepare a customer about impending charges??
you can’t fix stupid.
Needles to say after this crazy week, We needed a break, so we did things we enjoy. Hubby and i drove north to pick up a sit down mower he bought and to also pick up a secretary i bought on marketplace.
i love the shape and detail, but the paint was not for me so i gave it a swedish makeover. I layered different shades of grey and white and sprayed the hardware gold and just LOVE the way it came out!
I have also been wanting a Swedish Mora clock for a long time. Unfortunately the really nice ones with age and character can run up to $10,000. I found this clock on marketplace and bought it for $400.
it’s not a true authentic mora, but the detail work is so nice that i knew i could make it work. it’s also 7′ high and this thing is heavy! hubby and i took the trusty pickup and got it ourselves. i spent yesterday painting it again with several different layers of paint and then sanding it for an aged look.
I can’t stop staring at it! It came out better than i expected.
We also took a drive about an hour south to LONE RANGER ANTIQUES. The owner has a farm in sweden and goes every summer to stock up his FOUR warehouses. It was wall to wall, floor to ceiling everything swedish; furniture, cartel clocks, mora clocks, gustavian tables, daybeds, accessories etc.
it was overwhelming to see so much but i was determined to take it all in. i think i made four laps up and down the tightly packed aisles as i climbed over dust covered pieces to pull out what i wanted. my haul included a vintage gustavian cartel clock
a beautiful hand carved and caned wood planter
and a vintage wood box that was used on carriages to store things. The hardware is so nice.
The other thing i did to relax was start gardening. There is a lot that has to be done in the way of prepping the house for all the exterior work to be done. i have been really anxious to get at it.
out came the chain saw and electric saw. there is a very invasive vine called bittermelon. It smells absolutely disgusting and chokes everything it grows on. I removed a lot of it and found some cute little trees among the mess.
It was like i was doing an Archaeological dig.
I discovered we have a long beautiful stone path that leads to the front door
we also have an old pair of wagon wheels that need to be dug up
The best though, was finding this old horse shoe!
I’m convinced it was a sign from a previous owner knowing what we got ourselves into,because after these past two weeks i know for sure we are going to need it!!
Castle & Cliff 