it's for real

for several months we knew this day was coming.

we've been packing boxes of items that we don't use everyday.

for the past month we've been working nearly around the clock finishing projects and putting the finishing touch on everything.

i've been shopping for decor to pretty up the place even more. like the shelves that have needed baskets but we never bought. the pillows that i've always wanted, but couldn't justify...got 'em!!

never mind the never ending cleaning. it does feel good to have a clean house. but i detest having to live this way! i like clean....just not "picky clean". {i do agree with Aidan....it is BORING}

for some reason all of those things on the above list never seemed totally real. real was opening up my e-mail and seeing our house listing. real was getting our own keys delivered to our house in a 'lockbox' hanging from our door handle. real became really real when we got the sign added. for real. wow.


this will sound totally obnoxious. and it is! but after the amount of time we've spent "polishing" i think we've earned the right! we had some professional photos taken of our house and they turned out AMAZING! i find myself staring at them and in awe. this place looks good!


my friend, Erin, was asking me how our downstairs bathroom turned out. i can't believe i forgot to take a photo of the finished project! unfortunately i never took any photos of what we started with.

it isn't granite and glass! but it is a far cry from what it looked like when we moved in!!

this house was built in 1949, before basements had much use. apparently. i am guessing the basement was finished in the 70's given the style and such. quite possibly this bathroom was the first project. because it looks like they made all their mistakes in here! thankfully the plumbing and such was done well. with a higher ceiling, additional light, excellent paint job, new taps and hardware....the work of 2 professional carpenters and 1 professional painter....and the taste of a cute couple! hey, it has been MANY late night to get to this point, no regrets about bragging!


now we wait. and try to keep everything still clean and shiny.

changes

today is another big day. our house gets professional photos done for the listing.

it was a late night. and it will be a busy day today.

would you believe that i washed windows in the dark last night? i was curious how they would look this morning...i am very impressed. they look amazing!

the living room and dining room is nearly ready. just a few little things need to be adjusted. the new paint colour doesn't appear too different from the old colour. but it is a few tones darker and looks fabulous. too bad we hadn't done that before.

i wanted to show off the new ceiling and our new light! we kept the same colour in the kitchen and only needed to paint a few walls to freshen them up.

our bedroom no longer has a shop-vac as part of our decor. we stepped up the bedroom style with new curtains and pillows. and i highly recommend not using your dresser as a coin collector...or lost item storage place! we'll see how long that lasts. up until recently our bedroom also became the zone for items that needed to be removed from young children.

the bathroom had a dramatic change with the tile and new colour on the walls.

our handy-dandy-super carpenter also added a frame around our large mirror. i love this mirror! we have a banjo style countertop in our little bathroom, and the mirror runs the entire length of it. amazing.

i want to share photos now that the decorating is nearly done. so much of our decor stuff got packed when Aidan started to walk. lots i had forgotten we had. but i also realize now how little we had added since we became parents. i think i may start to add more interesting items now that the kids are wiser not to touch everything. we'll see how they do in this next little bit.

our house will be officially listed for sale by the end of the week. most of the hard work is done. but we still have a teeny bit of work before it will be ready to show. i am nervous about getting the kids out of the house for those times and making sure nothing gets forgotten....like laundry left out or toys dropped behind a door....but i am more nervous about "strangers" walking through our house and peeking in my dishwasher or closets.

i am getting excited about moving on. and up. my tears for leaving this adorable little home are lessening. i'm sure our last day here will bring on a new round of tears...but some happiness that the next owners will surely enjoy this home as much as we have.

sentimental day.

fast forward

painting is nearly done.

we only have a few boxes left to pack this weekend.

the yard is nearly cleaned up. a flower bed and the garden patch remains. and all the toys...ugh! i took a look inside at the playhouse and there is some work to do inside as well. there has to be a better system for their outdoor toys to be organized.

cleaning and organizing is ongoing.

house inspection is done.

papers signed with our real estate agency. {we have the best realtors!!}

i was very, very tired this weekend. Kris had to work yesterday, so that was a major bummer.

