poplar road

Things I hoped to do by my birthday & Thanksgiving:

1) get beeswax, wicks, and varnish; make half a dozen mini pumpkins and gourds into candles;

2) finish mudding office, prime, move all furniture and boxes, scrub floors, and paint 2 coats on the 2 walls that need it;

3) prime and paint drywalled section of hallway and redo all white trim;

4) do a blog post featuring friends' and families' visits over the past year;

5) finish drywalling, steppling, cleaning, priming, painting, and moving into my new bedroom;

6) dependent upon 5, clean old bedroom and move in guest bed (a.k.a. oversize coffee table) from middle of living room; restore order to living room;

7) wipe construction dust off all belongings again, for the last time;

(8) make decadent cheesecake for Mari Ann and Jason's visit;

9) mow, rake and till wildflower patch, plant poppy, columbine, lupin and other seeds; deadhead, prune trees and mow lawn in what remains of good weather ;

and 10) celebrate one-year anniversary of buying home (October 6th) by not renovating home for an entire day.

Number of items on above list that Martha could do blindfolded in 10 days or less: 10.

Items I might actually complete by my birthday: 2, 3 but not trim, 4, 7 but probably three more times, 10 (please?) for a total of 5.

On the other hand, things we can feel accomplished about…

1) I've returned to bellydance lessons and am less stressed;

2) I'm getting a paycheque three weeks in a row;

3) the new window in the master bathroom looks awesome – daylight, whoo-hoo!

4) we may not have a vanity in the main bath, but we have trim around the tub and doesn't it look great? (Needs sealant and grout, but you get the idea.)

5) the heating system will finally be finished this weekend with Jason's help;

6) we found torchiere lamps for bedroom lighting that come with compact fluorescent lights on dimmer switches (at last) for under $100;

7) Richard started up his new business in a month, and his first job finishes this weekend;

8) we might not get as far as painting, but we will have the ceiling done and primer on in the new master bedroom (here are pictures as we were doing the last coat of mud on most walls, and starting the ceiling);

9) we have renovated about 1200 square feet from top to bottom in less than a year without intentionally doing each other bodily harm;

and 10) Richard sold his first Unimog today. He's not overjoyed, as the negotiating on this deal was tough and he put more hours into it than perhaps it was worth, but it's a good sign that more sales will follow. It's progress.

So, we have a lot to be thankful for. It's been a slog, lately, with me back at work and both of us working double time to get the new business going, and we haven't had much time to relax since starting the new bedroom & bathrooms project this summer, but the first morning that we wake up in our new master suite and look around at our smooth freshly painted walls, new birch laminate floors, tidy, dust-free and well-organized dressing room, and the sun shining in our French doors, we're going to roll over and go back to sleep happy in the knowledge that we've done a great job, and that there's no reason to get out of bed. And if that's not until Christmas morning at the rate we're going, well, I can live with that.

I've been hinting at this for a while, but let's make it official: Richard has started a home business to supplement his "day job" since Unimog sales have not gone well in his first year on the job. Here's how it happened: people at work knew he was in HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) before, and asked his advice to help them get the right heating system for their homes. This month, the third time around, the gal at work who took his advice brought him two heat pump system quotes that were, in Richard's opinion, asking an arm and a leg. So after thinking about it and talking with Jason, our friendly not-quite-in-the-neighbourhood distributor (who you'll remember provided and installed our own heating system), Richard asked his co-worker if he could give her a quote - and three weeks to get ready for it. She said sure, and Sheridan's Heat Pumps and Mechanical Ltd. was born.

As a result, we've been doing a rigamarole of applications, certifications, licences, insurance, banking, sweating over how he's going to get the business going while we're finishing this gigantic renovation! (One source of funds, sad to say, was our beloved lawn tractor. Sold it to the neighbours. Sigh.) But it's all coming together. We're working hard on the master suite this weekend - pictures to come soon - and on things like business cards and the new website. Plus I've been back at work for a few days, with hopefully more contract days to come. It just means the reno itself is slow going. But, Jason and Mari Ann arrive next weekend, perfect timing for Jason to help Richard with his first new job: his co-worker accepted his quote! And my parents arrive the weekend after that for Thanksgiving. Further motivation, despite all these other chores, to get the bedroom done.

So that's the big news. I am now going to don my Holmes-like brown overalls and yesterday's dusty T-shirt, and put one more coat of mud on the drywall. Then I get to seal the tiles that Richard has already adhered around the tub. Which means that instead of using the sealant in the open, airy garage, I'm using it in the tiniest room in the house, with only the ceiling fan and my nasty dust mask to protect me. Lovely. But I can't wait to photograph it and show it off. It's gorgeous. The whole thing is going to be gorgeous. It's just taking a while. Yesterday, a bear spooking the neighbour's llamas caused some excitement as Jonathan got out the shotgun to go rescue the llama that jumped the fence, and we all went out back to steer it back to the farm. Then we met our new neighbours on the east side, and their two dogs. And Richard talked to Don on the other side about borrowing his ceiling-steppling equipment to do our master bedroom ceiling. I got all the drywalling I could do done, but at dusk when I quit, all I'd had to eat all day was a couple of pepperoni sticks, cheese and lots of water, because spotting the bear kind of used up my lunch break. Hm, and now that breakfast is over, I've got to get back at it. Richard is cracking the whip! (Mind you, he's the one who let me sleep in until 9.) More later.

