Update

After downsizing to 2 homes and then 1 and then 2 again....  I am now back to 1 home.  The good-ole DC Coop.  I am currently looking for a new home w/lots of potential, but there's not a lot of inventory in my current price range (due to the aforementioned 3 homes, 2 homes, 1 home, waste of time and money but not really b/c of all of the invaluable life lessons learned).  Anyway, I am single and I do it all by myself.  Always have.  And I plan to update soon with pics!

New Year, New New, WITH PICS!!

Remember way way back in the day when I would post my never-ending to-do list?? Check this out:

COOP:

1. Plumber to fix kitchen sink and bathtub CHANGE to Bathfitter October 13th (done)

2. Electrician to fix outlet in living room (done)

-Move kitchen cabinets to Left Side CHANGE to add base and upper cabinet in left corner October 13th b/t 3:30-6 and flip refrigerator (done)

-Remove tile from bathroom walls CHANGE to Bathfitter October 14th (done)

Plasterer to fix walls in all rooms (done)

4. Sheet vinyl for bathroom and kitchen floor CHANGE to vinyl tile in bathroom (OCTOBER 9th, ebay)and kitchen (need propane or dry ice)//CHANGED TO REMOVE VINYL TILES FROM KITCHEN FLOOR (DONE) AND REFINISH SUBFLOOR W/PAINT OR STAIN AND POLY...

5. Countertop for kitchen - 6 foot and 8 foot installed CHANGE TO PAINT CABINETS & ADD BUTCHER BLOCK COUNTERS -Strip window and door in bathroom(done)

-cut counter for sink and for stove island & install (done)

6. Paint trim (satin) and halls (linen) and Kitchen (Linen) (done)

-Faux glaze paint over patches (done)

ADD to get painters to paint entire apartment (done)

-Paint Bathroom window and touch up radiator with rustoleum satin white (done)

7. Replace toilet to 12 inch. model (done)

8. Spray range, hood and fridge (done) Change to Replace Fridge (Done)9. Install hardware in kitchen (done)
10. Replace Bathroom Vanity Light (purchased)//finished 12/30 (done!!)

11. Replace Bathroom Vanity Mirror
12. Hang Desk area shelf from CB2 (purchased 12/11), framed collage walls
13. Hang Windows in dining area (flanking)
14. Hang circular ceiling pendant over dining area

Lakehouse - SOLD! (September 2011)

Condo - MOVED OUT! (March 2010)


I just added 10 - 14 yesterday! Because I can actually cross things off and add things now that I am dealing with one single home.

I have the luxury of taking my sweet time, or rushing straight through, any project I desire. I ripped out the old vanity lights (Miss Piggy Bulb Strip) in such a hurry that I started to second guess myself and panic about being able to use the existing lightbox (the fixture holder thing inside the walls of my 1920's apartment building, or at least that's what I'm calling it) with the newer fixture. In fact, I mentally resigned when I couldn't find the relevant anatomy that the light fixture's instructions were referring to.

I actually put the light (beautiful, beautiful schoolhouse era repro light) back in the box and thought to myself, "Welp! Guess I'll just have to hire an electrician! It will cost maybe $50, this whole experiment will then total to $200, I got $100 in Christmas gifts, so that makes it a total of $100 well spent for a professional-install... hmm..."

Then. I thought about it. Hard. Thought some more. I took a flashlight to the joint. I angled it around. There just had to be a way. I literally noodled it through my brain. There may or may not have been a lightbulb crackling over my noggin toward the end of my meditation.

Hey there, that thing, isn't that a screw? Ancient, rusted and decrepit, yes. But screwed into the old light fixture box just like in the installation illustration just the same. (btw this light is supposed to take 10 minutes to install according to the instruction pamphlet. Yes, if you are working with a normal light box, which of course we are not. This took me no less than 1 hour to install and involved numerous head scratches and steps up and down the step ladder.)

