If walls could talk ...

Ever since discovering the first Young Reader book about the history of Egypt I've been hooked on history. I'm a history nut geeking out over archeology, old books, books about old stuff, barely legible documents and ancient tomes, recipes and patterns, and more. I'm even a member of a group that recreates the Middle Ages and dabble in calligraphy and illumination, medieval cooking and other assorted medieval crafts.

It wasn't really a long step from that to trying to learn more about the house we're about to make ours in just 19 more days! *keeps fingers crossed*

Fortunately and much to my delight, the main branch of the local library houses a treasure trove of resources for the genealogist and Florida history lover. Up underneath the roof in the Grand Map room is where I can be found when the munchkin participates in one of the awesome kids' programs. For about an hour I get to browse the old city directories for glimpses into our house's past. I have yet to swing by the property appraiser's office to track down the actual past owners but so far I've had too much fun digging around in the old city directories for information on who lived in the Ugly Duckling over the past 95 years.

From what I've gathered so far, our house appears to have been a kind of modest starter home: Few occupants stayed longer than 2 years at a time and most held rather modest Middle-Class jobs. Hubby, of course, is tickled pink that the first ever occupant's name is "Mead". How befitting for a hobby brewer to soon be living in "The Mead House" ... heh.

I've added the Ugly Duckling's genealogy as a separate page to the top navi bar - I'll update it as my research comes along. We're planning on ducking into the library again this afternoon so I might have more to post tomorrow or Friday!
Enjoy!

Update:
Well, so I couldn't wait :o) I added a few more years to our house's genealogy of occupants. I also got the library clerk to show me to the Sanford maps and the prospect of finding a map with our house has me giddy with geeky excitement. Next time I'll bring the camera. Promise!

Hi & Lo

So far, the whole house hunting adventure has been a wild rollercoaster ride. Highs chasing lows, frustration followed by moments of euphoria and excitement replaced by bouts of "wanna-bang-my-head-against-wall" feelings. Here's the latest high and low our house acquisition Gods threw at us:

Hi :o)
Christmas eve we received our own personal house-hunting gift in the mail: the loan approval! Hurray! It looks like we've mastered most if not all of the required paperwork to get our financing ducks in a row.

Infused with renewed enthusiasm and reasonably sure that the in-laws would be able to see the potential hidden in our little dirt Ugly Duckling we drove over to the house for a quick tour the day after Christmas.

Lo:o(
That's when we discovered that the Ugly Duckling had been broken into. Not like there was much to take considering it's empty and has been vacant for more than a year but the thieves made off with the downstairs furnace, both ac compressors and a window unit. They also re-opened the window opening from the small outdoor utility room to the kitchen that had been dry-walled over. You know, I would have been okay if they had taken all window units and left it at that but nooooo ... they had to take the furnace as well. Oh, and the vent cover for the big floor vent inside the house (alright, that was ugly too and slated for replacement but still ...) Grrrr...

We'll drive over later today to make sure the bank's property contractor secured the backdoor of the house as promised and we're going to be armed with our own plywood and screws, just in case. Can't take any chances. This time they just 'took' things, next time they might 'leave' something behind (a squatter or two, human body fluids or God knows what other crafty thing they could come up with).

Now, this is not the Wild West. AC compressors are stolen all over town these days (although I believe it's even more petty than stealing a baby's lollipop - seriously, stealing somebody's ac in Florida??) and fortunately we'd factored in a new hvac system into our reno budget (but would have loved to use that money for something else instead ...). Oh well, here's hoping that this "Lo" will become a "Hi" somehow :o)

Update:
Thanks to the mad communication skillz of our awesome real estate agent the bank is offering us the choice between a replacement furnace-compressor system and a reduction in purchase price. We'll be going for the reduction in purchase price since that gives us the chance to pick the system we want. Phew!

Merry Christmas!

Whiling away the last minutes before the imminent arrival of the family I can't help but muse a bit about the past year.

It's been one heck of an adventure, an eye opening experience and a chance to learn more about myself as well as more about hubby and myself as a couple and as parents. We have gathered more experience, learned many new things, have grown and grown up just a little more. Well, enough to consider settling down with a house that is :o)

We've been through frustration, disappointment and heartbreak, hope, excitement and giddiness on our search for a house that can become our home. If God wills it, we are going to be closing on our Ugly Duckling in just 3 more short weeks. The wait's been so long and yet I wonder where the year went, how summer and then fall and winter just raced us by. The finishing line is near and we're bursting at the seams with energy and love for our Ugly Duckling.

