The Wits

Incroyable!

by Annie Posted on November 26, 2012

Letting go really helps. Allowing whatever comes to come, let it linger even, saying I will take some time away from certain activities to just enjoy what I can and deal with things one at a time is refreshing. We still have yet to address technical bloggy issues or dive into updating anything with our new host. (I’ve neglected my food blog for quite some time.) We’ve only touched pieces we’re redecorating for the filmed documentary being done about us and that was just to put the new legs on the thing to give a better idea of our plans. It sits awaiting some attention to one drawer-the only drawer left to do-before we can send it on its way to our staining and painting process (in the same room but whatev).

Letting go turns out not to be so good for keeping organized or getting things done though. I really can’t remember what I’ve shared and what I want to share. Today is the kind of day where I just looked at my recent photos in my photostream and said, yep, that’s gonna have to do. If I didn’t capture the occurrence in a photo I often don’t remember to share that activity. Here’s a rough overview of the happenings. The hippin’ and the hoppin’.

For one, the visit from my sis-in-law and her friend was great. They were such wonderful guests and the filming of the short documentary was easy. Don’t know why I was so nervous. It’s in good hands. We also paused to be decent hosts and did a small look-see at the Guthrie Theater, took some time to dine out and just hang. So chill I just said hang…and chill. Thanksgiving was spent just the two of us (and the 2 dogs so 4), working on the walls, with a small dinner of roast chicken and potatoes like I wanted.

By the Mississippi River in Minneapolis for our Guthrie Theater visit

Greg was hit with an awful cold a day before his 4 day break…typical. He took one day off of work making it 5 days but when you’re miserably sick who is counting? We didn’t accomplish much until the last few days and our anniversary Saturday was awesome. Not just because we decided to go ahead and take the trim down in the living/dining room and hallway but also because I found a Building Materials Outlet not too far away and we made an afternoon looking around which still wasn’t enough time to take in all that amazingness. New go-to place.

We’re seriously thrilled to have come across the place. It’s like a dream. For reals. If you are able to travel to Eagan, Minnesota, stop by. Get there early, you’ll need the time. I was so giddy that we found 6 doors for the entire upstairs for $350-we’re talking the majority being solid, 2 and 5 panel, unfinished (we’ll paint them or take them to a local automotive place to have them sprayed) beauties. One of those doors would be somewhere around $125 or more. Happy anniversary to us!

The hilarity was us getting all 6 in our Subaru Forester-the only vehicle we have and we don’t know too many people here to assist us. Four doors are 30″ x 80″ and the other three are 24″ x 80″. I ended up sitting behind Greg, smashed in the car for the 40 minute drive home. But obviously I was in a state of bliss because I proceeded to take 10 pictures of the doors and myself from the backseat (a friend said it reminded her of the movie Titanic) and a few of the back of Greg’s head in a strange way of documenting the momentous occasion. I strongly dislike being in pictures so it was a big deal.

new doors — To this (although the doors aren't really up yet)

And maybe we had a little tift on the removing of the trim topic over the weekend. I remember saying we should take it off from the beginning, when we started repairing the walls, but Greg made some point that I can’t remember so it didn’t happen. Somehow it came up and we decided to go for it this weekend which meant more spackling, mudding, sanding, cleaning, etc.. But we’re glad we did. The room looks bigger without trim and made repairs easier. We intend to replace the trim…maybe. I’m researching trimless options. Do people do that? Trim is one of those topics I never thought about until we bought the house. I’m next to clueless. I’ve got bits and pieces going on.

via

I’m also at a loss for door hardware. Put a piece of furniture in front of me and I’m full of ideas for knobs, pulls and handles. Put a door in front of me and I’m all hinges…door knobs…huh? I have no idea which route to go. I’m loving me some brass, not the super shiny bright stuff but “antique” or brushed. However, the rest of the house will be done in what I believe is the most appealing to the most peoples, satin/brushed nickel as seen in my Pinterest board. Oil-rubbed bronze would probably look nice too on the white doors. (We intend to paint them white.) I just don’t think overall it would work or maybe you can mix finishes which I’ve seen and liked but it’s difficult when keeping in a certain price range and working with limited options while trying to keep a classy appearance. Keep in mind we’re going to be selling this place hopefully in a few years. Is that the case with satin nickel? Am I crazy? Also keep in mind this is the Midwest and while I have that little voice in my head saying make yourself happy and go with the brass then I think about our potential buyer and want to be safe.

