A House to a Home

2008-09-24T20:31:00.001-05:00

This blog is sadly out of date. Hop on over to Simply Serina to follow along as we renovate our 1975 split entry farmhouse.

2007-01-13T15:21:00.000-05:00

What can I say? There's always something going on, but with Jason's job and our two little ones running around, things progress slowly. We're now using the back porch door as our main entrance, which is so much handier. When spring comes, we'll scrape and paint the front porch and front picture window, which are loaded with lead paint in poor condition. It will be quite a job. We'll also scrape and paint the back window trim (also exterior) so we can feel better about putting landscaping and/or outdoor seating underneath it.

In the kitchen, things remain consistently at about 90% finished. We still need to cut and install curved shelves for our famous Wonky Corner, which looks rather bare without shelving. We have the window seat half done, with the custom box and bench top (wooden countertop to match the rest of the kitchen) yet to be installed. I also have to sew a few cushions for the window seat, which I will enjoy. (But first, I must obsess over the fabric.) A key addition to the kitchen will be the backsplash on both the sink and stove sides of the kitchen; we haven't decided what this will look like or when we will do it. Mostly, the Budget is running the show.

I'm still thinking of painting the kitchen's pine floor either white, black, or checkerboard. Chances are, upon reading this, you fall into one of two categories: either you think Serina is Nuts (because wood floors should never be painted) or you think Serina is Cool (because of course an old, water-damaged, non-descript, pine subfloor should be painted). Either way, I'm okay with your opinion.

As far as painting, what's left is the front entry way/stairs/upstairs hallway run, which will all be the same color. Color yet to be determined. Also, the bathroom is in need of a major overhaul, but without the funds, it will probably undergo a Makeover Light--which will involve painting the neon green walls some other color. (With our fluorescent lights and the neon green paint, Jason can see the bathroom window glowing from his bus stop 1/5 mile down the hill through the trees.)

We finally have a reverse osmosis water system installed--praise the Lord! But, as of today, it's broken! Boo! I thought I'd never buy another gallon of purified water again.

2006-10-10T13:08:00.000-05:00

Jason's begun scraping our back porch, and it scares me to death. It's totally covered with layers of leaded paint. We've gone through all the proper precautions to protect ourselves and our children from exposure: duct tape and 6 mil plastic sheeting to enclose the porch, masks specifically designed to keep lead dust from being inhaled, coveralls over clothing, wet scraping, removing clothing before entering house, showering immediately after scraping...there's probably more, but that's what I'm thinking of right now.

Despite all of that, I'm still afraid of some lead dust getting into the soil or (worse) getting into the house. It only takes one piece of lead dust the size of a grain of salt to poison a child. It's such toxic stuff!

We have a HEPA vac on loan from Healthy Home Resources. It's specifically designed for lead removal stuff, and it's not your typical home vacuum with HEPA filter. The organiziation recently got a new vac, so we had to leave a $50 deposit to get it. I hope Jason's done before Friday, when they're picking it up. We are soooooo looking forward to using the back porch as an entry. The side door is really inconvenient, and a bit of a bottleneck.

Our big goal is to have the back porch and yard ready for a little family birthday party on 10/21. I haven't invited anyone yet because I'm not sure it'll be done! But I'm hoping and praying. And praying fervently for no one to get lead poisoning.

2006-09-23T13:56:00.000-05:00

INSIDE:
The third bedroom is done: Walls and ceiling patched, trim caulked, walls and ceiling and trim painted! Now we are in the process of converting it to an office/guest room. Pictures to follow.

OUTSIDE:
The yard is still a mess, but I was able to clean off the back porch, buy what is needed to scrape and paint the porch ceiling, organize part of the garage, and dig most of the trench that is required to route the gutter drain water away from the house foundation. Fun work!

2006-08-16T20:54:00.000-05:00

What do you do when your only fencing options are pressure treated lumber and vinyl? And you can't bear to choose either because both are simply awful for environment and health, from manufacture to disposal? (Vinyl-flavored lettuce, anyone? How about pressure treated strawberries? Would you want to work at a vinyl plant?)

Cedar (and other naturally rot resitant wood) is largely unavailable out here. After dozens of searches and calls, we did locate a company that has 4 x 4 posts, 8' long, for over $40/post. Helloooo bankruptcy! The only cedar carried by the local big box stores is 1 x 4 and 1 x 6, and again, they're expensive. Cedar would be the answer if we could find it and afford it.

Other options we've considered: untreated lumber, which we might end up needing to replace every year or two, even if we painted it; brick, very expensive and labor-intensive; concrete block covered with stucco and/or brick facing, which we are still considering, but whose cost and labor is again a concern; and plastic composite (perhaps even recycled) boards, similar to ones used in decking. We are still researching this last option.

We only need to fence about 27'. Anyone have ideas? I'll consider anything.

ETA: Another option is to install chain link fencing and cover it with bamboo. Easy, affordable, but is it attractive?

2006-07-25T22:30:00.000-05:00

What is this bug? (He's an inch long in this photo, not including antennae.)

And why have we already caught two in our house? One, scurrying across the living room floor as I innocently sit there, only a foot away? And the second on the basement wall while I'm walking right by, again, only a foot (or less!) away?

If you know what this is, or can figure it out, please post. I'll come up with some sort of reward to make it worth your while. I want these buggers gone.

2006-07-21T14:19:00.000-05:00

This is the pesky fellow who's been eating all of our bird seed. We think he has an accomplice, too. Time to invest in a high tech anti-squirrel device...

2006-07-20T12:01:00.000-05:00

We are totally growing this sunflower house in our backyard next summer! Love it. (I really need a subscription to Family Fun magazine. Whenever I borrow one from the library, I have a really hard time giving it back.)

We just acquired a sandbox from our friends who are moving tomorrow!

Work on the house is stagnant lately. It's too hot, and we're enjoying *finally* being home for a little while.

2006-07-12T15:56:00.002-05:00

The promised photos!

Click here for the before.
And, here's the after:

What should we plant here? A hill of pachysandra (beautiful, but boring), or a variety of shade loving perennials and ground covers? The bush in the upper right hand corner of the hill has beautiful flowers in spring, so we want to root a cutting and transplant it somewhere else. Where?

Click here for bushes before.
Here's the after:

Hopefully, there will be a cedar fence here by the end of the summer. I need to see more pictures before I can design it.

