don't judge me

We are taking advantage of the slow pace of renovations. I'm not complaining, I'm just finding the silver lining.

The main reason we have taken the time to prep the garage is because we are going to start moving things in there. If you promise not to judge me, I'm going to show a photo of our current garage situation.

This is the garage of the current house that we are renting. It ain't pretty.

I have several excuses reasons why it is in such dissaray, but I'm not going to bore you with them. It is what it is.

It is what it is, but now we have the time to remedy the situation.


Here is our pristine garage with freshly painted floors.

So here's the plan: Slowly and methodicaly, box by box, we are going to move the contents of the messy garage to the garage in the blue house. In the process, we will be going through each and every item and deciding if it's worth keeping.

We already went through this process, when we packed up and sold our house in the Bay Area. And let me tell you, we got rid of a lot of stuff.

I'm sure there are still a few things to get rid of. But don't worry, we're not getting rid of everything. But the things that we're keeping can definitely be more organized in a better fashion. Who am I kidding? Anything will be better than this!

So I have a little incentive plan. I won't mention any names, but I know someone who gives herself gold stars for accomplishing tasks. And just like her, I like a little incentive.

I'll be back tomorrow to explain.

Now, be honest: How clean is your garage?

busy weekend

We got several things done this weekend.

1. Laundry.
2. Grocery shopping.
3. Cleared out the garage.





4. Power washed the garage floor.




5. Made treats for 4's preschool Valentine party.



6. Worked on a project for 7's room.



* * * * *

Apologies for my lack of posting on Friday. My computer died. D.E.A.D. John rebuilt it, but we still think it's dying a slow death.

We're considering getting a Mac, but we're on the fence. Any opinions?

appetite for destruction

Let's be honest. I've been going stir-crazy lately, wanting to get started on our renovation plans. I'm tired of waiting for permit approval, and I'm tired of feeling like nothing is happening.

If it seems like we've been doing nothing but dreaming about new front doors and fencing, it's not true. Actually, we have been doing quite a bit of destruction demolition.

Demo #1: Removed the unnecessary shed-like structure.

here today...

gone tomorrow.

Demo #2: Removed a wooden step inside the garage.



After John jackhammered the garage floor, he had new plumbing put in for the new laundry location. After the new plumbing, John patched the concrete...



and then finished the patch with self-leveling Finish Coat.



Demo #3: Carpet removal

My personal ongoing project...

4's room

the hallway

front entry

You can see that we have been busy. Trying to make {small} progress before the real progress begins...

it's {jack} hammer time!

Admittedly, this isn't the most interesting --or aesthetic-- subject matter. However, it is part of the renovation process. It can't all be color swatches and tile samples!




As much as he dreaded it, John rented a jackhammer and jackhammered a portion of the garage floor. All in preparation for the new and improved plumbing.



Why go to all this trouble?

As previously mentioned, John is redoing the plumbing because we will be relocating the laundry to the garage. See renovation plans here.

And while he's at it, since he's redoing all the plumbing anyway, he is going to add a small garage bathroom.

When I was growing up, we had a small 1/2 bath in our garage and it proved invaluable for those days when you were working outside and didn't want to bring mud and dirt inside when going to the bathroom.

The picture above isn't "drawn" to scale. It just shows a rough placement of the garage's new features.

his & hers {projects}

Last weekend, John got started in the backyard and garage, setting up the plumbing for the garage. In the process of pushing the kitchen back 10 feet, the (current) laundry is going to become homeless. Therefore, it's going to need a new home in the garage.



This is the old plumbing, and it's not set up right. (I refuse to type what John really said about it.) John has to re-plumb all of the drain lines and unfortunately, that involves a little bit of digging.




Not exactly an exciting project, but a necessary one at that.




I got started on the floors in 7's room.





With 4's help, I ripped up the old carpeting, foam padding, and staples. I had to leave the tacking strips for another day because I didn't have the proper tools to remove them.




It ain't pretty but I think it looks beautiful.




Work crew having lunch.