Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Living Room Plans

I'm all about Plan B. If we can't sell our house, I've got a plethora of ideas for fixing up our current place. My first project (while we have a contractor building a master suite in the basement) will be to paint our living room. I already purchased the paints to use either on this house or a new one.

So here it is: Plan B c/o Photoshop.

Before


After



At first I was worried that the greenish/gray would clash with the yellow in the dining room. However, after driving on the Palouse on a sunny fall day, I witnessed this color combination in nature to be fresh and airy. Photoshop doesn't mind either. 


My mom is sad to see the orange accent wall go. The orange matches the mat of our Georges Seurat painting, but I think the gray really makes the picture pop. What are your thoughts?

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Fall Snapshots

Amidst the chaos in our lives, Jeff and I have been enjoying our time together as a family. Life is much less hectic now that he is no longer working at Nordstrom, and it has been wonderful getting to spend time with my best friend. Here are a few snapshots from our fall adventures.


I could go to Greenbluff every weekend and never tire of it.


Walter's Fruit Ranch is one of our favorite Greenbluff stops.




Everett loves his Grandma.


I think the feeling is mutual.






Jeff was searching for the perfect pumpkin.


Found it! Double pump.


We also found this one.


Out for one of our weekly family walks to Manito Park








The church by our house.


This guy is feeling much better, but now Mom is sick.


Our autumnal decor. Pumpkins from my garden.


More pumpkins from the garden.


I found this little gem in the $1 bin at Joann's.



Monday, October 28, 2013

House Hunting...Again

Why didn't anyone remind me how TERRIBLE this house hunting business is? Seriously, this is no laughing matter. If you are one of those people who think buying real estate is a good investment, you are dead wrong. Unless you can afford to pay cash for your forever home, do yourself a favor and stay in your rental house because betches, it's not 2006 anymore, and your house is NOT an investment.

To top it off, I don't know how the real estate market is in your neck of the woods, but in Spokane the pattern follows:

  • You find a house you sort of like.
  • You look at it and decide it's not perfect because the pantry is in the wrong place.
  • You find a house you LOVE.
  • You make an offer.
  • The house has already sold.
  • You find another house you LOVE.
  • You look again just to make sure.
  • You make an offer.
  • The house has already sold.
  • You have looked at every house on the market, and eventually go back to the first one. I guess we can live with that misplaced pantry...
  • The house has sold.

And here's our most recent house hunting sob story. We found a house we loved, but it was out of our price range. Jeff got mad at me because I sent him the listing for an expensive house, we fought, then moved on with life. A couple weeks later, the same house dropped $15,000 in price, putting it right in our price range. So we made an offer, it was accepted, and we put our house on the market. Yahoo!!! Not so fast - 10 minutes after a burly man pounded a "For Sale" sign in my front yard, we got a call from our realtor saying the new house fell through.

In conclusion, anyone with tequila is welcome to pour it down my throat. Also, please find me a house. And make sure it has a pantry.

Also, I need a facial. But I mostly need tequila.

P.S. How do we feel about split-level houses?


Friday, October 25, 2013

Buy Me!

This is HAPPENING! Our house is on the market. Tell all yo friends! Here's an example of what a little blood, sweat, love, and tears can do to make a house a home:

Front




Living Room





Dining Room




Kitchen



Master Bedroom



Nursery



Bathroom



Basement



Backyard/Deck



Thursday, October 17, 2013

Getting a Deck Over

We've really fallen behind when it comes to house projects. Mostly because we both work full time, have a baby, and we have been on the fence about buying a new house. However, we are full steam ahead now that our schedules are a little more free - Jeff is no longer working 2 jobs, and my employer is letting me work a day from home (Thursday lunch breaks = baby cuddles and house projects).

When Jeff finished his employment with Nordstrom in August, the first thing we did with our free weekends was re-stain our deck. We chose this job not because we wanted a fresh-looking deck, but because it was literally going to fall to pieces if we didn't fix it before another winter.

The owners before us chose to paint the deck boards black, and the paint started chipping off about a week after we moved into the house (can we say "house flip"?). I am not even sure if they used exterior paint for the project, but I am thinking not since the deck boards started cracking and rotting last winter.

We decided to try out Behr's DeckOver product from Home Depot to breathe new life into our cracking, chipping, warping, rotting deck. This product was perfect for us, as we needed something to fill chips and cracks, update the color, and protect the deck boards from harsh Spokane elements.

