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Partition? Down. AstroTurf? Up.

First! Ten million thank yous to our wonderful, gracious house guests: Kalli, Julia, Jillian, Heather, Rob, Jodi, Meg, Rex and Julie (whew!). We sincerely hope you enjoyed “meeting” some of our closest friends and blog favorites. We couldn’t have gotten as much done as we did without them, and for that, we owe ’em. Big time. Now, while we were out…

We survived Moving Day!

For the first time in our adult lives, we hired movers, realizing that we’re past the point of luring in our friends with beer and pizza. Everything arrived in one piece, safely. The hit to our wallet felt minimal when you considered the hours we saved, allowing us to dive into unpacking/organization mode by lunch time.

The unfortunate timing of our move vs. construction projects, however, still has us pulling clothes from boxes, digging through bins for coffee filters and has us running up and down the stairs for soap, toothbrushes and hairspray. (On a side note, we are not used to stairs yet! But it’s oddly fun, too.) Not much can really be put away; until we replace ceilings and level floors (just a small hiccup!), we’re unable to build storage, reassess layouts or even paint a wall. We’re in limbo, but even though our home is a wreck of cardboard and misplaced furniture, it’s exhilarating! We’re here! And with only a few lovers’ quarrels thrown in for a good measure. Not bad.

But let’s back up.

In the days leading up to the move, we drafted a mega-list of to-dos, including: scrubbing the floors, cleaning the bathrooms, calling in the exterminator (uh, yeah, ew), and completing one more dusty, dirty demo task – the second floor partition. It had to go. It was crooked, unnecessary and divided the floor that would no longer make sense for the future studio (eee!). Remember? After pulling down the drywall and exposing the chimney, it looked like this:

Now, it looks like this:

So big! So much light!

In about 45 minutes, we pulled down all the remaining studs (saving most of them, just like the entryway studs) – none of which were load bearing, thank goodness – including that super crooked door “frame.” After another contractor came out for a quote, he gave us the go ahead to do this ourselves, saving us just a bit more money off the bottom line.

Once we had a clear space, we filmed this clip, showing just how un-level the second floor really is. For weeks, we’ve been joking that if we lost anything – be it Jack’s kong, bobby pins or keys – it would only be a matter of time before it rolled to the middle. (Yes, it’s so bad, that on moving day, one of our moving crew put Skar against the wall, and it started slip, slip, slipping away.) And while it’s silly to talk about, you guys, it is not the most amusing to deal with. See the slope I’m kneeling on? The camera was resting flat on the ground; no artistic license was taken here.

After a handful of quotes, we know it’ll be several weeks before the issue is corrected – mostly due to busy contractor schedules. (Also, that big, ugly space heater needs to be capped off and proper HVAC installed.) You might remember that the sloping second floor ties in with our pulling down the first floor ceiling, so that’ll be weeks before it’s corrected, too. This is about the time where I need to remember patience – which, oddly enough, an old fortune from a cookie slipped from a box on moving day, and it read: Be patient. Rome was not built in a day.

I kid you not.

In other exciting news, we pulled up AstroTurf!

The second floor deck (right outside of our kitchen-turned-master-bedroom) was covered with the plastic grass, holding in years and years of dirt, grime and – just like everything in this home – a scent that could knock. you. out. So, that was exciting. (Really, it was!)

For every tiny step forward, we’re finding that this house is slowly (very, very slowly) turning into a home. (Like, very slowly. Drywall dust is still settling, the floors are being continually scrubbed, and shabby corners, thick paint and cracked windows are mocking us.) There’s still a lot to unpack, but with new walls, rooms and layouts, there will also be many, many things to purchase (new, second-hand or otherwise), build and create!

And that? That makes our hearts happy. (Or maybe that’s all the exhausted, end of the day nightcaps?)

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  • Jodi7.29.13 - 9:03 AM

    phew! i’m tired just reading about all that. good luck to you both!!ReplyCancel

  • Emily @ Our Waldo Bungie7.29.13 - 9:33 AM

    Looking better and better each day!ReplyCancel

  • Cait @ Hernando House7.29.13 - 9:39 AM

    I totally second what Jodi said! haha

    It looks SO MUCH BETTER without that partition! Also, so funny about the fortune cookie fortune. I am the worst at having patience, so I can commiserate.ReplyCancel

  • Gloria7.29.13 - 10:10 AM

    I can so relate to astro turf stink. I moved into my new house the weekend before last and had to deal with carpet on the front porch. Weirdest thing ever.

