The house that Shh and Mr. Shh rebuilt: old world trim, mud room storage and the future kitchen

shh · Post edited by shh at 2012-02-14 11:02:32

So, it's been about 2 months since we've moved in. We are sort-of settled, but haven't done much of anything.

We adopted the previous owner's landscapers. Thank goodness. There are a lot of trees and a lot of grass. It is a huge relief to not worry about that stuff getting done every weekend.

We are waiting on major roof repairs, chimney repair, thousands of dollars in tree pruning and removal, electrical upgrades, and maybe if I'm especially nice we'll hire someone to remove wallpaper & paint, though Mr. Vig doesn't seem to want to spend that money so quickly when there is so much else that needs to be done. (Kitchen and baths will wait.)

The girls are in their individual rooms, Furniture has been ordered and it would be nice to have their rooms painted before it arrives. Wishful thinking.

I would love to be able to tackle a few smaller projects on my own, but overall the house is overwhelming me. (Or is it the 4 year old?) I'd love to freshen up the girls' bathroom, for one. Rip out the ugly wallpaper, old floor, shower door, dark, awkward cabinetry and maybe put in a new vanity and normal lighting, though they are enjoying the "heat lamp."

I think it was a good move for us, but starting over can be hard.

Did I mention the ugly wallpaper and lack of lighting???

just the aunt

Where did you move too? Enjoy the new house. Don't let everything overwhelm you.

shh

We are in a beautiful part of SO. :wink:

Thanks, it is enjoyable, but still overwhelming!

lucy

Vig take some pictures before and after and as time goes by you won't believe all that you have accomplished ! Have fun decorating Good Luck!

pippi

do you just love your new girl Jessie?
Is Mr VIG overwhelmed by all the women in the house?
:wink:

it'll all get done, just remember it doesn't all have to be done at once.

hankzona

rumor has it, it's all caused Mr. VIG to lose his hair.

pippi

:rolling:

shh

Hey, that's not sooooo funny.

At this point I am trying to find the perfect color for the front room. I have somewhat of a vision. So what if it changes every other day? TODAY, I am thinking of a deep buff, not too tan, not too gold. Oh, and the ceiling will be dark, a dark gray green (today that is).

There are too many colors to choose from, so I am going crazy.

shh

BTW, BOTH of my brother's wives are pregnant!!!

Yes, the newlyweds are already about 2 months along, but broke the news to family early because today we are ordering BM dresses for my sister's wedding. (And she'll have to get a maternity dress.) Her due date is about 10.5 months after their wedding day. They work quick!

pippi

WOW
congrats ( yes?)

doulamomma

I was at someones home who had the most beautiful sun room/office & the ceiling was painted a deep navy with constellations painted on top - so lovely (you're ceiling idea made me think of that)

Good running into you today!

shh

You too! My little one, as usual, was being quite demanding (she totally has my demeanor) but I loved stopping in to Cafe Meow and that muffin was so good. (So was the cookie.)

The youngest actually wants a navy ceiling. We found a navy from BM with her name in it, so there you go. With cream walls, I think it will look great. (Her carpet is cream, it was recently put in so we put her smaller navy with stars rug on top.) Hey, Pippi's dad sold us that rug 11 years ago!!! Her new big dresser/armoire and nightstand will be painted red, so it all goes with her fog-Christmas Eve sky-farm theme she's working on. (As I said, her mother's daughter!)

doulamomma

sounds beautiful! pretty sophisticated tastes, but as you said, she's just like you!

shh

Yay! The roofers are starting today.

Spent some time peeling wallpaper this weekend. Still waiting on bids, but I may as well start the work and see how far I can get. It doesn't take too much time to accomplish a little something. Problem is there's a LOT to accomplish.

bobk

Vig, think one room at a time. It helps.

Also, most rental centers have wall paper steamers that you can rent and, assuming your walls are plaster this can speed up the job considerably. I rented one years ago when we moved into our first house and was able to strip the living room and dining room in one day.

My recollection is that there was only one coat of wallpaper and a couple of coats of paint and the walls had been sized when the wallpaper went up, so this was nearly ideal conditions.

shh

Bob, I read about the steamers. Problem is, I haven't had a full day to dedicate. It's ok, a lot peels off easily. Then the paper backing remains. So, I fill a spray bottle with hot water and some soap, soak the paper and scrape it off with my very owne scraper my husband bought me! Then we'll have to clean the walls really well. I also have a clothes steamer and I read those work as well as the rentals, but my husband took it apart and we need to try to put it back together.

