Day Two: Finish Trim and Install Gutters

It's official. Gutters are expensive. I went there with the 60$ figure in my head (just for over garage and entrance). I walked out at 120$. With returns tallied, it ended at 90$. Some money saving tips include 1) make joining pieces out of extra length of gutters 2) use rivets instead of screws and 3) either borrow or return the rivet gun when you're done.


I DID choose aluminum gutters, which are more resilient, able to withstand greater heat and cold, wear and tear. I think Alison will like 2 things about it: not getting dripped on everytime she wants to come into the house and no more dark dingy spots on the driveway and sidewalk.

Day One (Of my week off): Entrance/Kitchen Molding

I estimated I'd need 4 12ft lengths of crown, 2 8ft lengths of crown, and 10 8ft lengths of my special addition (customized look) furring strip. I was on the money with the furring strip, but 1 12ft length of crown short. The good news is, Lowe's has gutters that I found today. Last week the online site said they carried none. Sounds like tomorrow's project.

Here's how the entrance and kitchen are turning out:

SW SHED LOOKING FOR SUGGESTION

Newly white-trimmed shed looking for perfect color to replace old peach. Send ideas through comments.

(Alison had the idea to paint the trim white, like our house is, but the peach is still too much. I am thinking red or grey. Grey blue???)

Early Birthday Present!

I came home to an early birthday gift today. I love it! And so do the kitties... Good job, wifey.

90% Doesn't Work

I have a bad habit. It's 90%.

The habit goes like this: I get an idea for a project, and plan for supplies. I buy the supplies and begin work. Three-quarters through the work I get another project itching on me. By Four-Fifths through production phase I can't wait to be done. The pace increases; the details decrease. By the time I'm 9/10's or 90% complete, I've shoved enough 'dirt under the carpet' to make the project look done. Then I move on to replay the same type-show on the next project, all half-aware of the over-all effect.

Skip ahead 6 months, 6 months of being nowhere near my projects. I reenter the project zone, and can see my past projects... and there's holes! Holes everywhere! Little fragments and details that were left incomplete. The picture's there, but not if you look too hard. Examples? Properly spackled drywall. Old and painted door hinges on new doors. Old and painted door handles on new doors. Nail holes in beadboarded bathrooms. Poor jobs of caulking. Three-quarters of counter-flashing done on the chimney (letting minute amounts of water onto the roof underneath the shingles). Once cut-down plants regrowing where they're no longer wanted. Window trim painted white, but the inside portions of the window still off-white to peach. I could go on.

So here's the new project: re-do the old projects. I've created a nice dry-erase board list of tasks. And now that I know my pattern, I need to focus on patience.

Patience to complete the job. Alison says I've got more than her. I'd argue that I have no patience, just a lot of ambition and some perserverance to get things done. I'm impatient the whole time. In fact, I want this post to be done.

Looking Forward

2.5 more weeks till vacation!

Black Shutters

I painted the shutters black today. I am not sure that Alison likes it. This is the test; seeing it on here. But I think black kind of takes the peach out of the bricks (something I like). Pay no mind to the fairly tiny (but with big potential) Live Oak directly in the way of the saw grass. It'll get big, I promise.

Plantation Shutters

Here's my find for the week. Shutters from Habitat for Humanity that finally give us privacy at the front door. They're fully functional, the can swing, and move like mini-blinds too. Oh, and here's a picture of my beautiful wife on here, cookin' us up some dinner!

Curtains

I wanted to post these pictures and show you the new curtains. They're Alison's creations. She made them out of a 7-dollar tablecloth. Good job, Ali. They look awesome.

Basket Heaven!

The kitties found new favorite spots today, as the three 15x15x9 baskets arrived. I am posting this now to show you how the bench looks. It's still cushion-less, but it won't be for long. If the kitties even urinate in the baskets we'll cease to have kitties any longer.

Finished Product

This is the bench and shelf. The baskets are on order and will be here next week. To hang the shelf, I simply found the studs, calculated where the shelf would be (in terms of left and right) and then off-set the screws to project them into where the studs would be. It ended up being slightly to the left of center.

Here, again, is the advertisement:

We have to decide on the bench-pad still. But overall, I think it turned out really well. The difference is completely decorating and composition.

Stage Three: Sand, Prime, and Wait

Here's where we're at. I could put the first layer of Quail Egg - Satin paint on now, but I'm clean, tired, and need a break. Tomorrow.

Stage Two

Here's where we're at:
Waiting for the spackle to dry. We went back to Lowe's yesterday. I switched a 1X12 for 2 1X2's, and bought the hooks. We're running into difficulty finding the baskets that'll be right for the cubbies. We might have to buy some from pottery barn. I'd be satisfied paying 120.oo for the shelf and bench instead of 499.00, but biting the bullet for the baskets.

Mama didn't raise no foo!

As soon as I looked at the blog, I saw that it needed notches on the sides. And now for some marital advice: if you know it's not good, make it better!

Stage One

The bench went smoothly. I love building furniture I intend to paint. It simplifies and expedites the process. Just screw the crap out of it!

Check it out:













And then with trim:
You can compare what it should look like with what it does look like. The bottom sides do not have a notch cut out. I thought since I am using pine that I should give it a sturdier base. (I can still change it, Ali. I know you'll tell me to)

Bench Project

This is my new project:


Pottery Barn sale price: 499.00 (baskets not included)

So far:
-Wood, including: 1x16s, 1x12s, 1x4s, and 1x2s: 68.50

Still to purchase:
-hanging hooks
-wicker baskets

Baby Alyssa

So my niece Alyssa didn't know me from Hank when we were in Indiana. She stared me down and was a little scared of me. That is, until she got tired. When she couldn't find a comfortable position on Alison, she came right to me and fell asleep. I guess I am a bigger pillow. She's cute though, and I had a good time in Indiana.