To start, we ripped up the rotted deck boards that could not be salvaged. We then stripped the peeling paint off the remaining boards using this product from Home Depot:


Make sure to read all the instructions on this product before you leave the store, as you may need to purchase a couple items (aka rubber gloves, ventilation mask, coarse brush) to make this product effective. This product worked like a charm at removing the paint that had not already chipped off. Next, we neutralized the stripping action by using this:



The additional items needed for the wood stripper can also be used for the wood cleaner.

After the wood was sufficiently cleaned, we applied a liberal coat (this stuff is goopy) of DeckOver with rollers, then let it dry for 24 hours.



Next, we used a brush to fill in some of the smaller cracks, which also made the bigger cracks appear smaller. After waiting another 24 hours for this to dry, we did a second thick coat with the rollers and called it good.

Note: we did not strip the railings and slats because they were in pretty decent shape, all things considered. We simply applied the DeckOver right on top of the well-preserved paint.

Finally, it was time to paint the new deck boards and screw them into newly reinforced joists. We used this method. The end product...



Pretty good...

When it was all said and done, making over the deck took us about 2 weeks of nap times, bed times, paint-drying times, and waiting-for-it-to-not-rain times. Because the DeckOver is goopy, be sure to buy more than you think you will need. We used just under 4 gallons for our entire deck. Here's a rundown of our total expenses for this project:



Deck Renovation
4 Gallons DeckOver
$139.92
Wood Stripper
$19.96
Wood Cleaner
$8.99
New Deck Boards
$24.98
Coarse Brush & Handle
$8.99
Deck Screws
$9.37
2x4s to Reinforce Joists
(can’t remember exact #) ~$10.00
Paint bucket, brushes, etc.
~$15.00
Rubber Gloves
(already had) $0
Ventilation Mask
(already had) $0


TOTAL
$237.21
 

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

10 Months - Regression

The last couple weeks in the Wirth household have been rough. Teething turned into a cold, which became a virus, which became the croup, which lead to an all body rash and double ear infection, which became a diaper rash and upset stomach. Everett is currently on an antibiotic that is giving him those last two symptoms, and we are all at our wit's end with this period of illness. He only wants to be in my arms, and if I put him down or leave his sight, he starts screaming. 

All this was manageable, because we knew he would eventually go down for the night and sleep until morning. However, the last two nights, Everett has been having difficulties with this. The house will be quiet and peaceful, then suddenly there is loud screaming coming from his room. It sounds like a baby horror movie. Jeff will try to calm him down, but he only wants Mom. If I pick him up, I can hear his stomach gurgling. Okay, maybe he's hungry. But he doesn't really eat. Once he's calmed down, I will try putting him back in the crib (so I can go the EFF back to sleep) and he'll start screaming all over again. Last night, I finally got him to go back to sleep, but I had to hold him in my arms. I tiptoed to our couch, got comfy after Willow snuggled up with us, and starting falling asleep...then the cat started meowing at the front door. As opening the squeaky door and letting in a blast of cold air would certainly wake the baby, and since Willow was on my legs, I had to listen to her meowing and pawing until 6:00am when Jeff let her in. In conclusion, I am currently operating on about 2 hours of sleep.

Has anyone else experienced this kind of sleep regression during baby sickness and lived through it? It is so hard not to demand feed and cuddle him when he is not feeling well, but I would really hate to develop bad habits after we worked so hard to break them already. Do we think he's simply having nightmares from all the Vampire Diaries I'm making everyone watch?

Despite these difficulties, Everett is still a happy and pleasant boy (after he's soiled 4 diapers and 4 outfits each morning). He is all over the place, and getting into everything. He loves opening and closing doors, singing songs, and his favorite toy is the remote control. He is a typical boy in that he makes a beeline for any toy truck or car in sight. He is also pretty crazy about books. Every page turn is a game of peekaboo!  When he's feeling well, he has mastered the high five, can stand a few moments on his own, and attempts to repeat words you say to him -

"Everett, can you say Willow?"
"I-moe."

When we were at Jeff's parents' house, Everett was chilling in his Pack N Play one morning while we were sleeping in, and he stated very clearly, "Out!"

It is so much fun watching him grow and develop, but it is also heartbreaking to see him in pain.


It's almost impossible to get a clear photo of this busy body.


Mariachi band!!!


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