Stella's Tale: March 2011

They call her Arabella

11:44 PM

Faucet Photo Found Here

Isn't she pretty? I think I want to buy her and put her in our kitchen. But I'm not going to pay as much as the big orange store is asking for her. I'm thinking ebay or efaucets is the better way to go. Anyone have any good tips on where to buy a good faucet at a reasonable price?

Here is our current, leaking, impossible to turn off because the handle is broken faucet.

And yes, that is a toothbrush. No it has not been used for brushing teeth. It may have been used for cleaning cabinet hardware. But I really don't remember.

As you can see we are limited to mounting it in only one hole. And yes, that sounds very dirty. I am such a 12 year old sometimes.

Home

A Home is Built by Human Hearts

7:02 AM

My mom has had a picture up in our house since I was a kid. I can't tell you how long it's been around or what places it has been in the house. But I remember it from growing up.

It is cross stitched with the words:

"A House is Built by Human Hands. A Home is Built by Human Hearts."

I have seen this picture about 100 times in the last month or so because it is currently in the guest bedroom at my parent's house. The room with the printer and the scanner that have been used about 100 times in order to get offer paperwork printed, signed, scanned and sent back to the appropriate realtors.

It's amazing to me to think how many times I have passed this picture throughout my life and never really thought anything of it other than its familiarity as a wall hanging in my parent's house.

Until recently when the words really started to resonate with me due to the strong emotional attachment Erik I had and will probably always have for our house in Indiana.

Our house that is not really "our house" anymore.

Our house that I said goodbye to for the last time on Thursday, March 17th. With my mom. But without Erik and Stella.

Our house that was no longer our house as of Wednesday, March 23rd.

And yes, I'm pretty teary eyed right now as I'm typing this.

Even though I love our new house and I can't wait to make memories in it, our house in Indiana will always have a special place in my heart. And I will always get sad when I think about how I called Erik from our empty family room. Crying. And laughing when I told him I would put him on speaker phone so he could say goodbye to our house from his desk.

Or really, so that he could say goodbye to our home.

So here are some pictures for you, Erik. Since we both realized that I hadn't show them to you since I got back from packing it up and saying goodbye to it from our little family.

I'm sad to have said goodbye. But I'm glad we'll always be able to look back on these photos and relive the memories we shared here.

A house that we built into our home.

DIY

Never Give a Girl a Pry Bar

8:33 PM

Well ladies (and gentleman, if there are any that read this), the verdict is in. Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking the time to comment and let me know your opinions. I value them and appreciate each and every one of you for taking the time to read and comment.

You will be happy to know that you will (hopefully) not have to slap me or rip my hands off.

The beams are staying. And they are being painted white. So no need to freak out. I didn't rip them down with a pry bar.

They are not structural beams. Nor are they made of fake wood. But they do add a cool element to the space that I'm just not quite ready to give up yet. And I think if they are painted white they will be able to maintain their charm and yet blend in enough to make the husband happy.

Now do you want to see why you should never give a girl a pry bar (or 2 girls 2 pry bars)?

You will go from a dry bar in your Family Room....

To the future home of a built in bookcase.

And to think this all started because I decided to get out my drill to remove the shelf brackets. Oops.

You will also go from a space too small for any modern day refrigerator...

To a wall open with possibilities.

We are thinking that a built-in microwave and pull out drawers with tucked in garbage and recycling cans would work great in this space. Oh, and it may have taken more than 2 girls with 2 pry bars here. It took a husband and a mom, too. And this project was initiated by said husband.

Don't the cabinets and drawers look really nice in our Dining Room?

And this is what happens when you have a leaky toilet that has caused your linoleum to bubble and warp.

Hall Bath Before.

And the even more beautiful after.

We were so happy when we tore up the carpet (yes, carpet in a bathroom) to unearth that little nugget of goldish-brown linoleum that was under the already beautiful brown carpet. Sadly, the remainder of that linoleum has now been removed. And we are still without a toilet in there. Details, details. We'll get there soon enough.

And I should probably mention that ripping up the carpet was the only thing I helped with in here. The toilet was gone and top layer of linoleum was removed before I made my way up to rip out the carpeting.