Click here for the before.
Here's the after:

This is our backyard bird sanctuary. They love this brush pile. It's unfortunate (for them) that is has to go. But we will be glad to get our yard back! The problem? Finding a way to dispose of it naturally--composting, mulching, etc. The borough will only take it as trash. Anyone have a wood chipper?

Our garden:

That's sugar snap peas, Maya, and basil.

Our strawberry plant:

Hopefully, we'll have berries next year!
The plastic is for killing weeds and seeds. It has to stay on for a couple of months to kill seeds within six inches of the surface.

Our compost bin:

It's an Earth Machine. We put hardware cloth underneath it to make it varmint-proof. Move along, rats.

More pictures later!

2006-07-11T16:37:00.000-05:00

Has it really been three months since I posted? Why yes, yes it has. We've actually been gone seven weeks during the last three months, so I suppose I have a valid excuse. But, still.

Here's a preview of pictures to come:

Our new birdfeeder (my Mother's Day gift!)

Our quick-n-easy birdbath

Our backyard "bird sanctuary" (i.e. very large brush pile)

Our backyard accidental "birdbath"

Real land! Where large bushes used to be!

Our composter

Our front hill that needs landscaping advice...desperately

Maybe more!

And? I need to blog out all this farm lust--and figure out how to channel it toward urban homesteading (until God gifts me with a farm of my own).

2006-04-07T13:18:00.000-05:00

With signs of spring budding all around us, our home improvement thoughts turn outdoors. We just made a spreadsheet of all of the outdoor projects we'd like to complete this year, and frankly, it's daunting. We didn't even include "fun" things, like a pergola or flower plantings. Just necessary stuff, like gutter cleanings, paint scrapings and re-paintings, and ripping out of overgrown bushes. Right now, it's 29 items long. We prioritized the list, and even just the number ones are daunting! But we march on, because it has to be done.

My favorite project this year will be cleaning up the backyard. It's small and not well-planned; we hope to remedy that by removing the huge bushes, taking out the falling apart steps to the terrace, and putting in a fence. Since the yard is so small and only needs a fence on one side, the fence will be relatively inexpensive. We're going to use cedar instead of treated wood; it's better for the environment and our health, and won't leach weird chemicals into our food plantings.

This past Monday, I attended a composting class at the East End Food Co-opput on by the Pennsylvania Resources Council. It was a great deal--the class was $25, and included a free composting bin, made possible by a grant. I loved how the class was geared toward urban and suburban applications, because it really is different to compost in the city. Before, we just threw any food/yard wastes into a large pile and let it do whatever it wanted. In the city, you have to worry about attracting rats and other unwanted varmints. Who wants to be known as the neighbor that brought the rats to the block? So, I learned how to balance carbon and nitrogen in the pile, by using a 1:1 ratio of "greens" to "browns." I learned that we can't compost anything that came from animals while living in the city. I learned that our compost bin is varmint-proof, so critters will just have to pass on by.

I'm bummed that we'll have to throw out bones, meat, and even casseroles that contain butter or milk. These things are all compostable, but not recommended for urban compost bins. So, we'll have to be diligent about finishing or freezing any leftovers that contain animal products to cut down on food waste in the trash. Maybe we can find a neighborhood dog to eat the bones?

In addition to composting, we're going to implement a rainwater harvesting system. We have a downspout in the front yard that is poorly planned. It is washing away the landscaping and borders in the front, as it was never routed to the street. Instead of burying the gutter and routing it toward the street drains, which adds to run off, we're going to harvest the water from that gutter into a barrel or two. This will decrease our water bill, and give us better water for irrigation. Rain water is free of flouride and chlorine, which are bad for plants. It's also not softened, like the rest of the water in our house is.

Even as our thoughts turn outdoors, the work indoors remains. Every time I glance into our functional but unfinished kitchen, I wonder when we'll get to those last finishing touches. I also can't help but wonder where we're going to hang our coats or put away our clothing. Our current system of piles and suitcases isn't working, but we really don't have anywhere else right now! In addition, the third bedroom still needs to be painted and occupied by our office/guest room stuff. Hm. Always busy at the Toman House!

2006-03-19T13:34:00.000-05:00

Here's the living room in late morning light:

I love the color during the day. Now, here's the same room in the evening, with no flash:

I had to mess with the white balance on my camera to capture the shade, and this is pretty close. I've decided that the overhead light needs to pretty much stay off, unless we need lots of light. We'll focus on accent lighting, soft lamps and such, which most people do, anyway. I've never used overhead lights much, and we're only doing it now because we don't have enough other lights to make do.

2006-03-16T23:18:00.000-05:00

Well, all of our counter tops are installed! And the undermount sink looks beautiful. We oiled the sink side counter maybe 5-7 times (Jason would know better) with tung oil, allowing it to dry a day between coats. We'll continue to oil them frequently (every 1-2 weeks) for the next couple of months, then taper off to once every month or two, maybe more if the sink side warrants.

We got started painting the living/dining/sitting room run this week, as Jason's on spring "break." It's been tough finding the perfect shade of green, so we mixed two Benjamin Moore colors together in a 2:1 ratio--two parts Dill Pickle with one part Georgian Green. Welllllllll...after one coat in the living room, and with Jason currently working on the second as I type this and bite my fingernails...it's *green*. Very green. We did a lot of research and thought into this, and even bought three little samples that Benjamin Moore offers ($3.99/ea--Dill Pickle, Sherwood Green, and Georgian Green) and painted a swatch of each in three areas of our big long room. And then we painted a swatch of our little conglomerate (2:1 DP:GG) along side in two places. And it seemed perfect. Now, looking at it in one room, it's just bright. I'm praying it dries differently than I expect. It looks much better in natural light; maybe changing out our lightbulbs will help?

I can't bear to live in a house with ugly green walls! I'm going for a subtle, yet vibrant, olive-y shade. I love the bathroom in this picture. Let's just say that's not the color on our living room walls right now. *Sigh.*

2006-03-04T13:31:00.000-05:00

Progress over the past week or so: continued oiling and sanding of the wood counter tops, installation of the deco strips under three sets of upper cabs (these cover the undercab lights), cutting and beginning sanding/oiling of the sink side counter, and installation of (another) new overhead light fixture.

