Nice House, Can I Take Your Trash?

So one of my coworkers whom I happen to like just bought a house. This excites me because we already bought our house and redid everything. Sure, there is more to do, but absent a large renovation (LAST on the list), it is not the same as that initial thrill.

So B and I went to check out her place. Also, built in the 20s, it has a lot of the same charm that ours does.  My friend, however, is a tad bit more modern so it will be interesting to see what she does with it.  There are some unusual things there too like the fact that she can only get central air on the first floor. Is that even central? No clue. Also the creepy former coal chute that is big enough to bury a body, or seven. Seriously, I felt like I was in an episode of American Horror Story and that creepy creature in the basement was coming out to get me.  

This, my friends, is not the most exciting part! You knew that, right? The most exciting part was as we left we saw the trash pile that the former owners left that very day in front of the house. Whatever did we find? A chair! Yes, a chair that made B pause and point it out. Then we had to sit in it. Then we had to trash pick it and put it in our truck. 

Similar to the old chair left behind in our house by our house's former owners (yes, it finally got reupholstered, no I have not shared the photos yet), this one had GOOD LINES.  That is all I kept saying. I will have you know, though, that when B took the chair from our house to the upholsterers, that is exactly what they said. I may not know what I am talking about, but somehow I am right.

So what do you think of the chair a/k/a our future piece of fine furniture?

Look at those lines! Yes, I realize this is just a bare bone skeleton of a chair, but can you imagine what it will look like when it is reborn? Yes, I just used the word "reborn" while talking about a chair.

Yes we sat in a chair that only had springs on it and it was actually quite comfortable as is. That is what sold me.

And the back view:

I am almost as excited about this chair as S is about her house. Well, maybe more.  Perhaps I will one day show you the finished product of our chair.  

Stay tuned.

 

If You Write It, It Will Come...

Remember when the other day, and I mean LITERALLY the other day, I wrote about how B sold our dining room set right after Christmas and after my casual remark about wanting a new one? Guess what we finally got?  Yes, a "new" dining room. It is like B read my mind. Or my blog.

Do you want a sneak peek?

Of course you want a sneak peek!

That is our new china cabinet. How gorgeous is that? Not the best picture, but I promise when the whole set is in place, I will use a real camera instead of my iPhone. The carving is so beautiful and the wood so heavy. In addition to the china cabinet, there is a long buffet, a table with two leaves and six chairs including two captains chairs.  Larger than the last set, I think it is going to look amazing in our dining room. I am even fond of how it goes with the color-that-was-picked-by-readers-and-then-changed.  

Speaking of the house...there have been other new things added in the past months that you haven't seen.  Keep your eyes peeled for future posts to catch you up.  

As for this addition, the whole set should be here tomorrow.  Then you will get the big reveal.

Stay tuned.

 

It's Summertime and the Sprinkling's Easy

Is it hot enough for you? Don't you hate when people ask that? But they all do. It is like the easy button of small talk.  Anyway, it has been hot here the past couple of days. It started on Saturday, the day of our annual walking tour. It was so hot, I didn't even bother taking pictures.  Check out pictures from a prior year here and here.  Same type of houses, same type of heat.

When we got back, B decided he was going to water the dogs. Literally.  He broke out the sprinkler, which Jersey loves.  It was Nevada's first time.  Luckily, B had the camera at the ready and captured some fun moments:

How does this work?

Where does it come from?

Where does it go?

Oh there! In my face.

If I turn quickly I can catch it.

Maybe I should just contort.

Jersey lets Nevada know she has it under control.

A sprinkler challenge!

And a face-off!

Mid-shake fest.

My name is Nevada and I am FEROCIOUS!

The rest of us humans just showered and took naps. A perfect summer day.

Can you believe it is summer already?

The Back Bedroom Reveal...Well, Kinda, Since it is Not Really Done But Better Than Before?

Remember when I told you ages ago that I was going to reveal our back bedroom and what we had done with it and what we planned to do with it? Stretch your memory, folks. It was a while ago. So far, in fact, that I cannot even take the time this morning to go find the link.

But today, all will be revealed. Well, all that has been done at least. If B were here this morning instead of at work, he would be shouting "FINALLY!", so just pretend you hear that being shouted in the background as you read this.

The back bedroom, if you will recall, was bright blue with white stars painted on it and red shelves. Very patriotic. Perfect for Memorial Day and Fourth of July. However, since we plan to use the room more than twice a year, we decided an overhaul was in order.

So after careful thought, but unfortunately, no poll, we picked a color and B started painting:

Actually, it started looking even more patriotic after he started painting.