So if I just use these screw holes like they suggest in the pamphlet, rig and wrangle (and electrical tape the crap out of) these old fabric-covered copper wires and pray they don't touch each other when I shove them back into the wall (not an easy task, let me just remind myself), add some washers to the light fixture because there was a gap somewhere there shouldn't have been, patch these old fixture holes in the wall and... voila!

PS I didn't take any pictures of the process b/c I was so hyper-focused. This is where training the cat to play a photog for the papparazz would come in handy for the future, amiright?

So the light fixture is IN! And it's GORGEOUS!! And it took a lot of determination, focus, and stick-to-it-ed-ness that only I could provide for myself. I pictured the end result and kept moving toward that goal. I wanted to show off my finished product to the peeps who helped finance it (Thanks, Bob and Mickey!!) and I wanted to begin the process of making this house, my one and only, HOME.

Lessons learned: It's okay to dive into a project as long as you are motivated to get through it by any means necessary. It helps to have a ton of extra supplies lying around such as electrical tape, scissors, a hammer, tape measure, level, spackle, spackle knife, random screws, washers and bolts - just in case the things provided w/the fixture are not sufficient (although I was pleasantly surprised by everything provided with this Shades of Light fixture).


And now - for the less-than-stellar iPhone pics that I did take:

Before (um, where is that random picture I have of the hole in the wall behind the previous light fixture?! still to come...):


After (sort of, I have since spackled the area and it looks much better, still needs touch up paint though):




PPS - After reading about my long-time internet mentor/guru/girl crush's life, I've realized that I need to document all of the many thousands of things I've been doing to improve my life quality over the past 2 years - from painting (for fun!) to cooking (for fun!) to getting a cat (the love of my life) to getting WORMS (the thousand loves of my life) to getting online and dating and falling in love... all of these things AND MORE. Soon come. And also... (hopefully) ... MORE PICTURES.

love and heartbeats,
GG

I've been meaning to update!

I have pictures. I have news. I am now officially one girl with one home again!! It took a year but I managed to unload what turned out to be such a beautiful property after my vision was finally realized (when I was tackling things on my own). Unfortunately, i couldn't make the trip out there as much as I wanted, therefore it had to go... And I feel light and free now!! And my *one and only* space is transforming into what I always dreamed, so it's pretty great to get to live in a dream. I have pictures, but of course not ON me,.... of course because I'm terrible at this blogging thing. It's been a painful and emotional and financially draining process. Now, onto the good stuff!!

OH. yeah.

Remember way back when I said one of my goals was to turn "A girl, 3 homes and a blog" into "A girl, 2 homes and a blog?".

Done.

But not in a way that I ever expected.

Things have gone way past the point of extreme and back again, but all that is to say, "I'm back". In full force, chipping away at my to-do list again!

I am no longer living my life for someone else or some pie in the sky or pipedream, nope. Just going to do my thing and now my new goal is to transform into "A girl, a home and a blog" - because it is damn hard to maintain 2 homes BY YOURSELF, I don't care how badass, tool-wielding you are (which I am to a certain degree, although I would give the crown to diydiva and am so in love wi/her and Mystery Man's relationship - even the queen badass herself needs a little bit of help sometimes).

UPDATES:









COOP:
1. Plumber to fix kitchen sink and bathtub CHANGE to Bathfitter October 13th
2. Electrician to fix outlet in living room
-Move kitchen cabinets to Left Side CHANGE to add base and upper cabinet in left corner October 13th b/t 3:30-6 and flip refrigerator
-Remove tile from bathroom walls CHANGE to Bathfitter October 14th
3. Plasterer (Mom) to fix walls in all rooms (unpainted walls & ceilings)
4. Sheet vinyl for bathroom and kitchen floor CHANGE to mend tile in bathroom (OCTOBER 9th, ebay) and kitchen (need propane or dry ice) CHANGE to mend hole in floor and put down a thin vinyl (bought 7/25) that won't go too far above the surface
5. Countertop for kitchen - 6 foot and 8 foot -Strip window and door in bathroom
-cut counter for sink and for stove island &
install
6. Paint trim (satin) and hall(s)(linen) and Kitchen
-Faux glaze paint over patches
CHANGE TO HIRE PAINTERS TO PAINT ENTIRE APARTMENT 7/25 - hired for Aug. 19th, finished Aug. 22nd.
- Workers need to patch up the gigantic holes in my living room before I can sign the contract
-Paint Bathroom window and touch up radiator with rustoleum satin white
7. Replace toilet to 12 inch. model
8. Spray range, hood and fridge
9. Install hardware in kitchen
10. Add trim or shim up the cabinet to meet the new cabinet height
11. Install toe-kick under kitchen cabinets
12. Install ceiling fan in bedroom
13. Fix kitchen sink/drain

