Home Improvements: Year One

My friend Amy posts almost weekly about improvements they're making to their home. I love it! It's great to get ideas and see what she's up to. She correlates it to the William Morris Project, which is essentially to "have nothing in your houses which you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful".

I won't attempt to post weekly, or even monthly about my projects around the house. But I can handle once a year. :) This post is mostly for me and my family. I think it'll be interesting to see what we've done over the years. It's not my intent to come off as boastful or braggy in any way, so I hope I don't come off that way.

Here's a quick rundown of the work we've done on our place during our first year of ownership.

Back in November I painted the downstairs. For details about that project click here. At that time we also got a kitchen light and light and fan for the living room. Wiring was already installed, but we'd been living in the dark far too long. Matt has become quite the electrician around here, and I am impressed.

January

 Painted laundry room Meadowlark by Glidden with leftover paint

February

 Painted upstairs bathroom Meadowlark by Glidden. A few months later I found the shower curtain at Dollar General for ten bucks! Our previous hand-me-down curtain had seen better days, and after six plus years of marriage I didn't think it was the craziest thing in the world to buy a shower curtain. I am totally a fan of delayed gratification--even if it's over a ten dollar shower curtain! 

March

I had fun painting Kaitlyn's room and adding a few wall decorations. Details about that project can be found here. Matt also installed a light/fan in our bedroom. Wiring had been completed previously, but no light had been put in place.

 

April

Painted hallway upstairs Tawny Birch by Glidden

May

In May Matt busted out his mad skills. He built this fence--picket by picket--after work and on Saturday in essentially less than a week. He took Step Three of boards on Monday, and that night we began placing the posts. Our neighbor lent us some rock star tools, which made the job much easier. Matt amazed me with his determination to get that fence up quickly. He is my hero, and I considered this project a great Mother Day gift to me! Of course I can't let him have all the credit. I hauled all the lumber to it's appointed spot and got my groove on with the power tools.

 Don't judge our lawn, please. It's dry here.

 June

Sewed curtains downstairs all by myself. (Gushing with awe is totally acceptable right now!) ;) Despite the fact that my mom is a sewing fanatic and she taught me to sew, I hadn't really taken on any projects as an adult. Surprisingly, I quite enjoyed sewing these. The material is from Joann's; Waverly Pom Pom Play Spa, and I ordered it from the warehouse when Waverly products were 50% off. I based my tab top curtains off this and this tutorial, and for the Roman shade I followed this tutorial. Thank you Pinterest!

And one last project I did this summer...

We have a Simon Dewey picture, and I love the painting but the gold frame didn't look too hot with what we've got going on in the living room. I used cheap acrylic paint (Raw Umber) and a hard bristled stencil brush to give the frame new life. I also nabbed the ugly flower sconces on clearance at Joann's. After spray painting them black, adding a bit of Raw Umber craft paint over the top, and replacing the flowers, that wall looks a little better.  I'm not over the top in love with the sconces, but it's an improvement.

Those are our home improvements from year one. I'm now trying to be really good and use our resources in other ways. So there's no projects in the near future for me. But in year two (or three) I hope (perhaps "dream" is a more appropriate word) to:

• Paint the dresser in Kaitlyn's room a fun green color
• Paint and decorate Sky's room 
• Add a few decorations to the kitchen and living room
• Paint the loft 
• Put in a door to create a closet and utilize the space under our stairs 
• Add a few plants, trees, flowers, and a small vegetable garden to our yard
• Maybe extend the patio and build a wood patio covering (A girl can dream right?!)

What projects have you been working on? Any advice for me?

In Super Bowl City

Excitement is high. For the past 10 days Super Bowl festivities in Indianapolis have been underway. Our family ventured downtown twice to take it all in. It was great.

In a few hours the big game will begin, and I plan to enjoy the event from afar--far away from downtown and the chaos and crowds!

Facts in Bullet Point Fashion

In the world of Blogland, I'm pretty good at recording what my children are doing and about our fun outings. But I don't regularly document pertinent information about our day-to-day living and what's on my mind. Like most of you, I blog so that my family will have a better remembrance of their past. I may be cocky, but I like to think that Skylie and Kaitlyn will actually want to know what their mom cared about when they were babes. Here's an effort to do better.

A few thoughts about Matt's residency, our life in Indy, and what's going on in my head:

• For the past six months Matt has been doing his psychiatry rotation. Compared to most residencies, the hours have been a breeze! He's worked about 55-60 hours each week, from about 7:30 a.m. until 5:00 or 6 p.m. weekdays, and he had all major holidays off. One night a week he was on call at the hospital until 10 p.m., and one weekend a month he had to go to the hospital to sign orders on Saturday and Sunday mornings. (Those weekends he was usually only gone for a couple hours at most.)
  
• The breeze came to a screeching halt this week when Matt began his three month internal medicine rotation. He's working every Saturday and Sunday (at least from morning to mid-afternoon) for the next three months, has call (meaning he stays late at the hospital) once or twice weekly, and has one weekday off each week. It's going to be a more grueling schedule than he's had, but I know that many other residents work just as hard or harder, and often have much more demanding schedules for years--not just a few months. I consider myself quite lucky his schedule has been as great as it's been.

• In a previous post I mentioned that I'm teaching a few group exercise classes at the local YMCA. I love it, and the perks of being a Y employee rock. I'm teaching two Turbo Kick classes, a Women on Weights course, and I'll be begin teaching another class (TBD) shortly.
• For the first few months we lived in Indianapolis I sometimes wished we'd moved to a more central area or purchased a house that wasn't a new construction. We hadn't completely realized how much work and money a new home needs until we'd moved in. After spending a weekend on the other side of town in December (where we would have lived if we hadn't purchased our current home), all my regret left and I realized that I'm really happy where I'm at. I love the neighborhood, my ward, and the more open and less-crowded feel on this side of town.

