Ewww to New

So one of the charms of this late 1960's home is that we have a bathroom in each of the awesome colors that mark that decade, pink, blue, and yellow. The master bath has the honor of being the yellow bathroom.

With the compact size and the sunny color it does remind me of a certain Beatles song about a sea faring vessel, but I think it will look much better (and bigger) once I take down the heavily patterned red wall paper. I am a lover of red, but it is not the complement to a yellow bathroom. I am actually envisioning a grey when I do get around to taking down the wall paper...it's on my list, just further down. Well, my other big complaint with this bathroom would be the icky grout:

Eww! The grout was so old that it wasn't really grout, but more like a sponge...which is gross. It made me shutter to think about it. There was no amount of bleach and tilex that was taking these spots out, and believe me I tried. So I guess I complained sufficiently for Chris to take on the task of removing all of the old grout and putting new (non-porous) grout in. Here is an action shot:

Notice, that while Chris and I often disagree, we both share a love for copious amounts of bleach...probably what makes this relationship work. He scrapped off all the old grout, bleached it, bleached it again, and then we waited for it to completely dry out:

After he was sure that it was ready for the new grout, he did it. Yay!

So fresh and so clean. It does make the shower look even more yellow, but that really can't be helped. I am just happy that the whole thing feels cleaner.  This was a good week for Chris doing things around the house, which is good because with my final, I did next to nothing this week on the house. That being said, I have high hopes for this weekend as we transition from summer to fall.  

Chris Inspired!

So I hauled some butt to finish up painting the den in a reasonable amount of time. And not to toot my own horn, but it looks awesome and Lucy is thoroughly enjoying it:

In fact, I did such a good job that Chris kept saying that he wanted to get started on the floors for that room. We decided on laminate because there is no subfloor (just concrete) and real wood floors would be both expensive and beyond a DIY project. Chris was just waiting for a sale at Costo (the only place he will shop these days). Well, low and behold, there was one this weekend. He cleared the shelves - getting enough (hopefully) for the den, kitchen, and dining room:

And came home with a ton. It is now sitting in the entry way because he claims it needs to "acclimatize" before he puts it in:

I am a little bit intimated by the amount of flooring and what a big job this is going to be, but it is a Chris job - so more power to him. I will keep you posted on the progress.

Run for the Warriors!

So my Biomedical Sciences Final is Tuesday, but that didn't stop Chris and I from having a little fun this weekend and supporting a good cause. This past Sunday we ran a 5k for Hope for the Warriors. 

 And here is a pre-race snap shot of the two of us:

Yea, Chris looks pretty happy here, but he isn't a runner, and after about the first mile, he wasn't a happy camper. I stuck with him and tried to keep him running...you know like a good girlfriend. So we finally get to the finish, me having not left his walking butt far behind, and he sprints the last 15 feet so he can beat me by a second...hmph! So he can have bragging rights, but its alright because he is super sore and I definitely had more fun. I am hoping (rather futilely) that he will want to do more runs with me in the future. I have even put the race numbers up on the fridge to encourage him:

Even though I feel another 5k for both of us might have to wait a year until this one comes up again (Chris said he will only run for soldiers and puppies...a man of diverse loves). The race did have some good swag including a shirt and tickets to the Rutgers vs UConn blackout game in two weeks:

Needless to say, Chris is more excited about that couples activity than about running. I'm feeling pretty inspired though and I'm even entertaining the thought of running the Pittsburgh Marathon in May...good thing I have a ton of time before I have to decide on that one. 

Family Room - Painted!

Whew! After a marathon painting session the Family Room is done!

We took this:

To this:

And finally to this:

I put one coat of paint on the baseboards too:

Chris was so pleased with the progress that he has been talking about getting around to the floors sooner rather than later. With that news, I am putting off on painting the second coat on the baseboards. I am glad that this room is painted, it is so much more inviting and usable now.

