Grandma is coming to town...

My mother in law is coming to town in less then a month!  She lives in New York which means we typically only see her once a year.  We are all very excited to see her, but this means I must start {ahem finish} a ton of projects so my house is visitor ready.  

Right now our living room and hallway is a concrete slab.  I plan on painting / staining the floors before she arrives. 

I have these two wieners to thank for ruining my carpet.

My pantry has been looking a hot mess ever since the hinge broke and the door fell off.  Every time I am at Lowe’s I forget to look for the hinges.

We installed an above ground pool so our backyard is a disaster while we edge the pool with rock and build a deck.  My husband {on the right} and his brother seem to have a problem getting much accomplished when it is 100 degrees and the pool keeps calling their name.  We’ve got the posts installed, now we’ve just got to finish the deck.

Last fall I painted my living room Mega Greige by Sherwin Williams.  I am not loving the color and want to repaint my walls to a truer gray color.  This picture looks very gray but most of the day my walls look beige. 

For now this is plenty.  If time permits I am sure I can come up with some other things to do before she gets here. 

I’m off to paint now...I think I have found a color I can live with for a few months!

I’m Passing Notes...

Meg at O Is Me started a fun link party that involves passing handwritten notes.  Meg loves the art and etiquette of handwritten letters and notes and she feels sad that it is becoming a rarity.  I am by no means the most etiquette person around, but I have always been a stickler for handwritten notes/letters so I share her sentiments. 

P.S.  Thank you Meg for creating this link party.  While writing this letter I realized how dependent I am on my computer.  I felt like I was in kindergarten learning to write again.  Maybe next week, my letter will be neater. 

House Tour - Part I - Introduction & Exterior

My father in law owned our house and wanted to move into an apartment. In July, 2008 we took over his mortgage and moved into our first house that was not a rental. 

It is a ranch style house with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms located on 1.5 acres.   

Around the time (August, 2007) my FIL started thinking of moving into an apartment his house caught fire.  The entire inside (with the exception of the laundry room) and roof had to be rebuilt. 

These are some pictures after the fire.

Luckily they were not home when this occurred, he was insured and was able to rebuild.  This was exciting for us because he told us we could choose the colors for cabinets, carpets, etc. that were going to be used in the house.  We chose the carpet color then he changed his mind and decided to stay in the house.  He finished choosing the types of cabinets, counters, floors, etc. that would be used in the house.  A year later (July, 2008) he decided, for good, to move out and we moved in.  Although the inside was completely new the finishes were/are not my style. 

My “fear” of decision making and decorating has led to many attempts, without much success, to make our house a home we love.  IT IS A CONSTANT WORK IN PROGRSS and although we know we will eventually move I still have dreams of loving the house I am currently in.   

EXTERIOR

This is the way our house looked when we moved in 2008.

Dislikes:  Color of everything.  I don’t like the brick color, roof shingle color, shutter color, porch color.

  

Last year I made some changes to the flower beds, painted the front porch and removed the shutters.  I was amazed at how much the brick color seemed to change by making these changes.  This picture may have been taken with just primer on the porch because it is actually a gray color whereas it looks white in this photo.

This is the back of our house in 2008.  We are about to do a lot of work in the back so I will update the back exterior picture when that is complete.

 

FRONT EXTERIOR TO DO LIST: 

• Choose colors to decorate with that will pop and minimize the orange color in the bricks and shingles. 
• Install new shutters.
• Paint the front door.
• Decorate the front porch so it is inviting and actually has some style. 
• Figure out why my grass isn’t as green as it used to be.
• Fix/Redo flower beds. 

BACK EXTERIOR TO DO LIST:

• Tear down deck and fill in with concrete to make one big slab.
• Paint entire concrete slab to have one consistent color.
• Install above ground pool.
• Build deck around pool.
• Decorate entire back area for entertaining and relaxing.
• Power wash house.
• Figure out a way to disguise the AC unit and power/electrical boxes.
• Paint back door.

Summer is here so we will be focusing on our backyard paradise we hope to create.  I will update all changes! 

Do you have as many projects on your to do list as I do? 

Be looking for Part II of my house tour which will detail our living room.