Finally, closet pics!!!

OK, here they are as promised. I misplaced my camera Sunday while we were picking up and just found it today, so the pics are later then expected, but here nonetheless!!

Creepy Cat Closet - BEFORE:

This 'before' picture is actually 'after' we cleaned this under the stairs storage closet as best we could (vacuumed, disinfecting wipes, etc) so it doesn't really do justice to the true scariness we first found! But, check out that sad linoleum floor (yea, it's actual flooring looking that bad).

Despite our best cleaning efforts, the closet still smelled like cat pee. This is obviously where the previous owners kept the litter box for their 2 cats. As I started sniffing it out (admittedly gross, but hey, you have to investigate these things) I wasn't surprised to find the smell engrained in the flooring. So our super quick closet cleaning turned into a weekend project!!!

Before tackling the closet, I thought I would document some of the DIY brilliance (please detect major sarcasm here) we have found in various areas of our little house. For instance the shelves:

Obviously constructed with materials on-hand, which I'm totally cool with. But really, do you need that many screws on the makeshift brackets? And what you can't see is that the shelf is 2 piece of scrap wood being held together underneath with a metal light switch plate?

Next, check out this antique paneling, with the collection of nails randomly sticking out:

And honestly, I don't even want to think about what would make those stains on the walls!\

Here is a picture, post shelf removal and linoleum removal. That old glue from the flooring was a pain to get off!!

We used a planer, orbital sander, and chiseled the corners. Look, there's wood underneath!!!

And here is the same closet that night after affordable stick-on tiling!!!

My poor hubby asked me what I thought and I said something along the lines of...the floor looks AWESOME, and now the walls REALLY look crappy, LOL! Another project for another day.

We also got a new door for the closet, but I'm in the process of repainting the doorframe, so it's not hung yet. The walls here will have to wait a while...not high on the priority list. Next on our project list is to start our bathroom redo. We bought the hardware we needed at Lowe's this weekend, so hopefully we'll get started on that soon!

Work in progress!

We are making some progress! Don't worry I'm taking pictures, so hopefully I can post them tomorrow evening. This weekend we are tackling the "CREEPY CAT CLOSET" This is the closet underneath the stairs where the previous owners kept their cats litter boxes, food bowls, etc. After the nice warm weather we had in Boston Friday, the cat smell was back in the house with a vengeance! But no more I say!! We are taking care of business!!

We also bought most of the hardware we need for our bathroom update. I still have to order a new exhaust fan online (we have a special size wall exhaust, so no one stocks it locally) but hopefully we can start the bathroom next weekend. Woo-Hoo! Stay tuned!

So, it begins.....

The Hubs and I are now the proud parents of a 1947 Cape Cod home!!

Homeownership is already proving to be exciting and interesting! Nothing is quite what it seems and there is always a surprise around the corner!

View of house from the backyard with our awesome 2-level deck!

I've discovered that you can learn a lot of people by the state of their house when they move out. I've decided that our home's previous owner's were a bit on the lazy side (hope they are not reading this! Seems unlikely!). For instance, I spent 5 or 6 hours cleaning out the refrigerator! I shop-vac'ed the shelves before taking them out to scrub them, SERIOUSLY!! I mean, if you spill something, clean it up!!! While cleaning the fridge out, I started to have allergy issues and when I pulled the grill off the front of the fridge, I vacuumed out about 2 inches of cathair, EWWWW! But now my fridge looks brand-spanking new and I love it!

With continuous cleaning we are starting to get the cat smell out. We still have boxes everywhere because we are cleaning out the closets and attic space before utilizing any of them. We also have some weird furniture issues, like our bed didn't fit up the stairs to the master bedroom and our sofa/loveseat & ancient entertainment center don't really fit in the living room. So, since we're getting new, we haven't unpacked the boxes of DVDs and VHS tapes that go in the entertainment center.

Anyway, it will take a while, but I know it will be perfect and worth the work. When things are a bit more picked up and less embarrassing, I'll be sure to post more pics!

