Time To Catch Up (and I need your vote)

So.....I have made a couple of trips out to the house but haven't posted any updates because although lots of little things are getting done, there haven't been many projects finished. I always like to show the before and after photos but I guess I will show some before and during photos instead.
We have a new yard fellow(#3) and I think he is a real gem. He works hard and is easy to communicate with. The last two either didn't show up or didn't do much when they were there. It's going to take some time to get the yard to the place where we can do some actual landscaping but in the mean time we have to keep it under control because everything grows so quickly in Florida. So here are just a few of the many projects we have underway...

I started painting the kitchen cabinets. We bought an entire kitchen on Craigslist for $2500. Uppers, lowers, pantry, you name it. They don't look like much now but they will be beautiful when I'm done with them. They take a lot of time because I have to do three coats of paint on each side.

They will eventually be glazed and look something like this...

I also found this great copper vent hood on Craigslist for a steal! Jimmy just put it up temporarily so we could decide how high to hang it. I think it is going to be fabulous!

Every bedroom in this house has a sleeping porch attached to it. The one that the two smaller bedrooms share was in really bad shape. It had old metal tilt out windows and only insulation for the ceiling. The floor was nothing but the old planks and joists. It has all been redone with tongue and groove on the walls and ceilings, hardwood flooring and new vinyl windows. Before...

and now it looks like this...

I'm going to build a base for a twin sized mattress to make this a perfect spot for extra kids that come to visit.

Luke has always wanted a secret room so we decided to  turn a hall closet into one for him. It's not quite finished yet but getting close ...

I also built a window seat for the breakfast room off of the kitchen. I haven't had a chance to paint it yet but I'm really please with the way it turned out.  The top is on a hinge for extra storage. Sorry about the terrible photo!

I had a great old trunk that I bought at an estate sale with the intention of using it for a nightstand or end table but it just didn't work for that so I made it into our bar for the dining room...

I bought a little vanity bench and took the cushion off

and there you have it!

So now I need your opinion on something... I plastered over the ugly red brick over the fireplace and then I painted it gray. I don't think I like the color and don't know if I just want it to match the wall color or choose a different color. Let me know your thoughts please. You can either comment on this post or email me your ideas.

Here is the before...

here is after plaster...

and here is after paint???

Well, I didn't mean for that to be such a long post but I guess I had really fallen behind. I will try to keep up better from now on. We are going out for Thanksgiving so I will post again when we return. I hope you all have a wonderful time with your families!

Thanks for stopping by,

Starting to look like a home!

I went out by myself on the 10th and stayed until the 14th. It was the first time I got to see the house since the exterior painting had been finished. I'll tell you, it changes the whole neighborhood!
Here are a couple of before photos:

And some "afters"

The house painters faux-painted the garage door to look like wood and match the front door and courtyard gate. 

I concentrated on cleaning out the garage and put all of the kitchen cabinets in the storage room so that when we get a car, we will have room for it. Heather came over on Saturday and helped me paint the living room. We got one coat done in record time. It will definitely take two coats because of the previous purple color. Here are a couple of before photos. 

And after: 
(keep in mind it still needs another coat and some cutting in).

I also had a visit from one of my neighbors who is very involved with the Historical Society. He had lots of photos of our house over the years. He even had a couple interior living and dining room photos from when Elizabeth Rothschild owned it. It was really interesting to see how the home has changed over the years.
I found a great walking route for early in the mornings. It is just under four miles and takes me over two bridges and down Old Town Daytona's main street. This is a sunrise on my walk. 

I also see lots of people out rowing and paddle boarding on the river. I stopped into Three Brothers Paddle Boards on Beach Street to sign up for a lesson but the morning class was full. These guys make gorgeous paddle boards that are truly a work of art. Definitely on my list for the next trip.
Richard (tile guy) had torn out the bathroom in the garage apartment (remember how pretty it was? 

He uncovered TONS of wood damage. The Stucco was basically the only thing holding it all together.

Never fear, Jimmy is here! This guy can fix anything!

