Basement Stairway

When the world all around you seems to be going crazy (or at least social media is), I suggest a hands-on project to get your mind off of it. Practical work, and prayer, seem to be the best ways for me to cope with stressors in my life. Sometimes it means I clean out my clothes closet, sometimes it means I tackle an organization project. More recently, it has been a painting project (big surprise there).

I give you: The Basement Stairway!  

Before:

I have no idea how old this green paint is, but based on the dirt and dust build-up, it's old. 

It's textured: gritty and sand-like. The hooks here are nice and convenient, but 

because the basement door has glass panes, we can see the stairway. I decided last week that I was tired of looking at dirty old green paint. I took the hooks down, and the guys who are dipping and stripping our interior doors put them in the vat to get the paint off. They didn't look so great, but with a bit of spray paint, they look like new. The basement walls need painted, but that will happen in time. As always, I am so amazed what a little caulk and fresh paint can do.

After:

China Collection

Once upon a time, I actively collected china cups and saucers. The first thing I ever bid on (and won) at an auction was a china cup and saucer. And when I was in high school, I bought myself a whole set of antique china at an antique store in central PA.

I don't buy china things anymore, but I've kept (most of) my collection. I got rid of a few things that I didn't really like, or that didn't have any sentimental value. I even considered getting rid of my set of china dishes, because, really, how often will I use them? But I still have them. I still like them. And I plan to start using them now that they have been unpacked and the boxes and paper recycled.

When we lived in Baltimore, we were given an old china cabinet that was in a house a friend of ours had purchased. A couple years ago, when I knew we were going to move, (but didn't know where yet) I packed up all that china and we got rid of the old cabinet.

Now that we've settled into this house, I started itching for a china cabinet, so I could unpack those boxes! I've been checking craigslist (once a day) for a number of weeks, checking out etsy, and I even visited some antique stores in the region. I found two that I liked. One was in North Carolina (a bit too far away to look at, and then there's the logistics of shipping a china cabinet) and one was close by. The one close by was just the style I wanted, but one of the doors didn't close and there was a crack in a decorative piece on top. I really liked that cabinet so I considered whether it would be worthwhile to take it to a furniture repair person. In the end, I decided it wasn't worth the hassle. Through craigslist, I ended up finding another cabinet relatively close by that I liked. And thanks to some friends who loaned us their truck, Dan and I were able to pick it up. So that's done.

It's fun to get new things, but it also becomes exhausting after a while. And when time drags by, and I deliberate about what decision to make, I start feeling cranky and annoyed at the whole experience. I just want to make a decision and be done already! And I start feeling like I'm just running after material possessions. And I don't like that. I don't enjoy feeling as if I am trapped by stuff.

So I'm glad, and thankful, that I found a cabinet I like. It's not perfect. It's old, so it has some wear and tear, but all in all, it does what it's meant to do.

I didn't get an exact date from the sellers, but based on who in their family originally owned it, I think it fits the time period of when our house was built.

This shelf below belonged to my grandmother. It, along with the cups and saucers, were packed away the entire time we rented. Once we moved to this house, I finally unpacked them, and we hung up the shelf. Elena is asking when we can have a tea party. One of these days I need to plan one!

Third Child Pictures

I'm a third child, and I used to give my mom a hard time because there were fewer photos of me as a child (and no professional photos) than there were of my two older siblings. I guess it's a good thing, because I will be able to sympathize and commiserate with Susanna when she is older. I do have some professional photos of her, but not nearly as many pictures over all. It is not second nature to me to snap many pictures (and I don't have a handy dandy smart phone), so unless I am intentional, a lot of time passes between photos.

I recently made a little activity for her with plastic tokens and an old baking powder can. She has been playing with it a lot over the past couple of days. So I decided I should snap some pictures. I love watching a busy child.

Living Room Then and Now

Then:

Now:

A few days ago, I browsed through photos taken last October and marveled at the difference a year of hard work can make. I am so glad to be on this side of a lot of the major work. These before pictures were taken well before October, but it took us months to get to the mostly finished stage.

Wall to wall carpeting, old floor-to-ceiling drapes, 

faux wood paint on all the trim, mantle and 

radiator covers, and old wallpaper. 

This wallpaper seemed to be older than a lot of the 

rest of the wallpaper in the house. 

While other wallpaper came off in sheets, this old stuff 

had to be thoroughly soaked and scraped off bit by bit. 

Just ignore the air mattress - we had a friend

stay at the home a number of times during the early part of the renovations.

Carpets and drapes removed. 

Getting ready for the floor to be refinished.

For many months after moving in, this room had a large pile of boxes in the middle 

of it. My goal was to have the room cleared out and fixed up before Susanna could crawl. 

During the winter, I spent many hours painting the trim. It took a coat of primer and 3-4 coats of trim paint. I could have done one more coat of paint, but decided it was good enough. 

All in all here's what we had done: refinished floors, removed wallpaper and painted the walls, painted ceiling, painted trim. Removed sconces above the mantle. Updated the electrical wiring and installed some recessed lights. We also had both windows replaced. I think the previous windows were original, and while they had character, they had too much chipping paint and were very drafty.

