3.18.2011

Winter Projects, in pictures

We've lived in our house a little over 3 years. That's hard to believe! In that time, we're slowly but steadily making it our own, and improving it for the next buyers, when we decide to sell. The end of this winter has been busy with indoor house projects before we tackle the Really Big projects outside.

Storage has been added to various areas of the house- a new cabinet near our pantry, and a new cabinet in the laundry/utility room:


The first cabinet, Josh bought unfinished and finished it himself. In our unheated garage. In the winter. He's a hero.


The master bath vanity, with the awesome vintage teal sink and chipped countertop:


The bathroom vanity after:


Here, the counter was replaced and the cabinet polished with finish to get rid of some of the fading & scratches. Josh also took down the medicine cabinet over the master bath vanity and refinished the wood frame, and repainted where it was rusting inside the cabinet. We would have replaced the cabinet, but discovered it's a non-standard size, made by a company that sold to an Australian company 20 years ago. So, that didn't work out. (I don't have any "after" pictures, but trust me, it looks a lot better.)


Simple projects around the house include hanging new blinds/shades and curtains in a few rooms, hanging pictures in the nursery, and organizing the foyer:

Oh my goodness, apparently I can only take crooked pictures. I apologize. Also, I realize I haven't talked much about the nursery. I'll save that for another post.

The latest project was the kitchen countertop and sink. Menards was having a sale on countertop, and because we have a relatively small kitchen, this ended up being a very affordable project. I'm amazed how Josh can get these seemingly major projects done in practically one evening- this one took slightly longer, understandably- but not much longer!

The kitchen, when we moved in, with labels of what we've changed:

In the past, I've mentioned adding the island, getting new appliances, painting, and adding the spice rack.

The kitchen today:


I really like the way the house is turning out. Josh is working really hard at it- and having fun and learning a lot along the way. I'm thankful for his handiness. If we had to hire someone to do all these things, there's no way we'd be able to afford it!

This summer, we have a couple really major outdoor projects, in addition to the vegetable garden, that we're excited to tackle. For now, we've just been raking out garden beds that didn't get cleaned out last fall, and it feels so, so good to be outside working. The last two days have been beautiful for it. I missed out last summer, being pregnant and exhausted and pretty much useless in the yard- I'm looking forward to making up for it this year!

5 comments:

ashley said...

Wow, what a great job you and Josh have done!!! I'll have to come by and see it. :-)

At first, I thought the "before" pic of the bathroom vanity was "after" (I missed the sarcasm in "awesome vintage sink"). I am glad you replaced it. ;-)

I really like that blind you got for the nursery. I am wanting some just like it for our bay window. What do you think? You'll have to let me know pros/cons.

Your kitchen is looking great!! I can't wait until we can get started redoing our kitchen. We have as much counterspace as you, so it's encouraging to know that the cost isn't so high! We are replacing our cabinets as well, though, which I know is really the cost raiser right there.

So.... can we borrow Josh? :-)

Jes said...

it's looking awesome!! way to go Josh! (and I'm sure you did some!!)

Joanna said...

Ashley- Those particular blinds are in the master bath (you can see the shower in the background), but we ended up hanging them in our bedroom, the nursery, and the third bedroom as well. I really like them. They pull up and down like a shade (so, no cords to babyproof) and let some light in while still providing privacy. We had typical miniblinds, and I really didn't like those.

The counters ended up being an under-$300 project doing it ourselves, which is inexpensive on the scale of "kitchen remodels". We decided not to redo or paint the cabinets, but are still considering replacing the drawer & cabinet pulls.

And, I'll send Josh down there as soon as he's done with OUR old house ;-)

Jes- Most of this was all Josh, seriously. I helped carry the countertops?

Lisa said...

WHAT ARE YOUR OUTDOOR PROJECTS HMMM??

Joanna said...

Since more than one person asked... New siding/trim/gutters, and a patio where the picnic table used to be.

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