Even if I can get all the paper off in the stairwell/hall (all 4 stories!) I will be ahead of the game.

bobk

Ho well, just trying to be helpful. Instead of soap use fabric softener (Mrs. K's favorite) or DIF (my favorite).

It must be nice to have a spouse who really understands you. Your own wall paper scraper, how thoughful!!! :bigsmile:

ajc

Hey Shh, did you take your deck with you? :wink:

BTW, if you need any help again I have a couple of UTR new workers that replaced Mr. F.... Good luck and best wishes in the new digs....

shh

Hi Art! No, the deck stayed, we even gave it a touch up on the stain (and a brand new patio too...like I said, the move came up quickly).

Thanks for the well-wishes. We have TONS to do...if I think of anything suitable I'll let you know. (BTW, what's UTR?)

shh

Bob, I read about fabric softener too, but have plenty of dish soap on hand, so that's why I use that! Mr. Vig bought the DIF too, I figure I'll use that if I have any stubborn areas.

Got our second painting/wallpaper quote today, it's a little bit less than the first, but it would be wishful thinking on my part to assume Mr. Vig will go for it all...maybe we'll pay for some and do some on our own.

We did a little exploration yesterday. The archway between the LR & DR is super thick, so we figured there must have been pocket doors there originally. Well, we know they're now gone. (Not that I would have wanted to use them, I'm trying to open the spaces up more not close them off.) Anyway, it seems the archway was widened and the trim was removed, so we have 2 naked harsh square archways. Instead of matching the trim, I think we'll just created soft rounded archways there. There's already TONS of wood in the room and the curved arch fits the architecture just fine. It can't be too hard right?

ajc

"Under The Radar..."

Because once the word gets out and people find out what good, fast, and inexpensive work they do I won't be able to afford them myself anymore...

shh

I was straightening up and was reminded of something funny. Not haha funny, just one of those things.

My husband's sister had been begging to come over for weeks. Her little girl is a year younger than our youngest. Anyway, running joke is she always comes for a meal empty handed. (And she always has.)

So, Sunday afternoon, at an agreed upon time, she brings her family. I figure I'll make an easy pasta for an early supper if they stay a few hours. We have beer and before they come she asks if we'll have the game on so her husband can sit and watch.

They show up with a tiny box a black and white cookies. No big deal. After some time passes, I tell them I'll make some pasta with vodka sauce & salad. She says well we just had bagels before we came but we'll eat.

Now if you stop at a bagel store on a Sunday AM before going to visit, why not just bring a dozen bagels?

Anyway, it was fine. I made pizzas for the kids, pasta & salad. We had beer & wine.

We made some espresso and had the cookies. Luckily there was one or two extra.

The next day I threw away the cookie box, it was from the bagel place they stopped at before they came by. $2.99.

I just have to laugh thinking about it.

pippi

that sounds not atypical of your SIL

so the $2.99 cookies was your housewarming gift? Not even a plant??

shh

Well, she kept saying "oh I wish something would have been open on our way." and, "will you guys have an official housewarming party?" (What, feeding you once wasn't enough?)

I completely understand not bringing a "housewarming" gift, not knowing how I decorate or what I need. As it was, I gave away the cheesy wrought iron umbrella stand my M-i-L bought at Daffy's on her way over! But, c'mon, she was the one who called for days asking when they could come by.

As Mr. Vig said, she's the queen of the second thoughts. Did you know they stopped at Arturo's when A was in the NICU? We were waiting for them to come so we could visit the baby, and my mom decided to order pizza. By the time they finally came to the house, they said "oh, we just stopped for pizza." (My newborn was in the NICU, you didn't think we might want some???) Then my bro's ex-wife had made me cookies, and we were in the car waiting to go and she ran in to take more cookies because she was still hungry!!!

A plant or inexpensive bottle of wine would have been too thoughtful. I did tell her my rabbit broke. NO, not that rabbit, my wine opener/corkscrew rabbit. That would be a wonderful thoughtful housewarming gift.

bobk

Vig, most of the stuff I post here is from first hand experience. The following isn't, just from TV and reading.

There is a pretty good chance that the pocket doors are in the wall. Most people cancelled them when they jumped the track and got stuck and then just put a pieces of trim over the openings.

