Spotswood House

I thought I would share some of the things I bought for our upcoming trip to Sweden and Germany. I have been putting off clothes shopping for as long as possible but I can’t anymore. My clothes are so tight I had to go up a size 😦 So, most of my purchases have been an entire new winter wardrobe.

I get a new new coat each winter and this year is no different. I love this jacket, it is so warm and lined with white fuzzy material. I will probably stand out like a sore thumb in Europe (everyone will be in black) but oh well. This is from Gap (you will see a lot from Gap). I wasn’t feeling the shopping vibe so I camped out at Gap and went wild.

I had to buy new jeans and went with my go-to favorites, Gap and Lucky Brand. I can’t wear low-rise or mid-rise jeans anymore (boo to the muffin top), so I am loving high waisted jeans. Also, they don’t make petite sizes in this cut so the high waisted ankle jeans fit like regular length jeans on me which is fine by me.

 

I finally planned ahead and bought a pair of boots which I have been breaking in for a couple weeks. These are Naturalizer brand.

I love plaid/flannel, it is so comfortable. I bought a boyfriend shirt and dress from where else, The Gap. The dress is not nearly as short on me and will look cute with leggings or tights.

I am so in love with long cardigans, partly because they hide hips and thighs, lol. Another Gap purchase…

I love plain striped long sleeved shirts and cowl neck tops. You’ll notice I’m so adventurous with my color scheme.

My hands and feet get so cold when the temperature dips so I spent a lot, I mean a lot of time searching online for gloves and socks. I decided to buy NorthFace running gloves, hey, maybe it will motivate me to go for a run. And, I now know so much about socks. Cotton makes your feet sweat but wool wicks away moisture and helps with odor. I read so many reviews about socks and decided to go with Kirkland Signature Womens Trail wool sock.

 

Since this is supposed to be a home remodel blog I won’t leave you hanging. I shared before pictures of the bathroom last post (and another one below) so here is the bathroom completely demo-ed. Unfortunately, the weather has not been cooperating lately. First it was snow and then rain all last weekend. Adam needs to finish the plumbing and can’t get under the house in a down pour so it looks like the bathroom remodel will go on into the new year.

 

 

Hi! It has been awhile since my last post but things have been busy around here. Thanksgiving came and went. We had all kinds of issues we had to fix at our primary house (leaking roof, water in the walls, new drywall, leaking fireplace) but that is complete. We have been house/property hunting, planning a trip to Europe, and of course working on Spotswood House.

Here’s an update on our house search.

This is one of the houses we toured. Remember, look for the potential 🙂

I thought this house had a lot of potential on the exterior but after seeing the inside we had to pass. Moving forward, I may pass on this elevation altogether (more on that in a minute). So, we toured the first floor of this house and it still had potential. Here are some shots.

This is part of the kitchen. What you can’t see is the old oil burning stove/heater. We could work with this. It would be a total gut.

Here is the living room with an old oil heater. This would be a total gut too.

This was the best room in the house. A good sized dining room we could open up to the kitchen. The house came fully furnished and the owner had no intention of removing anything 😦

Now, lets talk about the problem, the second floor. The ceilings were so low on the second floor, that the amount of work required to just raise them a little bit would not be worth it. This is the main reason we had to pass. Upstairs you had two bedrooms and a bathroom (that you can’t even classify as a bathroom). Here are some shots.

It’s really hard to tell just how low the ceiling is but trust me, it is. Now, I saved the best for last, the bathroom. The reason you can’t classify this as a bathroom is because there is no tub/shower/or sink. There is only a toilet. I have no idea how you live in a house with no tub or shower, or sink for that matter. The ceiling was especially low in the bathroom and there is no way to reasonably fit a shower in.

Here is another house we looked at. This house appealed to me because it was small and we could easily manage a renovation. I’m not going to share any pictures because we aren’t considering this house either because the foundation is compromised due to termites.

Finally, we put an offer on a lot in downtown, Orange, VA. The lot is about half and acre and is located right downtown. It’s a great location. The owner doesn’t want to budge on the price so we’ll see where this ends up.

Let’s switch gears and discuss something a little more positive. Adam and I booked a trip to Germany and Sweden, specifically Berlin and Stockholm so if you have been to either location please send recommendations of things to do. We are still in the process of planning things but I will share what we have so far.

When we travel abroad we like to stay in Airbnb’s. I debated cashing in Marriott points but the hotels look exactly like they look here in the states and that didn’t feel authentic to me. For our stay in Berlin, we are trying something different and renting a room, not a private residence. Does that sound crazy? We are staying at a super host’s place and he has perfect reviews. Here are some shots from the place.