The sink side counter requires more care, as it had to be cut as one long piece. (Stove side has two smaller sections, one to each side of the stove, and the wonky corner section is also relatively short.) The sink cutout had to be placed in the correct location, and it has to be pretty, as the sink will be undermount. Then, we have to sand and oil the entire counter (including bottoms and sides) with pure tung oil, about 8-10 times, to protect the wood from water. Some people recommend against using wood by a sink, but we figure that if tung oil has been good enough for the Chinese to use on boats for thousands of years, our little counter will be just fine.

And truthfully, both Jason and I find the oiling of the counter tops fun. It's an organic process, and you start to feel connected to the counter in a way. Weird, I know, but true.

I like the new overhead track. It's five lights instead of three, so hopefully it will give off enough light for us to be satisfied this time.

2006-02-22T20:57:00.000-05:00

Well, things have been especially slow the past few weeks. We've suffered from two rounds of nasty colds in our family. Now, a nasty stomach flu (or something else that makes you vomit and have a fever) is travelling around the clan. I'm the only one unaffected so far (pray pray pray pray pray for me).

Amidst this, before he began vomiting, Jason got the undercab lights up! We bought the slim profile GE fluorescents from Home Depot. They're the premium ones, flicker-free, with no hum. After a few frustrating attempts that failed miserably, Jason got them working the next day. It's so nice to have bright light under the cabs! When the counters are all in, it will be even more beneficial.

Our overhead light is going through some identity crises. First, it was a three-light halogen track from IKEA. Beautiful, and we pointed one at the wonky corner and one at the door, while leaving one pointed downward. I loved the play of shadows and light, and halogen casts such a gorgeous light. But it wasn't quite bright enough. And I thought the little lights weren't the right size to balance the little cabinet knobs; something bigger was in order. So, we're currently trying a single overhead fixture from Lowe's with two 11w energy efficient bulbs (each equivalent to 60w light) from IKEA. It's not quite enough light, either, and while I know we could easily put brighter bulbs in, I miss the spotlighting capabilities of the track, not to mention the beautiful halogens. (Usually, energy efficiency wins my heart, but once in a while I need pretty light to make me happy. And halogens aren't that bad, in terms of efficiency.) So, we're going to go back to IKEA and buy another track with at least five lights. I'm excited to try it out! Again!

Counter update: with all the sickness, I haven't oiled the counters as much as I wanted. We're using mineral oil, and have the two counter tops surrounding the stove cut. We made a special trip out to a woodworking store to buy pure tung oil for oiling the counters, but they weren't open! Both their website and the sign hanging in their window said they should be open, but they weren't. Bummer. Anyways, tung oil is important for our sink side counters, as they need to be very water resistant. We plan to cut out the sink and oil that side's counters 8 - 10 times previous to installation. We'll see if our little experiment works.

2006-02-16T10:00:00.000-05:00

Beautiful Countertops are on the way! Yesterday I took an hour or so while Maya was asleep to cut out two new pieces of our butcherblock slab to make the countertops for either side of the stove. Cutting them out solo with a jigsaw was easier than expected - it just took a while to get my "table" of old cupboards and boxes set up. And it can be hard to cut a straight line using such a shifty tool as a jigsaw. Since none of the walls are really straight (H or V), I had to make a cardboard template again to get the right shape for the corner.

Serina just applied the first coat of oil to both pieces last night. I'll have to sand them again soon and we'll keep adding more oil until those suckers stop drinking. They were really thirsty last night. They sat outside their box and plastic bag longer than they should have. I was expecting to cut out the countertops sooner, but sleep schedules and inclement weather slowed me down.

Stay tuned for the big countertop tale, to be written after I cut out the long countertop piece and try to undermount our hugantic white composite sink to it and not break the wood in the process...

Over and out.

2006-02-08T19:22:00.000-05:00

We have knobs & pulls! Click here to go to the house photo set. As usual, newer photos are at the bottom.

**WARNING**
THESE PHOTOS ARE UNCENSORED AND UNEDITED. DIRTY DISHES AND TEMPORARY SINKS ARE INVOLVED. LOOSE WIRES RUN AMOK. BEWARE.

2006-02-05T16:33:00.000-05:00

Alright, click here for some new pictures of the kitchen. Scroll to the bottom of the set. There aren't a ton, but it will give some of you a fix until we have more progress. :)

Just to whet your appetite:

Here's the wonky corner cab, as "modified" (a.k.a. hacked) by Jason and his dad. They did a great job!

Here it is after the custom-cut butcher block counter was installed (isn't it pretty?):

Enjoy!

2006-02-02T11:40:00.000-05:00

This is my first blog posting ever!

Hi, I am Jason, the husband to that web-savvy gal Serina. While I don't have time now to give the full blown update on the house, here are some quick thoughts:

