Good Neighbors

I have to confess a totally embarrassing moment that happened yesterday.  The boys and I went out at our normal time to take a walk through the town and then to the local playground.  Pete, our really nice neighbor, was outside mowing his fabulous and expansive lawn.  We definitely have yard envy.  We walked over to say hello, and Owen started yelling "Peace! Peace!", his way of saying Pete.  As we approached, Pete asked if I minded if he mowed our lawn.  Oh boy, we are those neighbors.  I confess that our lawn is super low on the priority list right now, on top of the fact that we don't currently own an operable lawn mower.  This was on the Home Depot list of things we need to purchase.

So, red faced, I bumbled about how sorry I was that we haven't gotten to the lawn and that it would be so amazing if he wouldn't mind mowing and that we would be buying a mower this weekend and that we would pay him and that we would be so appreciative and...bumble, bumble, bumble.  Well, our lawn isn't very big and he said that it would be no problem.  When we returned from our walk, our lawn was freshly mowed.

It got very chilly after the front moved through yesterday afternoon and it really felt like fall.  So, the first time this year, we baked some delicious pumpkin bread as a thank you and delivered it to "Peace" that afternoon.  I realized how great of a neighborhood we live in and am so happy that we chose this house.

Here are some photos that I took last night after dinner of our street and the town from our front porch.  You can just see that autumn is right around the corner.

A panorama from our front porch of the town of Phoenixville

I love these trees on our street.  I have no idea what type of tree, but they look like they have been here since the house was built.

Paint Color Paralysis

I was pretty confident in my color selections a couple of months ago, but I realize now that I made a rookie mistake.  I didn't live with the colors on the wall first.  Paint chips only tell a very small part of the story, not to mention the changes in light from room to room and time of day.  The dining room and living room were in my mind a soothing blue gray color, the dining room a slightly deeper shade then the living room.  I am afraid that the rooms will be a bit cold with the cool blue tones, but really want something that will compliment the rich floors which I thought that tone would do well. 

So, I went and got samples (under $3 a piece at Home Depot), lots of samples.  I have applied them to the walls in each room to live with for awhile.  I also grabbed a few warmer shades in the yellow family to see if I prefer a warmer wall color.  Here is where we are at - your thoughts and opinions are very welcome!

Dining Room Back Wall - My blue/gray selections. 

Dining Room Side wall under stairway (ignore the clutter - still unpacking!)

Living Room - Warm and Cool Palette

Living Room - Warm and Cool with Deeper Accent Colors
that will be used in a special project involving book cases

My initial thoughts are that the yellow colors too similar to our furniture color and there won't be enough contrast in the room.  I'm thinking that the warmer fabrics will offset the cooler wall color if we stick with the blue tone.  As a side note, that horrible trim color is getting painted a white semi gloss.  You can see where I started around the door frame.

Box Forts

As we unpack and settle into the house, we are making the best of it with box forts!  They keep Owen entertained for quite some time and gives me more time to unpack.  We are making good progress on the boxes but still have a way to go.  In the mean time, we are deciding on the paint color for the living room.  I am stumped.  I thought I wanted a blue gray, and actually purchased the paint already.  But, I am nervous that it will be too cold for a living room.  I have some sample squares up on the wall right now living with the different colors in different light.  Who else has a blue or gray living room, and if so, what do you think?

Kitchen Floor : Groutable Vinyl Tile

When researching options for our kitchen floor, we knew we wanted something durable that could stand up to the boys.  Originally I wanted stone, but realized that it wasn't kid friendly.  Then we thought that we wanted ceramic tile.  The problem is that it would raise the floor by almost an inch after the hardieboard goes down, the thin set, and the tile itself.  Not an issue except for the dishwasher.  There wasn't enough room to go under the dishwasher because of the counter top.  I decided against removing the current vinyl because I wasn't sure what floor was laid underneath (there were several layers).

I was exploring the aisles at home depot, and spotted a vinyl tile that was groutable.  It looked pretty great, the grout gave it texture, and the bonus is that it is not cold on your toes and makes for a softer landing for toddlers learning how to toddle.  The other bonus was I was able to purchase everything I needed for under $300.  