As you can see, pretty much almost done w/big projects over here at the coop, where I am now currently residing (long, boring story with a happy ending) and fixing up day by day. Let me add some items and also cross out some that I've already finished:

14. Order new Fridge (pending shipment as of 5/4/10)
15. Hang curtains in bed and living rooms
16. Cover couch w/dropcloth. Sew slipcovers.
17. Transport a ton of shizz back from the lakehouse (day to day living items, paperwork, clothes and shoes that I was storing there)
- May need to get a storage space to hold all of those things....
18. put bed together
19. change hardware on butcherblock

Before:



After:


So that is where my effort is going lately, since it is my primary residence and I need to be surrounded by comfort and love and the feelings of HOME.

Let's just scratch the condo off the list altogether, since it was never my real HOME - but let's appreciate all the work I put into it for the year and a half that I "slept on the couch" (alluding to that long, boring story):



CONDO:
- rearrange bedroom furniture for better flow
-change kitchen faucet
- fix front strip to countertop
- change toilet seat
1. get a/c duct in bedroom fixed (sort-of)
2. install ceiling fan in bedroom
- paint bathroom
- rearrange living room for better flow
-paint living room
- get laundry sorting station for hallway
-replace windows/screens/patio door CHANGE TO add weather stripping to patio door and windows to prevent bugs from getting in and air from getting out

No longer need to worry about the bedroom ceiling fan or painting the living room or replacing the windows - the condo is dead to me.



Moving on.

The lakehouse. Oh, poor sweet, misguided investment for a future that will never be....... Lakehouse, you stunning beauty you, but you are such a tragedy when it comes to: wallpaper, carpet, plumbing and electricity. Not to mention landscaping, oh the humanity. What are we gonna do with you??? My initial instinct was to dump it, cut my losses and run, but what about renting? If I can get all of my proprietary information out of there and rent it furnished (preferably, oh how i wish, to a handyman....) then I could survive until: a. the market rebounds, b. maybe I really will use it as a vacation home? who knows. I had so many ideas and so little time to accomplish them myself. Having little to no help is a burden.... I would also be remisce to achieve everything by way of subcontracting out only just to turn around and sell or rent it.

LAKEHOUSE:
-replace toilet seats
-fix kitchen faucets, upstairs cold handle CHANGE to hire plumber to fix upstairs bath drain/wall, install shut-off valves in shower, replace shower faucet/head and fix shower drain. Also look into leaks in basement.
-strip wallpaper (started - making major headway with the steamer)
-GET RID OF FLEAS!!!! Contract with Orkin 6x year for 1 year.
-add towel bars and hooks to master bath (satin nickel)
-stain behind picture frame marks on wall CHANGE to let them all be for 8 months CHANGE to paint all paneling white or other light beachy color
-paint kitchen counter while waiting for permanent replacement
-paint kitchen cabinetry while waiting for replacements
- replace kitchen hardware
-take down overhead cabinets and put up shelves with iron brackets (iron brackets added to range hood)
-paint wood paneling in dining area, add trim, remove from around fire place
-add brick/slate to wall behind wood-burning stove so that it continues up the stairs to the top? Remove all brick and move stove down to basement?
-remove carpet and vinyl flooring in dining room and kitchen in order to prime and paint subfloor while waiting for new hardwood
-remove carpet in bedroom and paint floor white while waiting for new hardwood
-fix plumbing in a major way
-fix electrical in a major way
-fix concrete foundation cracking and sinking
-change landscaping to low-maintenance variety
-bring basement up to code

