Reveal: Two-Room Refresh

In yesterday's post, I alluded to my sewing time being diminished because of our efforts at restoring order to our recent refresh in the front room and dining room. We are far enough along in the process that I will share our new look. Some things still remain to be done (is it ever finished?), but we have definite plans for making those things a priority in the coming days or weeks.

But first, let me show you a few "before" pics of the job. Before leaving for vacation, we took up all the carpet and emptied out the rooms for easier floor installation. 

Piano was in the dining room; gave it away to first person who'd come get it.

 

Carpet coming out; it was the original 1992 carpet.

A totally empty dining room. This room will be done first.

Two rooms of furniture pushed to the center of the front room.

Stacked and compacted into the front room.

The flooring installation took just one day, and it came exactly a week after we returned from vacation. We sure were glad to have done all the carpet removal and packing prior to leaving. I'd have hated to have that massive task waiting to be done when we got home. The only hard part was living with these two rooms in such disarray for a week. (Small problems, right?)

The dining room is about half done!

As work began in the front room, we moved furniture to dining room.

Beginning to return things to their places.

It was fun ordering rugs, slip covers, and curtains and then having them delivered right to our door! We had some things to return, but truly, it was a very easy way to go. I have learned that online shopping is a huge time saver.

And now for the reveal - tada! We are quite pleased with our new spaces. I find that I am enjoying sitting in the front room. I have a chair situated in such a way that affords me view of the front yard and the back yard. Nice! It's like I am in a new house, sort of.

 

As you enter our front door and look left, you see the front room, a space that has gotten very little use in the 30 years we've lived here. It got a new paint job about 8 years ago and other than that, it has looked pretty much like it did in 1992. Here are some old - before - pictures of this space from this same general view.

The emphasis in these two old pictures was obviously Christmas, but the room is what we'll focus on here. In addition to the new flooring and rug in our update, we've added a slip cover to the couch. Our plan is to change out the wall art in 3 European-inspired pictures in this room to some that lean more toward a country/vintage look. I intend to order digital downloads and re-use the frames, if possible. While the couch is in the same place, we've rearranged some of the other furniture and added new curtains.

In this photo, I've walked diagonally across the room and taken the picture looking back toward the front door. It looks quite monochromatic and I do not mind this at all. It feels restful and calm which seems to be exceedingly inviting. Maybe we will spend more time using this room now.

Next to the front room is our dining room. It had served many purposes over the years, and we rarely use it for dining. While the kids were at home and especially through their high school years, it had more of an office use with desktop computers and printers. The piano was also in this room. Below is a picture from 2019 when my sweet Frienzies were here for our Christmas gathering. You cannot see the floor, but you can see the old center light, the piano on the right and the previous curtains.

 

The ceiling light was changed out in 2020, and the cupboard in the corner has been replaced with a kitchen cupboard from my dad's side of the family. The family piece is smaller and more suited to a dining room.

With the leaves of the table removed, it is easier to see the flooring and new rug. We like having more space in this room with that larger cupboard removed and replaced with the smaller family piece. 

Stepping into that back corner and looking out toward the front room, the two rooms are pulled together with the same flooring, same curtains, same paint and trim, and similar rugs. This view shows the new flooring really well.

The part of all this that has taken me so long was the dishes. Three cupboards in these two rooms had a lot of dishes. China cabinet, Hoosier cabinet and kitchen cupboard. Full. Of. Dishes. All had to be boxed up and moved out. I put them all out on the front porch. But...the problem with that was that it all got dusty and buggy and had to be washed - mostly by hand - before going back into the cupboards.Ugh.

I procrastinated. Big time.

One thing will get me in gear - hosting an event. The Frankfort Girls were here yesterday, and I was determined to have these rooms back together in time for them to get a tour. With DH's help, we did it.

Now, new month, new rooms, and more time for quilting! I have some fun stuff planned for this month! Stay tuned for details.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

A Saturday for Dabbling

Today I seem to be dabbling. A plethora of projects await me, and I'm having a hard time focusing. So I flit.  Eventually something will be finished, surely.

First up this morning, I decided I should cut out some more stars. Above are the parts for 7 Ohio Stars, and I had the neutral parts ready for a few more, below.

