Lately...

Lately, I have been a painting fiend! I was looking through old photos last night for some "before pics"and I realized that I have been in a fog for the last year. I think I can pinpoint it to about the time we were working on our kitchen last spring. We got it to a point that was livable, and quite lovely...but not completely done. We had been house sitting for my parents while they were in Florida, and then the project dragged on and we were all living together at my parents' when they got home. Once it was "livable" we moved home and the leftover list has been weighing on me ever since. We also had a not yet 2 year old daughter who became highly mobile, curious, and quite frankly a nightmare. She's lovely and evil all at the same time. A little later in the spring, my husband's headaches (from a concussion he got from a fall) worsened and he eventually was pulled from work. My stress level since that time has been astronomical! After looking through photos, I know that I have been in survival mode. I even had a panic attack that was so bad I was taken in an ambulance to the ER to rule out any heart issues. It turns out, I am fine. Just under stress. It was an expensive afternoon just to find out I need less stress in my life. A tidbit that has, in fact, not escaped me.

I realize I haven't used my personal blog about home decor and renovation to talk about things on such a personal level. But I think I'd like to see some changes on my blog anyways. On a recent FaceTime call with my mother, I was sharing the events of my morning. It was only ten in the morning and I had quite a few things to share, already and she was quite entertained. I also shared a tour of my 5 year old son's new "office." We have a small room that we were using as an office originally. We were going to convert to a second full bath this spring but decided to put the project on the back burner for a bit. We had already emptied it of a lot of things...so my son decided to set up shop. The whole thing is pretty adorable...he brought in a clock and a framed photo of him with his sister, an old laptop of ours, and he is currently shopping the house for a better chair. The office is just off the playroom so it is ideal for him. The punch line of this tale is the other night he was in there watching something on his iPad and called to me and said "MOM!! Can I please see you in my office??"  My Mom says the things I post about my children and life in general are hysterical and I need to write a column. She says " You know your Gramma Helen had a column...you have the kind of material she was working with!" So I was thinking... MAYBE just actually write on my blog.

When my dad was growing up, one of six kids, my Gramma Helen had a column in the local paper called "What's Doin!!" If you follow along on my Instagram you may remember some pieces of furniture and art in my home were hers. She was a pretty cool lady, stylish, a self-described "real estate lady" (Realtor), an antique collector, a hockey mom, an avid letter writer, and a story teller. Oh yeah, and even had her nightly Bourbon in the nursing home. I miss her and I'm sad she never met my son. I was 40 weeks pregnant when she passed away. He did kick her hand through my belly. I DIGRESS. ANYWAYS she had this fun column in Potsdam, NY and she shared stories about local kids and sports, recipes. It was mentioned in her obituary as it was one of many of her claims to fame. So in her spirit I hope to share some laughs along with some tales about my Red House! 

In the fall, I laid out the goal for myself of having the majority of our first floor painted in time to host Thanksgiving. I'm still painting. It is March. The reason it is a big priority is because at my daughter's two year check up it was discovered she had elevated levels of lead, above normal and healthy ranges. The county health inspector came out and walked our house and took some samples, and sure enough the numbers were off the charts. So I'm working to encapsulate the lead to limit the lead dust that is being created by feet on stairs, or moving windows up and down. In my defense, I had most of the big work for my painting job done by Thanksgiving, but then Christmas season came and I just didn't have the dedicated time to chip away at the work. Since the new year I have refocused on it and I am more energized about it. 

The main areas that I have been working are the staircases/hallways, the dining room, and what we call the family room, which is the large room with the fireplace. My goal for spring was to paint the kitchen floor also, so we tacked that one on there, too. Why not? I won't bore you with the things I have already done because the list is long....

I have 

• one or two coats of white to finish the front stairs and hallway including allll the spindles on the front stairs
• two or three coats of white trim in the family room
• one or two coats on the kitchen floor
• touch ups through out from my lovely children getting their grubby hands on things

Once that is all done, and I have to say it feels like a relief to see the list is getting shorter, I really need to press on upstairs to at LEAST my kids bedroom because of the lead. So when I say "Just Keep Painting" on my Instagram posts...it's truly my life. Luckily for me, I do enjoy it! So there is that. I can't believe the difference from when we bought the house up to now. So here are some juicy "before/during/afters" for you, friends!! Renovating an old home is not for the faint of heart, and when I see these before's I am truly motivated by how far we have come. This home was in need of a lot of caulk, paint, and dedication. 

So read on and see some updates from here, and thank you, as always, for reading!!

xoxo

jamie

Dining Room during pre-possession. Before the floors were refinished.

BB the Beagle showing off the refinished dining room floors.

Dining room recently, after painting.

Front Stairs during pre-possession, we removed the carpet to find lots and lots and lots of carpet nails.

1,000 holes filled, sanded, primed, and now all painted one coat of Simply White.

Kitchen Floor Before

Kitchen floor primed, BB for scale.

Kitchen Floor with first coat of Lancaster Whitewash.