Decluttering Challenges

As we packed for moving, we pulled out lots of "goodies" that had been "shelved" for a long time.  I had a young helper for most of this packing and guess what he thought of these goodies?  NEW TOYS!  I did manage to fill a few extra garbage bags and sell of a few things on craigslist, but we moved a bunch more things than we would have liked to because of this helper.
He found a few baby toys that he loves, loves, loves and NO, we can't pass it along.
He found some bike parts that he thought would be great fun.
He found some of my old toys - rollerblades, shoes, bike helmet that he wants to grow into (???).

Moral of the story, decluttering is best done when 4 year olds are in bed or otherwise occupied.

While we're on the topic of decluttering, I should mention that a smart phone is actually a brilliant assistant to this task.  You can take a picture of your item and post it directly to craigslist quite quickly.  I used to have to wait until I got my camera pictures downloaded to the computer, then get on the web and get it posted.  That could take me weeks depending upon my motivation.  As you can see from my blogging track record, I'm pretty inconsistent about getting pictures uploaded and documented. :)

Anyone else working on decluttering??  Is it time to give up old toys that haven't been used in years?  Are all preschoolers hoarders?

The most painful bed ever

So we had a bunch of paneling that came down from the walls and I've read a little too much Ana White, so I thought it would work well to recycle some of that wood into a beautiful headboard.  That turned into building a whole bed.  That turned into lots of aggravation.  This condo project wasn't meant to be a furniture building party, and this bed was taking up precious work time that should have been devoted to "real" building.

Headboard mostly built.  See the excellent recycling work.

Ready for paint.  Another excuse to use the paint sprayer!

Primer sprayed, looking good.

Here he is working with his cool tool.

Hmm... Is that really the color I picked out?

This is Great Lakes by Dutchboy.  It looks more like blue cotton candy. 

We had a serious issue with the paint and ended up painting twice.  We won't be buying Dutch Boy paint/colors again anytime soon.  Both mixes ended up not matching the swatches very well.  I'm totally happy with it now, it just took more time and money than desired to get there.  There was talk along the way about cutting the bed up and throwing it in the fire, it wasn't pretty.  This is the same color that we used on the chest project.  We had extra and it needed to get put to good use.  I like it over there, it was just too much in the bed application and for this room.

Finally happy with it.  It matches the lake out the window!

This color is Baltic Sea by Dutch Boy.

The first color was supposed to be a slightly lighter shade of the color we ended up with.  The second color was supposed to be a "safe" navy.  The paints mix lighter, brighter, and greener than the swatches.  I wonder how the color will change as it ages?!

Anyone else having all kinds of trouble choosing good paint colors??

First order of business

The first order of business upon moving in was to get those awful lace curtains removed!

Where's the window?

He knows what to do!

Yes, there's furniture everywhere and we're barely moved in, but taking care of what's important!

They were everywhere and only covered the top half of the windows.

Living room, they are here too!

Oh, and did I mention, they were filthy, gross, dirty.

Ah, much better, I can find the window now!

The shutters are next.

All gone and looking good, or should I just say better.

Here he is pulling the very last one.

We have a short list that entails the top priorities.  These are not "projects" that are meant to completely remodel the house, they are basic maintenance needs and a few items that will help make the house our own.
Here's the list:
- Electrician to fix the broken conduit where the main electrical enters the house
- Chimney sweep/inspect to make sure it's safe to burn in the wood fireplace
- Figure out the spinkler system - see if it works and get it winterized this fall - ha ha it works!
- Remove the lace curtains (and shutters in areas that don't need them) - check!
- Get a water softener
- Clean or replace the "touch points" - I'm suffering from eeeewwww whenever I open a cabinet or turn on a light.

More New House - the exterior

She's not too much to look at, especially on the inside, but the exterior is one of the best features.  The yard is downright manicured.  It's flat and manageable.  And, the best part... it has a sprinkler system!  We didn't think the sprinkler system would work because of the fact that the inspector didn't test it in March, and the timing of the whole estate situation.  Had it been winterized last winter?  Had it even been brought out of winter mode this past summer?  Would it work?  Why yes, it does work!  Push a few buttons and the whole lawn will be watered.  Easy.  Now can we get a similar solution for mowing??!

The foundation planting was re-done by the estate before they put it for sale.  Check.  That's one nice thing to push the easy button on.

There is one really nice big tree on the property, but that's it.  After spending so much every year on tree trimming and removal, it's nice to only have one to manage.  The neighbors have some that are reasonably close to our property, so we can enjoy some shade that we don't have to keep trimmed.

There is a quirk on the outside that should be mentioned...  The house has frontage on 2 roads - out front and out back.  That means there really isn't a back yard for playing, gardening, or a patio.  So far, Noah's loving playing in the front yard - biking in the cul-de-sac, or making an obstacle course across the front yard.  If we play on the back side, we're much less likely to meet a neighbor or someone walking their dog, so the front is the preferred playing spot.

The siding and roof are in great shape, so they won't be worries for us for a long time to come.  Since we had to do the entire exterior at the last house, these are big selling points here.

So, there you have it, the outside story of the white cape cod house that we now call home.  We'll go inside again soon.

More preview pictures!

Thought I would throw out a few more teasing pictures of our new place...  Just check out this hotness!  Today's feature is the basement.  It's just 2 rooms - a generous size utility room and an open "rec room."

The drab green carpet on the stairs going down.

Here's the "rec room."

There's a nice size laundry tub down there for all our paint cleanup!

See how nice size the utility room is?

There's even this sweet locker cabinet down there.  I can think of some uses for that!

We'll have real tales to tell soon!  Looking forward to it!