this list could keep growing and growing and growing.... it's a neverending money pit if you want to be honest about it. The previous owners took way too many shortcuts on things that mattered and put way too much effort into things that don't. I wish I could raze the whole thing and start from scratch, or just be done with it and find one really nice place near my New Job (yes, New Job) to update on a daily basis, renting out my coop.

Because the one thing I learned in the past 2 years of wishy-washiness? That this coop just don't quit and that "anyone trying to get you to sell it is trying to dupe you". There is a reason I never put it on the market or really got serious about getting rid of it. And that reason is, things don't always work out like you thought they would, and sometimes it's for the best. It truly is.

Hope to have some pics or something soon, but who knows. I'm the worst.

Things are looking up

This is my best friend's mother's apartment, which is the mirror-image and right next door to mine. She has been living without a hallway light fixture for months now, all because we got a little too excited when renovating her kitchen (the Tiffany-blue walls you can catch a glimpse of and you can see in all it's glory right here: http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/february-jumpstart-2009-entries/how-to-make-over-moms-kitchen-in-one-weekend-february-jumpstart-project-2009-077319

Well, I finally decided to take matters in my own hands this morning while the painters were finishing up at my place. I used the old light fixture from my bedroom (which now has a ceiling fan!) and jerry-rigged the chandelier together using a ceiling bracket and sheer willpower....





In other news, the painters finished.

















I have new brushed satin nickel knobs and handles for the kitchen and they look divine w/the wood and new countertops. I'm still tweaking the layout of the bathroom tile, but it's coming together.

It's amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do for the mind and the soul.... I'm ready to sell this place for a profit and move on to bigger and better things (that purr and woof).

Cool Breeze

On the rocks

We are halfway home, folks. I didn't have candelabra lightbulbs, so just the fan is installed. It's making a ticking noise, so I'll have to investigate further before the final reveal....

All in all? Pretty damn proud of myself.

Ooh La La

We have half a ceiling fan in the bedroom of the DC Coop, people! Mind you, I was working alone, so it was difficult for me to remember to take pics each step of the way. For instance, I forgot a "before" shot? And most of the "during" ones too...

To make up for it, I stole another shot of a different light fixture to give you an idea of what I'm working with:



Fabric-covered wires! Not just fabric, but ancient, decrepit fabric that crumbles to the touch and this makes it tres difficult to work with....

Closer:


Quite literally, a hot mess!

Anyway, I needed to figure out a way to rig up a safe, secure ceiling fan mounting bracket up to, well basically a hole in the ceiling. There was a lot of hemming, hawing and trips to the hardware store involved in order to find just the right crossbars and screws and brackets and safety pans and all that jazz:



You can't really tell, but there are 3 layers of stainless steel security action going on up in there....



Eventually, I figured out a way to make it work. And my goodness, I can't believe how secure it is!



Then I just attached the ceiling fan's mounting bracket and motor (with the handy hook thingy that they have in case, like me, you are doin' it dolo) and covered it all with the spiffy coverer thingy:



I'm making it sound really easy. Well, it was and it wasn't. Like with the toilet in this same apartment, I can imagine that it is extremely easy when the basic fixtures of the building are oh, I don't know, from this half of the century? But given the parameters of a pre-war building, it is pretty difficult to come up with work-arounds for these types of things. BUT SOMEHOW I MANAGE. And some days I feel like a genius.

I had to stop working because the next step is to attach the 6 or so blades to the fan motor and I was very dehydrated since I had to cut the power to the whole apartment (all wired to the same breaker... ah yes, yet another charming feature), that meant no lights, no air conditioning. But I feel very happy with what was accomplished so far.