• I've been reading up on finances lately. I've learned a lot, but one of the biggest personal realizations I've come to is this: I'm going to try to never again complain or feel sorry for myself when I can't afford (or choose not to buy) something I want. Simple enough right? But the reasoning behind it is the important part. I think that I'm a fairly educated person who has solid and broad work experience. I could quite possibly get a job where I'd make more than Matt's current salary. Even if I couldn't get a great job, I know for certain I could do something to increase our income. But I'm choosing this life and choosing to spend my resources and time in other ways. It's my life, my choice, and once I've made a choice I should embrace it completely. If I'm ever not happy with my life's choices, I hope I'll be proactive to change my circumstances. From my reading I've also learned not to paint myself in a corner and limit my possibilities but to be creative in finding ways to get the things I really want if at first it doesn't seem feasible. Robbing banks isn't the creativity I have in mind. ;) By no means do I intent to imply that other people's decisions should be the same as mine. See next bullet.

• I've mentioned that I often feel guilty leaving my kids in childcare while I work out. Recently a friend wisely said that she's come to realize that spending her time in ways that are important to her is what matters most. We shouldn't feel guilty for spending our lives doing what's valuable to us. If, for example, my friend vacuums her house more than I do, that's okay because it's important to her and something else could be more important to me. Thanks for the great advice!

Lessons In Painting

Thank you those of you who offered painting advice. In all honestly, I relied heavily on your guidance. My five-day painting marathon earlier this month taught me a thing or two:

1. Letting your two-year-old watch Tangled ten times in one week isn't the worst dilemma in the world of parenting.
2. Having your two-year-old get into the paint just might be.
3. Home Depot rocks. Those employees know their stuff.
4. For taping, nothing compares to Frog Tape.
5. It really is possible to do trim without tape, if you have a good brush.
   
6. Sherwin Williams and Purdy paint brushes are amazing.
7. Beginning your painting project on a weekend when you have a family baptism, a hair appointment, and other meetings may not be the best timing.
8. In the end, it is just paint. It can be covered up.

Per Megan's suggestion, I'll post a few pictures of the painting project. I had to snap these pictures right after I cleaned, because I knew that within five minutes my house would be complete chaos again. :)

BEFORE:

AFTER:

(The color in the kitchen looks better than in these photos, I think. After finishing, I realized I really liked the gray and wanted to paint the gold wall in the kitchen gray, instead. But Matt prefers the gold, and I'm burnt out for now.)

Notice the gray wall above next to the door? I plan to stencil it and make it similar to the picture below.

Colors are by Glidden:
Brown-gray: Meadowlark
Light yellow: Tawny Birch
Gold: Grand Canyon

Home Sweet Home

On June 15 we closed on a house in Indianapolis. It was quite the process getting all the verification our lender needed, and we wondered if we'd be able to close on time. Thanks to some good luck, it worked out. Once we arrived in Indy we had five days to settle in before Matt began residency training. It was a busy five days to say the least.

I'm hesitant to post pictures of our place because it's still really barren--white walls, empty rooms, etc. But because I really like the people who've requested them (and it will probably be some time before walls are painted and furniture bought) I will. :)

Home Sweet Home

I still can't believe I live here.

Backyard

We have our work cut out for us getting this grass to grow.

View from the Front Door

Great room straight ahead and closet and powder room to the left

Imagine new couches, a great paint color, and drapes. I think that will make this room look fab.

Great room view from the breakfast area

Powder Room

Kitchen

Matt and I picked out the colors in the kitchen. I was scared it'd look too dark, but I absolutely love it! Only probably with dark is that it shows dirt so easy. I am mentally refusing, though, to mop the kitchen more than once a week.

Another kitchen shot with the breakfast area

Upstairs Loft

This serves as the TV area and playroom. Eventually we want the lovely floral couch to grace this space.

Baby Sister's Bedroom

Ironic, her bedroom looks the most complete of any bedroom, and it won't be in use for another two months. This picture also made me realize that I should have taken pics of each room right after I'd vacuumed. Don't you love vacuum lines?

Skylie's Room

She slept in a pack-n-play during her two-week stay in Utah and had a fit when we tried to put her back in a crib. We all pick our battles, and that's not going to be one of mine.

Eventually this will be our office with the desk and floral loveseat. Until I learn (or more likely--hire someone) to install a phone jack in this room, our computer lives elsewhere, and this room is empty.

Laundry Room

Master Bedroom

Now that we have internet our desk is now in this room, too.

Master Bathroom

I think Matt and I did a good job picking out those colors as well, if I do say so myself. :) The other side of the bathroom has a storage closet, garden tub, and shower.

Upstairs Bathroom

Alive and Well

After being on a one month hiatus from blogging, I'm happy to report that we in the Pitcher household are all doing well. We survived/enjoyed the whirlwind month of:

1. Matt's graduation
2. Packing, moving our belongings into storage, reloading it three weeks later, moving it to Indiana, and unloading for the final time
3. Driving 40+ hours from Iowa to Utah and back to Indiana
4. Spending a blissful week in Hawaii sans Skylie
5. Seeing our families in Utah
6. Closing on our house and buying a second car all within three days
   
7. Settling into our new home in Indianapolis
8. Matt beginning his residency orientation
   

I will post more when I have a better Internet connection (we're borrowing a neighbor's wireless until ours is up and running), but we love Indianapolis, our house, the neighborhood, the ward, and I'm so glad we're here.