2015 Year in Review

At first I didn't think I accomplished much, but that's not really true.

I spent many weeks working on my mother's dark turquoise living room (during last year's Christmas vacation) - cleaning up paint and candle wax spills, scraping walls and woodwork (paint drips, more wax spills, peeling paint), caulking, and painting.  I chose Martha Stewart's Malted because she likes gold.  I found this beautiful pale yellowy-gold color through a favorite blog, My Messy, Thrilling Life.  I cleared the room of its clutter (which unfortunately has crept back in) and "staged" it.  Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures, as I often do.  I also had an antique lamp rewired and a picture framed.  Can you believe I still have to caulk and repaint portions of the window?  Ice dams caused damage after it was done.  I also want to try to scrape off some of the previous painters' paint spills, and re-frame a cross-stitch Serenity Prayer my mother sewed.  I love this room so much I want to use that paint in my house somewhere.  Maybe the hallway?  Technically most of the work was done in December 2014.

The next room to be painted for Christmas (this year) was my mother's ugly, sickly muted fuschia dining room, which is covered in cheap 1960's faux wood paneling.  It involved scraping paint drips, cleaning previous painters' spills, caulking, priming, and painting it Benjamin Moore Sea Haze.  It's a beautiful medium gray with a green undertone, that sometimes looks slightly blue depending on the light.  It looks great with turquoise or red accents.  I saw this paint in the barn room on the blog, For the Love of a House.  I also painted the baseboard, and primed over the many paint splotches on the ceiling.  My mother, after prompting from me, decided to remove one of the two buffets due to space limitations.  I cleaned both buffets (one was relocated to the living room) and "staged" them, removing ugly extraneous things.

I finally got around to touching up the last side of the house which had been painted three years ago. Scraped and re-painted the house above the deck where it took a beating from our brutal winter.

Installed the new deck light (well, I couldn't get the old fixture screw loosened, so I had to call my brother-in-law to the rescue).

Installed the new porch light (see above; I was befuddled by an apparent lack of a grounding wire and electricity scares me).

I love a schoolhouse style light.

 Got a new porch, finally!  Demolition was Halloween 2014, and construction was finished on August 20, 2015.  It's the project that will not end.  I still have some touch-up painting and caulking to do.  Also, the lattice is pressure-treated and I want to wait till spring to paint it.

August 19, 2015

Re-painted the porch ceiling, which was necessary due to damage from ice dams.  Except there are stains still bleeding through after multiple coats of primer and stain-blocker.

Painted the ceiling, walls (Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray), and trim in the living room.  This was painful, with multiple layers of paint scraped off the trim, which includes a large arch.  There were also many cracks on the walls and ceiling to patch.  Still have to re-glaze the two windows.  And paint the front door, but that will have to wait for warmer weather.

Scraped, primed and re-painted loose paint on the front of the house, again due to our brutal winter.  It was originally painted in 2009 and has held up rather well.

Touched up paint messed up by contractor who re-roofed the porch roof three years ago.

Installed house numbers on porch post.

Do they look crooked to you?

Had office western storm window repaired.  Old one took a swan dive down two stories to the patio in Summer 2005, shortly after I moved in.  My excellent repairer hacked a piece from another window that someone had donated.

Had dining room storm window repaired, which Mitchell the Snow Removal Kid, broke while climbing onto deck upon my request.  The back door wouldn't open due to ice build-up.  I don't remember what I asked him to do, but I think it may have had something to do with bird feeders.  I think that was 2010 Brutal Winter.

Hung Christmas wreath on front of house.

Does it look too small?

Finally, after six years, put a second coat of paint on the porch trim.

Washed and touched up wall paint on the porch.

Figured out a way to fix the hole on the porch wall on which there was a doorbell.  Far be it from me to leave something alone.  I had unscrewed a metal plate which covered the hole, then couldn't figure out how to fix it because it was oddly shaped (like a doorbell).  While working on patching cracks in the living room, I had an idea to jam inside the hole, a fat piece of wood I found on the patio, and spackle over it.  It turned out really great and I painted over it.

Finally figured out a place for a beautiful painting given to me by my best friend.  It goes great in the living room, with the other coral accents.

Rearranged the living room furniture and things on the walls.  As much as I like to move things around, there's really only one way to arrange this room.  It's small, with two windows, a front door, a large opening to the hallway and dining room, a radiator, and an arch leading into the adjacent parlor.  It also has an old stovepipe with a cover over it, which I've left for historical purposes.

Filled gaps in the house exterior with insulation foam.