There is a lot more work happening in the garage apartment but I will save that for my next post. The boys are going camping with Boy Scouts in October so I am going to go out for a few days. I will catch up with you then.

Thanks for following along!

Exciting things are happening...

The last time I posted, we had left just as the roofers were beginning, so a lot has happened since then...
Luke and I headed out again on Thursday the 28th. We weren't going to get in until about 11pm and by the time we got the rental car (actually a F150 truck) and got to the hotel it would be midnight. I thought I would just get a cheap hotel close to the airport since all we would be doing was sleeping for a few hours before heading out. Let me just say: DON'T EVER STAY AT THE TRAVELODGE IN ORLANDO, EVER! We got to the room and it was pretty disgusting. The air didn't work, the blow dryer didn't work, and we kept our socks on just to be safe. Luke woke up at 5am with diarrhea and vomiting. We were supposed to pick up a couple things off Craigslist at 9am so around 6:00 we headed out. I stole the ice bucket in case he had to throw up in the car. We went to Wal Mart and bought a blanket and pillow so Luke could lay down in the back seat. No one was home at the first stop so we headed east to Costco to pick up a dresser. Then the first guy called and he was home so we went back, and then finally headed over to the beach, arriving at 1:00 in the afternoon. The painters were hard at work power washing the exterior of the house, I picked up some more furniture, and a t.v. and then met with the roofer and the building inspector for our AC units. Reed got in around 2am. We had Direct TV arriving at 8am. The painters also arrived early and started painting the exterior. What a difference a little paint can make! Reed and I worked on lots of little inside projects over the weekend. Here is some of the progress.

  

There were a dozen guys working steady for five days.

Then the power washing and painting began...

They are still painting for another couple of days but it is really coming along. The neighbors keep stopping by to say "thank you." It has been such an eyesore for so long. I spoke with the director of the historical society and they are interested in doing a fundraising tour when we get it finished. There is lots of work being done over the next couple of weeks so I will post photos as I get them.

See you all soon,

Slowly but surely...

Let me just warn you, this is a long post...
Things are really coming along. Luke and I made it out to Florida on Sunday (the last two seats on the plane). Very good thing since contractors would be there at 8:00 Monday morning. We had a call on Saturday from Guy, who is doing our plumbing, to let us know the upstairs AC unit wasn't working. The AC guys showed up to put some new wires from the outside unit up to the second floor attic unit. They have to come early because of the heat and bring a skinny guy that can fit through the opening. I wonder if that is in the job description? The window installers were also coming to put in six windows that had been missing and were just boarded up for years. You can see here where all of the windows upstairs around the front of the house are GONE! 

These are the windows from the inside. 

(Don't even mention the black trim)

This is after the windows were replaced. I forgot to take a photo but Megan sent this one while the roofers were there the day we left. (that will be another post)

 Megan and I painted the dining room and let me tell you, it was a drastic change for the better. Below is the way it looked before. It was a really dark eggplant color which made the room feel small and dark.

This is the wall we had closed up

 Bye bye purple! We kept walking out of the room and turning around so we could admire it again.

Here is what it looks like now

The roofing tiles were also dropped off. They will begin on Monday while we are heading home. The stucco guys were there repairing some large areas.

Megan, Luke, and I took a day to just relax and go to the beach. It was the perfect day for it too, the water was 84 degrees.

Reed arrived Friday afternoon and spent most of Friday and Saturday putting IKEA dressers together. Yuck! He also put a door in the kitchen leading into the basement. The frame wasn't square of course, so he had to do lots of trimming.

We also have a couple of additions to the family... we knew there was a box turtle out in the sunken garden part of the yard. We named her Lizzie after the woman who built the home. After they cut the bougainvillea, she didn't have anywhere to find any shade so Luke and I decided we would put in a couple of plants, then a shelter, then a pond...

Then we discovered a second turtle. We named him Martin after Lizzie's husband who died on the Titanic. Of course we had to make the shelter bigger so they could both fit!

We went to The Garlic  for dinner on Sunday YUM!! and then headed out early Monday morning for Colorado. Major things are happening the next couple of weeks so I will have lots to share with you next time.