Decision Time: Family Room Color

So in total, there were 7 colors physically tried out for the Family Room. First there was the light blue (all the way back at the end of July):

Then there were the two shades of ocean blue that Chris picked out:

Then two shade of green/gray:

Then two more colors of green:

Well, we picked it. It is going to be the green on the far left. Here is a little sneak peak as I get started:

Back to White

So I put in a ton of time taping off the Family Room/Den. Finally, I got around to some painting...of the ceiling. Usually I would say that painting the ceiling isn't that rewarding, but it made a huge difference in this room. Just to give you and idea of how bad the color change was in that room, here is a picture of the spot where the fan used to be:

Ewww...I wasn't very happy when I realized how discolored it was either. So I got started:

Notice the color difference. Craziness! And more progress:

And completion:

So fresh and so clean. Next comes the paint on the walls. I am all prepped and ready to go:

Painter's Tape Show Down

For most of the house I used the blue painters tape to line the wood molding. It did a pretty good job, but I think there is some room for improvement. Like the paint drips on the molding in the Foyer:

I have started to free hand the lines between walls and the baseboards, but it is harder to wipe paint off the woodwork, so I will keep taping. This is coming into play as I am preparing to paint the ceiling in the den:

But this time, as you can see in the photo, I am trying out the green "Frog Tape":

It is supposed to be better, but we will just have to wait and see. It is already getting bonus points for the spiffy box that keeps the edges from getting all gross. So now the Den is all taped up and ready to be primed and painted. It's game time!

Guest Bedroom Molding!

So I mentioned that I got around to repainting the Guest Bedroom. This means that the last big task for that room was just putting up the molding. This job had Chris written all over it. So while I was studying for me test over the holiday weekend, Chris was working on this project:

OOOOhhhh, Ahhhh! For being a first timer at this, I thought he did a stellar job. Especially around the tricky spot with two doors and a corner:

He did do a bit a damage while framing the window though:

Nothing that can't be painted over though. He did such a good job that I offered to clean up the floors for him:

I'll admit the floors in this room aren't in as good as shape as the rest of the house (except maybe the office). But oh, well. It feels good to have this room looking more like a Guest Bedroom and less like a hurricane hit the Home Depot. Just some baseboard painting left and we will be done (at least for now). 

Indecisive Much?

So awhile ago, I posted about the colors that Chris was debating for the den:

Well, I might have sorta kinda mentioned something to Chris about how those weren't very 'masculine' colors. Not that they aren't nice, but they are clearly trying on some high heels and playing with barbies....just saying. Baby blue is the new pink. All we would need is some brown polka dots and we could have a trendy nursery with a fireplace. He must have taken some of that light suggestion to heart because he came back with two very different colors:

Well, we decided that we liked the green-grey better, but that it wasn't quite bright enough. So back went Chris to the Home Depot:

I'm leaning towards the one on the left. (I am also really proud of how good I am getting at making even color boxes - something about practice). I think these will go much better with the red brick fire place and exposed rafters. Well, since the verdict isn't back about which color is it, stay tuned, we can both find out together!

The New Mattress!

So I have been sleeping much better this week. Much thanks to the new bed:

Found the comforter at Marshall's after an exhaustive search for something we liked. Oh and someone really likes it:

She only has one complaint, that it is now too tall for her to jump on. We are trying to educate her about a step stool we placed by the bed...it isn't going as well as I hoped. Might be finding some doggie stairs. 

Update: Spirit Colors!!

Whew...the test is over! And guess what else is over...painting the Guest Bedroom! Whoo! Guess who isn't invited to the excitement? You guess it, Paul!!! He is gone for good, buried under three coats of primer and several coats of paint:

So basically it went from this:

Back to this:

So on to the next Guest Bedroom task, molding:

Lucky me, that is a Chris job. I could use the break anyway. 

Happy Labor Day!!! (to everyone but me)

Happy Labor Day, Everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying their day off...and let me tell you, I am jealous! This is where I am spending my holiday:

That's right, my (very messy) desk...studying, because tomorrow, the Tuesday after Labor Day, is my very first medical school exam.  It is the midterm for Biomedical Sciences, which is a fun combination of biochemistry, cell biology, epidemiology  and genetics (so far). 

It's actually not that bad. I enjoy what I am learning and really just need to buckle down. My classmates have been awesome - Much love to my study group. Oh, and Lucy is helping too!

That being said, there is no rest for the weary. The final for this course is on the 25th. So, as one of my classmates coined, I will be "keeping calm, and studying on."

(Image from Amazon.com)