Update

On the bus headed to NYC. Things have been really hectic lately and we have both been sick. Right now we are on our way to see weezer 2 nights in a row.
The kitchen is coming along nicely we will have pictures up soon.
The house is very festive looking... There is snow on the ground.. It's beginning to look a lot like Xmas.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Let there be more light

Added a lot of light to the kitchen yesterday. we thought if we were going to be adding lights in there, we might as well do it early in the remodel process because it will make the rest of the steps easier.

R2 Update

He is pretty much finished now, although hi might need a stronger battery (he is running of an old scooter battery)
All painted, and everything works via remote control, including the beep boop sounds!
Only took about 3 days and $35 to get him from a pile of parts in the back of the suburban to a working remote control robot friend.

Pink to White

The guest bath is finished! Actually we still have caulking to do... but it's 99% finished!

When we first moved here we had the opportunity to look at a neighboring townhouse that was for sale (great inspiration!). The biggest difference between this house and that one was actually color and light. Everything was white and bright in the for sale unit, which made it seem fresh and modern. The most transformation comes when we lighten the color and put in brighter lights. So for this bathroom the challenge was to de-pink the space! Since the tile is all pink (and we were't going to remove it), we decided to go WHITE white for everything else and shiny chrome fixtures. I think it worked!

Here's before:

The ceiling, cabinet, and doors were all pink.

This bathroom was certainly more challenging than the other two. There was the leaky faucet to start, the fan install, the huge wall repairs where the ceramic towel bar and toilet paper holder came out, and the really difficult wallpaper! This bathroom was actually re-done at some point, and this pink wallpaper did not want to come off easy. Perhaps the glue in 50 year old wallpaper is more deteriorated? Also, it was two layers thick in places...

Midway:

After:

The beautiful faucet! I can't get over the difference it makes.

This is now my favorite bathroom :)

R2D2 Day 1

I found an R2D2 project on craigslist... fully wired for remote control... mostly built...
needs some wiring, a battery, a lot of painting and assembly...
wish me luck!

for the record

Also, this weekend we went garage sailing... Got ourselves a really cool vintage record player console... In near mint condition. Got some great records last week at thrift stores... Gives the living room a great retro vibe.

Tiled

Just a quick update on home improvements... Put in some replacement tile where the old vanity was..



Before



After

And the grand finale (for now)!

Last but not least, we did a little more work on the master bath.

We decided to change the vanity, which was too large a footprint for such a small bathroom. And we couldn't find any vanities that were smaller...

So pedestal it was!

Again Taylor shined with his plumbing skills! For a guy who doesn't like to read the directions, he still gets it done :) We just ordered the tile for the wall behind the sink (where the vanity used to be), we'll get that in next week.

Previously we had removed the wallpaper and painted the bathroom an off white ivory color. But with the yellow floor tiles and off white shower tiles, the whole room just felt yellowish... I made the executive decision to repaint the whole bathroom! And I'm so glad we did! Now it's an off white blue and contrasts nicely with the yellow and whites.

And last but not least, new shelves! By taking out the vanity we lost what little storage there was. But since the ceilings are so high we figured adding some shelves would do the trick.

Taylor cut all the wood and placed them while I was in charge of painting as usual :)

Swapping out fixtures

Taylor's electrical skills have been improving at a rapid speed! He's been changing light fixtures all over the place! For example, the lovely 60's dangle balls above the vanity in the bedroom:

I have to admit I was a little sad to see them go... but the new lights are more modern and practical for the space, and make the room look bigger! (Please ignore the dusty mirror in the background, haven't got up there to clean yet...)

Next big undertaking is the guest bathroom. It is very much still in progress, but we've (well ok, Taylor) made some improvements. Like the leaky faucet:

5 hours and three hardware store trips later:

Shiny new faucet that doesn't leak!