We thought we were going to be able to squeeze in a trip to Munich but we couldn’t make the flights work so we will be staying 4 nights in Berlin and 4 nights in Stockholm.  The Airbnb in Berlin is more on the luxury side but the place we booked in Stockholm is a little more quirky and retro. It is maintained by a super host with perfect reviews too. This place is a private apartment, lol. Here are some shots.

Finally, we have started renovating the bathroom at Spotswood House. Here are the before pictures.

This bathroom is tiny. We are going to completely gut it and start over. Since there is only one bathroom in the house we are going to put in a shower/tub combo. Originally, we wanted just a shower but I think we need to keep a tub. We are going to replace the pedestal sink with a vessel sink that sits directly on the counter and we will add a floating cabinet underneath the counter. We need to add as much storage as we can.

For tile, we are going with white subway tile on the walls but we may lay it in a unique pattern. The floor, we are going to do black tile. Here is a sample.

In a prior post I shared the accent tile we are going to add to the bathroom. Here it is again.

I still have tons of things to discuss but I think I’ll stop for today. For my next post I will share some of things I bought for our European trip. Here’s a hint, it involves a whole new wardrobe.

 

 

 

 

We are finally finished with the kitchen remodel (minus the refrigerator being in place). Next, we turn our attention to the bathroom and we are already looking towards our next remodel. We even went house hunting this weekend. But, before you get all excited, we have some major issues at our “main” house. We have a leak in our roof which is running down the roofline into the wall. We have someone coming to look at it this week but that could potentially be a game changer. I definitely don’t want to have to get a new roof right now but we are going to think positive thoughts. Oh, and our chimney is leaking water when it rains. Home ownership is so frustrating sometimes!

Here are some pictures of the finishing touches of the kitchen. We have all of the baseboards and shoe molding in place.

We added the kick plate underneath the cabinets, along with the shoe molding. We also added cabinet framing to the end of the island. I really like the cabinet frame on the end of the island. I think it gives the island a more finished look.

Kick plate added underneath more cabinets. It looks so much better without a gap underneath the dishwasher.

As I said, we went looking at houses this weekend to find our next project. Here are some contenders (keep an open mind). These are DEFINITELY fixer-uppers.

I think this house has SO MUCH potential. It could be fixed up and look so sharp. We have only seen the outside of it so far so it is too early to tell. The one good thing we noticed is the lot is dry. We got a lot of rain last week and it looks like this lot has pretty good drainage and no water under the house.

We haven’t seen the inside of this house either but we were able to peak in the windows. This house would need to be completely gutted. We would need to remove walls to open it up. It is small but if configured right, it could live large.

I want to switch gears for a minute. First, let me start off by saying I am a huge fan of Chip and Joanna Gaines, from Fixer Upper fame. I saw their show when it first appeared on HGTV and was immediately hooked. I have watched their show explode in popularity and how their “lifestyle brand” has taken off. They have a B&B, the silos, a bakery, a restaurant, a book, a magazine, a home line at Target, and now they are getting their own television network.

I’m sorry but I have to ask, when is enough enough? Never?? Maybe I am not ambitious enough. I have said if I get to the point where I have $5 million in the bank I will gladly ride off into the sunset. That is my magic number. It is not based on any rationality, it just feels right. It really isn’t any of my business but I have to admit I was kinda disappointed when the Gaines announced they were coming back to tv with their own network. I really like them but I am at my Gaines quota and I don’t want anymore. I’m sure the Gaines are worth way more than $5 million. Maybe their magic number is much higher. I am happy for ALL of their success but enough is enough for me.

So, I”ll end with this…what is your magic number??

 

 

 

 

I was on cloud nine, my heart went pitter patter, angels emerged and began singing when I found this vintage chandelier on FB Marketplace. This retro beauty was going to be all mine for a mere $20. It will compliment the light we hung in the kitchen PERFECTLY!

Everything was easy peasy. I picked up the chandelier today, put it in the trunk of the car and went on my merry way. The white globes are not attached to the light fixture and as soon as I pulled out of the parking lot they went rolling all over the back of the trunk. It didn’t occur to me at that moment to immediately stop, get out of the car, and put the globes in a safe spot and this is what ended up happening.

I went from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. I panicked and started googling replacement globes. For those who are curious, this globe has a 5.25 inch neckless opening and is 7 inches in diameter. Does that sound like a regular stock item to you? One of the lighting shops I went to asked me who the manufacturer was and said I should contact them for a replacement. Um, this light is 40 – 50 years old and there are no markings on it. I am so distraught over this broken globe. Google turned up zero solutions. My next option is to contact a glass company, which are all closed today, and see if they can replicate it for me. I’m trying not to be overly dramatic but….I LOVE THIS LIGHT.