It has been a slow progression, because it takes me a while to figure out what to 

do with a space, and it takes me a while to find what I like, but here is the current "after."

We still don't have anything on the walls, but I am actually starting to have ideas. I don't feel rushed or pressured to get those things done, which feels very peaceful. I have to admit that I kind of like fairly empty walls (except for those big areas). They provide a resting spot for my eyes. 

The coffee table and the small green stand in the corner belonged to our former neighbor. She passed away soon after we moved, and so it is special to have them as a reminder of her.

The inside of the door still has the faux wood paint. It drives me crazy, but clearly I have not gotten around to painting it. One of these days...

So there it is! Bit by bit we are making the rooms cozy and liveable. The couch is the only new piece of furniture. Those arm chairs have been with me since college. They aren't my ideal chairs, but they are quite comfortable, and they work wonderfully for now. 

Fall Happenings

A few snippets of life around here lately.

'Tis the season for grape juice. I have fond memories of drinking home canned grape juice as a kid. When we had friends over my mom's snack specialty was canned grape juice and air-popped popcorn.  This is Mom's grape juice recipe:

1 cup grapes

1/2 c. sugar

Put grapes and sugar in quart jar. 

Fill with hot water. 

Process at a boil for

10 minutes. Let sit into November.

Short and sweet. I need to write on my recipe card to remember to stir the grapes/sugar/water before putting the lid on them otherwise the sugar doesn't get dissolved. 

I use a mix of 1 and 2 quart jars. And some that are in between that amount. But I treat them like 2 quart jars.

I remember seeing pictures Mom would take of her canned goods. So here's my attempt at an artsy picture. (yeah, I'm not really photogenically artsy, it's true). You'd never know we live in a city, based on all that greenery outside our window. I love it.

We are slowly finishing up the 3rd floor room. Our futon cover was old and dingy (and not a real futon cover, so it didn't fit well at all), so we're going to be getting a new one made. I was going to attempt to make one, but I have decided I'd rather have a professional make this for me.

I have taken on the task of sewing roman shades for two windows in the 3rd floor room. I love fabric, and I love being able to make drapes and curtains. When we lived in Baltimore, I made roman shades for our bedroom windows, and I loved them. It was incredibly satisfying to make a shade that I could pull up and down (Such things excite me, yes. I'm a bit of a sewing geek). I am following similar directions (I had used an official pattern then and am using it again now) but tweaking them a bit because I am hanging them differently. So until they are done and hung, I feel a bit nervous about whether they will actually work. I keep reminding myself that since I made them once before and they worked out, they should this time too, if I just follow all the steps.

This little girl has gotten so busy. She learned (very quickly) from her older siblings, that she can push a chair over to the counter and climb up, and find all kinds of goodies. I really need to keep an eye on her now. Especially when I am cooking.

Swallowtails

It's not all renovation projects around here, although that is mostly what I post.  We spent part of August and part of September being amazed by caterpillars that turn into black swallowtail butterflies.  It started when the older children found a caterpillar eating the parsley in our garden. We brought it inside and put it in a container. Within a day it had strung itself up and so we just kept it and watched the whole process unfold. We ended up with a total of four caterpillars that survived the process (and we basically ran out of parsley, even though I got rid of a bunch of caterpillars - shh, don't tell my kids!). The pictures below are a mix of those different caterpillars.

This was such a fun activity, and it was initially spontaneous and unplanned. We all enjoyed keeping an eye on the caterpillars, watching for the change and then were excited when each one turned into a chrysallis and then a butterfly. I did not like the decimation of most of my parsley, however. I read that these same caterpillars also like fennel and dill. So perhaps next year I will plant some of those and keep my parsley clear of caterpillars.

Bathroom Final, Finally

We took our time about it, but we've finally finished the bathroom. For a number of weeks, our bathroom was doorless while we had the door and closet door dipped and stripped and then refinished. There is a company just a few blocks away where they dip and strip anything that fits in their tank. We've started to slowly get our interior doors refinished. Two down, about 11 more to go. At least, now if you come to visit us there will be a door on the bathroom!

Here's how the bathroom looks now. We need to put the radiator back in after we freshen up its paint, but that is the last thing to do, aside from some touch-up painting.

Refinished door

We kept the vintage ceiling light fixture.

(No, our hallway is not painted. The trim only has primer on it)

Ahhh, fresh and (mostly) clean. Original sink, new fixtures. Original medicine cabinet, new light sconces. Original wall tile, new floor tiles. 

Original doors, but without all that crazy fake-wood paint.

You know what's fun about this rug and stool? They are from the same company (Ten Thousand Villages), color coordinate wonderfully, but were purchased about 11 years apart. The rug was a wedding present, and I basically picked the bathroom colors because of it. The middle is starting to come apart, so I think some repairs will be in order eventually. I have no desire to replace it, and there is no guarantee I'd find another like it.

And just for fun: the contrast of before and after:

Before:

After: