Monday, April 30, 2012

The Blues

A New Outlook... = progress in a few spaces

Here is family room as it was when we purchased the house:


Now with wall color (the third color blue in the house), a white ceiling, removal of all things brown
and new seating...a brighter room and outlook on life at the lake... 






And then a new wall went up. 
And with the wall, a new bedroom (more on that later) and normal rectangular family room. 
Love my new heavy, solid wood door. 
Needs some paint and a cool old handle. 

The enamal gas fireplace will be removed...its' future uncertain. 
But we know it will be gone...somewhere else. 
Paint the new wall, finish the trim and photos on the wall...we be done with this room...I think.




Monday, April 23, 2012

The downstairs bathroom...

We added some color to the walls, and painted up those brown oak cabinets...


It is a very quirky bathroom.

The first thing you see when you walk in the front door is the toilet...that is if you allow your eyes to wander beyond the vine encrusted wallpaper covering every available wallspace in the dining room and stairway hall.  The bathroom is maybe 8-10 feet long, but the floor has an actual hill in it; adding an element of risk to your bathing/showering experience.  If your feet are wet, or you are moving any faster then a large turtle, the probability of a slip or fall has been mathematically determined to be in the dangerously high category.  The underwriters of our liability insurance are concerned. Additionally, if you are over 5'6" tall, it is likely that you will bonk your head (while showering) on the overhang in the shower...probably more then once. But it is clean, freshly painted, and actually a lot cuter then previously.  So if you do fall and injure yourself, the risk of infection is actually quite low.

Another element of risk inherent to your showering experience is the water temperature.  If the dial is a clock: 4:30=scorching hot. 5:30 arctic cold.  BATHER BEWARE ;o)

Can you see yourself emerging from this room with bright red scorched skin from the hot water that made you jump back in the shower so fast that you bang your head on the overhead ceiling that drops down a foot in the middle of the shower. So you have a goose egg on your forehead, and then while drying off and rubbing your head and patting dry your freshly scorched skin you slip on the uneven floor limiting any remaining mobility?

But like I said, at least it is alot cuter now then it was.  

Before and Afters: 
Do you like the flush sign I found at the local antique store?
Here is a better look at the cabinets we painted...as well as the location of the 1-2" downhill slope.

Next up for this location is a change in the vinyl floors.  Suggestions?


Monday, April 16, 2012

The Raccoon Room



So here are two before pictures of the room we lovingly refer to NOW as the raccoon room.  The second photo here is actually from the real estate listing...so it actually look great.  It doesn't show the raccoon pee stains in the ceiling or the vintage art deco light, or how it dripped down into the carpet.  Lovely, I know. (We did not know this until after we purchased the house...because for me, that might have been a deal breaker.  It doesn't show the huge separation between the walls and the ceiling. or the ugly cracks on the wall.  Frank, armed with a pounds of caulking, patience (you heard me right people), a ladder, scrub brush, steam cleaner and paint supplies, focused and turned it into what it is today.  The old raccoon room is now complete with the last resort pull out couch, x-box kinect, lazyboy rocker/recliner and 2 rockband guitars, keyboard, drums and mic set.  Our first room completed.  Way to go Frank.  These photos are immediately following the ritualistic cleanse, and we have since added a few things, like the TV, xbox stuff, flip flop table.  This will be a room of fun, raccoons and lighthouse stuff, where we hope to have more fun then the previous raccoon residents.


  Here are pictures...one looking back to the day that Frank and Gracie painted the Raccoon Room, taking a quick break to watch the sunset, which is just 4 houses away :)  This last picture is also from the real estate listing, and it is what we look forward to this summer...the view of Lake Michigan from the front yard.  Well actually the street in front of the front yard. :)  Regardless, we will be there...well not in the street, but on the beach :)