Recessed Lighting!

So our kitchen is a huge work in progress... and although we got the old indoor/outdoor carpeting ripped out, the snowflake glitter wallpaper taken down and put up a fresh coat of pain on the walls and trim, there's still a TON of things that need to be done to make this a beauty.

As sad as I was to see this go, our gorgeous 1980's track lighting had to come down to be replaced with some recessed lights to make this kitchen shine bright like a diamond! haha

Before:

During: 

Painting Party!

So this is the furthest thing from an actual "party", but definitely some painting is going on.  Actually, can it be "party" if only one person is involved?   OK, so maybe my post title should be "I'm painting.. a LOT" .  All of the interior house trim was wood, but  not the pretty stained wood one would desire, this was yellowish wood that has been bleached in spots from sun and discolored in others from water damage.  To give all the wood a fresh updated look I decided to paint it all WHITE!    Now, some people called me crazy, and others more not-so-pleasant words because I was painting over real wood... but Im really happy with the way it turned out and it gives the whole look to the house a brigher updated one.

Here's some before's, during's and after shots of random wood trim being painted.  Did I mention that it was a LOT of painting?  Just as long as I get credit for it.. its soooo tedious.

Before:

During: 

After:

First Pool Opening

We're trying to get the pool opened, but that's a whole other nut.  It's definitely not because we're complete idiots when it comes to opening a pool.. and never mind the fact that I grew up with an inground pool and had to vacuum and check chemical levels.    As much as I'd love to point the blame on the hubby, I gotta say that getting the chemical levels just right is a science.   We got the cover off and are vacumming all the iddy griddy bugs and dead frogs off the bottom, but the water is still pretty cloudy.

Thanks Kristy for stopping by to give us a hand and share some pool expertise with us idiots!  

Yea, it was a long day, I needed a break.  What you don't see is my cold refreshing cider in my left hand. Oh wait, here it is!  Ahhhhh... how I love thee some cold Angry Orchard!  Cheers to making progress!!

Demo Days

It's been a few weeks since we've made settlement, and we're just as busy as ever!!  We have been ripping out carpets, laying wood floors, replacing trim moldings, removing wall paper from every room and painting, painting, painting and .....even more painting...

We decided to go with a dark wide plank floor throughout the two upper bedrooms, hall area and main living area.  Luckily for us, we've had some help along the way!  My son, Kyle and his girlfriend Bella have been helping along with my brother Jon and my dad who has been helping rip floor boards.  It's been a family affair for sure and we really appreciate the help.  Lots of cases of beer and pizzas have been getting us through these past few weeks!

Here's some photos of our demolition.

Kayla and Jon hauling out rolls of carpets

Jon scouring and rolling carpets

Jon again, being his silly goofy self.  What a tedious job this was, removing every single staple out of the floor that held the tacking strip in place..   thanks Jon for your hard work!

Here's dad, hard at work cutting boards to size.  Looking good dad!

This is me.. by the look of my face, I'm not enjoying myself too much. Steaming and removing years of wallpaper is never a fun task. 

Finally Got Our Farm!

Its always been a dream of mine since the time I was a little girl to have a house with some land and a bunch of animals to care for.  Growing up, I used to visit my family's farm in Jersey and it always felt like home to me. The smell of the air was different than it was in PA.  I couldn't quite figure it out at the time but something about the satly air mixed with the miles of open farmland was a smell that I"ll never forget. I remember the first time I got to ride my Aunt Jesse's horse, I felt like time stood still.  I remember music playing on an old radio in their barn.  One day, I thought to myself, one day will own a farm of my own just like Aunt Jesse's.

25+ years later and I'm now a wife,  a  mother of two amazing kids and a successful Real Estate agent, but found myself still feeling like something wasn't satisfied.  We've owned 3 wonderful homes that we've raised our kids in but we never had more than a half acre of land with any of them. Our last home was gorgeous- it was 4000 square feet not including the basement with a 3 car garage overlooking a beautiful.. FARM, but sadly the farm wasn't ours and it was sold shortly after we moved in and new construction was beginning to take place.  So much for our views :(   We had great neighbors at that house, but there was very little privacy and we never really felt like it was our 'forever home'.  More space, more land, more privacy is what we wanted.   They say things happen for a reason, because in 2007 the market around here crashed and we lost a ton of $ in equity and we found ourselves upside down on our mortgage.  We ended up selling the house and rented for a few short years until we got our financials on track and were ready to buy again.  We knew if we were going to be buying another house, it would definitely have more land with some privacy, and be a place we could stay forever in if we wanted to.

Well, we finally purchased our eight and a half acre parcel of land with a small house, small barn and a few out buildings last July. Bonus- it even has an in-ground pool!   Though the house was dated and needed a ton of updating and maintenance, we saw the unlimited potential this little place had, and it was in the award winning Downingtown Area School District which is where our daughter was going to high school.  We fell in love the moment we saw it, and my daughter even saw the potential it had. Truth be told- I think she saw the barn and had visions of goats, chickens and other critters floating around that cute little head of hers.  We were all in.

The day we made settlement, we began ripping carpets out and replacing them with wood floors and its been one project after another ever since but everything we do, we do ourselves with sweat on our brows and hearts on our sleeves.  Our love has gone into each project we've accomplished so far and this little sleeper is starting to come alive!


Here are a few photos of the house before we bought it.