Arthur Goh, a grad student from Carnegie Mellon is coming over tomorrow to help with the kitchen. It's the THIRD TIME he's come. Thanks, man!
Our IKEA Pronomen butcherblock countertop (a mouthful!) has been sitting on the dining room floor for over a week, taking up 2/3 of the remaining walking space. I have penciled out the outline of the next piece to cut out. If the weather cooperates, I'll be installing that between the stove and the east wall tomorrow.
Last week I started to cut a hole through the wall for our stove's overhead fan and I ran into a stud. After talking with some friends who have - between them - years of experience with old houses and a degree in architecture, I've decided to notch part of the stud out and finish cutting the hole tomorrow. The same friends (The Moores) are loaning me a hammer drill to cut through the brick and mortar on the outside portion of the wall. We have about 5 dozen eggs in our refrigerator that we are afraid to cook because of grease issues with no fan. I am hoping and praying for omelets this weekend.
We put up a stair-top gate for the kids last week. Now Ellery can crawl in the 2nd floor hallway without an adult blocking the stairs. She loves to stand up holding the gate and yell, "Na NAAA!" Look for Serina's comments on the woodwork I did to affix the gate to the wall.
This morning as I took a shower, I had a flashback to November. At that time, I was frantically working to replace doors, replace craftsman style trim and door jamb extensions, caulk, fill holes and sand the trim, patch wall cracks, paint walls, and paint trim, all between the hours of 8pm and 5am on various nights while Serina and the girls stayed/slept in our apartment a few blocks away. Nighttime work was the only option with a full family and work schedule, and I lost a lot of sleep over the whole deal (not as much sleep as Serina is now losing over Ellery's crying probably). There was so much dust kicked up - and the house has lead paint in it - that I would be showering and changing my clothes before coming home at around 3 AM, night after night. Needless to say, my flashback this morning caused a mixture of pride and nausea. There is still so much to do, and one blessing that has come with our moving in is that I cannot work much at night when the kids are sleeping.
On a related note, did I ever tell you about the day we moved our stuff from the Roseliuses' home in Butler, PA to our own house? I never want to do that again. The night before was an all out push to get the woodwork for the doors done so we could seal off the lead dust from inside the walls. Given enough time, I'd have finished all door installations, trim installation and finishing, caulking, and the meticulous washing of all surfaces. That way, we could be more sure about no lead dust getting on our stuff or on our kiddies.
Well, I had been working for days on this door trim. The walls were not a standard thickness, nor were they straight. The pine boards I used to replace the old paint-chipped trim always seemed to want to warp in the opposite direction of the wall. Oh yeah, and when the old trim had been taken out with the old lead-paint doors, it had usually caused some interesting cracks and large jagged holes in the old lath and plaster. So there were a lot of places where I was trying to nail a splitting and warped pine board to a hole in the wall. And trying to make it match with other boards and somehow, to look good. I was losing my hope at lightspeed.
At 3 AM, Serina and I talked on the phone about what I still had left to do, why it was taking so long, and how we would both be happy if Jesus would come to take us up at that instant. I never did sleep that night. In fact, at about 6 AM I just finished what I could on the first floor and taped off the upstairs with 6 mil polyester and duct tape. After my ritual shower, I drove to Carnegie Mellon's campus to pick up some students, our free labor for the day. Serina and one girl began to mop and scrub the first floor in preparation for the boxes, and I picked up the 26' U-Haul truck and began my trip with students to Butler, PA.
I actually made it alive all the way to Butler and had fun filling up the truck with students that day (there was about 5.6 square feet of empty space in the truck when we were finished). Driving the full truck from Butler to Swissvale was a different animal, though. I was tired enough to pass out, and needed constant conversation and one break in order to make it home alive. After only about 4 stalls and 1 engine grind (boy those Pennsylvania hills are hard to climb in a full truck with manual transmission!), I somehow didn't do any damage in Swissvale when I had to drive a 26' U-Haul truck along steep cobblestone streets that are no more than 20' wide and have cars parked on both sides. The students must have been sweating blood praying for me not to crash. But, providentially, it all turned out okay.
I hope Serina can post some pictures soon!

That's all for now. Bye!

2006-01-14T20:52:00.000-05:00

We have appliances! They arrived bright and early this morning (7:30, to be exact) and are now sitting in their proper places in the kitchen. The dishwasher is not hooked up yet, and will require a bit of work. But the stove and fridge are fully functioning. All that's standing in the way of regular cooking now is installing the stove fan (may be tricky, too), getting our DOMSJO double bowl sink (why, oh why doesn't IKEA plan their stock better?), and finishing the installation of the cupboards and counters (putting in shelves, installing and leveling doors, putting on pulls/knobs, and cutting/attaching counters). That sounds like a lot, I suppose, but so much has been done. It feels like we're, conservatively, 60% there.

The Ellen Kennon Berry Red walls are beautiful. The paint application is a bit splochy, so we'll need another coat or two, but the color is just gorgeous. And the wonky corner counter has been cut to perfection!

I just can't wait to start baking bread and making stock and filling our fridge, freezer, and tummies with good things to eat!

2006-01-10T22:52:00.000-05:00

In order to feel useful on the kitchen remodel front, while being so far away from the actual kitchen, I've been browsing around for knobs and pulls. I think I want brushed satin nickel knobs, simply styled round ones, and cup pulls for the drawers. The best prices, by far, are at KnobDepot.com, where they also offer free shipping over $40! I found a fantastic deal on the knobs/pulls I want there, but since my parents' computer is so slow, I'm not going to go back and find the link so you all can see them. But I'm sure to link to them eventually.

I'm having a little trouble envisioning what exactly to put on our 15" pull-out pantry. It's a very tall, narrow door, and by pulling it out, one also pulls out the top and bottom drawer tray things in the pantry. A simple knob or cup pull won't cut it for this door, I'm afraid, and would look totally overwhelmed by the height of the door. Hm. I'll have to go searching for pantry pictures, maybe at IKEA, for inspiration. Unfortunately, I don't much like the IKEA handles.

A picture will help, I know, but I've been promising pictures for months and still haven't produced anything, have I? Yet, if you persevere, I will come through for you. Pictures soon, I promise. If it makes you feel any better, I haven't actually seen the kitchen myself for a month now. When I left, it was a totally gutted space, with holes all over the walls and unfinished pine floors. Now, the electric has been totally re-done, the walls have been repaired and painted, the cabinet carcasses have been installed, the floor's been coated with its first coats of polyurethane, and the wonky corner counter has been cut to fit the curve. Most doors are even hanging, even if they're not completely level yet! I can't wait (Ican'twait Ican'twait Ican'twait) to see my kitchen.

Tomorrow, we return to Pgh.

2006-01-03T11:33:00.000-05:00

So Jason calls me at 4 p.m. yesterday and asks me to pick a paint color for the kitchen! This, after we had previously agreed to put the kitchen together and then paint. He realized that, aftering measuring things out, there would be a 4" space between the top of the upper cabs and the ceiling, and that place would be pretty impossible (or at least very uncomfortable) to paint after cabinet installation. And the paint store closed at 5, so could I possibly pick a color now?

Well, that didn't happen, as I hadn't even had time to obsess over which color to paint, much less which shade! Ugh! Ack!

I spent last evening in a riveting paint discussion over at That Home Site's kitchen forum. The folks over there, along with the Home Decorating forum, are fantastic. I ended up discovering that Ellen Kennon paints are all low-VOC, and they come in a wide array of gorgeous. They're full spectrum paints, which means that they are "more luminous and color reflective than most paints since they contain many more pigments than the traditional 2-3 used by most companies," according to the EK website. They're more expensive than the Benjamime Moore Eco Spec that we were using by a good $20/gallon, but since we may only need one gallon for the kitchen, it should be alright.