Oh, and this awesome wallpaper was hiding behind the toilet:

Pretty.

Apparently when you remove wallpaper and re-paint it is completely unnecessary to remove it from behind the toilet. I was unaware of such things!

I have learned through this home purchase that demolition is amazing. It is an adrenaline rush. It is also very empowering to be a woman that can rip out a dry bar with her bare hands. And her cousin Melissa's bare hands. Well, we did wear work gloves so saying 'bare hands' may be stretching the truth slightly. But we did rip that bad boy out. And it only took the 2 of us. There was literally no man power involved. The man was upstairs scraping off a wallpaper border.

And now to share with you a little bit of 1970s nostalgia from our home...

Do you remember this little treasure from our Dining Room?

Ugliest. Chandelier. Ever.

Here is a close-up of what I can only imagine complemented this chandelier perfectly. I only wish the remnant was bigger so that we could put it in the basement and revel in its lime-green glory for years to come.

Lime Green Carpet Remnant.

I'm sure the carpet looked really nice when it abutted the foyer tile.

The foyer tile that will probably stay for a while yet because it didn't make our 'short list' of home improvement projects. The foyer tile that is screaming for me to get to it with a little sledgehammer action. The ugly, puke brown tile that is in such good condition it makes me want to be sick... twice.

Ick.

So that's it folks. That is what is happening with the Brandstaetter clan these days. We've got a pretty long project list of things to do before we move into the house in (hopefully) a few weeks.

Can you see why I talked my husband into making this amazing home purchase? Not only do we have enough projects to keep us busy inside for the next 15 years, but we also have a 3.4 acre lawn that I haven't even had the energy to take pictures of yet.

Let's just say we will be having lots and lots of bonfires over the coming years. So make sure you buy some marshmallows. And bring a lawn chair. And possibly your work gloves. No, seriously, we have a lot of rocks to move before we can get the fire started.

DIY

To Beam, or Not to Beam... That is the Question

12:12 AM

Well. We did it. We made it through the home buying experience.

(insert happy dance here)

And with this home buying experience will now come our fair share of house projects to keep up busy for at least the next 15 years. Or more, if you count the 3 acres of landscape maintenance that awaits us this and every Spring from here until eternity.

Papers were signed Friday late afternoon and we took our first trip over to the house as it's rightful new owners shortly thereafter. We even brought Stella with us to get her take on the new place. She liked it. Except for the missing water dish that we mistakenly forgot to bring for her.

I liked it, too. But I'll admit it was a teeny tiny eensy weensy bit creepy being there that first night. I think it is because it was a foreclosure that hadn't been lived in for a while. And it was uber dirty and disgusting. And we heard a really loud noise about 2 minutes before we left which is ultimately why I thought it was time to leave until daylight resurfaced.

Day 2 was a vast improvement. We (along with my amazingly wonderful family) cleaned until we couldn't clean anymore. Bathrooms are cleaned. Kitchen cabinets are wiped down. Carpets are vacuumed. Floors and woodwork are washed. You name it, we probably cleaned it. Even the garage and the basement look pretty darn good about now.

By day 3, I we moved into full force into ~~destruction~~ renovation mode.

You see, I really love the family room in our new house. Except for the paneling. And the funky ceiling fan that was wired up the wall, across the ceiling, through the beam, over the river and through the woods all the way to the fan itself. And the paneling. Did I mention that I didn't like the paneling? I may have removed it:

Before.


Still before.

And after.

Family Room. Sans Paneling and Ceiling Fan.

The ceiling fan and the track lighting weren't really doing anything for the space either. So they came down too. (Thanks, Pat!)

So now only one question remains when it comes to this space. Or 4 questions really. The Beams. Should they stay or should they go now? (doesn't that line make you want to just sing?)

I'm very torn. Erik is somewhat torn but is leaning toward removal. My parents hate them. And I think everyone else that has seen the space in person is indifferent.

Part of me wants them to stay. Now that the paneling is gone there's not as much mismatched wood tone weirdness (technical design term) going on in the space. I'm also thinking that painting them white to blend in with the ceilings may not be a bad option. But I just don't know.

So, friends, this is where I need you and your valued opinions. To beam, or not to beam. That truly is the question.