By the way, the living and dining room walls are primed, have their first coat of paint (in love!) and will be finished this week. We weren’t going to but then we noticed some discoloration on the ceiling so that got a new coat of Benjamin Moore ceiling paint. When that went up, I performed a happy dance. Such a difference. Fresh and clean and matte. My favorite.

Other accomplishments this weekend: Vivi, our 12 week old Corgi pup, learned how to do the stairs. Plus, we started on a pendant light idea and if it goes well, I’ll share later. I still need to share my parent’s renovations they did in their house. Incredible. Incroyable!

Lieutenant Dan

by Annie Posted on November 14, 2012

Sooo, crazy/messy/insane life has been going on around here (continuing I should say),as many of you know from the facebook updates. I announced that I might be taking a break soon. I’m surprised to be writing this but I already had a good portion of it done last week before life got even more hectic. And I can’t quit you.

I see you readers as people I’d love to sit and have a talk about life with. One of those good pals that sits at the dining table or on the couch next to you, glass of wine or tea in hand, that you tell your frustrations to, taking turns with laughs and a mutual understanding that life is one weird rollercoaster. Whether or not you feel the same, know that is how I feel and you can vent that frustration out to me too.

More unexpected things have taken up our time. For instance, someone else received a balance transfer that went on our (my) credit card. I initiated this transfer October 22, waited to see the credit on Greg’s card, waiting the nearly 3 weeks it said it could take, then decided to call and see what was up when it never showed. Turns out a completely different account number received the amount yet still went on my card. How does that happen?! And the amount might as well be $1 million to us right now. Friday night we were on the phone with both companies, Chase and Capital One, for hours and then again yesterday. Shame on you, Capital One, for the way you mishandled this fraudulent situation and kudos to you, Chase, for being so helpful and having it resolved before Capital One even took us seriously. That should be cleared up this Friday so we can move on and breathe easier.

Greg had one more project added to his plate at work just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse thus it’s starting to feel as if furniture redecorating is a thing of the past for us which has made me quite sad. It’s not so but I’m the type of person that gets one done and wants to tackle the next right away-we are a business and I do this full time so it makes sense. The pieces we have sitting around need Greg’s expert attention to fix the structural damage. He just doesn’t have that time. If I attempt, and I have, to do some of what he does I can do some more major damage that we might not be able to come back from and I don’t like to waste time or money.

To make myself happy, I’ve been looking for pieces that don’t need that kind of attention or pieces smaller in scale so I can spend my days doing what I love. No luck yet. We don’t have the budget to pick up the kind of pieces that don’t need repair. Rightly so, these pieces are at least $200 in the Minneapolis area craigslist and after supplies and the hours put in, there’s not much of a return, if any, there.

free curb chair — Found this on a late evening walk with the dogs

We found 2 free curb items recently-a chair and dresser. The dresser is missing front legs but I’m looking for some new ones…”But you ain’t got no legs, Lieutenant Dan” or “Lieutenant Dan, you got new legs” so I’m going to call it Lieutenant Dan. I saw it at the garage sale for that household weeks ago but wasn’t in a position to get. Then we spotted it on the curb and thought yeah, free is good for us.

I’m looking forward to my sis-in-law’s visit with her friend this weekend. We’re wondering how the documentary about our furniture business will go. This will be a nice change.

What else am I working on?

Finding new escutcheon plates for the large, antique dresser we got long ago because we think if we refinished the big guy it would take away some of its character but it is missing an escutcheon plate and I can’t find the original so if we replace one, all have to be replaced then it can go to a loving home with its quirky charm. Imagine these dimensions for a dresser or buffet: a little over 44” wide, almost 43” tall and 19” deep. I’m in love with the shape and size of this one.

With the free dresser we picked up came a free acrylic dinner plate that would make a great sunburst mirror so I’m waiting for the mirror to arrive.

Fixing up the spare bedroom for the guests with one of the new mid-century pieces as storage (the lamp I made found a place in our home finally) and the old lace front side table that has a new temporary odd look sits beside the vintage brass bed.

side table — Odd, temporary look but I like it.

Finally bought new sheets for our deep pocket, queen sized needs and they are wonderful. They say they are 1000 thread count Egyptian cotton but I just know they are great, seem custom made, from this ebay seller for only $68. We’re pleased.

the living room these days — The living room has looked like this all week. We just cozy up in our bedroom for much needed relaxing.