I wouldn't remove trim from the door and redo the opening, especially if the pocket doors are still there. The next owner might want to reactivate them and removing the oak moldings would probably reduce the value of your house. To be honest, we Ks got pretty sick and tired of the dark original moldings in the house we rented last winter. However, they definitely were a selling point when the house went on the market in the spring.

shh

No Bob, the moulding and doors have already been removed. We opened the wall (at least one side) and saw the empty track where the door used to be. The mouldings have been gone, the Previous owner said they were gone when she moved there almost 30 yrs ago. That's why I thought doing a curved archway would look nice...there are some arch-topped windows elsewhere and the front porch has rounded archways too, so it would mirror that. I don't want to remove them, they're gone!

pippi

you had a kid in the NICU and she didn't offer to feed your entire family that night?
who raised her?:wink:
can we chalk it up to her youth at the time? (no excuse now)

shh

Yeah, guess who she was with? HER MOTHER. Yes, the dutiful grandmother of my children who most of the time forgets they even exist. (Luckily they have another.)

Art, missed your post, but thanks for the info! We do have several small jobs I can think of. I'll discuss with the Mr.

jholtz

VIG: Sorry for the late info (just got back from traveling).

If it is not too late I would definitely recommend calling Brian from Chimney Technicians. His phone number is 516-315-8586. He is one of the most honest guys I have ever dealt with and does a ton of work in the area. Tell him that I told you to call.

Josh (your neighbor)

shh

Hi Josh,

It's ok, we got another chimney guy from our friends down the street, working there now. He is going to fix our chimney on Thurs. The roofer said he could do it too, but his price was much higher so even he said to let this other guy do it.

Thanks for letting me know though! I would have called or stopped by if I needed the number.
S

shh

Whole lotta nothin' going on.

Roof was repaired but tiles are on backorder so it won't be done until Dec...and it's still leaking. (60mph winds didn't help I suppose.) Hopefully the chimney guy will find his way back here too.

My cousin's fiance, an electrician, is coming over this weekend to give us some advice on our service/lighting plans. Then we will proceed with that. (Always good to get an objective opinion.) Unfortunately he's not licensed here and busy anyway, so no freebies. Advice is good though!

Ahh, the walls. I got a new razor blade scraper...just because! Mr. Vig can be so thoughful like that. :wink: (Better than socks I guess.) The other one was more like a sharp putty knife. Not so sure I should be trusted with a real blade. I had a dream and there was lots of blood. I guess this is not the type of tool I should just leaving lying around with young kids here. I have a horrid memory of my brother, maybe 5 at the time, finding a razor blade in our grass and getting his hands all bloodied up playing with it. Yikes. Thoughts like that stay with you forever. Anyway, the painting estimates we got do seem to be high, so I will continue to peel away the layers until we are ready to proceed and hopefully the price will drop somewhat because of my prep work. Doesn't matter, I still can't decide on all my colors, so I'm not rushing into it anyway.

Oh, the radiators hiss a lot. Isn't that fun? I guess the girls need to get used to that sound, but we have a timer set to raise the heat around 6am or so and today they told me it's like an alarm clock.

Today is 6 weeks since I ordered the girls' new furniture. I can't wait for it to arrive! I have piles and bins and stacks of winter clothes everywhere and would love to put it away.

I think we are almost finished with our storage bin. Mr. Vig keeps bringing home bins of toys and games and stuffed animals I really wish we had thrown out. It's just all going to the 3rd floor playroom or basement and I will eventually go through it. They seem to be doing fine with some blocks, art supplies and their American Girl dolls. The rest is just clutter.

hans

Shh-

Thanks for the tour. Great house and great yard.

shh

Hey Hans, glad you ran by. I managed to clean the kitchen, rearrange the family room perfectly and neatly organize the coat closet after you left!

Next time we'll show you the rest.

Send regards to the ol' block!

shh

Hey.

I am still, still trying to figure out lighting the front room (a great hall kind of room) and deciding on some sort of color scheme for the living spaces. I have peeled a lot of wallpaper but not nearly all. At this point, with Mr. Shh's crazy work schedule, I think we will have to hire someone to paint if it will ever get done. (But since I can't decide on colors, it's a moot point.)

We decided to connect with the architect who designed our kitchen reno. in the old house. We like this house, but we're having a hard time making the space work...it's not a typical center hall/side hall colonial like we were used to. Just having a game plan will be money well spent. We do not want to redo things like we did in the other house. This house has a lot of potential, it just needs the right mind to tap into it and I really want to do it right the first time. I am excited to make it work better for us and maintain the character of the house. It's a fine line.

Today I picked up lots of green color swatches. When I first walked into the house I thought greens and blues...there is a lot of dark wood moulding and I'd like to enhance that (since painting it white is not an option). Well, I went though the buffs, golds, grays and blues, now here I am at Green. Around and around the color wheel I go... Basically I like colors that go with red. Because I love red. So, if I can't bring something red into the room it won't work for me. I happen to love red with green. Not Christmas-y Green, more muted greens, so hopefully I am on to something.

