Who Tiles a Carport?

Who in their right mind would tile a carport?

This is the lovely tiled carport that came as an added bonus when I bought my house, notice the tile was the same tile that is in the "great" room and kitchen. . .

Well after a sudden burst of insanity my dad decided that we would pry up all the tile in the carport - at 8 o'clock at night!!

We were left with a pile of broken tile, and a RED carport. . .

I've Got Fans!

During the "Before Tour" you all got to witness the horror that was the ceiling fans from hell. If you missed it here they are again in all of their horrific glory:

this was the "great room" fan


the front bedroom


and the back bedroom

All three fans threatened to come flying down from their spots on the ceiling if you even thought about turning them on. . . oh, and don't even get my started on their wiring, I am lucky the house didn't burn down. . .

The monsters have all been replace with beautiful new properly wired more energy efficient Hunter ceiling fans:

. . . in the "great room". . .


. . . in the front bedroom. . .


. . . in the back bedroom. . .

What a difference few ceiling fan can make.

The fans were a belated birthday gift from my mom and dad.

too Busy to Blog

This past week or so has been a whirl wind of activity at my little "mid-century cottage" and I've been so busy working on the house that blogging about working on the house has fallen by the wayside.

I am going to do my best to update you all and everything that has been done, but until then here is a quick breakdown of the posts topics you should expect this week:

• ceiling fans
• tiled carport
• kitty cats
• doorknobs
• front door colors
• picture hanging
• well water
• air conditioning

And some big news coming at the end of the week!

Upcoming Events

Coming in October:

Saturday the 4th - Stitch Rock
Held in Delray Beach - super fun indie craft fair and bazaar, I bought some of the cutest things there last year, can't wait to go again.

Saturday the 11th - Grammy's Attic
Held in Pompano Beach - like a giant air conditioned yard sale.
Bonus - lots of nearby private yard sales as well, I got a brand new never even opened cookie press last year for a dime!!

Here Kitty Kitty

I am a sucker for all things furry. So when I saw a thin little black kitty in my backyard I had to fight the urge to run out and make her my own.

This would be a problem for two reasons - 1. I'm getting a dog & 2. I am super allergic to cats, and after years and years of having to live my life highly medicated just so that I can live at my parent's I am looking forward to the day when my head isn't in a fog.

Fighting the urge to adopt the cat became much harder when I found out that the skinny black kitty was the mother of a skinny little gray and white kitten. . .

I'm not that strong of a person - so I started feeding them. . . they run away when anyone gets within 10 feet of them, but they have been showing up every night this past week for their supper.

I couldn't feed them and then not give them names, so the black cat is Licorice, and the kitten is Bunny (if it's a girl) or Rabbit (if it's a boy) - we won't know for sure until they let us get a little closer.

I'm really hoping that someone will come along and take them in - until then I'll keep them fed.

Yippee

I heard from cousin/sister and it looks as though Emmett will be coming to live with me!! He will be a maybe dog no longer!! And I get a trip to Savannah out of the deal!

Virtual Shopping: Arrgh

Not only is today my cousin/sister's birthday, but it's also Talk Like a Pirate Day!!

Target has this awesome Skull & Crossbone dinnerware you can pick up to help bring the pirate spirit into your home:

Don't forget to say Arrgh to someone you love.

Blogged via Text-

Woohoo! Both the windows & the electric passed their inspections!

I heart MDF

A friend (who will remain nameless) and I had a little spat over MDF.

Nameless friend tried to tell me that MDF was exactly the same as particle board.

I (rightly so) said that while Medium Density Fiberboard and particle board are both forms of fiberboard, MDF was solid much denser and much sturdier than particle board.

Nameless friend continued to rant that I was wrong. . .
I am not wrong, and here's the proof:

MDF is on the left, particle board is on the right. . . which one would you want your cheap furniture made out of?

Take that nameless friend. . .

A Glimse Into the Future

Well sorta. . .