Still working on getting the cement patch level, spread another thin layer on today. The light color looks so much better than the old dirty charcoal gray. IF ONLY I HAD KNOWN. Why I can't take a picture of it is beyond me.

I wiped all of the cabinet doors in the kitchen down with ammonia to get rid of the stickiness, it seems to be working. Someone came and took the old 4 foot long laminate countertop (posted on craigslist)! And someone else took the humongous, immobile chifforobe! I love craigslist so much. Helping people, helping me. Win-win, I say.

Well, if I were reading this, I would stop due to the lack of pictures. I'm sorry, I know I need to work on that. Here is one from over 2 years ago, my darling kitty who I miss so much, it hurts. I'm working very hard on honoring her by adopting soon:

Stuff is Happening

I guess I should update my to-do list so that I have a record (rather than going back and editing the one I posted a couple of weeks ago....

So the big news is, I walk into the coop this morning to find two huge holes in the walls. One on the Left:

(Why these won't turn the right way, I do not know)

One on the Right:

(SO AGGRAVATING!!)

Say what? Close up on the Left:


Close up on the Right:


.... These 2 holes changed the game completely. Suddenly, my gorgeous faux-finish is gone for good and I don't feel like re-doing it YET AGAIN when I am not sure that many people would be able to appreciate it anyway. So I called up some painters and got an estimate and was VERY HAPPY with the price along with the assurance that they PREP THEIR SURFACES PRIOR TO PAINTING! Yeah!! That's all I need to know, since it was obvious the previous painters never did. So with painting, seemingly the most daunting of tasks left to do, out of the way - I am FREE to complete all of the little itty bitty projects that have been eluding me with my eyes full of dust (from the sanding, scraping and peeling of course).

Things done today:
Patched hole in bathroom floor. Why didn't I take a picture? You can kind of see it here:


Bought vinyl peel n' stick tile for the bathroom floor (it looks so cute on the diagonal, I can't wait to apply it!):


Sprayed the range top and range hood of the stove:


Sprayed the fridge:


My poor trigger-finger is dead :(

Here is the semi final product of the bathroom with the old tile, for posterity:


COOP:
1. Plumber to fix kitchen sink and bathtub CHANGE to Bathfitter October 13th
2. Electrician to fix outlet in living room
-Move kitchen cabinets to Left Side CHANGE to add base and upper cabinet in left corner October 13th b/t 3:30-6 and flip refrigerator
-Remove tile from bathroom walls CHANGE to Bathfitter October 14th
3. Plasterer (Mom) to fix walls in all rooms (unpainted walls & ceilings)
4. Sheet vinyl for bathroom and kitchen floor CHANGE to mend tile in bathroom (OCTOBER 9th, ebay) and kitchen (need propane or dry ice) CHANGE to mend hole in floor and put down a thin vinyl (bought 7/25) that won't go too far above the surface
5. Countertop for kitchen - 6 foot and 8 foot -Strip window and door in bathroom
-cut counter for sink and for stove island & install
6. Paint trim (satin) and hall(s)(linen) and Kitchen
-Faux glaze paint over patches CHANGE TO HIRE PAINTERS TO PAINT ENTIRE APARTMENT 7/25
- Workers need to patch up the gigantic holes in my living room before I can sign the contract
-Paint Bathroom window and touch up radiator with rustoleum satin white
7. Replace toilet to 12 inch. model
8. Spray range, hood and fridge
9. Install hardware in kitchen
10. Add trim or shim up the cabinet to meet the new cabinet height
11. Install toe-kick under kitchen cabinets
12. Install ceiling fan in bedroom


I also bought weather-stripping for the condo, for temporarily deterring drafts and bugs from entering the gaping holes in the patio door and window frames, but I didn't feel like copying the whole list just for that. Oh, ok:

CONDO:
- rearrange bedroom furniture for better flow
-change kitchen faucet
- fix front strip to countertop
- change toilet seat
1. get a/c duct in bedroom fixed (sort-of)
2. install ceiling fan in bedroom
- paint bathroom
- rearrange living room for better flow
-paint living room
- get laundry sorting station for hallway
-replace windows/screens/patio door CHANGE TO add weather stripping to patio door and windows to prevent bugs from getting in and air from getting out

Not much is happening in the other 2 homes since I am really motivated to get this one off my hands first so I can get settled into a home home.