For now though, we get to take a break, get to spend time with our loved ones, get to slow down and kick up our feet as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, our savior. I probably won't post anything for a week or so but I'll certainly be back in time for New Years! Until then ...

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

SOS - Save our Stockings!

This year - since we'll be staying home rather than traveling all over the globe to visit our far-flung family - we got to pull out the entire Christmas Decor Stash from the storage corner on the back porch. We got to rifle through all the ornaments and ribbons to see which ones to use for our ginormous tree and christmasify our whole house, inside and out with the added whimsy of school and cub scout craft projects. The only casualties we suffered: our stockings. I guess squirrels need to get the stuffing for their nests from -somewhere- and they can hardly shop at one of those big boxy convenience stores, right?

Oh well ... while I didn't find enough time to whip up handmade presents this year (I know, shame on me *hangs head*) I MADE some time yesterday for this little last-minute project:

Make your $1 Stockings look like a Million bucks

(... well, alright, maybe $10)

I grabbed these classic stockings from one of those Dollar Stores. I like the color scheme (despite my classy monochromatic Christmas tree upbringings, I'm a big fan of the whole red and green and homemade variety) and the price can't be beat. It just looks a tad unfinished. It needs a cuff! ... so go and check your fabric stash. I wanted to keep it simple and went with some left over canvas I had kicking around ...

Cut a piece of fabric long enough to wrap around your stocking plus an inch extra seam allowance and as wide as you prefer your cuff. Snip off the little hanger on the inside of your stocking and set it aside for later.

Turn the stocking inside out, pin your cuff into place (or not, pinning is optional. I usually skip this part on most projects) and sew into place. I used a simple running stitch because it's not like it will get worn. Hem the cuff by simply folding it over twice to enclose the raw edge.

Turn your stocking right side out and fold the cuff down. Take the little hanger that you snipped off earlier and pin it to the back of the stocking on the inside, then catch it in a running stitch along the entire upper edge of the stocking.

This gives the upper edge of your stocking a much crisper look and keeps the cuff from rolling up too.

I left hubby's stocking like that but needed a girly extra for mine so we can keep them apart. I chopped off a band of drop cloth and wrangled it into a flower shape securing the folds with hot glue throughout the process. A dap of hotglue to the back of the flower to stick it to the stocking and voila! All done!

Now we're set for Santa! God knows where he puts stuff when there're no stockings *shudders*

Arborlicious

You know why I want a picket fence?

That's why :o)

[picture found at Decorfortheoutdoors.com

[picture found at YHhomeimprovement.com]

[picture found at woodworkersworkshop.com]

'nuff said :o)

And the lamb fell in love with the lion ...

... and got herself a clawfoot tub for long luxurious "up-to-your-neck-in-bubbles" soaks.
Heh ...

One of the many things I adore in our historic rental apartment that we've been living in for the past 6 years is the clawfoot tub in the only bathroom. It's charming, it's quirky and it's simply perfect for a nice bath on a cold winter afternoon. It also has a shower rig and a wrap-around shower curtain for quick showers and is as versatile as it gets. I'm loving it! I also love the original penny tile with its baby-blue border design despite its cracks and discolored grout. I don't love the original farmhouse sink with the two faucets (one for hot and the other for cold water) and it'd be awesome if we had at least another half bath but for the past couple of years it's worked as well as it could. Did I mention that I love the clawfoot tub?

The Ugly Duckling has currently 2 full baths and an upstairs kitchen. None of them, however, have a clawfoot tub ... *sigh* Our grand plans have us chopping the downstairs full bath into a half bath to create space for a laundry area in the mudroom and turning the upstairs kitchen into a fancy master bath. WITH a clawfoot tub! Not like that would surprise you after my confessions above, n'est-ce pas?

So while we continue the waiting game for the closing date and the begin of our renovations I get to design budget-busting looks on polyvore and browse idea books on Houzz for inspiration. Wanna see?

traditional bathroom design by san francisco architect Doma Architects, Inc.