    Your place is looking so good! I love watching your progress without doing all of the work :)ReplyCancel

  • Rachael7.29.13 - 10:21 AM

    I’m glad the weather was nice and cool this weekend for you-here’s to hoping it stays that way! And I bet the kitties love those stairs!ReplyCancel

  • Wow, you guys are just moving right along in this process, every time you post pics it just gets better and better!ReplyCancel

  • Kim7.29.13 - 11:44 AM

    Gloria, what’s with the artificial grass? The smells. Oh, the smells!

    Thanks, guys. It really DOES look better without that partition! It’s so, so much bigger.ReplyCancel

  • Yay progress!

    Ha! We also had to get used to stairs at the firehouse. We joke that it’s part of the ‘Firehouse diet.’ Mojo has definitely lost a few pounds thanks to the constant up and down. I haven’t noticed any weight loss, but I have gotten good at never walking up or down empty handedReplyCancel

  • Kim7.29.13 - 11:52 AM

    Heather, aren’t stairs so weird to get used to? My childhood home didn’t have stairs either, so it seems like we have to climb a mountain for everything! We are, however, trying to get in the habit of never going up or down empty handed – as we continue to shuffle things around, it’s best to combine the “trip” with a small task.ReplyCancel

  • Julia @cuckoo4design7.29.13 - 2:31 PM

    I’m so excited to see all this and it’s the harsh reality that Rome was not built in a day. I get mad when people tell me that LOL but I guess we all have to learn that lesson.
    Hope the furry kiddos are doing well too!ReplyCancel

  • Laura at Rather Square7.29.13 - 2:34 PM

    Looks great! What is the wood like under the astroturf? Is it in good condition? We have a small deck with mostly rotted wood, I’m not looking forward to the process of tearing that down at some point.ReplyCancel

  • Kim7.29.13 - 3:07 PM

    Julia, the girls are having a BLAST exploring all the new nooks, and Jack cannot get enough of the front porch. If we allowed him to, he’d sit on that porch all. day. long. It’s so heart warming to see how much they’re loving this home!

    Laura, the wood is great! However, the whole deck needs some work, but down the road, we’d love to tear it down and start over… but that’s a different phase for a different day.ReplyCancel

  • You must be so pleased that the partition is gone. I bet it makes a huge difference to the room. We just knocked down a wall between our kitchen and dining room and I can’t believe we didn’t do it much earlier! We’re still cleaning up brick dust though…ReplyCancel

  • Mercedes7.29.13 - 6:49 PM

    I’m so looking forward to following your home adventures. We suffer from the slope issues in our 100+ year old farm house and will be paying close attention to your remedy and the ballpark cost. Yowza!ReplyCancel

  • Helen7.30.13 - 12:59 AM

    Oh I love the exposed bricks! Will you keep?ReplyCancel

  • Kim7.30.13 - 9:32 AM

    Christine, I just checked out your blog – WOW, that wall looks SO much better now that it’s down! Awesome.

    Helen, that’s the plan! As long as it’s not harming the house by being there, we plan on keeping it.ReplyCancel

  • Emma7.30.13 - 12:52 PM

    Yeppers…hiring moving is definitely a sign that you are growing up. We hired our first movers 2 years ago. Buying mulch is another indicator of adulthood. Your new home looks great. And you’re so lucky to have your very own private deck!ReplyCancel

  • Agela7.30.13 - 6:20 PM

    I’m so curious what this stink is or came from?! You are giving me serious itchy feet to get my flat in shipshape!ReplyCancel

  • Kim7.31.13 - 9:05 AM

    Angela, from what we can tell, there were several pets that were using the carpets and plastic grass as their personal potty…ReplyCancel

  • Stairs! Done! | Bichona10.20.14 - 8:03 PM

    […] the house (you might remember that our master bedroom – the ex-second-floor-kitchen – has a door), we wanted to tackle this project before the cold settled in, allowing us to use those back stairs […]ReplyCancel

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