House Update- Painting and Floors



Painting.........painting and more painting! I think we are finally on the last leg, my bedroom upstairs. We have gone through so much paint it is unbelievable! Four gallons of primer, three gallons ceiling paint, eight gallons wall paint and two gallons trim paint. The poor walls hadn't been painted in so long, it just soaked right in and disappeared.

The huge monster sander to sand the floors down. My ever so nice, up for anything brother-in-law manned the sander. What a long job, but so worth it! Can't wait to see how they turn out!

Doesn't it look huge without all the construction clutter?! Amazingly, we didn't get rid of all that stuff, it is just stashed in different locations. And take note of the walls, fresh paint!

Today we are waiting for the stain to dry on the floors............ Which is the hardest part! We have been working non-stop for three weeks, it feels a little strange to come to a halt.

 

Tile Floors

 Aren't they pretty? I absolutely love how they turned out!!

 I wanted the floor to have a warm-old-fashioned-sort-of-flagstone-English-cottage-look.

 I think it certainly give the room a bit of that feel. (Don't look at those walls around the floor. We haven't had a chance to prime in here yet!)

The view of  the "construction zone"!



After Pictures!

 The bedrooms face East and are so nice and sunny. This is the front bedroom. We also lightly sanded the maple floors and put three coats of shellac on them.

 This room is a tan/terracotta color.

 The back bedroom. Maple floors in here also. I love how shiny they came out!

 Walls are a light silvery green.

House Update- Moving In

I had all these nice little post planned out, pictures to take and things to share. All that has gone out the window! We are scheduled to move into my house before June 1st!! Wait, you say, last update you still had a long way to go? That is true. And we still do! But the house we are currently in we have rented. A family we know sold their house faster then expected and were looking for a place to stay for a few months, we decided this was the perfect chance to get into gear and be a blessing to them. Though we might have bit off more then we can chew.....

 Currently, the two downstairs bedrooms are almost done. We started on them first so we could move a few things over. My sister Becky, the painter extraordinaire, has been working non-stop for the last week. You would not believe how thirsty these walls were, they must not have seen paint in thirty years!

Everything in this bedroom was Pink! Now I love pink, but I also like definition and contrast. It is amazing how much better white trim and doors make the room look.

I have also been working on the kitchen floors. So excited how it turned out! I keep thinking I will take pictures...... but that is low priority on the list right now.

Well friends, just wanted to give you an update. I will see you in June!

Edit: These are "Before" pictures, hope to get "After" pictures soon!

May Flowers

 All those April Showers certainly brought the May Flowers! I can't believe how fast we went from no leaves on the trees, to not only buds but baby leaves and blossoms!

 

Now that the weather is warm and the days are longer I am trying to get moving on getting my house done. Stay tuned for an update soon!

Reproduction Apron Patterns on Etsy

Vintage Flapper Era Apron Pattern

Isn't this a charming apron? I was so excited to happen upon the Etsy shop Indie Sommer which sells reproduction 1930s and 1920s apron patterns. I have not ordered any of the patterns (Yet!) so I can not recommend how the patterns is. But if any of you seamstresses have been looking for lovely vintage apron patterns, here you are!

Vintage Pellon Apron Pattern

I like how she shows not only the vintage illustration but also pictures of the apron made up. This pattern looks so simple to put together, I doubt it would take more then an hour.

1930's Flounce Apron Pattern

For more information and details visit Indie Sommer.



Family Photos

 

Recently a cousin found this photos among family papers. As they all came in doubles, she gladly passed copies on to us. This is my Grandpa with his mother Great-Grandma Anna. We did a bit of thinking and figuring and think these were taken just before he was drafted in 1941.

 Isn't Grandpa natty in his winter coat and fedora? This must have been a special occasion. He even has a white scarf tucked around his neck!

Here he is a few months later with one of his brothers. We think this was probably taken when he was on leave before being shipped over seas.

After serving in the Army, being wounded several times, Grandpa became a carpenter and settled in Chicago to raise a family. Even though he was not the easiest person to always get along with, like his mother Anna, he had a deep sense of family duty. Not just duty, but clannish-ness, a stick-together-through-thick-and-thin-always-there-for-each-other-ness. The highest praise his sisters could give was"he was the best brother". I am glad to say, it is becoming a family trait, passing down through the generations.