Our Biggest DIY project: A year later

Happy Anniversary HOUSE!

We bought this house a year ago and moved in middle of April- we were trying to paint all trims, and walls before moving in because we didn't want to have to move furniture again...and this is how it all has changed in a year's time....

Landscaping and backyard- The landscape and grass had been severely neglected for years (it was a rental for years). There are just too many weeds out here, so we have decided to tear everything out and reseed everything this spring/summer. Spencer loves landscaping so he did and does everything himself. He dug the line so the mulch would not run into the grass, brought the mulch, did my garden bed, did the tree house and bridge and he even braided the paracord...that's when youtube comes in handy. I was able to find him a cheap slide...so now it looks like a real tree house. He loves it. He plans to do some trees and shrubs and flowers sometime in the backyard....when they get cheaper lol. We didn't realize a tiny tree cost $30!!! But it would look good...heck, it already looks fantastic with just the mulch. The front actually looks decent...except for the new grass part...it's the backyard that's still a work in progress....we will probably buy all the landscape for it end of season when things are cheap and pray that they will last all winter.

The front was blah when we bought it. We had a tiny maple tree that we thought would not survive the winter, but it did, and it grew a bit. Also, we took out the bush on the far left...when Spencer's parents visited, his dad helped him get rid of the stump....and he planted a himalyan cedar tee in it's place...he will never let me forget that. I just call it the "dr seuss tree". Eventually, he says, the two other bushes will go, but for now, he will just trim them really small so they don't grow out of control. He also did the line around the mulch so the grass and the mulch would not mix. He basically dug a trench all around where you see mulch and after like 30 bags of mulch later and a rose bush, a cedar tree, and some calla lily bulbs....he killed the entire grass area...that's why it looks so nasty in the after pic. So now, we wait a couple of weeks, and we will seed our front lawn with zoysia seed....one of the plushiest grasses around. 

The front of the house when we bought it

what it looks like today.....

The before- those poor trees in the background

Spencer tore down the entire deck on his own and seeded some
grass. 

luscious grass.... but only where the deck was lol

Step 1: One half of the treehouse

Step 2: the other half of the treehouse

Step 3: adding a ladder (now it has those rock climbing thingies
as well)

Step 4: add a bridge and paracord. Now, we need anti slip
material so my kids don't slip all over the place while they
run like mad men. 

That's the other side...we also killed everything. the perfect green grass
is what we are trying to get throughout the entire backyard. Also,
we need more miracle gro for my garden box back there, so my herbs and
veggies can be transplanted. see the landscape trench Spencer dug?
Eventually it will have plants and mulch.

Spencer changed the east fence as soon as we got here, and it's still perfect. Recently, he added a new gate as well, so now it kinda resembles the new fence.

new fence

He hopes to someday do the west side and hopefully get a shed so he can store his nice tools in there and clear up the garage. Recently, I ran over the mower and I twisted one of the front axles. We couldn't figure out how to undo it, after all, it was torqued by a SUV. So, in came my dad. He looked at it, and said "the only way to torque it back is to use heat"....a true engineer. He took the mower to a warehouse and was able to use a torch to heat the axle up and slowly twisted it back. LOL...seriously.

He did such a fantastic job...he saved us like hundreds of dollars...prob more than the mower was even worth. I just felt really bad cause it had only lived for one summer. But now, it can last for more...and Spencer is trying to hurry to move it to the backyard so I don't run it over again lol. But the shed (since he wants to make it) will come after the backyard grass and landscape are done, so he can see where it fits best.

 Bedrooms- As soon as we bought the house we painted every trim and wall in the bedrooms. over the course of the year, we painted all the trim white. Some of it not very well...you live you learn. That will have to be redone. The walls in all the bedrooms are a neutral color, in case we want to move kids and office around. We recently had a garage sale, and I was able to get rid of a lot of the toy room furniture that was there like the train table and the armoire and a lot of toys. So now, it looks much nicer and more roomy. I hate when every wall has a piece of furniture....you end up looking like a hoarder.

 My next project is to go to IKEA soon and get me some of those kallax bookcases to fit some toys. I was able to find some cool blue storage bins on clearance  (at target) that fit inside the bookcase perfectly for $2 a piece!! Once I have my bookcase, I will move Ethan with Dom to the same room,  and the toy room will be just for toys.  I think with all the money I made from the garage sale, I can buy Ethan a twin mattress (if I decide to get rid of the crib), the IKEA bookcase, and maybe a desk for the loft.

The kids' bedroom really only has a bed and a dresser and a small nightstand. I will try to squeeze Ethan's crib in there. I am going for a sports decor, but haven't found a whole lot of pieces at garage sales except for a football curtain pole, a growing chart, and the nightstand....I'll keep looking.

Before

Boys room new paint

Boys room after with trim done white

Boys room now- with blinds!!! .Dom has the white bed back,
 a dresser and cute stand. Seriously, how adorable is that?

Toy room before

A few weeks ago: so...MUCH...clutter. 

see that ikea shelf in the corner? Yeah i need one twice that size.

What it looks like today....

Living Room-We paid somebody to paint our very tall living room- it was just too tall, about 23ft too tall.... We also painted the entry the same soft gray, and all the trims white (also in the kitchen area all the trim is white). Eventually we want to paint the stairwell a much darker gray (an accent wall) and the loft...but don't quite know what color for the loft. The hallway to the bedrooms also needs to be painted a soft gray like the living room. We also plan to buy white doors to match the white trim in the house. Hopefully all this in the coming year.... I also found some dark colored frames at a garage sale, and was able to make a collage. And just yesterday, I got Ethan's pictures developed ....so I will add them to the collage soon.

what it look like now.  I just need a bigger
tv now to balance the bookcase height.

Living room before

Living room after...can you see the soft gray
wall next to the white staircase wall?

And recently, I bought a collection of furniture at target.. still black. The living room will be black for a while. It just looks good against the soft gray wall and white trim. We bought a new sofa (since our last one stayed in Nashville) and I repainted the dining room chairs and table.

The Entry- That's the first thing I tackled when we arrived. The tile clearly needed to be cleaned desperately. One night, I suddenly grabbed a toothbrush and my homemade detergent and voila! You can't tell the after, but a TON of gunk fell off, including whatever was in the grout. I mean, it went from black to soft grey....YUCK. I don't want to know how long it had been since anyone cleaned it.  The trims were painted white, and the walls were painted the same gray as the living room. All I need is a cool looking mirror on top of the black shelf there.  I also plan to get a storm door and paint  (or get a new ) front door. It needs a pop of color. The ReStore (Habitat for Humanity) has some great front doors made of some super strong wood....like almost for luxury homes...I think I like those  better. Like someone on tv once said " I love champagne, but at boxed wine prices"....

The entry when we bought it. 

painting the entry....

The loft-I bought some furniture for the loft...but still need some more. I still need a nice computer desk, I just haven't found one yet. I need an IKEA trip. Somebody gave me the glass for an IKEA desk...I just need to go get the desk...lol. For now, a temporary table is set up there. In the recent garage sale, we sold some furniture, like an old black bookcase, a desk that Spencer had since he was a boy, and some office supplies I had been hoarding from after school sales....lol. It really cleared up a lot of cubbies and now my scrapbooking stuff fits in the cubby bookcase....like it's suppose to. But I still have a lot of stuff that doesn't have a place- like a sewing machine, fabrics, and artwork that I"m not ready to let go of. I think, I will move all of the kids' craft stuff to the dining room (if I can find a small cabinet with doors that I can lock) and then that will clear up more space for all my sewing stuff.  I am yet to hang all of our degrees, but I have Spencer's masters all framed up and ready to go....only 2 more to go...

The before loft

what it looks like right now...I love that bookcase! I wish I had
one in every room....

Boys bathroom- I was able to do the kids' vanity. You can read about it here. It was a pain, but everyone that has visited has really loved it...so maybe I did do something right. I like that i don't have to paint the walls in there...the vanity is enough color....and you can't even tell the walls are white. When Spencer's parents visited last month- they introduced us to caulk- so I have been caulking everything imaginable...what a great invention. Now you can't see any gaps in any wood work or any trims....I love it!

The before

All sanded down

What it looks like today

MISC Furniture-  Recently, my husband took the initiative to sand our dining room table and chairs, because I was complaining about how ugly they looked. That took us about 4 days, then I used a gel stain but primed the chairs first. That made all the difference, the stain held out so much better and the chairs were so much smoother. I had to retouch behind the spindles and I decided to not prime, just stain. And I hate how it looks- it's so rough. So, I'm going to retouch it with primer and start over...soon. I think that's my next immediate project since the weather seems to be cooperating and the kids can be outside with me.

Step 1: sand everything off with a sander

Step 2: sand whatever is left by hand

ugliest dining room set in America

Step 3: lightly prime with wood primer

What they look like today.

As I was typing this, I was thinking...."we haven't done anything!"....but I guess AFTER typing this...we really have. It's just small victories. I love walking into this house...because I like what I see. We did the immediate rooms first...the ones everyone sees. This year, we plan to update our master bathroom, out utility/laundry room, and our kitchen. We really just need to update the cabinets and paint the walls...really nothing more. But all that takes a lot of time...and my kids cannot be here, because they would dip their feet and hands in expensive paint...haha.....kinda like Dom did in the garage...now, there's white footprints everywhere...

Did I inspire some of you to upgrade something???  GO....and update!