Spackling the walls.

Looking for things to add to our bathroom when we renovate (which I’m hoping is sooner rather than later). Found this beauty at Pottery Barn and couldn’t believe it is recessed and not a bad price (I want better but I’m thrifty).

Rearranging, tidying and cleaning most rooms of the house and getting furniture in from the garage/moving furniture around in prep for the day we can get to them…at least it will be easier to get to them…before winter.

projects — We have 5 pieces on our 3 season, 4 needing major work.

garage projects — We also have these 2 free pieces waiting in the garage.

Pottytraining our new puppy and dealing with our older puppy who has been acting up and going insane with daylight saving time. Greg doesn’t get home until it’s dark with our only vehicle (he doesn’t see the sun now) and the dog park closes at dusk. Poor pup only gets to go on the weekend so he’s not happy.

We went to the architectural salvage store I talked about a while back after the chairs we were going to ship ended up costing more than the quote and we found damage to them so we ended up not selling them after all (back in line for repairs they go). We happened to be in that town to ship these chairs and happened to need cheering up right after that. Found some great lights.

Setting up the studio for a photoshoot for my mom’s ornaments like I had listed in our etsy shop last year. They are coming back! I know I’m a tad late and had them out around Halloween last year but you know, life and stuff.

Planning a post where I tell you about my parent’s house (which was my sister and her family’s place but they switched back home in Indiana). My parents have been renovating and I’m going to share at a later time.

Finally, I, ahem, changed my mind about the paint color in the living/dining rooms. Yeah, just when you thought you couldn’t be more bored with that topic or when you probably thought geez, don’t they have that done by now. I wouldn’t have changed my mind had I not read the blog post, since I subscribe to her blog, from Centsational Girl. Kate noted her favorite shades of the 3 undertones of grays and I saw one that caught my eye in what she calls the “cement grays.”

I am very glad I did because NOW I have my perfect shade of gray, Passive by Sherwin Williams. And yes, I love Ben Moore and I know I haven’t had much experience with Sherwin Williams and I’ve heard not-so-good things. However, I’m hoping it’s a different story on the walls versus furniture. Plus, starting last Friday, there was a 40% off sale and I’m going with a matte finish to hide the imperections…that won’t be there because Greg (and I) are doing a bangerrang job fixing the drywall which is a big task since the previous owner just kind of threw something up when they put the place on the market without taking any blobs off, repairing any damage, couldn’t even be bothered to remove tape and those sticky tab things to hang art. Nope, just painting right over all those. Nice.

I know I could have it matched elsewhere but have I ever mentioned the time about 5 years ago back in Indiana soon after Greg graduated when we (moreso he) helped renovate a house for his mom’s friend who put her and her ex-husband’s house on the market? No?

Oh yes, we painted this house we helped fix up, went to get more paint, started putting it on the walls, thinking it off from the previous coats but decided it would probabaly match when it dried…it didn’t. We had to start all over again. I don’t know how the store got it that off but somehow it makes me leery to get it matched elsewhere. Especially since our local stores have had problems getting the colors right for some of our furniture paints. Not to be mean but if you get the wrong person behind the counter, you’re going to end up with a lot of “oops paint” for $5/gallon. Know what I’m saying? Great for our furniture refinishing, bad for them and upsetting for house projects.

That about wraps up things around here. Now if you’ll excuse me I have to spackle the walls some more. We found pock mocks around the dining/living rooms after we had put 2 coats of primer everywhere and were about to paint Sunday. I’ve spent the week sanding and spackling. We’re putting the house back in order tonight, walls and bathroom unfinished, so our guests can have a place to sit. After their visit, we’ll get back to it. Maybe we’ll have the gray paint up by the end of the year. Since we aren’t able to be with family this year for the holidays (thanks to Greg’s schedule) we’re sure to have some time to get something accomplished. The credenza/dresser sitting unfinished in the work room is begging us to come back. It’s something like we’ve never done before but completely us.

Happy almost turkey time!

What I Learned Over the Weekend and a Glimpse at Our Ugly Bathroom

by Annie Posted on November 6, 2012

Happy birthday to my dad today! And we’re excited to say we’re having visitors for Thanksgiving this year or around that time anyway. Greg’s sis and her roomie pal are coming to southern Minnesota from Bloomington, Indiana (IU territory which is scandalous for us Purdue Boilermakers). Her friend wants to do a short documentary about our furniture refinishing. How cool is that? Super. How nervous does that make me? Very. But we’re happy to have them. We’re hoping to get in some theatre tours in Minneapolis, maybe a museum or two, a tour of our town, maybe hit the trails. This also means that we want to get some things done around the house before the visit in a few weeks.