After about an hour or so (I lose track of time when I am in the sewing room!), I have about 29 star parts ready to go.

I need a total of 49 stars, so there's a bit more cutting and prepping to be done. I have 4 stars done, if you recall. Click here to see.

I've been sorta' procrastinating on this next project. It has been a bugger, for sure. About a month ago, I acquired this old cupboard from a distant cousin. It is in good shape, but needed a refresh. With 80 or more years' worth of furniture wax/polish build-up, it looked almost black. In the picture below, the very top is indicative of how the entire piece looked prior to my sanding efforts. But sanding was taking forever - the wax on the wood gummed up the sandpaper. So I switched tactics.

After consulting several YouTube videos featuring methods of furniture refinishing, I tried denatured alcohol applied with steel wool. It's messy, but it works. See my current progress.

My plan is to leave the wood in as natural a tone as possible. I'd given some thought to painting it, but no, I don't think so. Maybe the interior will get painted; undetermined on that at present. 

I am going through rubber gloves pretty fast. I don't know if the denatured alcohol is that strong, or if the steel wool is making little punctures in the gloves, but my scrubbing hand (left) is really taking some abuse. This process requires a good amount of elbow grease along with lots and lots of paper towels. I will go back for a second round of scrubbing and wiping later today.

Coming up next week, I have two events for which I am preparing. First, our book club is meeting on Tuesday, and I need to read the book, Last Bus to Wisdom. I have it downloaded and ready for listening. Then on Wednesday, I am hosting the Frienzies here for brunch. My menu is set; I must schedule a grocery visit, along with a bit of housekeeping. 

I plan to listen to my book while I work on the cupboard, wash windows and mop floors. This gal knows how to multi-task! *wink*

Happy Saturday and Happy Quilting, Friends!

Home Improvements

After nearly 28 years of living with a gravel driveway up to our garage door, we at last have a concrete apron. We have long wanted to do this, and finally this spring we accomplished our goal. Along with that apron, we replaced our front sidewalk and improved the step access to the screened porch. Let's take a walk through this home improvement.

Step 1: Remove old sidewalk

We have had this brick sidewalk for over 20 years, and ever spring and summer we battle weeds that grow in the cracks. It becomes quite unsightly. These pictures were taken in early April, and the weeds were already becoming a nuisance.

This picture shows the area after all the bricks had been removed. Now that was a job! Fortunately, our son was home during the pandemic and he did nearly all of this for us.

Step 2: Lay out new sidewalk, remove excess gravel, and build forms.

Steps 2 and 3 occurred on consecutive days - a Monday and a Tuesday.  This particular day only Harlan and his helper/brother-in-law Eldon were here to build the forms and clear away the gravel. Eldon's wife (and Harlan's sister) Elma brought the men their lunches, and we got to visit a little bit.

Side note: This Mennonite community surrounds us and we have gotten to know them pretty well. DH drives the school van for them (they are a horse-and-buggy community); I occasionally take another sister or two to work in Frankfort, and we buy produce and eggs from other family members.

Step 3: Concrete Day!!

Cement delivery was scheduled for early on a Tuesday, so the Mennonite crew was here even earlier to do the final prepping. Harlan and his crew - Eldon, Ervin, and Harvey - were very efficient workers. They worked steadily even through the heat and sun with few, if any, breaks. Once that truck arrived, however, the pace picked up to a frenetic, strenuous level.This is back-breaking work! Concrete installation requires work to be done quickly, before hardening begins. The precision with which each man performed his duties in this process was something to watch. Almost like a conductor of a symphony, Harlan had his men right where they needed to be, anticipating each move and need. I was impressed by the entire process.

 

 

Have you noticed the skies? We really got lucky with the weather. These were two very gorgeous days.

Step 4: Finishing, Sealing and Clean-up

These steps occurred over 2 or 3 days, and clean-up continues even now, over a week later. We still have topsoil to fill in around the newly poured concrete, but we are able to use the sidewalks and park vehicles on the apron. Totally worth the 28-year wait. Shoulda' done it sooner.

So that's our big outdoor home improvement. Here in a day or two, I will share the "extra" job that Harlan did for us before he took all his heavy equipment away.

Hope you are having a productive day!

Happy Quilting, Friends!