Book 17: Pandora

Aaahhh, the vampires. I think I have loved vampire books my entire life, for whatever reason. Before Edward and Bella, before Anita Blake and Jean Claude, there was the Anne Rice Vampire Chronicles. I read them forever ago and I was happy when the 'new' vampire chronicles were published...what 10-12 years ago now? I was always interested in some of the 'side' characters that made cameos in the Lestat stories, so I bought the Pandora hardback long ago from a discount rack and then it promptly moved into my bookshelf where it waited patiently for about 10 years. Finally, I grabbed it this week and finished it today!!

I've always liked Pandora because she was really the only 'old' and powerful female vampire and she just seemed spunky! I loved reading her history and I was totally riveted and gained a new respect for Marius, who she knew both before and after they became vampires. Really the book was overall quite good, but I wasn't too jazzed about the ending. The demise of Pandora and Marius' relationship is totally random and I hated it. Then, the book just kinda ends. So, the overall story was quite good, but the end was very anti-climactic.

Books 15 & 16!

Book numero 15 was Kushiel's Avatar, the last of this trilogy. I really sad to see this series end, so I may have to read the other followup trilogy. I must say that I think this book was my favorite of this set. It takes place 10 years after the 2nd book and I LOVED discovering the changes in the characters and their relationships. Joscelin really became the 'perfect companion' for Phedre, but kept enough of his 'fire' to keep things interesting. I loved seeing their interactions with Imriel which was unexpected and dynamic. Of course their adventures were non-stop as usual. I think I may have to keep these books for a while so I can reread from time to time.

Book number 16 was The Last of the Honky-Tonk Angels and I loved this one also! Quite a change after Phedre's story!! This one is about a Southern widow named Lucy who is dating/living with a local country singer. One day after sleeping in a strange woman knocks on their door and leaves his mysterious daughter there and takes off. The rest of the book is about relationships and how they all go about discovering each other and themselves along the way. It's what I would classify a 'feel good' book but with enough heartbreak and intrigue to keep you turning pages.

So, what's next? I have no idea. But, I'm on my way to a relaxing hot bath, which will only be complete with a book to read. My strategy will be to randomly pick one off my shelf and see what happens!!

Moving on up!

Ah, moving. The big adventure. That is where I have been for the last week, in 'move-land' that place where your sanity gets tossed out the window, you get to touch every piece of anything you've ever owned and forgot about and toss it into a box, and then wonder how you ever accumulated so much stuff to begin with.
So where does this leave us? Well, we are totally moved into our little house. For days I have walked around with the old country song in my head "Love grows best in little houses, with just a few walls to separate where you, eat and sleep so much together, you can't help but communicate..." Yep, that's us, me and hubs. Good thing we love each other so much (only married a year, so as newlyweds we can still be gooey).

Anyway, so, the big question...how did it go? The closing was fine. A few hours with the lawyer going over paperwork and signing papers and that was that. Since then we have done some painting, just a fresh couple of coats in the hallway, living room and kitchen. We wanted to paint the bathroom as well, but that's a whole 'nother story/blog post that I'm sure you'll get to read in the near future. So, once the painting was done, we could move. We took Friday off of work and rented a UHaul for the weekend. Thank goodness for my husband's friend, who helped us without a single complaint and served as entertainment all weekend. I really don't think there is any way we would have finished without him.

So we're moved but no way near organized. Unfortunately we have hit several snags that will require new furniture. We wanted to start getting some new furniture anyway, so not a big deal, but I didn't think we'd have to right away. The biggest thing is that our bed can't get to our bedroom. While we got the mattress up there, the box spring couldn't make it up the stairs and into the room, so we are downstairs for now. Since our queen size bed is in the guestroom, I couldn't put our love seat in there as I had planned, because our sofa/loveseat doesn't quite fit into our living room....not really due to size limitations, but the layout of the living/dining space.

Anyways, cable got connected yesterday, so we're back online! Now you'll get to hear all about our home adventures! Aren't you excited?! I am!