Kristin and Alix move in!! (March 16th)

Upstairs TV room...some decorating left to do, but this is one of my favorite rooms in the house...cozy and warm, sunny and bright.
Living Room...a great room. Love the color of paint we chose and the furniture looks great with it.
Dining room...Steve's furniture will look awesome once it's in, but for now we're making do with my mismatch assortment.

Alix's room...pretty in purple....and red, orange, maroon...never would have thought it'd all go together so perfectly. It's the perfect pre-teen room for her. Lots of character...and hey that paint on the knotty pine worked pretty well, didn't it?! Our AWESOME new kitchen is almost done...just the finishing touches left. Backsplash tile will be put in next week and the dishwasher went in last night (I haven't had a dishwasher for the past 5 years and I am in heaven now!) It is truly beautiful and uses every inch of the small space!
another kitchen view
my favorite...the beautiful woodwork!
Our room...a work in progress. The walls turned out a great bluey grey color, but we'll add some wardroble storage units on both sides of the bed to make the best use of the small space.
Upstairs there is a large...we're not sure what to call it....hallway? bonus area? whatever it is I sure do think it's cute with it's gas stove and sitting area.

Finally! A month and a half after closing, Kristin and Alix move into the new house. Everything is almost done, just a few final touches in the kitchen (dishwasher and tile backsplash), a few pictures to hang and some final decorating touches to accomplish. Of course the house is still missing the full-time presence of Steve, but he sold his place the same week I moved in which was a true blessing--no double mortgage payments, wooohooo! He will move in by mid-April and then the house will finally become a home (although I don't know where he's going to put his stuff b/c there's Alix and I have taken over the place. I guess it's lucky for him there's plenty of room in the garage ;)

are we done yet?

Taking down wallpaper in our bedroom uncovers some serious plaster cracks and damage. At least that means that we (meaning Steve, this was his project) don't have to do any more removal--lucky for us whicle fixing the plaster they can skimcoat right over the rest of the wallpaper!
Our yellow living room...it's beautiful and thankfully not as bright in person as it looks in the picture!
Everything is done being painted upstairs...now for the fun stuff--decorating!

The multi day, multifoot snowfall that slowed us down a bit.
Work is starting in the kitchen...I can already invision how amazing it will look in the end!

Not done yet, but getting there...the kitchen starts to be rebuilt, the bedroom gets replastered, rooms repainted and undaunted by a huge snowfall we are getting closer to moving in!

A little TLC...operation knotty pine disguise

Kristin working upstairs on the knotty pine
more knotty pine disguse
It's coming altogether in Alix's room
demolition in the kitchen...gampy working hard!




Let the games begin...we start with the upstairs and the process of painting tongue and groove that has been, for lack of a better word, lacquered. It was a LONG process of sanding, priming, painting EACH groove and then rolling on several coats of paint. At times we thought it would never end, but with help of gammy and lots of paint we were able to get it done. We continued with the kitchen...a complete overhaul, minus flooring and a few tiles on the wall. We also began take down some wallpaper in the bedroom...only to find a ton of damage to the walls that would need to be repaired. Then we painted everyroom except one and spent numerous hours unsnoverizing the place to the best of our, the electrician, the plumber, and the plaster's abilities.

The house...in the beginning

Stairway to heaven...knotty pine heaven that is
Yes, upstairs had knotty pine EVERYWHERE you look--up, down, inside, around, behind, under. Unfortunately we didn't share the knotty pine love and would soon try some paint to make it disappear.
Returning from knotty pine heaven you may find the friendly giant, oh wait that's our friend Larrry ;) Check out the beautiful woodwork on the buffet...sure it's no knotty pine, but we love it!

We began casually house hunting sometime in December. We quickly became frustrated at how little was available in our neighborhood (Mac/Groveland area of St. Paul) within our price range. Don't get me wrong, there were things available, but there were all less than desireable. So, when I walked into this home it was love at first sight. It had everything we were looking for...4 bedrooms, 1.5 bath, 2 car garage, great old woodwork and built-ins, classic charm, and all just one block from where I was living now so Alix could remain in the same school she had just began attending and neighborhood friends would remain nearby. We closed on Feb. 2nd and began the work we'd need to do to make it our own. They say love is blind though, and that must've been true because as we moved in and started to do some work we didn't realize how wonky the place was. I've come to term it "Snoverized" after the family that lived there before us who were apparently do it yourselfters--and not always great ones ;) Don't get me wrong, the place is still wonderful, but who doesn't put outlets in their bathroom? and is it suppose to take me 1/2 hour to get in my front door...the key is actually suppose to fit in the lock without a fight, right? molding actually are meant to fit together, at least I think...Anyway, mostly easy fixes and with our painting touch we were able to began changing it from a house with lots of knotty pine tongue and groove and a few wonky details into... a home.