For many months now, I've been regularly checking Craigslist in search of a sectional couch for a den at my other home. Of course I never buy anything new... so even though it takes time to find just the right piece of furniture for a particular spot, with patience I know I will, eventually. For at least 3 weeks I've seen a listing for a huge couch and I passed it over because of the size - it was 13' along one side which was way too big for this room. But the price kept coming down and one day a little light bulb went off in my head and I realized I could split the 4-piece sectional into two.
Above you can see two of the pieces installed in the den, and to the left are the other two pieces at Grandview. The master bedroom is L-shaped, and we rearranged things so there is a nice sitting area now. Dave was gracious enough to contribute his TV and buy an antenna so we can get local channels - pretty important when you want to watch a little news or a NASCAR race over the weekend! And now we have a really comfy place to do just that. By the way we paid $300 for the whole couch, which is in great shape: we love it in both locations!
We did a little more woodwork finishing the top cap by the porch entry, which you can see to the right there. I am so happy with how neat, square and level everything looks - I really can't wait until it's all painted, it's going to be beautiful.
You may remember a letter from the City that I mentioned - citing me for peeling paint. At the time I was a little worried, since I really wasn't ready to start painting the house yet and I didn't want a bunch of fines. I have since had a few conversations with neighbors though, that eased my mind a bit. First, Mark, our neighbor directly to the rear of the vacant lot said that he knew of some others that had gotten citations as well, and he was surprised that they were pestering me. The next week, a guy from a house a couple of doors down said that the City had issued 120 citations last month as part of a push to improve the neighborhood, which I took to be good news. Then we saw our immediate neighbor Dave the architect, out pressure washing his building - apparently he had gotten a citation as well ( I had been hoping he would do this because his place really needed it!). The best part was when he told me he actually spoke to the City Code Enforcement guy who said he felt bad about giving me a citation, after all the work I had done!
This week when we arrived we noticed that there were several people on the block that had just painted their front walls and fences, probably in response to their own 'love letters' from the City. Coincidentally, working on our front fence and wall was next on the list so our timing was perfect. Last week we dug out around each post and added concrete, so no more wiggly out-of-level posts. Here you can see that done - as well as the peeling paint that was so offensive to the neighborhood. Also notice the broken concrete at the end of the wall.
Here is the "before" picture of the wall in front of the vacant lot, with the faux pier look, and 25-year old hand painted ocean mural below. Now I'm a fan of custom artwork as much as anyone, but this just had to go. A few weeks ago I actually met the very nice couple that had owned the Misty Shores Apartments since the 70's until 2004 and they were the ones that painted the mural! I confessed that it would probably be painted over, and they seemed to understand so my conscience is clear. I did promise to keep the dock theme though - I kinda like it.
Now for the fun part. Dave brought his pressure washer, and spent Saturday morning going over the entire concrete wall and both sides of the fence. An enormous amount of old paint blew right off - you can see some of the almost-bare wood in the photo. Then we hit Lowe's and found a cute little paint sprayer set-up for $199, marked down from $239... add a $25 coupon and we got the whole thing for $175. Since Dave had done all the pressure washing, I was going to do the spray painting, but I had a feeling once Dave got his hands on the new toy, I would be relegated to assistant, and I was right! Hey, I don't mind - he was the one that ended up looking like Casper the Friendly Ghost when it was all over. Sorry folks, I made a promise not to post a picture of that.
So here you can see the fence with a nice coat of primer inside and out. Notice the nice little capper at the end of the concrete wall? I believe my readers here will be the only ones who will know that it's made from three square concrete stepping stones sandwiched together with mortar.
Next week we will put a coat of regular paint over the primer - it's called "powdered snow", a soft off-white. We got a thumbs-up from several neighbors that passed by while we were working. I think the City will be pleased as well.
Now for the fun part. Dave brought his pressure washer, and spent Saturday morning going over the entire concrete wall and both sides of the fence. An enormous amount of old paint blew right off - you can see some of the almost-bare wood in the photo. Then we hit Lowe's and found a cute little paint sprayer set-up for $199, marked down from $239... add a $25 coupon and we got the whole thing for $175. Since Dave had done all the pressure washing, I was going to do the spray painting, but I had a feeling once Dave got his hands on the new toy, I would be relegated to assistant, and I was right! Hey, I don't mind - he was the one that ended up looking like Casper the Friendly Ghost when it was all over. Sorry folks, I made a promise not to post a picture of that.
So here you can see the fence with a nice coat of primer inside and out. Notice the nice little capper at the end of the concrete wall? I believe my readers here will be the only ones who will know that it's made from three square concrete stepping stones sandwiched together with mortar.
Next week we will put a coat of regular paint over the primer - it's called "powdered snow", a soft off-white. We got a thumbs-up from several neighbors that passed by while we were working. I think the City will be pleased as well.
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