Closing Day & Greasy Elbows

Today was closing day! It's official I am the owner of a home... a dirty, filthy, sticky, cluttered, dusty home. Yep! It's all mine! And for the first day as a home owner, I have to say, I think it was pretty productive. Here are just a few of the already completed tasks.


















Here's what the kitchen used to look like. I'm not sure you can truly appreciate the layers of stains and food caked on every surface. It also used to have this weird trellis thingy dividing it from the living room.



















And after being a home owner for a couple of hours... the trellis divider is gone. And the kitchen is clean (or at least cleaner). Thank you to a lot of paper towels, Mr. Clean Magic Erasers, and a lot of greasy elbows. Thanks to my friends who let me borrow their elbow grease.

Packing...

Boxes, boxes and more boxes... I decided to spend today packing. You never truly realize how much STUFF you have until you have to pack it. Are all of these things really necessary?!? I was packing up some kitchen things today when I found a waffle maker. I didn't even know I had a waffle maker. I don't remember buying a waffle maker or ever using a waffle maker. Maybe it was a gift? Apparently, I have managed to live for 5 years without this handy appliance, however, I still packed it in a box and taped it up nice and secure. And I will carry it to my new home, where I will put it in a kitchen cabinet and probably forget I have it until I move again. (And I will probably write about it on a blog, "Hey look, I found a waffle maker I didn't know I had."
All of these things are just earthly treasures. Some are more important than others (sorry waffle maker) but they are all temporary. I am thankful that the most precious STUFF I possess is eternal where moth or rust cannot destroy... and where it will never be forgotten or misplaced.

I love a project...

So here are today's projects.











The copper light fixture I got for $30 at the Salvation Army... transformed into a wrought iron light fixture. (Just $1.67 for the paint at Hobby Lobby.) I thought it turned out pretty good.












And this really old frame that I cleaned, sanded and painted.I'm not sure what I'll do with it, but I love old things that look like they might have a good story. Maybe I'll put a Scripture in it, "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain", seems appropriate.

I see that hand...

Who is in town next week, and would like to spend some time getting in exercise and fellowship... I see that hand :-) I close on Monday... let the fun begin. If you would like to be a part of the fun just give a call or send me a message. There is plenty of work to go around! (Thank you to dear friends who have already committed to a cleaning shift.)

Showers of blessings...

Today was an exciting day. I had a surprise "House Shower". I've never had a shower before! What a sweet blessing it was to be honored by my dear friends at church. The thoughts, gifts, cards, and gift cards were a wonderful surprise. I was so humbled by their thoughtfulness.
THANK YOU!









Check out these cute table decorations from the shower: pots with yard tools, paint cans with brushes, bowls with kitchen scrubbies... so creative and fun!
For those of you who are are anxious to hear about the table sanding saga :-) I gave the table a break today and sanded and primed a kitchen chair instead.
I also went to all the utility companies this afternoon to have the utilities connected in my name... Closing is Monday!

A table with an attitude...

So I spent a little time this afternoon working on THE table. I would now like to say, I believe it actually has about 500 coats of paint on it. Ok... perhaps I exaggerate, but you get my point.
I sanded for hours on Saturday. Today I brought in the heavy guns - paint stripper and a plastic scraper. (The table laughed at my feeble efforts.) So I tried more stripper and a razor blade - I know, all you professional furniture re-finishers are gasping, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
By the end of the afternoon I has used 1/2 a can of stripper, one package of sandpaper, and 2 scrapers. Is is possible for tables to have personalities, because I think this one is especially stubborn...













First picture.... After hours of work...

All of this sanding, refinishing and refining had me thinking today. There are so many Scriptures that talk about how the Lord refines us like gold and silver. How He is a faithful craftsman refinishing us and sanding away the parts of us that do not reflect His glory. I had always read those verses, and thought, "Poor me, having to be refined and sanded and refinished is so hard on poor little me." But today when I was in the midst of the unending project I had another perspective. "Poor refiner... ", I mean sure, being sanded isn't very fun, but all the table had to do was sit there and cooperate. I was the one doing all the hard work.
Perhaps that's how it really is in our lives. The Lord is the one who is at work in us. Our biggest job is to be cooperative. (Maybe the Lord gave me this very difficult, stubborn table as some sort of lesson about myself... nah, surely not :-)

I can blow blue out my nose

I've been refinishing furniture all day. Sand, and sand, and sand some more... now I can blow blue out my nose. (It just so happens I sanded some blue paint off a chair.:)
It takes a lot of sanding to get paint off of wood furniture - a whole lot of sanding. I'm doing it all by hand. And I would like to officially apologize for every time I have painted any piece of nice wooden furniture - Lord help whoever had to sand off that paint. My deepest sympathies. (I'm hoping that sanding furniture burns a lot of calories.)

