Animals

Now that we have a barn and acerage we decided to expand the chicken business.  Here we are picking up our chicks at the post office.  We ordered 150.

With 150 chicks some are bound to get sick.  We lost a few and for a while it seemed we had one or two with us during school recovering from some ailment or another.

Then we got the boys kittens.  While they are supposed to be barn cats they do find their way in on occasion.

Nathaniel and Cheetah/Charlie

Tim and Nora holding Softpaws and Cheetah/Charlie

The Dining Room

Before.

Before.

After.

After. 

Loving the colors!

The fireplace

Here is the fireplace when we moved in.  I pretty much ignored it not quite willing to admit what an eyesore it was.  

Before painting the brick I needed to change the brass on fireplace to black.  The brass was not going to complement the gray I was going to paint the bricks.  Using black spray paint in my living room was downright terrifying!  Granted, the carpet is old and will be replaced but I was just sure that something would happen and the spray paint would go everywhere.  I taped and papered off things to an excess just to play it safe.

Once the fireplace was all black I then had to tape it to keep if from getting the gray on it.

Here is it with not only the fireplace done but the walls painted as well.

Now I don't mind looking at it!

Painting the front of the house

We did it!  I can't believe we did it! 

Three weeks of hard work and many, many hours.

Before

After

Before

After

I love it!

Painting the House

So, for some reason, I can't tell you why, I have no idea, I decided to paint the outside of the house.  We had talked about waiting till next year, but I just could't wait.  When starting a large project as this it is best to do the hardest part first.  Or least the least desirable part first.  So, I started with the shed and then moved onto the back of the house.

Shed, before.

Back of the house, before.

The shed in progress.  I chose paint colors close to the original.

The old paint was very faded.  The red reminded me of lipstick.

Back of the house, in progress. 

Before.

After.

Sometime along the way the kids asked if they could help.  I said yes before realizing that the only color they could reach was the red.  Clearly I wasn't thinking that one through!  I felt like I had turned a toddler loose in a bridal shop with a red Sharpie.

After.

The difference is amazing!  

Soon I will have pictures of the front.

Roof - before and after

You have to look close at these pictures to see the difference in the roof before and after it was replaced.

One of the problems with this house and assumably the reason the previous owners couldn't afford to keep it up was a leak in the roof.

Two solar panels, a satellite dish and an antenna left too many holes in the roof.  One of them had rotted and allowed water into the house.  If you look behind the chimney you can see the tarp.  Our lender would not allow us to buy the house unless we repaired the roof.  Taking into account the large discount our insurance company offered if we were to replace it we chose to do the whole thing and be done with it.

In progress.

Done!

Office/School Room

Here we go!  Before and after pictures!

This room sits to the left right inside the front door.  Perhaps it was a formal living room or dining room, I have no idea, but it makes a fantastic office/school room for us.

The picture window has a beautiful view of the front yard.

Getting ready to paint.

The carpet was old, old, old and very faded.  The walls were perhaps the original dingy white.

After

Shaunda and Tracey helped me paint, thanks girls!  After the paint we had new carpet installed.

Here it is with furniture and kids hard at work at school.  It is one of my favorite rooms in the house.

Kitchen on Haven dr.

So, this kitchen remodel took 2+ years and most of you have already seen the end product but in the nostalgia of moving out and cleaning it up I was reminded of how far this house has come in the last 8 years we have owned it.  

The Kitchen

Before

Before

Painting cabinets is something very time consuming and I don't ever care to do it again.  Each door had to be sanded, primered twice, painted with two coats of paint then glazed and topped off with two coats of polyurethane.  Did I mention I now hate painting cabinets? 

Before

But, this is the end product.  

The walls before.

The walls after.

The half wall between the living room and the dining room, before.

Nathaniel helped in the demolition and enjoyed every second of it!

After, minus the half wall.

The floors before.  

Clearly carpet in the dining room with three kids was NOT working.

The floor after.

Painting the peninsula.

Removing and replacing the counter top.

After!

The end product.