Month: April 2017

Front Porch

Now that the master bedroom floor is done and it’s just painting left the focus switched to the front porch.  We are adding a front porch to protect the door and match the dormers.  The first step was digging some 4′ deep holes for footings and filling those.   Mark and Ryan spent a few days digging and then about an hour to finish them up.  I wish I had gotten a picture of the open holes, it was impressive!

New footings – we’re leaving the stairs hidden under the porch
One for alex
and one for Bella

The inspector kindly came out late friday night to inspect the holes so the footings were done Saturday and on Sunday the framing could be started!

The bottom part is done (we have not yet picked out decking!)

Last night we had materials delivered (finally the rain stopped) and Ryan and Mark started on the roof portion!

They have all the rafters cut I believe and hope to work again tonight on it.

The current push to get the porch done is to get it to the point where the roof can be done.  We are having a metal standing seam roof installed in early May and need this porch done (framing) before hand.  The decking and ‘decoration’ like post details and railings can be done later.  I believe once the rafters and zip are on the roof then it’s doing the soffits and tieing them into the house and then we’re ready for the roofer.

Stitching – Autumn in my Garden

I’ve hit a milestone (finishing the pumpkins) with a large piece i’m stitching lately called Autumn in my Garden by Mirabilia.  I’m stitching this on 40ct fabric so it’s 1 strand of thread (dmc) over 2 threads and includes some beads.  This piece will have companion pieces for each season but I started with this one a few years ago because it’s my favorite.

Autumn in my Garden April 2017 Progress

There are various leaves to stitch next and then it will be rolled up so I can start the top 1/2 which is less dense and should go quicker.  The leaves have a lot of colors so those will take a while.

In house news : We finished the floor poly coats Friday and Saturday of our ‘vacation’.  It’s now cured enough that we can safely put paper down and start the painting process this weekend!  In a few weeks we’ll be able to put a rug down and move in!

Staycation Master Suite

It’s our annual April vacation where the kids go to daycare and we stay home and work on the house – coincides with our birthdays.  This year the focus was on the master suite (just a few more weeks and we’ll have our own room!).

Monday was Alex’s birthday so we did a family fun day but we worked Sunday (Saturday was alex’s bday party), Tues-Friday.  Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday the focus was on finishing the trim in the Master and painting the master bathroom.  Ryan got the built-ins finished and all the trim installed by Wed night night.  I painted Tuesday and Wednesday (2 coats on the trim and 1 coat on the walls).  So the master bathroom just needs one more coat on the walls.

Same blue as the small bathroom

The master bathroom trim is white (Ben Moore Chantilly Lace to be exact) – the rest of the house is Linen White (more off white) but we thought with the tile the bright white looked better.

Left built-in finished!

Technically the built-ins need shelves still but the grooves for putting the brackets in are there so it’s just a matter of making the shelves and installing the brackets.

Closet is trimmed out as well – the light box has to be trimmed out but that’s it.
Doors and chair rail all done – even the little closet is trimmed out

Thursday was flooring day!  First we sanded – that took all afternoon, then after a dinner out I went back and did the first coat of poly

First round of sanding
1st coat done!

These are the same as the other bedroom – cherry – but a bit more variety in color I feel like.  It’s beautiful!  Today is our last actual vacation day, we got the sanding done and Ryan is doing the 2nd coat of poly.  Saturday I’ll come over and do the third and by Sunday night we’ll be back in the house (we are staying at my parents while the poly dries) – the fumes generally bother me but it is pretty contained to the bedroom only and the weather is PERFECT for drying the floors quickly and leaving the windows open over night.

We’ve got 3 weeks before we can put a rug in so we have the time to get the trim and walls all painted.  Going to be a busy few weeks as we can’t wait to get in there!