Here are the products of my "sand-y" day:


This is the side table I refinished. It didn't have too much paint on it (thank goodness)


















The top half of an old dresser





PLUS















An inexpensive mirror from Lowe's





EQUALS








A new mirror for the guest bathroom

(It's reflecting the ceiling of my carport)















My newest nemesis is this old table. It has 5 layers of paint: gold, brown, white, green, and dirt - I think dirt can definitely count as a layer. Today I discovered that it has metal ornate metal feet... very interesting.

I am thankful the Lord has provided so many wonderful pieces of furniture... they will add so much character to the new house!

All it needs is a little paint...

Here is the freshly painted cabinet hardware. I like the black much better that brass. I think it turned out great. (Am I the only one who always ends up with colored hands after using spray paint?)







These are the chairs I'm working on refinishing. They were originally painted retro turquoise. I sanded them slightly and now I'm priming and painting. If you are thinking the primer looks a little gray, you're right. Today I found a gallon of latex Kilz on the "oops" shelf at Home Depot. It was only $5. (A gallon is usually about $17.) It was tinted a light gray. I can deal with light gray, since I'm painting over the primer anyway, I didn't think the color really mattered.

And to top off the savings for today. I bought 6 flush light fixtures for the house. They were on sale at Lowe's for $39. Off the top of my head...that's less than $7 each. WOW! Some of those fancy light bulbs cost more than $7! (Here they are, when bought separately they cost $29.99 each.) This may be the first time in my life I've ever actually needed 6 light fixtures - it's like getting a bulk discount!

Blessings in bins and basements...

Today I went to Mike's Merchandise and was delightfully surprised to find bin after bin of cabinet hardware. All the hardware was priced at 99 cents, which is very inexpensive compared to the price at Lowe's or Home Depot. It just so happens that the new house needs all new hardware for the kitchen and bathroom cabinets... so I started hunting. In case you are counting, there are about 26 giant orange bins full of random drawer pulls and knobs and other things that I really couldn't identify.
I dug through almost every bin trying to find a set of matching hardware. I felt like I was in some kind of challenge on Survivor, except I was wearing too much clothing to be in one of their challenges :-)


Two hours later, I had 26 of these cool pulls (they remind me of the handle end of silverware). I'm not a fan of brass, but they are high quality and will look great with a coat of black paint.
These are for the kitchen.





And a couple of these for the guest bathroom.
(I found the exact knob online for $5.98.)








And these for the master bathroom.
(I know it looks a little like a hair barrette in this picture, but they are actually very nice.)

Altogether I spent about $33. for cabinet hardware for the entire house, including black paint for the brass knobs.


There were certainly blessings in those big orange bins, but that wasn't the only blessing of the day. One of the sweet ladies in our church asked me to come by and look at some of the things in her basement and see if I could use any for my new home. I was a little apprehensive at first. After all, I've been in a few attics and basements and I have always found their contents to be a bit scary. I was completely wrong. This sweet lady had a basement full of beautiful antiques and goodies she had saved for years. Many of them were family treasures and had amazing stories. I was completely humbled that she would want to give them to me. The body of Christ can be such a blessing. Thank you! (pictures of these refurbished goodies will come soon)

Let the bargain shopping begin...

Today I bought a light fixture. This picture isn't the exact one, but it's almost identical. The one I bought came from the Salvation Army for $30. (Thank you Mrs. Merry for for being such a great thrifty shopper) The one in this picture is from Home Depot and costs over $200. I love saving money! All I need to do is paint the bronze finish a darker black iron look and it will be perfect.

A few more pics...

(guest bath - it has a few issues- second special yard building, master bedroom and bath)

It has a nice personality...

So, I know it needs a lot of work, but it has a nice personality.
Here are a few pics of how the house looks now so you can truly appreciate the work in progress.
(living room, kitchen, strange outdoor buildings, front)

Getting Ready...

Today I purchased my first tool, a must have for any home buyer of a "fixer upper" I bought a new tape measure. I like this one because of its bright read accents. (Oh my, that makes me sound like such a girl doesn't it?)

The time has come...

The time has come the walrus said
To talk of many things,
Of shoes and ships and sealing wax
Of cabbages and kings...

Does anyone remember that little rhyme? Well, the time has come to buy a house. I have crunched numbers, driven through countless neighborhoods, and poured over hundreds of internet listings, and the decision has been made. After much prayer and thought I have decided to buy a foreclosure home that fits in my budget (there are not many of those in my town).
It needs a lot of work, a lot of help, a lot of cleaning, a lot of tlc. The goal is to make it a livable, clean, and usable home without spending too much money.
A friend of mine who knew the kind of house I was purchasing suggested a blog. She said she would love to see my efforts at fixing up my fixer upper. So here we are. I close in 2 weeks... let the fun begin.