This weekend we worked on mudding/sanding the living/dining room walls (they are pretty much one open room). Soon Greg will do the skim coat then paint which I will talk about (again) soon (….I sorta changed my mind). It took us almost an entire day to remove the old bathroom fan/vent that apparently never worked in the upstairs bath before we can get to the ceiling and wall repair in the bathroom…since we attached that task to the list while we happen to be doing the living and dining room work. To make it easier. I say with sarcasm even though it was my idea and mutually agreed upon. Oh well, now is as good a time as any. Which really isn’t a true statement in this case. Greg has a 14 hour day today and he’s facing a few weeks of those kind of hours.

Sooo, in 60 years the bath fan never functioned. Maybe it wasn’t required back then but we thought geez, after 8 months of just the two of us using the bathroom and we have this much moisture damage, you’d think the previous owner, who lived here for over 20 years, would have become sick of repairing the bathroom and said I think I’ll fix this. But no. The ceiling and walls must have been repaired before they put it on the market because there’s no way it didn’t have the damage that we’ve seen. Just like the water issues with the basement-no way in 20 plus years did they not have issues when we lived here for 6 months and had standing water 3 times. Makes us wonder how it was rented to students because the living conditions, once we dove into the house work, would have been awful. And we know awful from our years in college, seeing what our friends put up with and what we put up with ourselves. Blech.

No kidding, the fan was not even venting to the attic (which is a no no but we’ve seen it). It wasn’t going outside, it was just stuck in the bathroom with the noisy, ugly fan whirling for no reason.

I’m going to show you the disgusting pictures of the bathroom. Embarrassing. We’ve lived here with the bathroom looking like that. Yep, it’s small and cramped but spacious compared to the layout of the downstairs bathroom. We have plans to open it up a little bit but it involves “stealing” the closet in the second bedroom. It’s controversial. Is it a dealbreaker not to have a closet if you can fit a wardrobe in there? Keep in mind it’s a small room, best used to house guests who aren’t staying long, a nursery or an office.

I can’t tell you how upsetting it is to look up in the shower and see that. It’s worse than just seeing that because the tub slopes and is slippery so that we had to buy those anti-slip petal stickers to help us not injure ourselves and only make it slightly better and there are tiles missing that were broken when we did some aesthetic changes when we first moved in (took off the shower doors, added some satin nickel hooks/fixtures and brought in a shelf for storage). We just put caulk in the place of the damaged tiles for a temporary, not lovely-yet-not-cutting-us look. Needless to say, I do not enjoy my shower time and it’s a shame because I love a relaxing shower.

Like our lighting in the bathroom? Me neither.

Here’s a tip I learned Saturday night: don’t use nail polish remover as eye makeup remover. I was thinking about something else, reached in the medicine cabinet’s usual place for my eye makeup remover (on the rare day I wear makeup), started thinking about other things when I not only got the polish remover out, unscrewed the cap, dipped my cotton swab in it, put it towards my eye, started to think something smelled bad, realized it was wrong but my hand had already swiped the under portion of my eye. Horrible pain and burning followed along with lots of flushing with water. Don’t confuse the two or start thinking about other things during your bathroom routine. Once I put hairspray in my naturally thick and curly hair instead of detangler. Yeah, that was also fun.

But why does the tub slope? Because someone took a notch out of the beam supporting that area. We don’t think it’s bad enough for us to come crashing through the floor but the slope is bad enough that I worry about our safety in the shower. One low placed handle in the surround will protect us if we grab it. Ha! We bought a tub refinishing kit with some non-slip additive but decided that the tub has to go instead. That tub refinishing process takes 3 days by the way and we like to be clean. We’d like to replace the tub with a beautiful walk-in shower. That does mean no tub in the plans for the house and we know that is a feature families look for with young children. Once again, controversial. Would that be a dealbreaker for you not having a tub? To me, I do not enjoy bathing in my filth. Then again, if it’s a really nice tub…maybe. But we won’t be able to fit a really nice tub in here nor can we afford the ones I consider nice.

No storage prompted us to bring in some shelving.

I can’t help but wonder how the previous owner, an elderly woman, bathed because getting in and out of that thing safely makes for a tricky time.

Step 1 for the upstairs bath was to get a new fan (check) but this will include cutting a hole in the roof next weekend (check to come), more attic crawling (because Greg was up and down, insulation-covered all day yesterday) just trying to figure out how to get the old fan removed. He had to dig to find the thing in the attic, belly down on a board, then go to the bathroom trying to find some hidden nails or something that was holding it in place while I cleaned up what seemed a never-ending amount of drywall dust that had settled everywhere. (More sanding to come so I have more dust clean-up left. Keeping those good times rolling.)

Anyway, finally Greg noticed that the old bath fan was attached somehow to a layer of drywall not visible from either end so he had to blindly cut the ceiling to find it and then beat it out with a hammer. I had my go while he was in the attic trying to lift it which accomplished nothing. This means he also has some ceiling repair to do in the bathroom. We were hoping to just put the new fan in the old’s place. Why would it be that easy? After a few hundred dollars more than we budgeted (since we didn’t intend to get the fan this soon…we initially thought we could make the old work), I was about to order the fan I wanted on Amazon but decided to check the options at Menards. Lucky for us, they had the exact one I wanted (cheaper than online too). However, it was huge and I found an alternative that I think looks nice. I’ll know next weekend when we can actually put it up. Catch you on the flipside.

Does this make us crazy?

by Annie Posted on October 30, 2012

What’s up with us over the last 2 weeks? Some of those updates have been announced on our facebook page (which was the only way I could connect since the site has been having technical issues…one right after another).

1) This blog (and my other blog) have been working screwy. All part of the joy of switching hosts, I guess. Actually it was a matter of changing some of the settings so that things play well with one another. Again, kudos to my bro-in-law for taking the time to make it not screwy. Huge thanks! On that note, of course I had a number of ideas to change up the blog look while this happened. It was actually how I found out things weren’t okey dokey and now other issues have my attention and I can’t even remember some of the things I wanted to do and the others will be put off. Priorities have changed. Still bugs to work out. A bit of a new look though, huh?

2) We got another curb couch. More of a loveseat really. And since I decided the other couch would be too expensive to reupholster and biff up with my non-skills of upholstering, Greg and I feel that as long as we get some cheap fabric, this size of couch might be easier. Anyone want that other couch?

3) We are still working on patching/repairing the drywall in prep for painting the walls that glorious Eternity by Benjamin Moore. Yes, still. And part of that delay, besides having the money for all that paint, is this…

4) We took out part of the wall between the dining room and kitchen. What? You don’t just take out walls? We had the idea before we even moved in to open up the small kitchen with the dining room. Greg was tired of conversing with the wall while seated in the dining room while I would be cooking in the kitchen. The wall housed the pocket door that no longer functioned and we couldn’t get to the mechanism to fix it. Many a battle with that thing. Now imagine the space with engineered hardwood flooring, white trim, an updated kitchen, new lighting, a banquette with farmhouse table and a mix of eclectic chairs for the dining room. Oh, and a collage of frames on the wall or something equally cool. Can you see it? Because I can’t get it out of my head.

5) Along with the wall, came out what we believe was a laundry chute (shoot?).

Yes, someone cut a hole in the kitchen floor, put a duct that made the items fall to the utility room, and to hide the hole, placed a wobbly, horrible cabinet that they had to cut a hole in and fit over the duct. Nice, right? It stuck out from the doorway just enough so you had to be careful not to run into it. Many a day wasn’t over until I rammed my leg or toe into it. 3 times was the charm. Greg patched the floor for a temporary fix until the hardwood floor can be put in. Which is not on the menu any time soon. Wahwah.

6) One of our pieces, the antique white tallboy dresser, sold in record time (under a week) to a nice couple in St. Paul. We delivered it over a week ago. Then we hit up Trader Joes where I’m sure the crew thought we had a drinking problem with the amount of wine we picked up. It’s for the holidays and special events-Thanksgiving, our anniversary, Christmas, a horrible day made better by a glass of wine. We don’t get up there much so when we do, we go all out on some of our favorite items. Dark chocolate covered caramels, anyone?

7) We’re still working on the credenza/dresser. Turns out the drawers weren’t up to Greg’s snuff in terms of fit and he didn’t like some of the gaps….we’re picky people. It’s our job and names attached and we just really like to see each piece be all that it can be. (Did anyone else finish that with “in the army”?)

8 ) Things have been selling like hotcakes. It seems like when we sell one thing, it starts a chainreaction and we get 3 or 4 (or more) orders at once which makes mama happy. But then there are those items where someone makes the plans to purchase and then it all falls through and sometimes those same very interested people think we live too far away to get it and sometimes those people don’t show and don’t communicate and we’re left twiddling our thumbs because we scheduled an appointment. That happens almost as often as the simple, “I want your creation, I’ll buy and pick up that creation and I’ll go home happy” events. Yeah, that happened twice recently and I’m a tad sore.

rugs — My Target ombre rug scores-together $9

9) We’re cleaning out the house and garage before winter hits so we’ve been giving away a lot of things left by the previous owner we no longer need-the blinds and small things in the garage.

10) Most of our leaves are raked and plants trimmed down for the cold seasons, windows in (I accidently spray painted one when refinishing the side table that used to have the lace front…I changed my mind…of course a day before someone showed interest in it I completely destroyed the look…those are the kind of days I’ve been having for weeks and the spray paint is not going on as it should which is making me want to just throw the table away or throw it as far as I can).

11) I am finally allowed to talk about the fact that Greg’s company purchased their competitor near Minneapolis. They have hired many of the workers from the other company along with attained their equipment (which pleased Greg) and of course, their customers which are restaurants. They design/build restaurant furniture-that’s what Greg does at work then comes home to do much of the same with me at home. Our lives revolve around furniture and we love it. Most days.

Since the blog wasn’t running, I put it out there on our facebook page. As I did much of this info. The process began early September, I think, so we’ve known for a while. It was right after Greg got back from his vacation (the staycation where we did the yard) and right after his promotion (which was the week before his vacation) and announcement that he’ll be working in the Twin Cities metro. Well, it’s been hard to hold back and a lot of emotions are felt on this one. An impact will surely be made on our furniture salvaging, working on the house and lives together in general. Greg was also asked to be an admin for the system-one of two people that came along with the acquisition news… adding more things on his list. With all of this will come more responsibility and longer days for my main man. (Not that I have a second man.) They are planning to move the facility he was just placed in to the facilty of the company they just purchased. The two are close but a big job. One good thing is that it’s a little closer to home, a little.

Another positive thing is that a company near Seattle was included in the purchase. So…we’re really hoping that we end up going out there so Greg can keep working with the same company and it would make life a lot easier going out west like we want. You readers know how we would love to end up in Oregon and well, Seattle is pretty darn close. We like Seattle. I expect to find Seattle Grace Hospital and hang out with the characters of one of my favorite shows, Grey’s Anatomy. Cause it’s real…in my mind. Fingers crossed-it hasn’t been discussed with his company and there is a lot to do before it can be a reality but just maybe this is how it was meant to be.

Many of you have asked how this will impact our furniture business. It’s true, it will but it already has during the 6 or 7 weeks that I hadn’t announced this news. Things will be even slower, his hours will be longer. I’ll continue to do what I can and then have the piece be put on hold for the portions of the projects that are “his territory.” That’s where we’re at now. He’ll continue to get calls on the weekend or late at night when he is sound asleep and he’ll continue to still not have enough time to work on all the things he needs and/or wants to and he will continue to come home and say his brain hurts and people will continue to expect the magic fix-it man to come to their rescue and have him run in circles between the 3 facilities. And I’ll continue to be without a vehicle until he comes home and continue to think he doesn’t get paid enough for all of this and continue to dream about the day it won’t be this way. Much of the same to the nth degree. There’s a part of us that really thrive and secretly cherish aspects of this. Just a part. But only because we know it will bring us closer to our goals and we don’t like downtime. There could be complaining but it’s almost always alongside pleasant thoughts and I don’t think that is conveyed by me enough.

12) We got another puppy. She is a tri-colored corgi and we named her Vivi. All kinds of cuteness running around our house with our two pups. Henry our Old English sheepdog turns 11 months old soon and Viv is 9 weeks old. Yeah, we’re crazy and thought hey, we don’t have enough on our plates. Look at that face though…don’t be fooled, after a few days with her, her true form of screeching pterodactyl in puppy body has come out. What did I do? But seriously, her and Henry finally got their play on and she helps make this family. Now to break her of constantly wanting to be picked up.

puppy love — Look at Henry's ginormous puppy head (he's 11 months old) and Vivi is 9 weeks old.