We are so close to being done with the kitchen, oh so close. One of the most frustrating things about doing this remodel is when we forget something at our “main” house for the remodel and either have to put off doing that activity, buy a new whatever we forgot (if we can find it), or drive 1 hour round trip to Home Depot. This weekend is one of those times when we bought two new paint rollers and put off doing the trim because we didn’t have the right nails. So, why did we buy two paint rollers…Dollar General, that’s why. Ugh, I am not a fan of Dollar General. I realized we left our paint rollers at home and Dollar General is the closest store to the Spotswood House. I’ll spare you all of the details but the quality of a lot of products at Dollar General is subpar. We ended up making the 1 hour round trip drive to Home Depot to get a “real” paint roller (and some other things), ha!

The biggest thing we did this weekend is paint the kitchen. We really went out on a limb with this paint color because we usually stick with very light/pale, neutral colors. But, I wanted to try something different – enter Calypso Blue. I love this color; sometimes it looks blue, sometimes it looks green. Here’s a before and after.

Here are some more pictures. Does the paint look blue in some pictures and green in others? Also, the stove makes an appearance, in it’s permanent resting spot. Also, the door is finally trimmed out and check out those baseboards.

Let me show off my bird art. I’m so happy with these!

We ended up staying Saturday night in Orange which means going out to eat at one of the five restaurants in town. Ok, I’m exaggerating a little bit but not much. Speaking of,  the city of Orange, VA does not have a bar, like a sports bar or local bar.  That got Adam and I thinking…hmm…do we want to switch gears and open a bar. I think that would be so fun in theory. Maybe we could leave DC altogether and live in Orange full-time operating “The Groundhog” bar. Why groundhog, well, we got married on Groundhogs Day and I love groundhogs. Those little whistle pigs are so cute! Back to eating out in Orange. We went to a Mexican restaurant, El Vaquero. It was good but the only reason I bring it up is because of the size of their beers. Adam literally got a beer as big as his head. Literally!! On that note, talk to you again soon.

 

Before we could grout the backsplash we had to add trim around all of the tile edges. Sounds easy, right? We went to Lowes and Home Depot but couldn’t find anything. Then we went to The Tile Shop. This place is beautiful, stunning tile, and stunning prices. We ended up spending $100ish (after a $2 discount per piece) for twelve pieces of these.

So ridiculous. Not being satisfied we went back to Lowes, a different Lowes than before and found these for $2 a piece. Guess which one we went with.

Here’s a before and after. That tile trim made such a difference. It looks so much better.

Enough small talk, let’s get to the goods…grouting the backsplash. Saying I was nervous is an understatement. I had a vision in my head of what the backsplash would look like but I was still having second thoughts considering we picked charcoal AKA black grout. The backsplash was so pretty and marbley (I’m sure that isn’t a word) looking. Charcoal grout would completely change the look.

Even though the backsplash was light, airy, and pretty that wasn’t exactly the look I was going for. I wanted something graphic and modern. When in doubt, do a test, behind the stove, where nobody else can see. Does the photo below ease your concern…lol…didn’t think so. But, I had to look past that and go for it, make the commitment.

Here we are, all in. Looks horrific, like a abstract murder scene. And boy was this messy.

Now it’s looking a little better but still black grout residue everywhere.

Once we figured out how messy the grout was we got smart and taped everything. This is a nice view of what the tile looked like before grout and after. I love how the picture is a “real” picture; you have our drill, bucket, multiple sponges, paper towels, cabinet door off…we’re not trying to look cute for you. This is real life.

All grouted up. Next step, wait two hours for the grout to dry.

Here’s some shots of the final product. I love it. The diamond pattern really pops.

Let me change gears for a minute. Here’s the island, completed with all hardware added. I love the handles we picked out. The cabinet on the bottom right is the trashcan. I don’t think I can ever have a freestanding trashcan again. I love keeping the trash hidden in a cabinet.

At first glance this photo looks really random but I wanted to get a shot of the blank wall I keep talking about. That is where my weird bird art is going and that is where the bulk of the color in room will come from when we paint the wall.

Here is what we have left in the kitchen; baseboards, shoe molding, door casement, paint walls, kick plate on lower cabinets, framing on island ends, and put refrigerator in. Easy peasy…ha!