i woke up with a migraine. sigh.



our tulips that have been here forever. they are definitely old. their blooms only last for a few days at the most. but i haven't had the heart to throw them out.

some daffodils. snowdrops? or something. i had forgotten that i had planted these! aren't they delicate?

our pear blossoms. they bloom in bunches like this. very pretty.

our yard is phenomenal in the spring. three fruit trees that blossom. tulips. bunches of iris blooms. daylilies. the climbing clematis that has spread over most of our back fence.

i have some frames hung that held photos of family and friends. but they can't be seen while we're selling the house. one of those "rules". i went back into my photo library and printed out photos of flowers from our yard and added those to the frames. we love how it turned out. they are all straight out of the camera. however, i think they would be totally fun to photoshop and adjust! it's on my list of fun things to do when i have the time and energy....

not too much planned for the day. maybe we'll finish up a few things around here. we're really missing family fun time. fun time that does not involve our house or other peoples' houses! right now the kids are enjoying playing together. i'm sure they're drumming up some kind of trouble. they have so few toys out to enjoy these days, so it is interesting to see what they do with their imagination. {some days mean interesting is 'oh! how cute is that?!'; while other days it is 'whatever where you thinking??!!? stop that at once!!'}

onward, ho!

i'll share our "after" photos some time this week. {i'm learning to not make promises these days.} i am taking photos, because it will be good to remember what "perfect" looks like! even if it only lasts 15 minutes...

real life

take a deep breath.

breath out.

slow.

that is our motto these days!

how many of you can boast a box and coat covered bed AND a shop vac in your bedroom? i know. i'm making you jealous!!

not so many toys around. they are learning to play with certain toys in a new way. Aidan's little laptop also has a music option. they scroll through the music and dance to the different songs. and with all the furniture pushed out of the way and boxes stored away....they had a great dance floor last week. (and i got some really cute and fun photos) i'm sharing this one because it shows you what we got to look at since last Thursday until Wednesday. i will not miss the plaster patches!! i can promise you that. (unless it means we get another power vac to decorate our bedroom...)

this is what our living room has looked like since Monday night. except the walls were not finished.

at about 4 pm i swept, vacuumed, dusted and mopped. then i moved the furniture back. aside from a few extra boxes to sort and the pile of paint paraphernalia in the corner...it looks normal again! well...actually better than normal. i think i need to do a before-after of the living room.

it is so unfortunate that you can't see the amazing ceiling treatment in the photo. or get a feel for the difference the colour makes. i will just say for now that we would not have had THIS colour if i had not been a scrapbooker who keeps a messy desk with lots of unnecessary paper scraps! that is a story i think i need to share one day.

the challenge for me has been to "clean-up" the house each morning. and by "clean-up" i mean to make sure everything is picked up off the floor and furniture is moved back into the centre of the room again. the next challenge has been to get the kids out of the house and enjoying themselves. this morning we were at the library. but the afternoon was beautiful and the kids seemed more than happy to play together in the backyard. bliss to be at home and be out of the way of the painter.

Kiara spotted the bird. i LOVE this photo! {almost as much as i love my Nikon!!}

yay for bike riding!! Kiara has a way to go before she will actually enjoy herself. Aidan loves to "go fast", so i am sure it is just a matter of time before Kiara catches on. the plan is for them to ride down the sidewalk - avoiding people - from one landmark to another. all within sight for me. and they are thrilled. i get to sit down. or take photos of children who are happy to pose and show off. our little slice of heaven...

the colour of our bedroom walls are Marlboro Blue by Benjamin Moore. it feels so serene and peaceful. what's your favourite wall colour?

life is just like that

no photo updates.

but that doesn't mean i'm not taking pictures!!

i think i REALLY need to take a photography class. one to learn if i am really taking too many photos of each sitting. i don't think i am...but maybe i'm wrong? and i would love to work on photo storage. that is my dilemna. i am encouraged and thrilled that my dear husband thinks my photos warrant back up storage and extra hard drives. i'm sure it has nothing to do with documenting the lives of us and his children. oh no, that couldn't be it.