I am unfortunately still waiting for my kids' furniture. Hello, any day now I hope, because winter clothes do not store themselves and plastic bins are not furniture. But, since the rooms aren't painted, it almost doesn't matter. (At least they know what colors they want their rooms to be!)

With all this rain we found out our basement is dry. That is fabulous because one room is sort of finished, though it needs to be gutted. Anyway, we are deciding between making it an art studio/craft room or a playroom. We realized kids don't like being in third floor playrooms, though they are great for sleepovers.

shh

Today the tree work started. The trees on the property have been ignored for decades and need a lot of attention. Many are weeds that have grown 40 feet and should come down. Already the house looks brighter, but a bit naked. New shrubs will have to be planted eventually.

The tree guy, whose opinion I respect, said the roof looks horrible...cracked tiles all over. (I didn't want to take a ride in the bucket to see for myself.) My heart sank. We spent a lot of money to repair the tile roof. I hope that wasn't a mistake. I called the roofing co. and gave him a heads up. It's a big deal.

Before this I was excited. I picked out colors, finally, so we have a starting point. Now I want to crawl into bed and hope big bad wolf doesn't come and blow this roof down.

:sad:

sallysue

Shh -

Not to complicate the whole paint-choosing operation, but I found a very interesting paint company that uses oodles of pigments and NO black (which absorbs light(

My Christmas present to myself is going to be their big sample pack.

The website is: www.citronpaint.com

On another note - I would "whisper" to you, but sometimes whispers get lost in the shuffle and I can't find your e-mail address....

I found Jesse's "formal" collar and leash, as well as her monthly flea and tick treatments - stop by some day and I'll have an early prezzie for the Jesse-girl.

shh

Hi Lydia,

And I thought no one cared! Thanks for posting!

I will email you about Jessie's stuff. She is doing fine, BTW, still following me (and various female guests!) everywhere! She LOVES my mom.

I have read a lot about Full Spectrum paints on garden web. Ellen Kennon is another manufacturer. I will look at citronpaint and see if any of the shades I am interested in are comparable. I have also found this website colorcharts.org that will do a breakdown for you, though I got samples from SW so I can look on the can. It's a cool concept. On our cruise this summer we ate dinner with a family who own a very high end paint store in Bergen Cty. I would bet they carry all that stuff too.

Thanks for letting me know about Jessie's things. Look for my email.

S

las

Of course we care!

I always read your blog, even when I have nothing of value to contribute.

[as this post will attest...]

shh

Aww, thanks my dear.

calliope

Me too!
C

sallysue

I think about you and Jesse a lot - I'm so happy that you love her - she is a good dog. Jesse adored my mother too - took to her right away and snuggled in her lap.

What I loved about Jesse is her sweetness and nobility - she doesn't let on right away that she's needy, but she's the most loyal and sweet dog once she feels safe.

Where does she sleep now? She started in our front hall and eventually made it to the foot of our bed.

Does Jesse make the "Whoop" sounds in the morning? Once she was whooping was when I could let her out in the back yard without watching her.

shh

She sleeps in our room on this red area rug, all curled up. I am amazed my husband hasn't stepped on her when he gets up to leave (it's still dark). I try to sneak downstairs for espresso and MOL before anyone else gets up, but withoout fail she follows me and shakes just as we pass the girls' rooms, always wakes the youngest! I should take her collar off in the house so I get my 1/2 hour of peace!

She's always underfoot...sometimes it's tricky with a full laundry basket and a dog following me up and down the steps, but no matter where I go she follows! When we eat she's under the table. Not looking for scraps, just because she likes to be close.

A few weeks ago I had an appt. near my mom's house and I didn't want to leave her home alone so long so we took her with us. At my mom's she waited by the door for me almost the entire time.

I usually let her out by 8 (if we don't walk to the bus stop) but she knows when I get dressed...she waits by the bathroom door for me and when she sees me put my shoes on she almost starts to gallop. She has whooped on occasion. One time she whooped in the middle of the night, so we ran her downstairs thinking she needed to go out. I think she was talking in her sleep!

She doesn't play fetch. I tried. I ended up running down the yard to get the ball. And the stick. (Never said I was a fast learner!)

jersey_boy

I read it too. I'm too scared to talk about tile roofing issues. People in glass houses or something...

Tree guys busted up some of ours too.

J.B.

shh

Ooh, wow. I'm feeling the love people.