Unfortunately, we're out of money. There's so much left we'd like to do to the kitchen, and the rest of the house hasn't even been touched by any sort of decorating whatsover. But we'll have cabinets, counters, appliances, and beautiful Ellen Kennon Berry Red walls, and that's enough to make me very happy for quite some time.

I'm going to have to get very creative with decorating the rest of the house with our old hand-me-down furniture. I'm also going to have to find innovative ways to make money so we can purchase things to finish off our kitchen. We still need to get an overhead light fixture, custom curved shelves for our wonky corner, accent decor, all the undercab lighting, and a rug. I'll probably eBay as much as possible, and teach some Bradley classes (which I love and need to get back into anyway).

And for the next year, all of my gifts for major holidays (Valentines, Mother's Day, Birthday, and Christmas) will be paint for the other rooms in the house. I've compiled a list of nice Benjamin Moore yellows to obsess over for the dining/living room combo.

2005-12-30T13:59:00.000-05:00

Ah, an updateless update.

Well, not exactly. As I type this from my parents' computer in Michigan, Jason, his parents, and my dad are in Pennsylvania working on the house. Most specifically, the kitchen! Oh, the day when I will have a kitchen again. It's been seven months since we moved out of our old house, and I haven't had a decent kitchen (or any of my pots, pans, baking dishes, recipe books, appliances, etc.) since then.

The girls and I left Jason in PA on the 13th of this month. He worked on the house (in addition to his regular work for InterVarsity) until the 22nd, at which point he rented a car (we only have one working vehicle right now, and I had it in Michigan) and joined me at his parents' home for Christmas. We drove down to my parents' house on Christmas Day, and his parents picked him up here yesterday to take him back home for a week of intensive kitchen assembly. We hope and pray that the cabinets are assembled fast.

Today, Jason's parents are working on the cabinet that will be going into our wonky corner (which is curved). They're assembling it, then hacking off the corner to make it fit in the curve. The hope is that, after cutting the wooden counter to fit the curve, no one will know that we didn't buy a custom cabinet for that ridiculous corner.

The new appliances will be delivered soon, as well. There are still boxes everywhere (yes, I really mean everywhere), so I have no idea where they're going to assemble the cabinets. But they're smart; they'll figure it out. They're also strong, so moving the boxes around is an option.

My dad went down for a quick trip to help with some electric stuff. We had an electrician in (while the girls and I were gone) to do most everything, but somehow, I neglected to ask for a hard wiring for a light above the sink. So there's no light there! Ugh. Dad's going to do that. We got a good deal on the electric stuff by having Jason help out for the whole day, but it was still veeeery expensive for us. I hate spending money on things that most people won't even consider when they buy the house. I mean, you don't walk into the house and say, "Wow! Imagine how much they spent on these light switches! And that glorious room full of outlets! And the new box in the basement!" People like to walk into a kitchen and say, "Incredible! Look at the stainless steel appliances! The granite counters! The bling-bling faucet! The imported backslash tiles!" And we have none of those things. But we pray that our common design sense, quality choices, and no-shortcuts work (like moving the back door, upgrading all the electric, adding a whole house water filter + softener) will pay off in the end.

We will have under cabinet lighting, outlets any place you could ever want them, and light switches that make sense. The back door has three light switches: porch, overhead kitchen, and stove wall undercab lighting. The entrance to the dining room has two switches: overhead kitchen, and sink wall undercab lighting. I think my dad will add the hard wiring for the over sink light and just put the switch right here.

The master bedroom has been painted a lovely shade of pale blue (can't remember the color). I haven't seen it in person yet, but Jason video taped it and showed it to me before Christmas. He also assembled our new bed frame and put our new natural latex mattress (from FoamSource) on it. I CAN'T WAIT to sleep on that bed, in a freshly painted (with low VOC paints) room.

2005-12-15T23:11:00.000-05:00

The Toman gals are now all in Michigan, leaving behind Jason to work heavily on the house until just before Christmas, when he'll join us up north at my in-laws'. It was a last-minute decision yesterday, as a snowstorm was coming, and we didn't have an extra vehicle to get Jason to Michigan after us. But then someone generously offered to pay for Jason's rental car to get to Michigan, and there you have it. Yay!

Kitchen Update: The cabinets are in our house! I boxes! All over!
We need to get an electrician in to do his/her thing before progressing any further on this front. And boy, is it going to be spendy. We'll need five new counter outlets, wiring for undercab lighting, old wires removed, new switches added at two different places, an outlet for the dishwasher and one for the stove, and possibly a new box! Our first quote, from a recommended contractor that was the most affordable for some friends at the time they did their kitchen electric work, was for upwards of $2200. *deep breath* *fighting off panic attack* We're going to call our realtor's electrician to get another quote. (By the way, it's great to have used an agent who is into renovating houses. He has so many great tips and resources for us.)

After electric, the work will go like this:
-mud/tape/plaster/finish walls
-finish pine floor
-first paint coat (um, color?)
-install cabinets and appliances
-install any needed baseboards in exposed areas
-second paint coat
-backsplash? (if money is left)

I'm dreaming of bright grass green for the walls. Maybe that will be too much. My fallback is yellow, which is lovely and will go nicely with our wooden counters. I have a backsplash tile that I just love. Problem: I have no idea what it's called or where to buy it. I saw it in a Better Homes & Garden magazine a while back, but I have no idea which one or where it is in our boxes. Then I saw the same backsplash on the IKEA Fansite (zenpotter's STAT kitchen), and I can't get a hold of her to find out where she got it. Oy!

Cooking from a crockpot and toaster oven has its limitations. We've eaten at cheap restaurants more lately than I care to admit. But I have made some yummy stuff, including Chicken Curry and Squishy Noodle Suprise (a.k.a. overcooked pasta that we all ended up loving).

General House Update: Jason's working on our closets, painting doors, installing door knobs & hinge pins, and other misc tasks. I hope he gets the side entry floor done in the beautiful red linoleum we're purchasing from a friend (leftover from a project) at a fantastic price.

I hope lots of house work gets done this week so that leaving Jason behind and missing him is worth it.

2005-12-09T15:06:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I knew the driveway on this place would be treacherous come winter. But now that said winter has come, in a blazing white glory, I'm not so thrilled to encounter the reality that is a veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery slippery driveway that will not be scaled. So we parked in the street last night during the big snow storm, and Jason shovelled and salted a path for us so no little children would break their necks. I've never been so glad to be home! Even this home! With all of its craziness and unsettledness and not-homey feeling.