oh and the construction and packing drama continues.

our carpenter has now been given the grand title of "super dave". and he's rather shy, so i doubt we'll share his photo...but he has been working wonders with our little house.

and we really evaluated our talents and hired a painter this time around. it was another smart move for us right now! between the odds and ends jobs and packing and keeping the kids safe....i really doubt the paint would have appealed to any potential buyers.

this week has been another busy week. and we've had to stay away from the house as much as possible. i set up our portable DVD player and a new movie for the kids to watch. they have some fuzzy chairs given to them by their grandma...perfect theater set up for them. i was soooo tired, that i joined them on the floor after supper. and tried to sleep. you know you are tired when moving stuff off a bed or sofa is too strenuous! i must have done well, because i have a second wind just as it is truly time for me to go to bed for good.

being the skilled procrastinator that i am...i left it to the last minute to send in some entries for an online contest. we'll see how that works out for me. sigh. there are just too many balls to juggle. a month ago it was really important...but now, not so much. but i would have kicked myself if i let the opportunity go. never mind entering a month ago when my mind was in it....why so early?!

maybe tomorrow i can even share some photos. that would be a dream! i have some on my camera that can't be moved to the computer until i have space.

space. the ever expanding theme these days. there is never enough of it.

and i do wonder how clear my mind really is these days. thankfully my family and friends seem to understand.

i am thankful that the reason behind my cluttered brain is all good stuff. nothing to complain about whatsoever....as long as you can say losing your mind every once in a while is okay.

off to get some needed beauty sleep....

going with the flow...

this is how we are living these days.

can't sit on the couch yet.

we did manage to put away some things so that we could eat at the table.



there is lots of this around.

and there will be more in the next few days.


i should have taken photos of our bedrooms today! that would have been fun. in order to sleep tonight, i had to find new homes for the junk already. i have another day before the painter begins and the ceiling guy finishes. and for sure another day for our carpenter to work away. we are amazed at the amount of work he completes each day...as well as the methodical process. until Kris or i mention..."oh, yeah....did we mention this?" most often he is one step ahead of us as he completes something we simply never thought about!

today was the first day that he was working with myself and the kids also in the house. i was amazed at how well behaved the kids were. well...after i had to tell Aidan to let the poor man work without a shadow.


i'll keep you posted with more of our happenings. it's going to only get crazier for a little while. {yikes!}

as is

our return home will be a little dustier....for a bit longer!


renovations. you just never know how exactly long everything will last.


i am so glad that the messiest of the work is completed. tile is in. grouting is almost done.


painting is up next. lots of trim in this old house. lots of trim. lots.

here is the before photo of our bathroom. the goal was to change the floor and finish the walls more professionally. {neither Kristian nor i have ever liked this floor...but we lived with it for over ten years...}

the next step is the painting. i have a new colour picked out. i am anxious to see how it will look on the walls. funny story...i brought the kids in partway through the week so that they could see what it all looked like. at that point the toilet was sitting in the bathtub. this was a great concern to them that the "bathroom was broken". can you tell what feature is most important to children?! when we returned last night, Kris had to install it. our only other bathroom is getting a new ceiling....so there is no light....making it very dark. good planning for us!

next the kitchen. new floor. and the ceiling cracks patched.

the floor is not terrible. but when you compare it with our new maple hardwood...it is terrible!

this paint colour will not change. but it will get a paint job. and i think we'll install a new light.

and now to the entry. believe it or not...this is what it looks like clean. ugh!! you can't easily tell in the photo, but there is a horrid patch job below the electrical panel.

it just needs some grouting. and the paint colour will also stay the same. already it looks like a huge improvement already.

another big item on our list is getting a ceiling "knockdown" treatment. all of the ceilings have been patched professionally. and all the bedrooms have been completed now. next up are the living areas.

white is a tough thing to photograph! but you can see the crispness of the job.

here is a close-up:

it is amazing how modern our home is beginning to look.

all these renovations....in preparation for...selling!!

and that is a whole new post.