lessons learned

One weekend of on and off working and about $150 has resulted in an almost complete mudroom. At least on the inside. We still have the door to put in (Wednesday!) and the siding on the outside, but the inside is pretty much done. A few spots need paint touched up, furniture needs to be rearranged and I need to find a little rug for the floor so that the inevitable muddy shoes (it is a mudroom after all!) don't ruin the new flooring. The photo is a little dark due to the tarp covering the opening that will soon be a door, but you get the idea. I'll put up a real "finished" photo later this week after the door in is place (yay!)
I've learned two big lessons this weekend. Well, one of them is from this weekend, the other is sort of a realization that this weekend confirmed.

The first, is, do the mudroom first. OK, maybe not first. When we moved in we had so many essentials that needed to be done ASAP. Like a stove that you could turn on, countertops that weren't plywood, paint on all the dingy walls, put in an air conditioner (it was July in Virginia after all) etc, etc, etc. But somehow the mudroom got pushed to the very bottom of the list. And after a while we were just using it for storage anyway so we didn't really miss it. So this weekend, when we finally got around to painting the walls and the trim, ripping up the nasty carpet that has driven me crazy for almost two years and putting in new flooring I realized that all this time we have been ignoring almost 100 square feet of house.

It might be the fact that we are soon to be living in a situation where every inch will count, or just the fact that I have wanted the mudroom done for ages but Will hasn't really cared about that room, but I'm suddenly seeing so many opportunities for that space. All this winter when it was cold out and we were playroom-less, this could have been a playroom. Or it could have been the office (I do seem to remember suggesting that, but that was before the freezing cold leaky door was removed, so it was always pretty unpleasant in there) and the playroom could have stayed. Or it could have become Briton's room. Or, or, or... It could have just been an oh, so handy mudroom. So now I know. When space is at a premium, don't ignore perfectly good rooms just because there are other things to be done. Lesson learned.

The other thing I've realized is that next time we renovate a house (and there will be a next time. Because even if we are tired of it now, by the end of a year away from it we'll be dying to get at it again) I need to take better before pictures. Or maybe just more before pictures.
When we moved in here I took photos of the main rooms because, although they were dingy and plain, they weren't horrible. The really awful spots - the bathrooms and the mudroom - I didn't really take good pictures of. Mostly because they were so awful that I didn't want anyone to see them. I didn't want to see them. This is the closest thing I have to a real before photo of the mudroom, and it's not great.
This is after I tried to make it slightly better with some white paint which turned out to look like primer instead of paint. (Yuck! Now we have the white that is in the rest of the house on the walls - much better) I forgot about my green ceiling. I still like it, although I like the beam better in white. Oh well, inky blue is pretty too, and probably better for selling...(sigh)

But I've realized that part of the fun of renovating is being able to look back at the before and see the after. The coolest part of that Better Homes and Gardens article for me is to look at that before (which, by the way, was before we moved in) and compare it with the after. So from now on, more pictures. Even of the grimy, stained floors and the nasty peeling walls and the horrible toilets. That way, when I'm frustrated with progress, and I sometimes am because I just want it done (split personalities there I guess), I can look at what has come so far already.

Now I don't expect that there will be any renovating going on in New York. For one thing, we'll be renting. Plus we're there only a year. Plus there is the whole grad student budget situation (good thing the kids like Top Ramen!) But I'm sure there will be some decorating. Because I can't help it. And hopefully there will be some creative uses of space. Because I'm sure I'll need to use every small space living trick I've ever learned or have ever seen and then some. So. Don't let me forget. Before pictures. Lots of Before pictures.

Have you ever had any "left it till last" projects that you really wish you had started earlier? What were they?

well hello stranger

I feel like I've seen a banister, just like this, in just this spot before.

Oh right. That's why it looks so familiar.
That's what you looked like before we did this.

Sometimes our renovations don't have a fixed endpoint. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, it allows us the flexibility of change as we find we need it. Like when we were putting in the kitchen cabinets and the wobblyness of the old floors meant that the far end cabinet was a good inch lower than the rest. Instead of having to rip out the cabinets and the floor and do who knows what to make it right, we adjusted- a thicker piece of concrete for that section of countertop. Now it looks like a cool detail. And then there is the whole reason for the butcherblock section which, well, thank goodness we made that mistake, beacasue that section is where I do most of my cooking. I love it.

When we pulled the banister off of the stairs we knew that at some point we'd have to put something back in. For safety. But what? Well, we weren't sure. It opened up the room to have nothing there and it's the first thing that you see when you open the door, so it would have been a nice place to make a statement. But after a year and a half of trying to decide what should go there, and with that, how the bookshelf should finish off, we are running low on time, and so we built a new banister that looks very much like the old one, except painted this time, which I like much better. So yeah, we could have just saved ourselves a lot of time by leaving it, but again, I think that's ok. Sometimes renovations don't go as planned and you just go back to the origional. It's fate, I guess, the will of the DIY gods. And now that it's back, I'll admit, I really like the sweet simplicity of it.

Plus, one more thing checked off the list.

