My sweet parents came up for this past weekend to help us with a handful of home improvement projects. We had a lot of fun with them (and the pups), and we accomplished a lot!
1: Dad installed a disposal
Pyrrha was his constant assistant.
2: Guion replaced the hideous ceiling fan in the dining room with this giant paper lantern ($9 upgrade. Yeah, I’m going to brag about it)
BEFORE
Before (when we bought the house)
AFTER
3: Bought a mattress, and Dad and Guion built a platform bed for the guest room! With little bookshelves!
BEFORE
AFTER
(Found the crazy, painted, Asian-inspired side tables at Circa.)
And I fed my houseplant addiction, which I also consider part of the home improvement processs. Lovely starlight ficus for the living room (so that the maidenhair fern can live in its desired shade elsewhere):
We also just had a great time hanging out, talking, walking the dogs, watching “House of Cards,” and laughing. How lucky to have such resourceful, fun parents.
Clearly, I am not one to touch up photos before posting them, much less the subject of the photos themselves — in this case, our still unpacked and scattered new home. But I feel like these photos will be encouraging to me in a year or two, when I look back at them and think, “Wow, what lazy bums we once were.” At least, I hope that’s my reaction.
We couldn’t have done any of this without our totally amazing family, who sacrificed their weekends to come help us move, refinish furniture, clean, and paint many rooms (banishing traces of the ubiquitous yellowy cream!). They are all rockstars, and I want to cry just thinking about all they did for us. Bowing down with gratitude for Mom, Dad, Mike, Windy, Kelsey, Alex, Win, and Tracy! And to the Blue House Boys who helped us move and paint: Phil, Sam, Ethan, and Brooks — you rock. We are the luckiest.
That said, here are some photos of the main floor of our new house — exactly as it looks right now.
Chaos in the living room. Painted it white (including the fireplace); I think it looks approximately a million times better.In the midst of fireplace painting. Many thanks to Tracy for her help!First fire. Thanks to Aunt B for the screen!View from dining room, also used to be yellowy cream; now pale gray.Refinished Pratt family table! With many thanks to Dad, Mike, Win, and linseed oil.
Pyrrha’s room. There is nothing else in here but this random stuff.Please stay alive, little buddy! Lemon tree with one lemon.View of backyard from deck.Neurotic watchdog.
There is lots of potential here, and I am currently feeling very overwhelmed by it all. To calm myself, I am internally repeating the truth that it is OK to have mostly empty rooms. It is OK to have mostly empty (scattered) rooms. It is OK…
Little Stories 