They had both the 12x12 and 12x24 inch tiles in the style I liked.  (Sagebrush).  I went with the 12x24 subway tile becuase of the way it would make the kitchen look longer.  It took about 6 hours from start to finish with the bulk of the time spent on measuring and cutting in the strange corners.  The only tools needed were a tape measure, t square, pencil, and utility knife.  The tiles were extremely easy to break - all I had to do was gently score the top with the utility knife and bend it and it snapped along the score.  Here are the results...


before - floor was sheet vinyl





Peel and stick tiles went down really easily





Just peel back the corner and lay it down.  I used 1/8 in spacers.





spacers





progress




Rolled out fridge so I could tile under it




Had to make some fancy cuts.




Used a wax pencil to make my marks.




used a utility knife and t square to score the tile




tile prior to grout





Originally I wanted to go with an off white grout because it made the tiles really pop.  Once I got going I realized that it would be really difficult to keep it clean with the boys dropping food.  I ended up going with a color called Earth and really love it.





Pre Grout



Grouting the tiles with Earth



Whaddya think?  Here are some takeaways...

Follow the old adage - measure twice cut once.  I can't tell you how many tiles I ruined.  Luckily I had just enough to finish.  

The spacers were a godsend.  It really helped me keep my lines perfect.

I was lucky and had a grid already laid for me on the previous vinyl floor.  In the event that you don't, you would just need to find the centers on each wall and make a chalk line.  Confirm that the angles are 90 degrees and start your first tile right in the middle and work out from there. 

The tiles can get scuffed, so make sure that any furniture has the sticky pads on the feet.  Also, make sure if you have anything on wheels like a high chair that the wheels are not locked when you move it.  

UPDATE - click here to see a more recent blog post with pictures from a friend of our blog who recently put in groutable vinyl flooring in his own kitchen. 

Connected again...

The Verizon Fios truck rolled in this morning at 9am.  I have been incredibly frustrated with the cable companies over the past two weeks and was expecting another snag in the install plan.  I was so pleasantly surprised!  Kevin was our tech.  He was able to install all of the tv's exactly where we wanted them.  He removed a bunch of old wires that were left over from previous people.  He even fixed a light fixture that was malfunctioning...yes, a light fixture!  He had mentioned that he was an electrician in his former life, so I asked him why a light fixture would work one day and not the next.  He whipped out his tools and had it fixed in about 5 minutes.  I was so grateful and thrilled with his service that it pretty much made the wait worth it.  The kids are both napping now, so I figured I'd check in quickly with news that we are back up and running.  I cannot wait to get caught up on the news and HGTV design star.

Here is a little update on the boys. As you can see, Owen has already started tormenting his baby bro.

Still no Internet, but lots of chalk

Sadly, we are still waiting for verizon to come out an install our
phone/internet/cable. The new install date is august 30 and it can't
come soon enough! I feel so disconected, behind on the news, my
favorite blogs and tv shows.

We have a new washing machine arriving tomorrow. The one that was in
the house was broken, and in doing research on a diy fix, I realized
that it was most likely the transmission which would cost us close to
what we would pay for a new one. So, we purchased a kenmore from
sears. Initially we wanted to do a front load, but given that we are
going to keep the laundry in the basement, we went with a top load to
avoid the mold/smell problem that can arise with the front loaders.
It's a kenmore that is energy star rated, high effiiency, and is
really unique in that it doesn't have an agitator. I can fit our
comforter in there no problem.

We are still living in box city, but it's getting better day by day.
Once the verizon people come out to do the install, I'll post the
house stuff. In the mean time, here is a shot of Owen enjoying the
afternoon with his box of chalk.

My first stay at home mommy day!

I am posting a quickie today. The move went well. Special thanks to
Laura and Linda for coming down to help out! We are still without
cable, phone and Internet due to the verizon strike. Grrrr. They have
no idea when they will be here to do the install. I am uploading this
from my phone that we had turned on yesterday. Once we have the
Internet up and running, I'll be able to post more house updates, I
promise.