Yet Another Door...

Not to worry folks, I've been keeping busy on my to-do list.  

One of the things recently mentioned was refinishing the original pocket door from the living room that will be the laundry room door.  Texas has been having a record breaking drought lately, so I figured I was safe to paint the door in my carport.  Guess what?  It rained the day after I started working on the table.  Had I known painting the door would have put an end to the drought, I would have done it weeks ago!  

Anyway, it is now painted and laying in wait for installation.  It will need a touch-up, but that's easy enough once it's been hung.  (We haven't hung a single door that HASN'T needed touch-up so...) I can't wait until it's hung.  It's one more element on the way to having a finished kitchen!!

Closing the Case

((on the title:  You can tell how tired I am based on the title of my blog post.  Currently I'm mentally dead, (no comments about that being all the time, people) so, hence the random title that only partially has to do with the actual post.))

I don't know about you, but where I live, it's hot 99% of the time and by hot, I mean 95 degrees or higher, sweatin' weather.  Because of this, I tend to go through a lot of clothes.  Lots of dirty clothes = Lots of laundry.  Lots of laundry means annoyingly loud washer and dryer clanging.  The simple thing would be to shut the laundry room door and poof, the clanging stops.  Only one hiccup, the laundry room door is now the pantry door.  Oops.  

So, now all I need is a 6 panel door that matches the rest of the doors in my house.  Hmmmm, good thing when I opened up the wall between the kitchen and the living room I kept the pocket door that we removed.  So, off to Home Depot, yup, they're starting to recognize me, and purchased a pocket door frame.  Who knew they made specific frames for pocket doors???  The things I'm learning.  After removing the old studs and building a "stud addition,"  the framing of the door went relatively smooth.  

If my house ever is hit by a torpedo, etc, heaven forbid, this door frame will still be standing tall.  It has enough Liquid Nail on it to keep the whole house glued together.  

 
Now, if I can just get the old new door refinished, we can hang it and close off all of the noise & mess of the laundry room, AND I can check one more thing off this never ending list. 

Once Upon A Time

Once upon a time there was a little room that was a huge mess.  After hours and hours of demolishing, scrubbing, painting, moving heavy things in and out, and a couple of tears, okay bunch, I had a finished perfect laundry room.  In case you forgot, here is the before.

Ugh right?  It's okay if you want to go take a shower, I'll excuse you as long as you come right back when you're done.  I wanted to shower the first time I saw my house as well.  Yet I bought it anyway.  Yes, I know I need to seek mental help.  Working in it folks.  Again I've really, really digressed.

Here is the laundry room in all its gorgeous-ness.  It was the day that this photo was taken that it was suggested that tear a huge hole in the wall and create a pantry.  While the idea sounds fabulous, it was at that point that I burst into tears.  Keep in mind that for a year and a half I had been working toward getting a "real" laundry room and the second it was finished and beautiful someone wanted to tear a huge hole in it and make a mess.  In case any guy is reading this, not a good idea to tell a girl with a new room that you want to make a mess of it!

So, stay tuned for the consequent hole and creative mess that followed...

The Worst Gets Better...

Without a doubt, the laundry room was the worst in the entire house. If I recall correctly, and I do, it was that room that sent me into a crying fit wondering what in the world I'd done.

(To be fair, the crying fit came after I pulled out an entire skeleton of what must have been a squirrel or a baby raccoon, and yes, I've had that confirmed by someone other than me. Thankfully my older brother put me back on the right track when he offered to buy it off my hands right then and there. He did just the right thing by challenging my ability to do something. I can safely say that stubborn is one of my strongest characteristics. Anyway, I've digressed enough.)

Just in case you've been lucky enough to forget, here is the way the laundry room looked when I did my walk-through.

You can't see the corner that resulted in my questioning my logic, but here it is in all it's glory. The corner of the house had taken a direct hit from a tree limb falling on it last May. By August the water and rodent damage was rampant and had consumed the entire support for the corner. The 2x4 was rotted through and was knocked completely out by a gentle touch. Notice the brick in the picture? Yup, that's external brick. Oops!