We're in about the same state as we were last time I posted. Jason's been at a two day staff retreat, so nothing has been done. Boxes everywhere.

The best news: Jason's folks might come next week (again!) to help out with kids and kitchen cabinet assembly! Hurray! It's such a long drive for them, and we're so very grateful.

The worst news: our van has died its last death, so we have no way to get our cabinets home from IKEA save paying a large delivery fee. No money for that, so those cabinets will get home somehow. We're hoping to borrow some friends' minivan.

2005-12-06T11:21:00.000-05:00

Hello! We've moved. It's true. We're living in Box Land, complete with Box Tunnels and Box Bridges and even Box Tables. It's rather unbelieveable, the amount of boxes there are. I'm going to take pictures to document this fascinating stage in our move.

The girls' room is our living space. There are toys there, and a lovely new wool area rug from IKEA. It sheds enough to have us believing there's an actual sheep hiding out, but we haven't found him yet. So the rug gets the blame (and it also gets a daily vacuuming). Our next step (if it's even possible to choose just one) is to get the master bedroom painted and a bulk of the boxes moved to the basement so we can extend our living space downstairs. Because really, living in one room is getting to be a bit boring.

I'm posting from the library today. I must move on to more important things, like choosing a water purification system and finding telephone/internet service so I can blog from home. So farewell for now. While I'm gone, please choose paint colors for me. Anything but purple. Thanks.

2005-11-26T00:17:00.000-05:00

Our last day in our apartment will be Wednesday. This weekend, we're painting the girls' room and trying to continue cleaning. The whole house's walls and floors have been washed/scrubbed/mopped once. I hope to repeat the whole deal, in addition to vacuuming daily and sponge mopping the ceiling. The more we clean, the less potential lead dust is in the air.

I bought a refrigerator, stove, vent hood, and dishwasher at Sear's today! Gotta love the Black Friday 20% Kenmore appliances sale. (I normally wouldn't go shopping on the day after Thanksgiving, but, well, it was too much of a savings to pass up.) All the appliances we purchased are highly rated by consumer groups. The stove has a 16,000 BTU burner and a convection oven. The fridge is a top-mount, no-frills energy saver with 22 cubic feet. (Our last house's fridge was 18 cubic feet. 22 looks a lot bigger!) I purchased them all in white, then changed my mind to black.

What changed my mind? IKEA. I finally ordered my kitchen cabinets today! And counters! And sink/faucet! Woo-hoo. 10% off was enough incentive to get me in high gear, planning our kitchen for several hours today. IKEA rarely has sales, so I needed to take advantage of it. I've been planning a white kitchen for months, but today, I finally gave into the black ABSTRAKT high gloss cabinets that have been calling my name the past few weeks. And just like that, my mind was made up. I plan to pain the walls a muted pea green color (BM Timothy Straw).

My IKEA receipt is five feet long. I measured.
I have four Sears receipts.
Now I need to buy a new filing cabinet for all of our kitchen stuff!

2005-11-19T22:35:00.000-05:00

Things We're Working On So We Can Move In
-replace all bedroom doors and bathroom door, including jambs and trim
-replace some suspicious quarter round (green lead-based paint, chipping)
-putty nail holes made by above projects, sand putty
-caulk around all replaced doors and trim
-haul a lot of junk
-clean, clean, clean

The Healthy Homes folks come to retrieve their Nilfisk HEPA vac Monday at noon, after weeks of us pushing the date back. They've been very flexible, and I'm hoping we'll get to borrow the vac again soon. It's a wonderful thing to have around.

Most of the things on the list above are done; Jason is working on one room's quarter round, some last putty holes, and dust clean-up tonight. Tomorrow, we'll have to sand, clean, caulk, and do a thorough lead-safe cleaning. This involves washing all the walls, windows, and sills with the three-bucket method, then mopping the floors by the same method.

I promised pictures, and they're pending. Really.

Next week, I'll paint the trim and walls in the girls' room. We're also having the air ducts cleaned on Friday.

Yes, that's Black Friday. We'll have to let them in between shopping trips. I hope to buy our appliances and cabinets on that day. Kenmore appliances are 20% off at Sears before 11 a.m.; IKEA has a 10% coupon good on anything in stock in the store purchased on Friday, if you arrive before 10 a.m. to get the coupon. It will be total madness, but worth it, I think.

2005-11-09T14:04:00.000-05:00

I really should keep up here. The irony is that during the times I ought to be house blogging, I've no time or energy to house blog. So now I play catch up...

Never fear, pictures will be arriving, en masse, soon. Oh, the destruction I have to show you!

My parents came last weekend to help. They wanted to stay longer, but they do have lives and jobs of their own to attend to, so on Monday, back they went. Dad helped Jason replace the exterior side door and jamb. What a job! The door goes through the foundation, and I guess it was a pain. I should get Jason on here to share his side of things.

All three exterior doors and jambs are lead paint hazards, so we want to replace them. We're leaving the front door until next year, and will just plastic it over for the winter (just like we'll do to the windows, to reduce heating costs). As I type this, we have a carpenter (I think his name is Art) moving our kitchen porch door over two and a half feet. Oh, the delight! We'll be able to create a galley-style kitchen this way, which will be so much more efficient, and a better use of space. I'm thrilled. But boy, is it messy. Every time I drive over there to drop off a meal for Jason, just getting out of the car makes me want to sneeze. But it has to be done before move-in, as cutting through walls kicks up tons of lead dust.

All the quarter round in the house is nailed down and puttied. We replaced the quarter round that appeared to have lead paint (suspicious green hue) with new pine quarter round. I need to paint it now, but that's not likely to get done prior to move in. I'll be spending all of my free time painting once we move in. Hopefully, buying the no-VOC stuff will keep the air quality a bit safer.

Join me in praying for the girls to have no measurable lead levels in their bodies. I'm going to spend a day this weekend scrubbing ceilings, walls, floors, windows, etc. and vacuuming like mad to remove lead dust from renovations. The, we'll move in. Then I'll have to do the cleaning again, as the boxes were stored in a basement (lead dust is highest in basements), and people will be wearing shoes as they move our stuff in. Cleaning is not my favorite activity, so it will be a sacrifice of love on my part.