There is B...painting. Isn't he always painting when he ends up in photos?

Yes, sometimes I would have to iron in the midst of the painting. Luckily no clothing ended up with paint on it. This time.

When it was all finished, a beautiful room emerged:

That's a little dark.

I just love this color.

It looks kind of orange here, but it is not the same color of our dining room. This is a much darker red kind of color.

Like this.

So what are our plans for this room?

A walk-in closet!!

I am so excited! We have seen a few of these in different houses we have been in and although each bedroom has a closet, it is really not enough to hold our clothes. Well, mostly my clothes. Exhibit A:

All of my clothes aren't even in there! Some are in the boxes you see in the room. Some are in my dresser where I forget about them. I always wanted a big closet. That I can fill with beautiful things.

When is this going to happen?

It is last on the list. Just kidding. Remember when everything was the last thing on the list? Well, this won't be, but it might be a while.

I will keep you posted.

It's Like If These Walls Could Take Pictures, But It Was a Person and That Person Was Outside

Remember when I told you that the former owners of our house had a son and he was kind enough to drop off a CD of what the house looked like before the people before us bought it? Well this is the second, and last, part of that series. These are the outside pictures:

Here is our house now:

And this was it then:

Look at that HUGE tree! It takes up most of the house and entirely covers up the dining room window. In fact, if you look closely at the dining room window in this picture, you can see the tree in it.

I told B that I am not sure I would have been able to see past that tree if we were looking at the house back then. Luckily for us, the people before us could and one of the first things they did after moving in was tear out the tree. Thus leaving the dining room window visible:

And, later, after B tore out that bush, we discovered something even more beautiful that should have never been covered up. Look at the side brick work:

It totally matches the brick work around the door. So gorgeous. Much better than a sunblocking, neighbor watching blocking, and HUGE ass tree.

They also did a little more with the back porch than we do:

This is what it looks like now without all of the plants*:

They had plants everywhere:

We just have cats:

So there you have it. Crazy how things change and how different everyone's vision of how their house should look like really is. I love that we were able to see the different ways our house has been used and decorated.

*Okay it really looks better than that. We have grass and it is green. I chose to use an old picture probably right after we moved in and the snow melted. Don't want you to think B doesn't take care of the yard. He does.

You Say Foreclosure, B Says Potential

We recently heard that the house across the street from us went into foreclosure. One of the neighbors thought it looked back inside, but that was not confirmed. However, once the house officially went on the market, B got us the code to go inside so we could see for ourselves.

It was as disastrous as I thought it would be in parts and better in parts. But, see for yourself.

Immediately upon entering the side of the house, you turn left into a hall to go into the kitchen. This is that hall that leads to the kitchen and the eat in area that you see in the way back:

This is the kitchen. No appliances. I am sure he took them with him. Plastic wrap on the windows which leads me to believe they are original and just as drafty as ours. And a lovely shade of pale yellow:

And what is this you ask? No clue. It looks like the owner was trying to knock down the entry way between the kitchen and the eat in but then just kind of gave up?

This is the weird old faucet in the kitchen sink that also had built-in soap dispenser (that I doubt has worked in quite some time):

If you can't tell what the following picture is, well that would be the light switch, hanging in the MIDDLE of the room. Safety be damned!

Below is the living room. The fireplace is in good shape. The carpet, however, is not. The entry to the left goes to the dining room that has the same carpet. The entry way to the right goes to a small TV room in which B is standing. It also holds the best thing I found in the house.

This is the best thing in the house. How gorgeous is this built-in cabinet?

This beauty is the back porch that the owner may have been attempting to make into an all season room. Unfortunately, in its current state it is a no season room. There is a glass door leading from the dining room, as well as one leading from the TV room.

This is the upstairs main bath. Again with the yellow. However, I did fall in love with the arch and curve of the shower. And it had a shower/tub combo which is more than I can say for our bath.

Although the bath has two seats in it so you probably wouldn't fit in it to take an actual bath. We can use B as a sizing gauge:

And, finally, the bath downstairs. Can you say water damage?

I didn't take any pictures of the bedrooms because they were pretty standard and nothing exciting. I also forgot to take a picture of the outside, but I will update with one later.

This house is selling for a bargain, but between the water damage, the need for a new roof, probably new windows, and the very large and VERY dead tree in front, one would probably need twice the selling price to even be able to live in it. B thinks that it is in decent shape. I, however, am unable to see beyond all of the many (and hugely visible) flaws.

I hope someone serious buys it and fixes it. I would love to see that.