Small Projects

Over the past couple of months, we have been blessed to have some really nice days and it has given me the opportunity to update and  clean up a couple projects.


Garage Door:

I didn't really want to buy new garage doors and I knew that I wanted to do something different with them. I had considered painting them, but then I read about putting a gel stain on them and the polyurethane on it afterwards to protect it. I decided to try it out and I loved it, but I got side tracked and polyurethaned one door twice and not the other. Within a month the gel stain was peeling on the side that I forgot. I will someday have to redo that side, but other than that- I love how it turned out.

I love how they turned out

Kitchen Tile:

Some day I may change it, but there is only so much you can do at a time and the kitchen tile was in pretty good shape. I decided to leave it (you will see the completed kitchen in a couple months), but the grout was bothering me. I tried all different kinds of grout cleaner and I just wasn't happy. I finally read about a grout pen. I decided to go with black. I probably should have picked brown, but I didn't really know what the original grout color was. For now, I like it and will leave it this way...

Front Door, Back Door and Shutters:

the shutters and front door looked dull and the house just looked boring. I decided for now I was going to paint them to add a little color to it.

before- you can see that everything just looks around the same color

I debated what to color the door, but this house really needed some pop and I love this color.

the porch swing was brown and falling apart. Eventually we will get a new porch swing, but for now the white paint makes it look better.

I decided to paint the back door the same color as the front shutters. Eventually this whole deck and door will be redone, but for now I like the little pop of color.

Front Garden:
It is so hard to not want to do everything at once when this place has so much potential, but the other day I realized that I may not be able to change much of the back this year because of all the planning and tree removing we may need to do. I decided that I will just spruce up what was already established. There were some old crooked stones in the front. I removed them and then added different bricks. I only added a few flowers (the daffodils were already there) and then a yellow rose bush. Hopefully by the end of the summer this garden will have beautiful established plants.

More pictures coming soon!

Big Project #1- Trees!

One of the aspects that I love about this property are the trees. Virginia has an abundant amount of trees. David's dad was always telling us he didn't like all the trees because he couldn't see anything. Even though this property has a ton of trees, we know he would have loved this place.

One of the bigger projects we needed to do with this place was to get rid of some trees. As much as we love trees, there were some that were just too close to the house. We had a company come out last week and they ended up removing 9 trees and two stumps.  They did a wonderful job and we were very pleased. The only part that made me a little upset was that they contracted some guys to come out to push the wood to the side and they were about to take some Hickory logs and use it for themselves. Luckily I was there that day and saw them putting it on the trailer. I asked them what they were doing and one guy said something about firewood. The other guy told us that the main guy said to take it all (they were not taking it all- it was more like they were taking what they wanted). I told them that we did not pay for it to be removed and that we wanted the wood. I checked with David and asked if he gave anyone permission to take any wood. It makes me sad that they were going to just take the good wood and not even ask. I am sure they could have made some good money with this wood (but that is why we want it). We have plans for that wood!!!

The tank was removed and the trees to the left.

both of these trees were removed

This was a beautiful tree and it was probably the best one one the property, but the septic tank was not even 5 feet from the tree and we didn't want it to interfere with the septic tank.

About to cut down the tree. There is another guy to the left (not pictured) that is pulling the tree.

Can't wait to use this piece for some new project.

The tree that caused us many sleepless nights because of the rain and the way it dripped from that tree on to our skylights.

Stump is gone! Dogs love to lay here because it is nice and soft.

moving the limbs and logs to the side.

The wood they were going to "graciously" take from us. 

The wood that they were going to leave.

So much space on this side of the house now.

We still have more trees to clear, but the rest are further from the house and we can do that ourselves (well Dad can do them- I personally get too nervous).

Our Trail

One of the reasons I love this property is because of the trail. The previous owner kind of created a trail around the outside of the property. One of our neighbors uses his golf cart to drive across the back part of our property to hunt on the other side. He has maintained a sort of trail in the back. Over the last few months we have cleared a path. I take a walk on the trail almost daily. I have my pack with me as I go (Flash, Hiba, my new addition, and Oreo, my cat). Here are a couple pictures of the trail...

First started clearing the trail

Man made pond at the end. Someday we will make this a nice pond.

Flash collecting his own ice - he loves to eat ice!

Flash always goes over

Hiba always goes under

Oreo always goes around

Picture Wall

In my kitchen area I have this huge wall  of just wood. You can't put anything that will stick out much because it is the main walkway to bathrooms, rooms, dinning room, etc. My front and back doors had these door frames and they were falling apart. I took one and painted it and made a picture wall. It adds color and I love looking at the memories.

"Master Bath"

The master bath is also the guest bathroom and the bathroom that people come and use when they are over. I wanted to experiment with painting this kind of wood. There are still some minor details (I want to put an industrial towel rack on the side and then add decor), but for the most part it is finished for now. I do love the color and how it turned out. Eventually the toilet will be replaced.

First, I took out all the side railings. I was told the previous owner was really sick towards the end, so he had to put railings in.

The tile floor is not what I would have picked, but it is in good shape, so I decided to leave that.

I put tile on underneath the sink so that any more spills will hopefully not hit the wood.

There were several wood fixtures that I took down (a towel rack and a couple storage shelves) and I decided not to put them back up because they were a little old fashion. I also changed out the light fixtures above the sink to a more modern look

I washed down all the walls with the product below.

all the drawers and walls were then painted with a really good primer.

For this bathroom I did go to a paint store and bought a more expensive bathroom/kitchen paint. I knew that it would be used the most and showers were going to be taken often there, so I wanted something that would help protect the wood and help with mold. So far I have been very pleased with it all.

After I took down the railings, I painted the vanity. I loved the the color I picked. After I did that I realized I wanted to paint more. Someday this bathroom may get a new tub, toilet, and sink, but for now this is what I did. I spent over an hour one day scrubbing the floors with a brush. There were a couple tiles that were not white before, but now I can happily take a shower in this bathroom.

 I changed the curtains and added some rugs, I painted the walls white, and then I got brave and painted the counter top. I love the color, but I had to paint the sink too and because I used an epoxy spray paint, things did not come out as even as I wanted it to. I am so much happier with the color and now when I go in there, it is bright and airy (just don't look at the yellow shower behind the curtain).

I painted the counter top with Giani Small project paint. It would have turned out beautifully if I didn't have to worry about the sink. It didn't look good just leaving the sink, so I then used Tub and Tile spray paint to paint the sink.

A friend gave me this old window and I love it!! I painted it a gray color and then added a wreath. Overall I am very happy with what I did. It is definitely not professional work and you can see the imperfections if you look closely, but it is a world of difference for someone like me that likes things bright.