2005-11-02T09:57:00.000-05:00

I met with a guy from Lead Safe Pittsburgh yesterday morning. He said our home looks good compared with many he works in; that didn't reassure me. They're booked into December for the door work. Basically, they scrape the lead paint off of the impact surfaces of the door and jamb, then re-paint with latex pain. That's all. He recommends replacing the doors, if we can afford it. They're a non-profit, so door replacement isn't currently in their budget. Which I totally understand! What they do is fabulous. And free, for those in the right income bracket.

The thing is, most of our doors are non-standard sizes. Specifically, the three exterior doors, which have the worst lead paint hazards. I guess we'll have to find someone who makes special doors. It's not going to be easy, and the removal of the old doors will kick up all kinds of lead dust.

I just wish we could get all the lead abatement done prior to move in. Not gonna happen, as we're moving in next Saturday (11/12, pushed back from 11/5). We do plan to replace some of the quarter round that looks as though it has old lead paint on it (curious green hue), and replace or remove any interior doors with lead based paint.

In other news, Jason is at the house today with our friend Jesse. They're planning to sand the floors in the kitchen and do other odds and ends.

The newest kitchen idea was to move the door to the porch over a couple of feet, turning the kitchen into a galley. That puts so much more of the space to work as counter space. Problem is, we don't know if we can move that door ourselves. And moving day is fast approaching...

2005-10-24T20:53:00.000-05:00

Wow. Old house work is hard.

I spent a good four hours today putting wood filler into poorly-done nail holes in quarter round. Every 6 - 12 inches. For the entire house. (For the record, the quarter round was salvaged from our garage, and the first floor's worth had been re-nailed before we even bought the place. My father-in-law did a fine job nailing in the old stuff upstairs--crooked wood, not his fault!) I kneeled down on my mother-in-law's gardening knee pads and put my face right down to the floor. Otherwise, I couldn't see the holes well enough to fill them.

Needless to say, my back is killing me. Did I mention I'm 26? I feel 75 tonight.

And my hands! I washed them so many times that my fingertips are red and raw. Poor, poor hands. I suppose it's just as well. They weren't beautiful to begin with. They've always been sturdy, servicable, piano player's hands. With short nails. Not Neutrogena hand creme commercial material.

But part of me feels really great. I was starting to wonder if I was going to get to put any sweat equity into the place. With the kids, it's so hard for me to do any work. Right now, we won't even let them in the house, as we've ripped up some wall board (another post will explain this) and probably kicked up plenty of old lead paint dust. So everyone else does the work, and I feel house bound and generally useless. (But I love my kiddos! Really. Check out their new blog!)

My in-laws leave tomorrow morning. Wah. They've been so helpful. But there's so much more to do! And now, no one to either help watch the kids or do the work for us. We're so grateful to them. They've done some gross stuff--scrubbing and scraping adhesive off of pine floors, washing dingy curtains, fixing little annoying things here and there--in addition to stuff I've already mentioned! They have such a strong work ethic. When there's work to be done, they do it. No complaints. That's where my husband gets it from!

2005-10-22T10:08:00.000-05:00

The work has begun! Jason's parents arrived Wednesday. Bless them for taking a nine hour trip to come work on our house, watch our kids, and take us out to eat. What a treat! They're sleeing at the house in an air mattress, in whatever room isn't being cleaned by Mom at the moment.

So far, Mom has scrubbed walls, ceilings, and baseboards; scraped and vacuumed chipping baseboard paint; cleaned floors, windows, and windowsills; done laundry (even diapers!) and made do with a kitchen being ripped up. Dad has taken down the large, ugly mirror over the fireplace (see pics) and repaired the wall underneath; dealt with odd, old house wiring to add an outlet to the formerly outlet-less bathroom; and re-installed some salvaged quarter round in the whole house, making repairs and replacements as needed.*

Jason spent yesterday ripping up three layers of old flooring in the kitchen.** I can't speak to the details, as I wasn't there, but it was a lot of work. When I called him yesterday afternoon, he sounded as if he was in the middle of a marathon. The original pine floors may be able to be salvaged. It probably won't save us any money, now that we fully consider it, as we'll need to rent a sander ($400, according to our realtor) and buy stain and polyurethane. But it's nice to remove the kitchen from it's pedestal, so to speak, and put it on the same floor level as the rest of the rooms.

Today, Dad & Jason are tackling the installation of the hot water heater, water softener, and whole house sediment filter. Whew! It will really lengthen the life of our water-using appliances, such as dishwasher, washer/dryer, hot water heater, etc.

I took a trip to Artemis this week. It's an environmentally friendly building supply store, recently opened in Lawrenceville by two women. Their showroom is only open a couple of days a week, so I was glad to go (sans children, thanks to Mom). It was so grand to touch and see things that I had read about on the internet, like Marmoleum, cork flooring, Interface FLOR carpet tiles, and AFM Safecoat paint. I found out that it will take a week for the paint to come in after I order it, as it comes from Wisconsin. I'm going to have to order it all at once to make it easier, and I'm having a bear of a time deciding what colors to paint each room. I'm stuck between a cottage theme and an Asian theme in the kitchen; the result of this decision will affect the whole first floor. Asian would be nice, but the cabinets to go with it are slightly more expensive. Plus, an Asian theme would require the trim on the first floor be painted brown (in lieu of stripping and staining). What a pickle. I still can't decide between green or red in my cottage kitchen. If it's Asian, I think the wall accents will be red or blue. Or green. Gack! The house will never be painted at this rate. Anyone want to chime in? Help?

Pictures forthcoming!

-----------------------
*The previous owner, a son who inherited the place from his folks and never lived there, removed the quarter round to aid in ripping out carpet (we assume). Prior to listing the house, he replaced the quarter round on the first floor, and did a poor job. Dad found all of the second floor quarter round in the garage, properly labeled and just waiting to be re-installed. The entire place, walls and trim together, is painted in a hideous "neutral" color that looks yellow, beige, and pink all at once. The quarter round was painted white. Not sure what's going on there, but needless to say, we'll be painting all of the trim white once it's been adequately repaired.

**The reason we were able to remove the suspected asbestos-contaminated linoleum is that it was attached to some sort of subfloor that itself was not attached to the floors beneath. So the glue on the linoleum was left largely untouched. I felt funny about it, but Jason wanted to dig in. We still recommend asbestos testing to anyone who is considering the removal of their old linoleum floors. Now, we need to consider disposal issues. I'm not sure we can just send it to the landfill, ya know?

