Windows

So today was the day. After long procrastination I finally decided to tackle the window project and realized that it was more difficult then was expected. I have sash windows which means that they have cords connecting the windows to weights hidden inside the wall to help the window stay open. Well, on the side of the window there is supposed to be a little cut out that is called a weight pocket to make accessing the weights easy...my windows don't have this. I took the windows basically completely apart and then ended up taking off the trim around the window to get to the weights. Tomorrow I am going to strip the paint off the windows and then repaint them before reinstalling. Luckily we have a storm window also, so no bugs are getting in while I have the window all torn apart. This window was kind of a practice run, next time I will take pictures at every step.

Today we also found some baby squirrels that don't even have their eyes open. They aren't kittens, but we still couldn't leave them, so they are in a box and tomorrow morning I will be taking them to a wildlife person to tend to them. I will maybe post pics tomorrow.

Little Things

I have been stalling to get the windows started because they will take a lot of work and I think it will take all day or maybe two to get the paint stripped and repainted...
So I have been doing little things such as:
I got some new doorknobs. I put the decision to The Nana about which door knobs she wants and her vote was the crystal, so she brought me more and these ones are a bit different.

I also had her bring over some assorted skeleton keys of which only one works so I am able to lock people in or out of the study...


We did have a twin bed in here, and a queen in the garage, so now the twin is in the garage and the queen is in the study. I want the colors to be yellow and blue, and our flannel sheets are blue so they ended up on the bed. This bed remains comforterless until I am in possession of more than one queen comforter. This is really turning out to be a nice guest bedroom/ study.

I randomly wanted a new doorbell, even though our old one worked. The old one was one of those plastic rectangle ones, and this new one matches the house so much better and it was only 5 dollars. I will eventually need to paint behind it, where the old one was.

A little story about today: I have been thinking about taking pilot lessons, and the lessons start next week, so I went today to the airport to sign up and was offered a ride in a little plane. I was let to sit in the pilot seat and taxi the plane and do the take off, but not long into the flight I started to get motion sickness as we flew further from the airport until I finally told the instructor who could see that I was having a hard time and turned around. As we got closer I was very concerned that I might actually get sick in the plane and was already preparing to use my shirt as a catch all if need be. Thankfully we made it down without further embarassment and quickly went back to the lobby where there where couches and I rested until I could drive myself home nearly an hour later. Once home I stayed in bed another couple hours until the husband arrived and could make me some food.

After feeling so awful, I'm not sure if I still want to have pilot lessons, I have until next week to decide.

Shut the door!

So I have been working on painting the doors in the study and boiling the paint off the hardware. The last door has been giving me some trouble. The door would not shut, so I have been sanding the edges, and it now shuts, but will not secure into place where you have to turn the handle to escape. I finally identified that the cause of the problem was that this metal piece did not line up with the piece on the door that fits into it. You can see the black marks on the door jam where the door has been hitting, and where it should be hitting.

So it would have been nice to have a chisel, but a screw driver and hammer worked just fine to move the metal piece up about a half inch so the door can now shut properly.

I should be done with the doors today and maybe work on the windows tomorrow!

Door knobs

As I've said before, the previous tenants painted over everything:

Today I took off the hardware on the doors and boiled them with baking soda and the paint came off very nicely. These are two different door knobs, I have two of each in the house, I'm trying to decide which ones to go with because I want them all to be uniform.

I also cleaned out the lock, now all I need is several skeleton keys!

It's all in the details

Once again, I got quite a bit done today. The study is almost finished. We moved some furniture in today and it looks like a guest bedroom/study finally. I'm going to have to find some bedding for the twin bed, probably good will. I am finished with the walls, but still need to paint the ceiling.

Disclaimer: The room is not really this lemon yellow, it is just because it is night and the lights are yellow.

We finished scrubbing the floor and put in the book shelf.

Here is the corner with the bed and the crown molding which I painted. Tomorrow I will fill in any gaps with caulking.

I finished the two layers of quarter round on the baseboards and painted them, they look so nice and match the ones in the living room.

Garbage kitty has started climbing into her cat carrier to sleep. I have been giving her treats every time I see her in it to encourage this behavior. Hopefully next time we road trip putting her in will be easier.
Hopefully tomorrow I will caulk the crown molding and paint the ceiling. I still have to work on the windows and paint the doors. Almost done!

Molding

Today I finally got to use my air compressor and nail gun!

My husband thought I was cute with my nail gun yet dressed up ready to leave the house at any minute.

I am ready to nail the crown molding with my makeshift step ladder in the background.

I also worked a little on the base boards. The ones in the living room have two strips of quarter round on the bottom, but the rest of the house doesn't, so I am putting them back. Here they are unpainted, but I got to use my nail gun!

In this picture you can see the paint colors. My husband thinks it looks like a little girls' room, but I think it will look nice with the furniture and it will keep him awake while he's studying.

This is the crown molding. The house was built in the '30s, when they used plaster on the walls, so you can't nail pictures into the walls. The crown molding is picture molding which allows you to hang hooks with pictures below, like in museums. I bought some nice picture hooks, but they won't fit, so I am putting quarter round in the gap between the ceiling and the molding and then I will probably hang new picture molding and inch below.

The "study"

The second bedroom is going to be the study so that my husband can study for law school while I work on the rest of the house. We have a week to get it ready before school starts and we have done quite a bit in two days.

This little room has great wood floors like the rest of the house, but the previous renter thought it was a good idea to paint over them. Our first project was to get all the paint off with about 4 cans of paint stripper and a wire brush to scrub the paint off. It is hard to see, but this

In this picture you can see the light yellow walls and the unfinished ceiling.

The walls and ceiling were an army sort of goldish green color which made the room even smaller and darker. I am painting it a light yellow to brighten it up.

Here is the husband scrubbing the paint off the floor. It is really a very cute room.

The Florida House

Is not actually in Florida, but rather middle america where I'm rippin' the fields...and channeling Pauly Shore... I live here with my husband and our kitty. The house is the Nana's rental minus the rent, so I get to "play" with it.