Taylor also installed new lights and a ventilation fan, with ducting going up through the ceiling and the attic. For some reason he insisted on doing this in one of the 100 degree days, when the attic was likely 120! My job was to fetch him tools and water while he slaved away in the heat. I think I got the better end of the deal :)

Home Improvement: Basement Bathroom

We've been doing lots of bathroom work over the last few weeks.

first completed was the basement bathroom:

We actually painted this one over a month ago, unfortunately we did not take pictures before we removed the wallpaper... So these are with the fresh coat of paint already. The wallpaper was plaid orange and brown to match the floor, so you can try to picture it :)

and after:

Taylor and Sho put in a nice new floor and baseboard trim. Taylor also installed a new light switch with an outlet and rewired everything so the fan and light were on separate switches. Also changed the light fixture.

The new wall color and floor really brightened things up! It looks and feels like a totally different bathroom.

portland pics

Trip to oregon

Well, we had a fantastic trip to oregon!
It started out as a trip back for our friends Jake and Charity's wedding, but I was asked by my friends Good 4 Nothing from Japan to record some music with them in portland around the same time, so we extended our trip. When we got to Oregon we got to see my Dad and Ruth. We all went out for a traditional Reinlander dinner. It was great to see them. We also went by our old house and Did some repairs and yard work.
The Wedding was really great, we had so much fun, and we feel really lucky to have been included so much in the days leading up to it. We spent the day of the wedding cutting out fake mustaches for the wedding reception. 150 of them! I got to play some music with Etzel, Ben, Joe, Zac, and Jake... so that was great!
After the wedding, Emily went down to Eugene to see friends and family, and I stayed in Portland for the recording project.
It was a lot of fun. Good 4 Nothing came to Portland with most of their album recorded. We focused on Vocals. Nao came along as their translator and photographer. We all rented a house near downtown Portland and stayed there for the duration of the project.
The recording went well and we had a ton of visitors! Zac, Tim, Brian, Gary, Sayo, Tony, other Tony, Ruben and Connor all came to visit the guys and help out with the project.
We got a lot done, writing lyrics, recording vocals, hangin out... it was great.
They were all there for the 4th of July too, and we all went out by the water to watch the fireworks.
Now we are back in Bethesda, and it feels good to be back.
although last night the power went out last night for 12 hours.... darn you pepco!

P.S.

I've opened up comments. So if anyone's still reading, you can now leave a comment after posts if you like :)

What we do best

Home improvement!

Now we can add 'remove wallpaper' to the list of DIY home projects we've mastered!

Before. Although I really liked the pattern of the wallpaper, it was peeling, dirty, and perhaps hiding mold... so off it came.

Wallpaper leaves behind an awful mess of glue, we diligently washed/mudded/sanded until the walls were smooth again.

And voila! Primer plus two coats of semi-gloss paint, it feels like a brand new bathroom.

Beautiful shiny walls.

New light fixture. This was an incredible garage sale find, new in the box!

I have to give huge appreciation to Taylor on this project. The molds from the bathroom made me pretty sick, and there were a couple days I was totally laid up and Taylor slaved away to get things done as fast as possible!

farmer's market goodness.

i went to the farmer's market for the first time since we moved here. obviously we've been a bit busy to have ignored this trip for so long! my job with the census is winding down (at least until next month), and i'm finding a little more time to do things. like upload pictures finally :)

been missing having a garden lately. but these herbs i should be able to grow in the window box, and it's nice to have green things in the house too :)

rosemary

this is actually a type of basil. it grows in a big round bunch and the leaves are little. so no chopping needed!

ok, so not a live plant... but this little silver flower was given to us by taylor's dad. it's traveled with us and always lives in the kitchen. i'm very fond of it :)

and of course R2, i can never go very far in the house without finding an R2 to snap a photo of. this one happens to be a pepper grinder.

Lost finale

Em baked cupcakes in honor of the finale of the tv show lost.
She's awesome!

ok, time for more pics!

the house is coming together quite nicely!

the uke

conductor vader?

nalah!!!

living room. still have a leaky pipe...

taylor's office.

guest room. a little bit of SE asia, courtesy of brian pineda: http://brianpineda.com/

flags by jess. quilt by jan.

lovely entryway...