Monthly Archives: December 2009
Andrea’s To-do List, Dec. 12-13
Well here’s the list of things I need to do this weekend. If I am missing something, I am sure Nate will let me know.
- Finish the last coat of paint on kitchen trim
- Paint entryway trim between dining area and great room
- Finish painting front door
- Paint the great room purple
- Change out plugs and light switches in front room and dining room
- Install newly painted mailbox
If I can get these all done. Then I can do the fun stuff…
- Put up Christmas Lights
- Hang faux swag around the front door and put up a wreath
- Possibly get Christmas Tree!!
We went vintage with the purple
I can’t believe it is two weeks until Christmas. There is still so much to do in such a short amount of time. I just need to stay focused and get as much done this weekend as I can without panicking!
Last night I stopped by my local home improvement superstore for 2 gallons of paint for the great room. When I got home, I ate a quick dinner so I could get the new color up on the walls and see how it looked!
I went big with the color. Not a soft purple but a big bold Behr Vintage Purple.
Taking the leap of faith with the color was invigorating. With the size of the room, the amount of light we get and the ratio of wall to windows/cabinets – we knew we could go crazy with the color of the walls and get away with it!
I was only able to paint the small half wall between the washer & dryer cabinet and the couch, but it looked great. It adds so much depth and interest to the previously clinically white room.
I plan on getting up early tomorrow to paint as much as I can before our couch arrives. Nate has school stuff to do most of the weekend – so I am just going to do as much as I can solo.
Hopefully the parents will stop by and maybe help?! 
We froze
Sacramento had a record low temperature of the 27 degrees last night.
I did as much prep as I could in our backyard for the overnight freeze. I strung mini-lights from the lemon tree and moved all our planted plants under the porch.
Then, Nate, the kitties and I hunkered down in blankets and near our space heaters.
We woke to a white frozen wonderland.
The pool even had a thin layer of ice. I have never seen a Sacramento pool iced over before so I threw on my coat, hat and shoes to go check it out!
Another to-do weekend
I so am tired but elated that we finished practically ever item on Nate’s weekend to-do list this last weekend.
Nate kept me on task and probably for the first time ever I did not stray from my objectives. I finished painting trim and touch ups. I spray painted vents and our old mailbox a hammered metal. The front door became purple and I worked on taking up more adhesive on the kitchen floor.
Nate spent a whole day removing tape from the trim and windows. Then cleaning the windows up with razor. He also removed the wood stove (!!!) and starting prepping the great room for paint.
It’s all very exciting. Our front room finally looks finished. I almost can’t believe it.
A very satisfying weekend
The Thanksgiving holiday weekend turned out to be a great time to work on the house. (I know, I know… that’s really not a big surprise to anyone.)
I arrived home late afternoon on Wednesday to find the house almost completely green.
I also found my uncle Terry sporting our chopped celery color all over himself from using the paint sprayer. He is such a good sport to help us out. I don’t think we could have done half the paint job without him.
On Turkey Day, Nate felt horrible and slept most of the day before we went to Thanksgiving dinner at his brother’s home.
I continued to paint the back porch per Terry’s instructions.
I also tested the adhesive remover on the kitchen floor. It worked great and I am very excited to work on the rest of floor.
Black Friday was cold, windy and rainy so we couldn’t work on the exterior. Nate and I went and bought more paint, trim and a new porch light.
Then Nate raked and mowed the front yard while I filled and then sanded the trim around the windows and front door. After I cleaned up all the sanding debris, I painted the first coat of trim.
Saturday was my family’s Thanksgiving celebration so we didn’t work on the house BUT early Sunday morning Terry came over to get the rest of the house sprayed while I continued to work on the back porch.
My parents stopped by later in the afternoon and helped me install the front porch light. (I’ll write more about that later.)
Overall, I feel like we accomplished a lot and I am still very hopefully to get our to-do list all checked off before Christmas.
This week I plan on finishing the trim in the front room and around the windows plus taking off the first layer of glue in the kitchen.
Checkmark. Couch Purchased!
I can’t believe I bought a couch today on my lunch break.
Nate and I went for a cushion test to the department showroom last week.
We knew we wanted a sofa sectional, but quickly realized that a full sectional would not fit in the great room. We decided a sofa with a chaise that gave us a sectional feel on a smaller scale.
Here’s my checking out our final choice. I got it in micro-suede stone which is a khaki color.
The purchase was a breeze. I walked in, checked with the salesman about what inventory they had in, made a fabric choice and bought the sofa chaise.
Now my only worry is if we will have the painting done before it is delivered. The couch arrives at our place in two weeks!
We have to move the wood stove, prep and paint the great room prior to that. Hopefully we can begin this week, so we can paint most of the weekend.
Oh yeah … and we have to decide on a wall color.
