kitchen hardwood floors

There were 4 layers of tile and 2 layers of plywood that needed to go. The floorboards will need tlc, but the hard part is over.

floor

Under the plywood was another layer of tile, then hardwood floors.

back entry floor

This floor layer coming off is a plywood subfloor. There were 4 layers of tile on top of that! I will disclose what is under the plywood soon.

flickr photos

New photos will be posted on flickr. I have been using the camera on my cell phone so the pics are not the best. Maybe I will be adventurous and do a video tour of our work in progress.

To connect to flickr, just click on the badge to the right -------->
(fyi, the comments are turned off due to time constraints)

Our house looks like a barn...

..... but is really an early 1900 Dutch Colonial Revival. 

Based on the style of housed built by the Dutch settlers on New Amsterdam (New York) in the 1600s, the Dutch Colonial was popular between 1900 and World War II. A common characteristic is the gambrel roof (i.e., a curving roof with a shape similar to a barn roof).

I just recently ran across this blog post about these barn shaped homes, which led me to the flickr pool. It is fun to see these unique looking houses. Still interested in finding interior photos and floor plans.

kitchen snapshots from last night

Found a couple more pieces of wall paper in the kitchen. One is white with green ivy. The other is light green with gold sparkles.

Bloomingdale Trail construction has begun

We live along the Bloomingdale Trail, so this is really huge for us. So excited! It will be similar to the High Line in NYC.

mission: destroy kitchen

Look what we found behind the wall. This changes everything, so many possibilities. More photos on flickr here.

our dog Alice

our brindle dog Roo

stripping projects

cabinets and doors, and furniture

vacationing in Florida last weekend

30 degrees at the beach...

exposing brick on 100+ year old masonry

gutted kitchen photos

kitchen wallpaper

While doing "some work" in the kitchen, we found this wallpaper under decades of old wall treatments...

Happy 2013!

What happened to 2012? haha
Last year, we got a brand new roof and a backyard fence. We did have  other home improvement projects, these were the biggies. I will slowly start updating with more photos.

winter vacation

In a few days this will be our view...

Happy New Year

I love Teddy Bear! Who knew porcupines are so adorable.

Disneyland 1972

I recently came into some old family photos. Today I scanned and uploaded photos from my first trip to Disneyland.
Here is the link...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/doggie_home_ec/sets/72157628138077758/

There are lots more photos to organize and post. It should keep me busy this winter.

kitchen curtains

a couple of weeks ago, I found this set of curtains for $12 at the local Salvation Army. They already had a curtain rod casing, and just needed about 4-inches taken off. Here are some pics...

check out these hand embroidered kitchen towels. they are so beautiful that i hate to use them.

kitchen updates

This is the original kitchen that came with the house. 

The cabinets were apparently recycled, and cobbled together by a previous owner. 

The cabinet doors, drawers, and counter tops are all wonky. The doors could not be opened because of the light fixtures. 

A lot of poor planning went into this.

When we moved in, I decided to paint the kitchen white to clean it up.
Unfortunately white kitchens are a PIA to keep clean!
So since we have to hold off on a kitchen rehab, I decided to go with a darker color.

Since our little refrigerator is on it's last legs, I decided to paint it too for fun.
Chalkboard paint was used on the top half. The two large doors are painted with CB paint.

The new paint colors, featuring Alice. see below
So sick of that poster, but Scott likes it, and needs to be reminded. :)

Also painted the counter top, repaired the sink, added new hardware, and underneath plumbing.
Thank you youtube.
* below is the original countertop, ick *

We soooo need more storage, especially since we just joined Costco.

This is our back entrance to the yard, and the dog's room.
The backdoor is also done in chalkboard paint. 

Well, that's the mini tour. 

The tools and supplies were well under 100 bucks. So it kept me entertained for a while. I have more painting projects in the works. Just have to be mindful to not overdo it with the hand. 

car update

about a year and a half ago i wrote a blog post on car shopping (see here). anyway, i just updated it. we finally have a car. yay!

more photos on flickr.