[Alright, so that's not really a clawfoot tub. It's a free-standing tub but it's gorgeous and I love the airy traditional yet fresh look of this bathroom]

traditional bathroom design by architect Coburn Architecture and Interiors

[There you have it, a real clawfoot tub! Fantastic!]

contemporary bathroom design by boston architect LDa Architecture & Interiors

[Here you get a sneaky peek at a clawfoot tub; again, bright and airy and crisp]

traditional bathroom design by portland interior designer Kirstin Havnaer, Hearthstone Interior Design. LLC

[Look, another free-standing tub. And wainscoting. And the fresh airy brightness like in the other pictures. Notice a trend?]

I love how clawfoot tubs don't care if it's a contemporary sleek bathroom with concrete countertops or a frilly frou-frou oldfashioned salle de bain - they fit right in into any kind of setting. Husband and I mix up to a "farmhouse meets NY City loft" kind of style and I'm telling you, the tub dots off our Ts and crosses our Is.

After poking around on the net and playing with polyvore's editor here's what I came up with for a first draft. Mind you, it hasn't been run past the husband for his approval but I think it balances the feminine and the masculine with the contemporary and the historical quite nicely. What do you think?

Master bath by Littleoldhouse

We're digging penny tile and think that using a dark charcoal, almost black penny tile (maybe with a border pattern of white penny tile along the perimeter of the room) will nicely ground all the bright white and light grey we have planned for the walls and ceiling and fixtures. We're torn on either using wallpaper or a monochromatic stencil (creating the pattern through using a glaze rather than a different color) to add a bit of visual interest so stay tuned for further development of this thought. We'd like a vanity from an old dresser with crisp ceramic vessel sinks. And of course a clawfoot tub. Maybe a corner shower. Maybe. We need to take the measurements over at the house and draw it out on the floor. Maybe even use blue tape to lay it out on the floor? Hmm ...

Oh, yes, color! We love the clean, almost austere look of this mood board and since this room gets a LOT of sunlight we'll actually be able to have a live plant or two in this room as well for a pop of color. We're still debating the matter of curtains: airy white Roman shades come to mind.

So, what do you think?

Unveiling upstairs

Here I am, playing catch-up on Thursday evening. I'm tired and there's a little naggy headache sitting right behind my eyes telling me that yes, indeed, the weather changed, thank you very much. The temperatures are now much more to my liking: balmy 70 degrees during the day work just fine for me :o)

Anyways, today was the day of updates: I have the land surveyor's report in my hot little hands and also received a copy of the appraiser who checked out our little old house to see if, from the bank's point of view, it would be worth investing money into. We are golden: purchase price plus renovation costs puts us almost a whooping 30% below the appraised value. Hurray!

Of course, it wouldn't be a house hunting adventure if you didn't hit a SNAFU somewhere along the line. Ours involves a lien, not on the property, but tied to the pre-foreclosure owner, and funny, funny, our city's policies regarding property liens are a bit on the wonky side. I'm sure it'll all work out *keeps fingers crossed* Wish us luck! (Our real estate agent is confident it'll be fine)

Back to the matter at hand: the upstairs floor plan! After you got a first peek at the downstairs, I proudly present to you: the upstairs:


Here it's not so much about the demoing and changing wall configurations but cleaning up, freshening up and converting the upstairs kitchen into the new Master Bathroom. Half the plumbing is already up there which is very convenient. The upstairs bathroom is actually in pretty nice shape except for a bad caulking job around the apartment-style (*sigh*) bath tub and quite serviceable. Hubby and I have been pondering ripping out the tub and turning it into a big honking walk-in shower at some point but that's in the far future. For now we have enough work cut out for us.

For comparison with Monday's Mega List, here's our upstairs plan, step by step:

• salvage hardwood flooring underneath linoleum on landing and upstairs hallway or lay new floors
• refinish stairs
• get proper door for closet to heat pump
• re-caulk tub in upstairs bathroom
• refinish wood floors upstairs
• turn upstairs kitchen into Master bath and walk-in closet by building a wall and creating two rooms out of the existing upstairs kitchen
• update plumbing for future Master bath
• lay tile in Master bath
• install bathroom fixtures
• turn secondary hallway into 2 hall closet (this will make sense once I show you the floor plans)
• paint downstairs, walls and ceilings and trim
• update light fixtures

Is it January yet?