I promised you pictures

Here they are! So much is getting done now, it's ridiculous ~

Coop Improvements:

Testing out the new countertop in the new microwave area~

Before ~ Old Toilet

After a whole lot of clean-up, we had this:

YES, I said clean-up! This is CLEANED UP. I can't even begin to explain how nasty it was before (I timestamped the pics and it took me about 2 hours to clean this little 1x1 area). This ended up being the most whacked-out flange system I've ever seen (after doing all of my Internet-searching on the subject of replacing toilets). It turned out to be a lot of rust (which stained the porous marble tile like crazy) and corrosion that had to be chipped away in order to create a level surface for the wax ring/toilet base to sit upon. Aside from the chipping and the cleaning up of the rust-flakes that left permanent scars all over that beautiful tile, the job was not that difficult. I did it myself and pulled my hamstrings in the process. But all ended very well, cleaning up nicely into this:

After ~ Ahhhh.... she's beautiful!

Condo Improvements:

Bedroom before:

I can't really express how much I hated this layout. I think it speaks for itself and need I point out that "my side" of the bed is on the far side? The one over there where you have to squeeze through a tiny space between the corner of the bed and the corner of the bureau (can we say Bachelor Pad?)

Bedroom reconfigured ~

This is now what you see upon entering the room, of course, if I had my druthers there would be an upholstered headboard on that bed, or even a wall of fabric a la The Youngsters or Bower Power, but work with whatcha got.... instead I added a mirror to "my side" to mimic the window. It's not the same size, but whatever, it helps me save time primping in the morning (I like to roll right out of bed a minute before I have to leave for work).

Living Room before:



Excuse the crappy pic, my camera broke and I was using my phone for a few months a while back. Again, I can barely find words to describe my disdain for the color of the couch and the layout (there is a futon next to the TV, facing the couch), so let me just skip to the goods....

Living Room reconfigured & slipcovered:

This new layout frees up all of the breezeways through this undefined space and creates a more intimate conversational setting. It also allows us to open the blinds behind the futon and that coupled with slipping the sofa has lightened and brightened the space by a million! We'll just ignore that Christmas tree for now.... (picking battles, picking battles....)

New TV and pulled it out of the freakin corner!

The original layout was kinda geared toward One particular person... ahem, The Bachelor. Now everyone can enjoy it, or, more importantly, This Girl. And, please, let's just pretend the Barca Lounger doesn't exist, alright?

Freshly de-mildewed and painted bathroom w/brighter shower curtain~

I scrubbed the ceilings and walls by hand - they were a putrid yellow before and with a disgusting border that soaked up all the mold/mildew. EW.

A fresh coat of white, mildew-resistant paint makes the room breathable. And the white shower curtain with clear liner allows the vanity lights to penetrate the shower area SO ONE CAN SEE WHAT ONE IS DOING IN THERE. Imagine that.

Laundry Central~

The Bachelor likes to separate each clothing article by individual color, so 2 of these 2 part containers from Ikea do the trick.

Now for the disappointing part, I swore I had some updated pics of the lakehouse projects in progress, but I can't find them! All I could find that hasn't been uploaded already are these upstairs shower pics:

Not too exciting, I just changed out the fixtures to: a. fix a leaky shower and b. match all the finishes to the brass (which I hate, but the shower door and everything else was already brassy to begin with) . Maybe one day I will spray them all oil-rubbed bronze????

OR TEAR OUT THE WHOLE THING. My mind goes crazy when I haven't been there in a while (it's going on 6 weeks and counting....)

That's it for now, is it just me or is organizing pics on blogger extremely difficult?