Comment! E-mail! Text! Let me know what YOU think...

About Me

Fudge -- Shoot -- Cheese & Rice

11:32 PM

Confused?

Well, as I mentioned in a previous post, I decided to give up swearing for Lent this year. Last year I gave up Coke (as in Coca-Cola) but supplemented it by starting to drink coffee. The good news is that I don't drink Coke nearly as much as I used to. The bad news is that now I drink coffee. Every. Single. Day.

Image found here.

But I digress... Back to this year's Lenten promise. No more swearing. Or cussing. Or profanity.

Ironically another definition of the word swear is to take an oath. Or to make a promise. Like a Lenten promise. So really I am swearing that I will not swear for 40 days.

You can buy this sign here.

But again, I digress...

I've decided that in lieu of vulgarities (is that even a word?) that I will be conscious to insert other words or phrases where I ordinarily would insert a less than socially acceptable word or phrase.

I figured I would share with you, my lovely blog friends, my list of socially acceptable words and phrases that I will be more conscious of using in place of those that are ordinarily considered foul-mouthed. In reality, it is my goal to cut the use of any of these unnecessary words, even the replacements, from my vocabulary. But, heck, we all know that at one time or another something is going to slip out.

See what I just did there? I used the word heck to prove my point...

Forgive me that I will not be able to share with you what these are replacing. At least not for another 38 days or so. But I'm sure you get the idea.

Fudge

Oh Geez

Shoot

Cheese & Rice

For Pete's Sake

Holy Cow

Son of a Biscuit

Oh Sugar

Fiddlesticks

What the Heck?

Shut the Front Door!

So there you go, friends. I have been very aware of my language already in the last 2 days and am making a very conscious effort to be a better person. And I will only use the above mentioned phrases in moments of weakness.

Perhaps I should've been smart and decided just to give up something simple. Like coffee.

Chair Refinishing

The Tale of Two Houses. And a Chair.

6:46 PM

I feel like it's been FOREVER since I've posted anything. But really its only been a few days. I think.

Perhaps its because I've been in the middle of staple removing and sanding my ugly old chair, which is not so old and ugly anymore. OK, its still old. But its getting less ugly. I promise it is. The mustard yellow velvet is gone. The old speckled stain color is 98% gone. The 4,762 staples are gone. The caning is gone. I still have a bit to do on this bad boy but I figure I should be done in about 4 years. Maybe sooner. I guess we'll see.

Me. With a Sander. Frightening.

Perhaps its because we've been signing, scanning and e-mailing millions of papers in order to buy our new home here in Wisconsin, which is still set to close this Friday!!!! Inspections have all been completed. Loan approvals are supposedly in order. Cleaning supplies need to be purchased. Now all I need to do is stretch out my right hand for all the signing we will (hopefully) be doing on Friday!

Our soon to be new ~~house~~ home.

Perhaps its because we have been signing, scanning and e-mailing millions of papers in order to finalize the sale of our home in Indiana, which has been a continuous roller coaster of emotions. Mostly anger lately. More details on that after closing.

Our awesome house in Stupid Indiana.

Perhaps its because I'm revving myself up for Lent. I'm giving up swearing this year. This should be a very interesting 40 days. Especially when you consider the roller coaster of emotions I just mentioned. You know, the anger. I was actually thinking about creating a list of all the words I will not allow myself to say over the next 40 days. We'll see. Maybe I should post it on here. If I type the words is that the same as saying them out loud? Hmmmmmm.....

Image found here.

So that's it. That's what I've been up to for the last week or so. Not very inspiring or exciting, I know.

I think I might go have a beer now.

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They call her Arabella

A Home is Built by Human Hearts

Never Give a Girl a Pry Bar

To Beam, or Not to Beam... That is the Question

Fudge -- Shoot -- Cheese & Rice

The Tale of Two Houses. And a Chair.

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They call her Arabella

A Home is Built by Human Hearts

Never Give a Girl a Pry Bar

To Beam, or Not to Beam... That is the Question

Fudge -- Shoot -- Cheese & Rice

The Tale of Two Houses. And a Chair.

About Me

Pages

Labels

My Blog List

Blog Archive

Search This Blog

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