After I was done (as in I couldn't do any more without having heat stroke) painting the trim on Sunday I decided to take a quick picture to the front of the house - a not-quite-after shot.

Doesn't the white trim look nice?

Anyway I decided I wanted to see what the house might look like when it's done, so I headed over to Piknik and this is the "future" of casa de Laurendy:

I promise that the front door will not end up that exact shade of hot pink.

Crossing Things Off the List

This past weekend I put my dad and my sister's best friend to work crossing things off the "this needs to be done so Laurendy can move in" list.

Things that got done this weekend:

1. doors hinges tightened
2. dead bolts reinforced
3. ceiling fan hung in living room
4. tie up any pumping lose ends
5. work on back bedroom window plaster repair

While the boys worked inside, I painted the exterior trim, I'm about 60% done and my mom did a quick stop over and mowed the yard.

We had one little mishap, the fridge didn't like having it's power cut off while the ceiling fan was being hung, and decided not to come back on. So we unplugged it and said a prayer - last night my dad went over to give the fridge a once over and it suddenly worked when he plugged it in - so I'm just going to ignore this little hiccup and hope it doesn't do that again.

Also, FPL and my electrician are suppose to come over and finish up with the electricity today!! Woohoo, once they are done I can get central air installed and I can finally move in!!

Where am I Suppose to Put My Bed?

I have all these visions on a beautiful sparse uncluttered bedroom. . . but it doesn't look like it's going to happen.

Because the laundry room is currently off limits due to it's yuckiness there is definite a lack of storage space in the house. Until the laundry room is redone (who knows when that will be) I'm going to have to live this monster of a portable wardrobe in my bedroom:

The thing is huge, but needed. . .

Add that to the dresser and bookcase:

And the room is already full, and that's without the bed!

• The room is almost 10' by almost 11'
• The dresser is 46" x 18"
• The bookcase is 26" x 12"
• The wardrobe is 47" x 20"
• I also have two night stands that match the dresser.

If anyone out there has any idea on how I might fit all this in my bedroom with a standard full size bed without it looking a mess, please, please, PLEASE share!

Under Attack!!

I went by the house last night to check on a few things (good thing I did, but more of that to come), and what greeted me at the side door?

This monster moth!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!

Okay, okay, so maybe it didn't really have horns and breath fire, and maybe it didn't skewer baby butterflies with a BBQ fork. . . but the thing was huge!!

It's body alone was almost 3 inches long - and I didn't plan on sticking around to see it's wingspan.

For some reason it seems that moths really like my new jelly jar lights, because this huge guy wasn't alone, there was 4 much smaller, non-monster sized moths keeping him company. . .

What I Got!

Not too long again I was pointing out the fact that I was majorly lacking in the canister department - well I am happy to say that that is no longer the case.

I picked up these bad boys at Walmart for under $15 for the whole lot!! I'm thinking about picking up a few more of the large one to hold snacks and pasta in pantry.

A Change of Heart

Even before I had closed on my house I had the exterior paint colors picked out. . .

I was fully committed to the perfect little mid-century color scheme. . . until I saw this. . .

Forgive the picture, it was about 8 o'clock at night when I took it, but after putting the primer on the brick, I think I like it. So it looks like beach cottage might win out over mid-century. . . so I guess it's going to be a "mid-century beach cottage" for now.

I already purchased the gray paint, so I can change my mind and go back to the original plan at anytime.

(I'm still going to paint the front door the pink color)

Let's Play a Game!

Let's play "where's the kitty?". . . We played this live and in person last night when Miss Dibbs went a missing. . .

Can you spot the kitty?

Yep, that's her. On top of the television. . .

This is why I'm getting a dog.

Virtual Shopping: Vintage Fun

While I can't afford to buy anything that isn't 100% needed at the moment, that hasn't kept me from virtual window shopping.

Right now I am in love with Three Potato Four. I know I don't need, can't afford, and don't have room for any of their products right now, but that doesn't stop the lust.

Come on now, this sign just belongs at my place!