JB, tree guys didn't do it...none of the trees was on the roof or fell there. Tree guy just said when he was up there he saw all the cracked tiles and asked who the roofer was (again). I will hope for the best. I left a nice but concerned message for the roofer.

They're all nice guys, I suppose sometimes they like to point out each others faults.

I like to think they're fighting for my love, but that's...nevermind!

Anyway...

Trying to get into the season. Mr. Shh and the 4yo put up the tree and brought down some decorations last weekend. Guess what, it's a 6 foot fake pre-lit tree but it's adorable. She decorated it (with help from her dad and sisters). I have a bunch of matching ornaments I like...stars and angels, but they chose not to use them. Instead, pearl beads and school projects are front and center. She put her 2yo picture up at the very top. It looks kind of spare and sweet. Sometimes it's nice to let go of the control. I was working on a project with the 10yo when this all went down, so it was a pleasant surprise to see lights strung and holiday things all over.

The 4 yo (who I realize is a perfect angel in comparison to her 3 yo cousin who slept over) sat on Santa's lap yesterday at the duck pond. She got kind of comfy there. And thought. She's the type of kid who's always thinking. She smiled. I told her when I look at her face and see her smile it lights up my life. I told her to smile when she meets people. So there she is smiling and thinking. He asked what she wants and we listen intently. Baby Born? Baby Alive? Finally she said " a cash register." IT WASN'T ON THE LIST! Now I'm looking for a nice cash register (she already has several). Since she's the only one who still believes I would like it to be somewhat magical for her.

Tom Reingold

I hope she's OK if it isn't filled with real cash!

shh

Tom, she loves money and credit cards. This weekend she cried because the credit card (room key) from the cruise with her name on it disappeared (whoops!). Ever since she was a baby she loved putting change in her bank. She and her dad would lie in her bed and whatever change was in his pockets they'd save. I found a great cash register/bank so I hope I can get it in time.

shh

The cash register bank was kind of magical (and I only put some spare change in it). I also found a vintage toy cash register on ebay and won it very inexpensively. It's so cool and she believes it was Santa's own. Little things like that make all the holiday hustle and bustle so worthwhile.

Here we are finally ready to forge ahead with making this house our own. Over the next few weeks we hope to have the electrical upgraded, most of the rooms painted and the girls should finally have their furniture so no more rubbermaid bins full of clothes! I so look forward to that.

Today I put the check in the mail to our architect. I am excited to see what he comes up with. Just to have a plan on paper will be such a relief to me.

Laundry. It never ends. I must throw stuff out.

Toys. Grrrr. My anal retentive sister-in-law makes sure her not-even 2 year old only takes out one toy at a time then puts it away before using the next. Why didn't I think of that? My nephew is the sweetest little boy and I love him to bits. I bought him a wooden train set from Costco and painted the wooden box it came in with his name and trains. He was so excited to see it. (They told me not to buy it because he had a plastic one. Hmmmph!) He saw the box and started squealing, choo choo, choo choo. He played with it for the 4 days he was at my parents' house. Definitely one of the best purchases of the season. My aunt bought him a small plastic Little Tikes workbench so I spent an hour or so trying to put this thing together. Then when bro and SIL got back (they stayed in the city while my mom watched the kid) they were annoyed it was opened without their permission. My mom didn't tell on me, but I will let them know how much I enjoyed putting it together for him. Since my bro doesn't know how to use a screwdriver, who else would have done it. I also read him 4 or 5 stories instead of the required *ONLY 2* before my mom put him to bed, precisely at 7:15 as instructed. I was never one for such a regimented schedule but I must say, the kid is such an angel, something is working. I absolutely adore this kid. It's hard to believe I can feel so much love...now I know how my sister and brothers feel about my girls. Too bad he doesn't like kisses. Other than that he's perfect.

My mom is absolutely amazing. She does everything for everyone...I am SO not like her.

I feel very lucky to have such an amazing family. Even my in-laws were pretty cool this year. Though the 4yo saw what her 3 yo cousin got and said "there must be a different Santa in New York." :shocked:

shh

Jan 2 and things are falling into place.

Girls' furniture is ready to be delivered, BUT their rooms aren't painted.

Called the painter and they're going to start the girls' rooms tomorrow! Yay!

Now to finalize all color choices...

shh

Can't wait to lose this wallpaper...

hankzona

no comment

shh

Would you call it "the VAGINA wallpaper" too? We have Wm. Morris wallpaper all over and we see vaginas, penises and devils all over the place. (And I mean ON the walls, not the usual characters running around!)

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