I am very happy to say that what was once the worst room in the building is now a bright airy space that I'm not terrified to be in! My middle/baby brother and his wife very graciously gave me their old dryer, so for the first time since I've moved in, I can wash and dry clothes in my own house! No more blow drying pants before car duty in the morning! (been there, done that...) Notice my "new" washer and dryer.


Originally there was a dark nasty cabinet hanging up in the corner above the washer/dryer. While I appreciated the storage, the mold between the cabinet and the ceiling and the general filth of the cabinet meant it was coming out! So, what kind of storage did I want???

**Disclaimer: I'm about to get on a personal soapbox. Watch out.

My family's go to storage option is UGLY metal brackets on the wall with adjustable braces that you place a shelf on. I HATE this type of shelving for a purely aesthetic reason. I appreciate the ability to adjust it and its myriad of combinations, but the metal braces and exposed supports are just not pleasing to my eye, so don't even/ever try to talk me into it. Remember the stubbornness we talked about earlier?. Okay, okay, off the soapbox, you're safe now.

Instead of the aforementioned shelves, I wanted strong shelves that had no visible means of support. Easy-peasy right? Ha! Apparently, Marc/Dad channeled the wood workers of old in a couple of dreams before he came up with the shelf design. I'd be lying if I even tried to describe it.

I just have to say that I love the look and am very pleased with how clean and uncluttered the shelves themselves look. (Ignore the items on the shelves, I know that stuff is cluttered, but one step at a time, people! I'm only human!)


Check out my scary laundry room now! Hours of scrubbing, sweat, a little blood and a couple of tears and I have a room to be proud of. Now if I can just keep all the walls intact, but more on that later...

One Year Ago

After one year I've managed to make a large dent in the house, but still not a big enough one. If I had a limitless budget, time and energy, the house would be finished. In trying to think positively, I using the time to research and shop for the perfect _________. (Feel free to fill in the blank with basically anything involving a house! Knob, appliance, flooring, insulation, window, plant, etc.) Enjoy the following before and current pics. I know it's not all of the rooms, but it's several and I'm working on posting the rest of the house.

Here is the scary original laundry room. To the left of the washing machine is the dryer and behind that was the insanely scary corner. When I first went to clean it out, I raked out several skeletons, yes, skeletons and it was at that point that I cried and seriously wondered what I had done. Thankfully now the laundry room looks like this. With fresh drywall, paint and baseboards, the entire room now has a clean feeling, no pun intended. The newest feature is a sink. It's a great help and I can't wait to use it for only laundry!


Ugh, the F.I.L.T.H.Y. kitchen. It was a tiny mess and that made me want to scrub in bleach after being in it. With some extreme banging by the boys, the kitchen was demolished and currently looks like this. Not really conducive to much more than cereal and spaghetti, which is fine because spaghetti is my ALL TIME fave. It also works really well to store tools.

The great news is that in 10 short years, my kitchen will look more like this than that! I cannot wait. I really want to be able to use this room for cooking and eating only, not also painting, staining, stripping (not the pole kind,) and storage!



I have no idea what the previous owners were into, but it is quite possible that it was illegal. Multiple lighters, bobby pins and alcohol wipes. Anyway, now ALL of the urine stains, illegal/legal items and pretty much any trace of male are GONE! Now my bathroom with a new potty (one thing I wasn't budging on!) is blissfully clean and really cute!



I discovered when getting ready for this, I had not a single picture of the room before I attacked it removing the NASTY carpet and scarred walls. So, enjoy this shot with no painted trim and bare walls hosting the garage sale stuff! Now it's a great room for launching airplanes, playing dollies and dress-up, and grabbing a nap from time-to-time. (Check out the fabu window treatments!) Marc & Sara often crash here during the day after working all night and the cardboard blocks 95% of the light. I have yet to fuss since the windows are old and the cardboard helps to insulate it more...


Enjoy these and keep an eye out for the next post.