Any of these would make a great housewarming gift (cough, cough).
And they have tons more where that came from!

Bathroom Update

Giving me hope that I will actually be able to move into my house at some point - the one and only bathroom is now completely livable!!

Let the choir rejoice - Hallelujah!



Now, it's far from finished, but you can use the toilet and take a shower and for the time being that's all I need.

Still to come:

1. Install pedestal sink
2. Change light fixture
3. Install new medicine cabinet
4. Hang Ikea Lack floating shelves above the toilet
5. Take out the ugly tile floor and access the damage to the original terrazzo

If we can't save the terrazzo then I will most likely go with some sort of black tile.

Painting Party

This past Saturday I held a little painting party - basically I tricked my friends into coming over with the promise of pizza, beer, and ice pops, then made them paint my house.

By the time we were done there were 4 coats of paint on my house, 2 coats of primer and 2 coats of chartreuse. I didn't get any pictures past the priming stage because, well, I was too busy painting the house.

And I may have stooped to an all time low - if you thought I was bad for making teenagers try to dig to China you may want to turn away now - cause this weekend I put everyone to work, even a 5 year old!

Hey, I'm not above child labor as long as it's free!!

Just kidding, the Kiddie spent most of the time in the pool, but every now and then he would get a hankering to help paint, so we'd hand him a roller and pray that he didn't paint a window.

the Indoor Pool

What better place could there be for a pool than in the middle of the living room?

None!! When it's nearing 90 outside and all you got is a little hand pump to inflate a pretty big kiddie pool moving it indoors quickly becomes the most desirable option.

At first the Kiddie thought it was quite silly - "Aunt Laurendy, there is a pool in your house!" - once the shock wore off (which was almost instantly) he decided that the pool should stay in the house permanently:

Kiddie: Aunt Laurendy, let's put the pool in your bedroom!
Me: Well where will I put my bed then?
Kiddie: You don't need a bed, you have a pool!

He had a point, but the pool stayed in the living room anyway and quickly became the favorite spot for movie viewing.

Eventually we moved the pool outside, filled it up, and promptly found out that we picked the worst spot in the yard for it. . .

Yep, we found the one very slanted place in my yard and plopped the pool down there, the left side it much lower than the right, and every time the Kiddie and his brother moved around the water would come pouring over the left side making the yard (and eventually all of us) a muddy mess.

Before & After

Sometimes something as simple as changing a faucet can make the biggest difference.

Before:

(gross, right?)

After:

It makes the whole sink look sparkly and new.

The Funk

This funk is killing me - I can't seem to get out of it. It doesn't help that I have no idea when I'll be moving in. It's starting to feel like the closing all over again, "this friday, next friday, monday at the latest, next tuesday for sure".

Am I the only one with "new-home-owner" depression?

*Sigh*

It looks as though Hurricane Ike will not be pulling a Tina on us, but it is really too early to rule anything out, it could turn or do one of those loopidy loops at any time.

In other news:

• The "mid-century cottage" is now chartreuse - the trim and doors will have to wait until next weekend.
• I am now an official "houseblogger", HouseBlogs.net says so. . .
• I'm still having the "I'm never going to be able to move in" breakdown.

I Lied. . .

Did I say "hurricanes will scare me no more"? Cause I take it back!! I didn't mean it, I swear. . . The impact windows are in, but I don't wanna test them already! Please Mr. Ike, go away, you don't wanna came here, not it September, it's horribly hot and muggy - you wouldn't like it here - I think a nice cruise out over the north Atlantic would be much more fun than making landfall.

Thank You Mommy!

Okay, so I told you about the house numbers I've been lusting after but just couldn't bring myself to buy. Well my mom went and surprised me with them!!

She said my indecision was driving her nuts. . . Every time we went to Home Depot I would stop and look at the house numbers, standing there staring at them. I even went as far as putting them in my cart once, then putting them back, I couldn't bring myself to buy them when there are so many other things that the house needs.

Now I just have to decide where to put them. . .