Category: planning and dreaming

Blerg

Well, the one good thing about getting bad-house-news is that I drown my sorrows in house-design. So, while we ponder how to come up with the excruciating fees to hire out replacing the out-of-date, not-to-code, and under-powered electric panel in order to SIMPLY turn on our new oven, I spent some time working on something lovely like curb appeal to take my mind off the bad things.

I’m seriously in love with the trend of the Austin modern farmhouse so, I’m playing with the idea of white house with black trim and a bright colored front door. We had a black fence at our last house and we loved it, so I’d like to bring that to Leo. The hacked photoshop mockup is way too heavy-handed on the trim… it wouldn’t be that heavy in real life at least as long as we get our pro painter over here to help. (Mom – you ready to paint outdoors?)

And we like the look of pea gravel all along the front but, it is actually functional. The yard slopes toward the house and without gutters (before us) – there was basically a swamp up against the foundation anytime it rained (blerg again) so we’ll be installing french drains all along and pulling out most of the plants from in front to keep it nice and drained.

So here you go… my happy thought for the day:

28/10/2014
Weekend 4

At this point (almost a month in) we figured we’d be hosting BBQs and drinking lemonade on the porch. Not so much. But, rejuvenated by a few days off, we were dead set on making major headway this, the forth weekend of our Leo.

Friday night and into Saturday, Marc continued to work in the attic and I demo-ed the terrible second layer of thin plywood-textured crap that covered every wall of the kitchen. Taking it back to the sheetrock beneath so that we’d have a consistent new texture on the walls and ceiling.

While working in the kitchen I found a spot of old mold; and fueled by only peanut butter out of the jar I MAY HAVE gotten a little carried away – er, totally freaked out – and bashed the wall in eager to save myself and my family from the evil black spots that were surely lurking behind the walls.

So there was definitely some old mold, but, nothing recent and no moisture = no leaks = nothing causing current mold.
MESS.
OOPS! (Marc will fix that.)
And while Marc helped me tear out one of the cabinets where we are going to put the stove hood. More mess.

I also demo-ed the entry closet! It took me three weeks to convince Marc to let me do it. He was reluctant because we didn’t want to start any new, unnecessary projects… But, since we have a sheetrock crew coming the next week to install a layer over the way-old-fashion pop corn ceiling (the kind that you can’t scrape) and to mud and tape the old and new sheetrock, he relented and let me start the entry mudroom we’re going to build (check my inspiration here.) And see the before & after here:

All the while we were working inside, Harrison is starting to get the lay of the land – his new land and the hang of this new house. He spent much of the day wither outside with a closet dowel working on his ninja skills or reading in his room… in private than you very much.

Finally Saturday night… the stupid pantry FINALLY got taken out.

Our friends Face and AJ came over to help/celebrate (beer and cheap champagne!) with us. This was a momentous occasion after all.

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16/10/2014
Fireplace Ideas

Before I finish the “Day 10” post, I thought I’d share a little ray of sunshine to help us all get through the tedium of the demo/rebuild phase.

I had a brainstorm last night that I am really excited about!

The fireplace is crumbling from the inside and is not and will never be functional without rebuilding it completely. So, rather than even consider spending money on that, we thought we’d leave it, clean it, fill it with pretty stacked wood and make it a design focal point.

The Photoshop hackery below shows what I’m thinking for the room.

BEFORE:

Clean fireplace, stack some pretty wood in it, and paint the tiny mantle (someday we’ll make that larger):

Mom had the great idea to make the hearth a bench. She is going to make a box pillow for us, probably in a neutral gray upholstery fabric:

So, that’s about what I was thinking before, but, what about an extended bench!?

Am I right!?

Yes, I agree that extending the bench on both sides would be better, but, I don’t think our Eames will fit if we have the bench on the other side, however, once we actually move in I’ll be able to tell.

And here’s a rough idea of how it will look when we move in our existing media cabinet, red pouf, weirdly hacked couch representation and Eames lounge with our new rug:

There is another option – paint the stone white and enlarge the mantle:

I’m finding that it’s important for me to keep focus on the design part of the house and not the rebuild, so as not to fall into a deep hole of sadness and despair.

Someday we will actually live in our house.

Someday we will actually live in our house.

Someday we will actually live in our house…

24/09/2014
Planning and dreaming

I’ve been busy pinning! Inspiration… planning… dreaming…

EXTERIOR ENTRY:
Follow Aimee McKirdy Blase’s board Entry Exterior on Pinterest.

ENTRY INTERIOR:
Follow Aimee McKirdy Blase’s board entry on Pinterest.

KITCHEN:
Follow Aimee McKirdy Blase’s board Kitchen on Pinterest.

LIVING ROOM:
Follow Aimee McKirdy Blase’s board Living room on Pinterest.

LAUNDRY, SCREENED PORCH:
Follow Aimee McKirdy Blase’s board laundry / screened porch on Pinterest.

OUTSIDE:
Follow Aimee McKirdy Blase’s board outdoor on Pinterest.

10/09/2014
Design Boards

A few simple and somewhat hacked together mockups of what we’re thinking for design… phase 1.

10/09/2014
Siteplan

More graphic-designer-hacked attempts at spatial design!

10/09/2014