13) I’m going to be switching the house around with winter coming and Viv’s inability to do the stairs to the office and my not wanting to constantly check on her nor keep her crated all day and night long helped me reach that conclusion. I think the office will be moving upstairs to the second bedroom, maybe even the dining room for now and the studio office downstairs will be purely “showroom” or more storage of finished pieces, pieces in line, supplies and some photoshoot space.

What have you been up to?

Found the Gray Paint and 2 Furniture Finds This Week

by Annie Posted on October 18, 2012

samples — The one on the bottom is really "the one"

Whoop there it is on the bottom left. So it’s supposed to be “whoomp” but I don’t want an m amongst my w,h, double o and p. I grew up thinking that’s what that word was from the song. Add a shaka laka and you’ve got a glimpse into one of my go-to phrases that makes an appearance almost daily around here. If it’s a really good day I do a little dance with it. But I was trying to share that I picked out the paint. It’s as close as I’m going to get to “the one” and we were almost in an accident getting it and a few more samples (for a total of 14 samples…). Some idiot almost plowed into my passenger side in the parking lot going about 50. I braced myself and all but once Greg saw him, he sped up and he just missed our bumper.

It’s Benjamin Moore’s Eternity. See it at this link. I know, I know, I said I gave up on ol’ Ben or I gave that impression on the gray paints but we did not get this from our local store. Oh no, this one took a 30 minute trip to another city where I was supposed to be checking out the samples at Home Depot. I will get it at my local store now that I know it exists-an online and in-store search and I never came across it. The important thing is that I found my ideal gray, not too purple, not too blue, not too dark or light or warm. It’s just gray.

far left — Far left is Benjamin Moore's Eternity gray

Before we took the trip, I did my research online, picked out about 15 colors to see on the card and from there I was going to pick 5 or 6 more to sample then pick. Got to Home Depot, couldn’t find most of the ones I had picked out, went to ask for help and the woman was probably one of the least helpful people I’ve ever met. “Those will be on cards,” she said when I brought her my list with names and numbers. Then she walked away. She had been there the whole time I was looking for myself to produce 3 of 15. The part that got me was how rude she was too. So, I just left the store, phone in hand trying to find other paint stores. A Sherwin Williams was nearby so we stopped in and I found 2 grays, went to get a sample but when I came back the guy had made 2 entire quarts. Maybe they don’t do sample sizes? I’m not familiar with Sherwin Williams.

Not pleased with the big trip…any time away from the projects at home seems like a big trip (I know it’s not), I knew of a store that exists only in Minnesota, parts of Wisconsin and North Dakota. It’s called Hirshfields. They have a few different paint brands-Ralph Lauren was there, along with Benjamin Moore, Glidden, their own line and a number of others. They not only sell paints but wallcoverings, blinds, help with design/decor and seem very knowledgeable. It’s a cool place.

I picked out one Hirshfield sample and four tiny Benjamin Moore samples. The Hirshfield shade was almost identical to the Benjamin Moore color. But since I have a Benjamin Moore supplier nearby and it’s cheaper AND I know I like how the paint goes on (amazingly), I went that route.

Greg has been prepping the wall, doing a little patching. I think this is a great picture capturing this event.

I made a sample board for future reference. We have 8 more rooms to paint and I will not be picking 14 shades of one color again. And in true Annie and Greg fashion, we didn’t accomplish much of what we said we wanted to last weekend so we hope to do more this coming weekend. But as you probably know, I posted about the finished chalk painted tallboy that was completed last weekend so it wasn’t a total bummer. I still have a ton of tasks on the to do list-I’m setting us up for failure. And our favorite Indian restaurant is closing so I have to shove as much paneer as I can in my gob this weekend.

And as you facebook followers know, I found a vintage Bassett credenza and matching chest of drawers a few days ago (for $75 for the two) that we are now using for our own storage until we can work on them.

new credenza — One new find...like the paint samples behind it? Starting a trend.

They do have laminate tops (I didn’t know from the picture) but a quality one that even I can’t believe I like and walnut drawers. There are marks on the top, perhaps marker, on the chest of drawers. A little veneer work and these will be beauties once again. I happen to think they are already and unique. We like unique. Total surprises this week. Never know what you’ll find on craigslist and what could be in your home the same day.

By the way, a year ago today we put an offer on this house. A few days later it was accepted and the rest is history.

Old White Antique Tallboy Dresser with Original Hepplewhite Pulls

by Annie Posted on October 14, 2012

Just a quick Sunday post. The antique tallboy/highboy is finished.

Walnut crotch veneer on the drawer fronts were hard to cover with paint but with all the damage (including water) we went the Annie Sloan chalk paint route in old white with a Fiddes & Sons wax finish. The original Hepplewhite drawer pulls were irreplaceable on this piece with their gorgeous patina.

A ~~little~~ quite a bit of salvaging and she’s ~~good~~ better than new.

tallboy salvaging — The veneer was coming off the sides so she got some special wood putty treatment. You'd never know.

Simple, sophisticated and lovely. Also ready to go home with someone who will love and care for her (find in our etsy shop). Many of our Minneapolis clients put such pieces as this in their nurseries or lake cottages. So many possibilities with a neutral piece like this.

I’ve Got the Blues Over the Benjamin Moore Grays

by Annie Posted on October 9, 2012

Call me Ms.Change My Mind but the Benjamin Moore shades of gray aren’t doing it for me. At least not for the picture I had in my head of the ideal gray for our living/dining rooms. (Check out my last post for an answer to what the hell is she talking about.) I like the colors perfectly fine but not a one of the 7 tested on the wall made the grade. I narrowed it down to 9 but the store ran out of sample pints so the last 2 wouldn’t happen until this weekend. A few more glances tells me they will probably be too warm too-Benjamin Moore Stonington and Gray Owl. One or two of 7 on the sample wall might find their way into other rooms though. I made a chart for future reference on some cardboard, be it for furniture, other rooms, whatever else I might paint.

So here they are…

On the top row, left to right. All Benjamin Moore. 1) Cement Gray 2) Smoke Embers Gray 3) San Antonio Gray 4) Platinum Gray 5) Metro Gray. Second row, left to right. All Benjamin Moore. 1) Silver Chain 2) Harbor Gray.

Lovely but too warm/too dark/some too purple. I seem to be having a hard time finding a gray gray without much undertone of green, blue, beige, purple. Just a light true gray will do the trick. And I won’t quit til I find it. The guy at the store asked if I was doing stripes or something.

I did use some of those colors on the “stairs to nowhere” aka the newly-made attic entry in an ombre/gradient way. Still working on second coats and priming parts. Not too pretty yet. I figured the only area I could do one of those looks that’s been popular for a while now to keep resale in mind is somewhere that will not be seen very often. I thought I could toss all of those looks in one area to satisfy my urge so maybe add the numbered stair idea and some chevron stripes. Too much but it would get the idea out of my system.

The entire house needs to appeal to buyers unless we want to go back and fix something. Which we don’t. We’ve learned it sounds do-able but when it comes time, it will be a huge pain to add to the list. That’s why I’m avoiding those DIY stripe jobs and painting one wall an accent color that pops or all those great ideas on Pinterest to add more visual interest. Bor-ing but safe.

We’re moving on to Behr which means a trip to Home Depot. I have 9 more colors picked out and plan to bring home 4 or 5. The samples are cheaper than the Ben Moore samples. But I was lucky enough to have free pint coupons for the Benjamin Moore colors. They have been in my Sunset, Real Simple, maybe Better Homes and Gardens magazines I subscribe to and adore.

Also, I’m Ms.Change My Mind because we are not putting the white picket fence up. I’m trying to sell it on craigslist instead. The 36 feet is not long enough to do the job by a few inches. We knew that but thought it would suffice anyway…on second look, it just defeats the purpose and does not fit the look we’re going for in the yard. After all that work we just didn’t want to settle and it does a poor job of keeping our dog (who is currently sick) away from the neighbors. He could just go around.

Add a third to the change-my-mind topic because…well, to be fair it’s not a “mind change” situation it’s more an “improve a previous idea that we hadn’t settled on/were confused by because we weren’t sure what to do with the ductwork” situation. It’s a game changer. Came to me at 4:30AM Sunday. I brought it up to Greg and he thinks I’m a genius. It involves moving some rooms around in the basement. And it solves a lot of problems. If we can really do it, we think it will make the area function and look a million times better. I’ll tell or tease you more about that later. Til then, we’re heading to the vet for our poor, sick pup.

*Update: Our pup probably ate something that caused inflammation in his stomach and after a few days of a bland diet should be just fine. We hope.