Have you had a renovation or project end up like that? Back where you started?

a case of over-purging

I'd say about 99% of the time I'm perfectly happy about what I've gotten rid of when I do my occasional mini purges, and even through the years, the larger ones that come before (or sometimes just after) moving. Sure, there's that pair of pants that I wish I hadn't been so quick to hand over or a toy here and there that the kids really did miss. But really, most of the time it's been just peachy.
But yesterday, while walking Evelyn to school, and by walking I mean carrying her the four short blocks between our house and her school ("my legs are so tired!") I realized I may have over purged a few months ago when I ditched our stroller.

We haven't used a stroller in ages. It had been sitting in our basement for months, gathering dust, taking up room, so off it went. And normally that wouldn't be a problem except I'm thinking that short legs + long New York blocks is going to equal the need for a stroller once again. Ugg.

I know, I'm not going to want a stroller on the subway and for those big trips around town, we did without on those trips in Dublin as well. It's the walk to the park and the grocery store and other neighborhood spots that I have a sneaking suspicion that a stroller will be handy for. At least until my little walking wimp gets her city legs.

We could, of course, just buy one of those cheap umbrella strollers. The thing is, we did that when we moved to Dublin with Briton (who was two years younger than Evie, but about the same weight) and about a week in the thing collapsed on us, on him to be precise, a few miles from home. It still gives me a little bit of a twitch to remember trying to get him out of the thing (and get him and our groceries home while dragging a disintegrating stroller). So I have a little bit of a phobia about crappy strollers. The one we got rid of was the same stroller that replaces the ill fated Dublin stroller. A Maclaren that cost far more than I ever thought I'd spend on a stroller but nevertheless turned out to be well worth it, it was still going strong when I took it to Salvation Army a few weeks ago. Bad timing I guess.

I would like to say lesson learned, but since I had not a single thought in my head a mere three weeks ago that we would ever go visit New York much less move there, I can't say that I could have predicted this, even if I'd thought long and hard about it.

So the purging will go on, and at the same time I'll be cruising Craigslist for a replacement stroller. C'est la vie. Have you ever thrown out something and then really needed it almost immediately after?

poor poor eliza

Last night Briton came downstairs wearing his best "disappointed older brother" face saying "Evie is in BIG trouble. And then he held out a pair of scissors and some familiar orange and pink yarn.

"She CUT OFF Eliza's hair!" He told me (dramatically, I assure you). Right about then I heard Evelyn erupt into wails in their room.

(before the big cut)

Upstairs I found Evie face down on her bed, sobbing and a partially bald Eliza laying on the floor with "hair" all around her.

(After, looking a little shabby but also a little funky)

Part of me was totally mad. I worked hard on that doll, after all. But then again, it's her doll, right? And better the doll's hair than her own (we've been there already and it was not pretty!) I'll be honest with you, I wasn't really sure how to react. So I lay down on the bed with her to try to calm the high pitched sobs, asking her why she had done that. Except, I already knew the answer.

I cut my kids hair. Always have. Briton, because he dislikes barbers and they always cut his bangs too short, no matter what I say, and Evie's because she has so little hair that she really doesn't need a haircut, but when someone else is getting one (I cut Will's hair as well) she wants one too. She's only had one "real" cut in her almost 5 years. The rest have been mommy cuts. And we've made a big deal about Mommy being the only one who can cut hair, hoping to avoid the "I cut it myself" issue as much as possible. But Evie spends a great deal of her day pretending that she is Eliza's mommy. So, really, it follows that she can cut Eliza's hair.

After some hiccups and nose blowing Evie said as much, also adding that she thought it might grow back rainbow colored (maybe just on the off chance?) but then "it just didn't!" I spent most of her tale trying to not look too stern, which was hard because I was trying not to laugh and stern is how I usually do that. Eventually Evie and the newly shorn Eliza dozed off for the night and all was calm in the house.

But now I have a dilemma. I can fix the doll's hair. I can even make it rainbow colored hair. But should I? Or do I leave it as is as a reminder of what happens if you cut hair? (not to mention it's kind of punk rock cute with the new do, if you don't look at the gaping hole on the back of her head) Hummm. What do you think?

sorting, sorting, sorting

Well Monday just flew by without much of a moment for sitting at the computer. Although this move is coming quickly, or at least the decision to move came very quickly, we actually have more time in some ways than we usually have when we've moved. Right now we're filling up every spare second finishing projects around the house, all those things that we planned to get done this year now need to be finished this month. Mudroom walls are being painted, the floor is going in, siding on. The house paint has been touched up. The garden is looking very pretty indeed and the stair banister that we took apart when we installed the shelves are, as I type, being put in. Or at least I think that's what all the banging and drilling coming from the living room is. I'll share photos as we get things completed, if I can remember to take them :)!

But because we do have a little more time before we actually have to move, we are trying to clear out as much as possible. Most of the time we've had to throw things into boxes as quickly as possible and as a result our basement is, well, pretty packed with crap. While I enjoy, most of the time, keeping the "house" tidy, I hate hate hate dealing with the basement. And the car. But that's a totally different story. And a different thing that needs cleaning before it goes.