2005-10-16T09:15:00.000-05:00

We own the house!

As of Friday afternoon, we signed the papers and got the keys. What a relief! It's been a bumpy ride, but now we can get going on repairs and improvements.

My in-laws are visiting 10/19-26 to help with house stuff and child care. Jason will be working during this time, so we won't get as much done as we'd like. But he'll be spending every spare moment at the house, and my father-in-law can do some of the handy stuff. Jason's mom is ready to cuddle the kiddos, help with cooking, and paint.

Paint. What colors? We have to make some fast decisions. I'm pretty decided on some form of green for the kitchen...if only I can get the red kitchen idea out of my mind. I think the kitchen's too dark for red; it needs something lighter and brighter.

Today we're going to visit IKEA to get some kitchen ideas, since we'll be using their cabinets.

I added some links to kitchens I love on the sidebar. I find that I'm attracted to country kitchens. Weird! But I'll embrace it.

2005-10-06T21:04:00.000-05:00

Kitchen planning. Fun! I'm agonzing over layout issues here, what with the three entrances, two windows, and wonky corner and all. Have you seen those kitchen pictures? Not much to work with! The great folks over at the kitchen forum at That Home Site Forums have really been helpful with brainstorming. They've had great ideas for my wonky corner, too.

Materials, colors: For cabinets, I'm thinking white. IKEA, probably, as that's the most affordable. And they're highly rated by Consumer Reports. White appliances, as stainless steel is cost prohibitive. Plus, all white could be cool. Whatever the color, energy efficiency is important to us. Counters: I really, really want granite or soapstone, but that's probably too expensive for us right now. In the meanwhile, I'm considering wooden countertops to get us through until we can save for stone counters. I need to find a cool faucet; anyone have ideas? I really, really, really want an undermount sink, but don't think that will work with our interim wood counters. I'm still trying to negociate this conflict in my mind, as I'm not willing to give up the undermount sink yet, but neither can I afford granite right now! Floors: I want dark linoleum. Like one of these patterns from Marmoleum. But the price is also prohibitive. Second choice is to use the original pine floors in the house, staining them a dark ebony after refinishing. Gorgeous. Problem is, the current floor is at least three layers of old cheap tile, the bottom of which is probably full of asbestos. Abatement is expensive, so we're stuck with leaving the bottom layer of ugly tiles on top of the pine floors to keep ourselves from getting cancer. Sigh. A distant third choice is ceramic tile. But I just keep imagining a little learning-to-walk noggin getting cracked on the floor. Ugh. Lighting: I'm debating between can lights and track lighting. Probably whatever's cheaper and easier. We had can lighting at our old house, and I liked it. But I think the counters needed more light, especially at night, so we're definitely doing some under cabinet lighting. Halogen is the new buzzword in kitchen lighting, but all I can think of is the old fire hazard warning in the dorms: no halogen allowed. We'll see. I'd like to incorporate at least some fluorescent bulbs in the mix for energy efficiency. Walls: red or chartreuse. Can't decide. Backsplash is something that is an enigma to me. I envision something either very cool (glass mosaic) or very simple (subway tile), but that's the one area of the kitchen I haven't been able to "see" as I dream up the kitchen. I just know that I want a backplash; our last place was just drywall, and the walls always had specks of something or another on them.

Why is it that the over-tapped budgets of public high schools can afford soapstone for their chemistry labs, but I can't afford them for my kitchen?

I hopped over to Construction Junction the other day during a rare child-free moment. They have used & surplus building materials, which is great. It's basically a big, dusty, dirty warehouse full of everything people gutted from their homes to do their remodels. But one person's trash is another's treasure, you know, and there's some great finds there. I nearly bought a $500 set of twelve old solid wood cabinets for the kitchen. If I'd have known they'd fit somehow, I'd have certainly done it. The negative side of this visit: my environmentally- and health-aware mind could not stop thinking about all of the lead paint dust that surely exists in that place!

Next place to check out: Artemis.

2005-10-03T19:21:00.000-05:00

The seller won't budge on repair money. Not a cent. So, we were left with last night through this morning to decide whether or not we wanted the house--after he took an extended weekend to make up his mind. We're a bit shocked, and so is our realtor. The radon came up high (8.4, I think), so we're going to try and get him to fix that (around $800). We're pretty certain we still want the house, though it was hard to sleep last night. We still haven't heard whether or not he's going to do the radon remediation.

I hope he doesn't back out of the deal over $800. He probably has the money; we don't. Especially not now that we need to add several thousand dollars to the repair budget.

Before move-in, we hope to have some of the following accomplished:
-replace hot water heater
-install quarter round at the bottom of all base trim
-gut kitchen (except for floor)
-repair kitchen plaster
-paint all walls and trim with no-VOC paint

We have a two-page list, but that gives you a sampling. If you look at the photos of the house, you may notice (if you've a very keen eye) that the previous owners plastered in the base cabs and countertop to the wall. Yep, that's right. So, to gut the kitchen, we'll have to pull the cabs and countertop right out of the wall, and repair a hole about 5/8" deep and, oh, corner-cabinet wide. And who knows what's underneath there. If we can't afford the entire kitchen remodel right now, which is likely the case, we'll do what we can. Maybe buy the appliances and leave the gutted cabinets there as work surfaces. We really can't work without a sink, so if we don't have a new countertop and sink, we'll have to re-connect the old one after fixing the plaster issue.

Good news is, the plaster in the kitchen turned up negative for lead paint. Bad news: the special machine thingy that can read through 30 layers of paint can't read through plaster; thus, there very well may be leaded paint behind the cabinets. That's why we want to do the gut and wall repair prior to move-in; our major priority is safety for our children. Aesthetics come later.

2005-09-26T21:32:00.000-05:00

Welcome to our house blog! Here, we hope to track the changes we make to our "new" old house--a cute little 1928 brick house in the Pittsburgh area.

We're waiting to close on the home. Any day now. We're waiting on the sellers to decide if they'll give us the money we're asking for to make repairs, based on the home inspection results. The most pressing issues are the water heater and air conditioning, both of which need to be replaced immediately. There are many, many more things to fix. The joys of an older home!

This will be an adventure, that's for certain.