Before I go I want to give you a sneak peak of some of the tile we are going to put in the bathroom. This remodel has been such a learning process and if we do it again we will definitely save money the next go round. I wanted to go to Ikea this weekend and stop at Floors and Décor afterwards, since they are right next door to each other. I have never been to a Floors and Décor and I have no idea why not. They have so many tile options and at reasonable prices. Without further ado, here’s some of the tile we chose.

I love this tile. When I was searching for tile for our backsplash, this shape was always on my list but it isn’t cheap. We got lucky and got it on clearance at Floors and Décor. We are going to use it as an accent.

That’s all for this weekend. Stay tuned for another Facebook Marketplace find…it’s another weird one 🙂

 

I still check Facebook every now and again just to see what is on Marketplace. I have gotten to the point now where I am just buying random, wacky things…my latest purchase is the perfect example.

I am attracted to mid-century modern but at heart I am a traditionalist… but I keep fighting my being. Remember in the 60s-70s when people had random art on their walls in their living rooms. It was so tacky but today it is cool and quirky, at least I think it is. All of this brings me to the bird art I bought for only $5. Right now, I envision it going on the blank wall in the kitchen. Isn’t it so ugly that it’s cute?!

I got really lucky and found an authentic African basket from Kenya like two blocks from where I picked up the bird art. In the DC area that is like a unicorn, such a rarity to find two items within a 2 minute drive of each other. This basket is awesome and huge. Adam brought some cool stuff back from his trip to Niger, Africa but he was telling me what things cost and I was shocked. I had a preconceived notion things would be cheap, nope, so I was happy to pick the basket up for $15. I just noticed the basket looks like it has “A” shapes all over it just for Adam….awwww.

Complete side note: This post took me about 5 hours to write. I just started watching “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee,” on Netflix. I thought, “oh, I can have this on in the background and write a blog post really quick.” Um, it is virtually impossible to watch a show and type a coherent message at the same time.

Back to the show…Jerry Seinfeld is actually really funny; neurotic but funny. I loved the show Seinfeld but always thought his stand-up bits during the intro or credits (I can’t remember) were so bad.

I think my favorite comedians so far on the series are Steve Harvey, Sarah Silverman (which surprised me) and Bill Burr (who I have never heard of but so funny). Does anyone else watch Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee? Any favorites?

My posts are getting more infrequent but that just means we are getting a lot done. Our kitchen is almost done. Floor tile – done. Wall tile – close to done. Door and drawer pulls – almost done. How many times can I use the word done? I am deliriously happy that we are A-L-M-O-S-T DONE.

Unfortunately or maybe fortunately I missed the entire floor tile process. Adam’s friend Bernis visited and helped Adam lay the floor tile and Adam’s dad visited and grouted the floor. They look really good. I thought about having them laid in a herringbone pattern but we stuck with subway tile because that was the easiest way to lay them. No need to go for the most difficult and time consuming tile cut on the first try. Now the backsplash tile is a completely different story.

Here’s the backsplash tile I “special” ordered. No wonder it was so expensive. It is glass, marble looking tile. Note to self, if you buy tile in unique shapes, the cutting process is going to take FOREVER. This isn’t really what I thought the tile was going to look like. I had no idea it would basically look like marble but it is what it is.

Adam and his dad working on the backsplash.

Here are some shots of the finished product. So, Adam and I went round and round about the backslash going to the ceiling. I’m glad we didn’t stop the tile halfway up. The tile job looks amazing but very fancy. We bought charcoal grout thinking the tile was going to be white and the geometric pattern would really pop. We are still going to use the dark grout for a more modern look.

Next up was jewelry for the cabinets. I love the long door handles. We have a small problem with the handles on the drawers – the screws are too short so we have to make another trip to the hardware store.

Yay! Thanks dad for all of the help.

This weekend we plan to grout the backsplash, finish putting drawer handles on the cabinets, and pick a paint color. We are thinking about something very bold since the kitchen is so white.

Is this too much??

The end is finally in sight for our kitchen remodel. The past two weeks have been quite busy; with work, a little bit of binging Man in the High Castle, more purchases for the house and progress at Spotswood House. So hold on to your hats…

Kitchen countertops are in! We have one wall of quartz countertops and a butcher block island. I love the quartz countertops, very clean and modern. I’m really on the fence about the butcher block counter. It adds a nice contrast to all of the white but I feel like we went a little too dark on the counters and it makes the kitchen look like a flip. Let me explain; butcher block countertops are generally much cheaper than quartz or granite and a lot of flip houses don’t use the highest quality materials. So, the butcher block makes me think of a flip house and that’s not a compliment. But, I am going to wait and see how everything looks together in the kitchen before making any final decisions.