Will and I joked this weekend that maybe we should permanently become big city apartment people (not really, because I think we'd eventually go a little crazy without a house to take apart) so that we don't have a basement or a car to fill up with junk. Probably not an option though since we like old houses and old houses usually have basements.

Anyway, this is all to say that I spent most of Sunday cleaning out the basement. Not just cleaning but CLEANING! Getting rid of boxes and baskets and random pieces of furniture that we have held onto but don't really need or have much emotional attachment to. I'm still hauling things away but it's a huge improvement. I still have a hard time letting go of things like my old dolls and special furniture pieces like my cradle so those will stay (forever I'm sure) but just having so much gone makes me feel lighter. It's amazing how much junk we have hauled around all these years. And the prospect of needing a smaller storage unit while we are in New York makes me happy too, because student budgets don't leave a lot of room for big storage unit rents, ya know?

If I'm a little MIA for the next week or so you'll just have to know that I'm probably plastering or painting or hauling yet more things to Goodwill. The house will go on the market sometime in early April (so Cville peeps, if you know anyone looking for a charming little Cape with a HUGE yard in North Downtown, send them my way!) but after that I'll be back in full force with projects and plans and all sorts of fun :)

thanks

Thank you, everyone, for your kind words yesterday. I can't tell you what a boost they gave me! It's so wonderful to have a supportive community around you when big changes happen. We still, obviously, have a lot of planning to do and I'll keep you up to date with anything fun here and will also keep up my normal posting as well. And don't worry, I'll keep blogging from the city. I'm sure I'll have lots and lots of stories, like, how Rhode Island turns out.

In the meantime, we are chugging along with out week and enjoying this beautiful, sunny weather. And I'm feeling pretty lucky to have a family that's up for adventure. So here are a few happy moments to round out the week.
Newsprint and Mr. Sketch markers (the flavored kind) make dinner, and breakfast and homework and piano practice just a little more fun.

Briton, who is reading From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankwiler with me, thinks it would be pretty cool to live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but only if we can all go, he has no interest in running away.

This is a freaking genius way of using big spools of thread on a regular sewing machine. Duh, why didn't I think of that. I've had a few sitting around ever since I lost my serger in the great basement flood.

Evie, thinks scrubbing baseboard with a dish brush is great fun. My trim has never looked so clean. I should be worried that she enjoys it so much, but for now, I'm just going to take advantage of it. :)
Cupcakes make bad days at school better, even when you have lost your entire research project and you have to start again. (poor kid:( )
Hamantash. Evie came home from school Monday talking non stop about hamantash and how she wanted to make some. I couldn't figure out what the heck she was talking about but typed it into google (thank goodness for google) and presto, recipe. (They are a dessert for Purim) Perfect for little hands and a big hit with the older brother.

It's going to be 80 degrees today. Yay! My garden will be so happy!

new.york.city.

Well my friends, I have some big news. I'm not gonna lie, this has been quite a week at the Grimm house, lots of exciting things going on. And no, I'm going to stop you right there before you even think it, we are not going to have another baby, even if Evie wishes we would, sorry :). But a lot has been happening here abouts. I mean, we finished (almost) the bathroom, the magazine article came out, I found the perfect spinning wheel (in my dreams) and, drum roll please, we found out we are moving to New York.
Holy cow.

Last fall Will decided to apply for Grad school and just for kicks, he went all out and applied for some "if I could just pick any of them" types of places. And then we kind of forgot all about it. Life is good here, we love our friends, we love our house, we love our town, who wants to change things? And then a letter arrived at the end of last week to inform us that he'd been accepted into Columbia University. How do you say no to Columbia University?

So, to New York we will go. In June. In JUNE people! Not even in June, BY June. Holy Cow. I can't stop saying that.
At the moment we have very little settled. We know that we will be there about a year, maybe a little more. We have a vague idea of the neighborhood we want to live in, but that could change. We has some unusual ideas about what we will do about school for the kids, but again, that could change, and I'm sure I'll be writing more about that as we go. Will may go up first so that Briton can finish the school year, but, you guessed it, that could change too. The only thing we've really settled on so far is that we will try to sell the house.

I know, I know, we've put a lot into this house. We LOVE this house. But for a number of reasons we've decided that selling it would be the best thing for our family. Right now all I can think about is getting paint touched up (today) and siding on the mudroom (next week) and so I haven't had time to dwell on the fact that I'm leaving my happy little kitchen. I haven't even fully registered that I'm going to have to leave all my friends and my wonderful neighborhood. That will come, I'm sure, when the dust has settled on the decision.

The kids know and they are both excited, Evie because there is a possibility of bunk beds and because she will get to ride the subway, Briton because of the 20 playgrounds in Central Park and because of the close proximity of Rhode Island. Or as he puts it "New York will be fun, but this is a once in a life time opportunity to go see Rhode Island. "

Really, I have no idea what that's about. What's in Rhode Island that an eight year old would be so excited about? Whatever it is, I'm going to ride it all the way up to our (theoretical) new apartment.

So, New Yorkers, former New Yorkers, city people in general. Send advice this way. Four people and two pets in a teeny (possibly student housing teeny) apartment for a year.

Holy Cow.