I bought the faucet on OfferUp. It was leftover from a construction job and the hardware store wouldn’t accept the return so a win for me. I got it 50% off retail.

Here is a close-up of the countertop. It looks solid white from a distance but there are some nice specks in it.

I love having a deep single sink. I don’t think I could ever go back to a divided sink.

The wood countertops do not have any urethane on them yet.

I think I have bought everything I need to finish the kitchen. Tile flooring, backsplash, and drawer pulls purchased…my credit card company is loving me right now!

We laid the tile out in a subway tile pattern. I’m still toying with the idea of laying then in a herringbone pattern but Adam said it would take a lot longer and require more cuts.

Here are drawer pulls and backsplash tile I bought. This tile was not cheap but I saw it on Houzz and had to have it. We are going to use a dark grout to really bring out the geometric pattern.

Uneventful news – we got the kitchen ceiling painted but more exciting news – we got the pendant light hung. This thing is spectacular!

The back bedroom had bubbled drywall so when we got the kitchen drywalled we had them fix the back bedroom too.  Unfortunately, we had to repaint and we will have to repaint the ceiling.

After drywall

After paint. I couldn’t wait, the paint is still wet, lol.

For old times sake, I included a picture of the back bedroom closet when we moved in. This is the only picture I can find and it shows the closet in a very flattering light because it was awful. We had the closet redrywalled and Adam and his parents hung the new closet rod. It looks so much better.

I mentioned I have been doing a lot of shopping. Here are the counter stools I bought on Facebook Marketplace. Funny story, I originally bought a West Elm duvet from Facebook and then I saw the leather counter stools I really liked and it was the same person I bought the duvet from. I ended up buying 4 curtain panels from her too. She is moving to NYC and selling everything. That is one good thing about DC, everyone moves and you can usually get deals.

In addition, I bought two table lamps, a pair of shams, and a gorgeous mirrored side table which I will share in a later post. I’m exhausted. Talk to you again soon.

 

 

 

 

Even though we lounged around the house yesterday we still got our werk on this past week. I bought 2 t.v.’s, a flokati chair ( you’ll know what this is when you see it), and a side table this week, all secondhand of course. I went to Lowe’s and picked up tile samples and we got another portion of the kitchen kinda done. Oh, and we found our next project 🙂 So let’s get started!

So, I went on a little bit of a binge this past week snapping up stuff for the house. First, I picked up a West Elm Martini side table for $60. Then I got a 32″ Samsung Smart TV for $70. How can you say no to that? Next, came the flokati chair. As soon as I saw this thing I had to have it! Someone else was going to get it before me but I told the girl I would pick it up that day and boom, it was all mine. Sometimes the things I pick up aren’t that great of a deal but the flokati chair for $100 was still $70 off retail. Finally, we picked up a 49″ LG 4G Smart TV for $225. Tomorrow I’m picking up leather counter stools and I might get some curtains too. Eek!

Here she is, Miss Flokati

Time for some tile talk. The story of my life, I thought I had it all figured out for floor tile in the kitchen. I wanted something that looked like concrete, with a cool blue undertone. Unfortunately, cool and blue aren’t warm enough for what we need in the kitchen. Off to Lowes to find other options. I picked up three neutral tiles. Which one do you think we picked? I’ll give you a hint, it’s not the concrete blue one.

I picked up a tile backsplash sample, too. I have my eye on a special order geometric tile from Home Depot but I am keeping my options open. I found this at Lowes and while it is cheaper than the Home Depot tile, it is just way too busy. But, here’s a hint, it does resemble the tile we are going to get.

Now for an update on the kitchen. I view the kitchen as having three main components; the wall with the stove and sink, the island, and the wall with the refrigerator and pantry. We worked on the latter this weekend. We got the pantry put in and the frame for around the refrigerator. We still need to add filler and crown molding and of course the refrigerator but we are making good progress. I keep teasing the countertops which I hope we will get sooner than later. The holdup right now is we need to give them our faucet so they can drill the holes. Then they will bring it to the house and install.

Finally, we are having so much fun working on this house. When we finish it we don’t know if we want to sell it, rent it, or Airbnb it. I have been looking for properties in other cities for us to work on, specifically Annapolis or Baltimore. But, I found something in Orange that caught my eye. Located on 1.8 acres and formally a church. What do you think? I think it would look amazing if redone right.

I love the metal roof, the cupola, and the shapely windows. The wood isn’t in that bad of shape but I have no idea the condition of the inside. Well, I’ll be dreaming about this one for awhile. Bye for now.