Another busy weekend! Although Richard's initial response was, "great, more work", we were happy to hear from our plumbing store that our replacement shower had arrived three weeks ahead of schedule. And, to add to that excellent luck, our pocket door and French doors were ready for pickup as well. So we picked them up on Saturday morning (entirely forgetting about the grocery run, unfortunately). In the afternoon, Richard took an online course and wrote an exam (more on this later), and I mudded and cleaned up the reno zone to make room to bring in the shower.

On Sunday, with the help of the neighbours, we squeezed our gorgeous (and undamaged) new shower through the rough opening left by the old sliding doors, and tucked it into the back of the master bathroom. That was the easy part. Richard has decided to leave it there until the bedroom and other bathroom are done. I was looking forward to seeing it with drywall up, but there's a lot of plumbing and electrical still to do, not to mention cutting an opening in the stucco for the new window, so it will have to wait. The important thing was that with the shower inside, we were then able to install the bathroom's pocket door, and the new French doors. Not enough hours in the day to get the new bathroom wall drywalled, but the wiring is done, and drywall in the closet got done so that I could continue mudding this week.

This weekend, we'll drywall the new bathroom wall and around the French doors, finish patching the hallway and my office, and something has to be done about the bedroom ceiling. Then I can focus on the fun stuff: paint, trim, lighting, and moving in. However, I will be busy for the next two weeks with full-time work, we've got guests coming October 1st, and Richard is gearing up to launch his new business on top of his regular job. Not a recipe for rapid renos, pardon the alliteration. And the new business? You'll have to talk to him…. Life is crazy to say the least.

As promised, here are the pictures of the past two weeks' renos, from framing and electrical, to insulating and drywalling. The main space shown is the new master suite, combining the old guest room with a new closet/dressing room leading to the ensuite bathroom (left of the French door opening). It's not a large space, particularly since adding 17 feet of closet along the east wall, but it will have all the features we want in a bedroom. Great lighting, storage, seating, room for a TV and a spot to plug in phone chargers and laptops, and a luxurious master bath.

Note that the 6'x6' space we created for our ensuite is currently on hold (and holding a huge pile of fixtures, materials and tools) while we wait for our replacement 5 foot one-piece acrylic shower to be shipped all the way from Quebec. Until we get that, we can't a) build the wall for the pocket door and b) install the new French doors because it's too big to fit through those openings. Nor can we finish the electrical, plumbing, insulating, window installation, drywalling, tiling.... And the delivery date? Hopefully no more than three weeks.

I really wanted my ensuite ready for my birthday at the beginning of October but at least it looks like the main bath will be done instead. I'm sealing the tile tomorrow in preparation to install the tub border and countertop as soon as our custom cabinet arrives at the kitchen place. Another week or so on that. Despite being a small room it doesn't really photograph all that well, so the photo in the last post will have to do. I can't wait to show off the tile, it's tumbled stone in a lovely range of coffee shades that will give depth and texture to that teeny tiny room. And I think the fact that it's unglazed will really suit Richard's diving collection of antique bottles and pottery.

As I've mentioned before, the main bathroom's new tub juts into what was the original master bedroom. The floor area of the main bath hasn't changed, and the new toilet is in the same spot as before; but it looks smaller when you stand at the door, and bigger when you're inside with the light on in the shower. Light coloured walls help too. The main reason for the switch is to give more room to the ensuite, which also bumps out almost as much as the main bath does, leaving what's left of the original master bedroom as dressing room. The patched drywall on the ceiling shows the old closets and other divisions between rooms. (Fixing the ceiling surface is going to be fun.) The new wall is wired for wall sconces and the thermostat for our bedroom heating/cooling zone, and there will be lighting inside the closets as well. The odd black rectangle near the floor of the entry wall is the return air vent - it'll have a grille over it when it's done.

Everything took longer than we expected, because although it looks as if we've started from scratch, we've got a lot of existing structure with flaws that we have to live with. Getting things square, for example. Wishful thinking. Having Jonathan come over on Monday to help put up most of the drywall put us almost back on schedule, though. We got just enough done that I've been able to start mudding this week. I'd like to finish that torn up corner in my office as well. Then I'll have a whole lot of painting to do.

I never thought of myself as one of those women who would give her firstborn for a walk-in closet, but after living out of suitcases and narrow, dark, mouse and moth-infested closets for a year, I can't wait to move my things (and Richard's - he's the one with all the clothes) into this new closet and dressing room. Each section will have a white 5' bifold door, like the other closets in the house, with the same white mouldings we've used elsewhere. On the opposite wall there's room for a bench. For inside the closet we found some economical lighting, and the dressing area will have three wall sconces. I'd love to get the closet organizer system IKEA has, but we'll probably end up with basic shelving and rods for now. With 30" in depth, there will be lots of storage space for suitcases, and a linen closet at the far end, across from the laundry in the ensuite. Down the road when we eventually sell this house, I hope the closet will be desirable enough that buyers forgive the fact that the bedroom itself is only 10'x10'. Still, with the courtyard window at one end and French doors at the other, looking out over the yard, it has a flow down the length that makes it seem quite large now that the drywalling is almost done. I've also given up on my first choice of a dark paint colour in favour of a mocha colour, which will still give the contrast we love and go with my dream furniture and fabrics. (Richard's first choice of colour was "fudge brownie", but somehow I think the name, not the shade, was the reason.)

My biggest challenge tomorrow is to even out the joints between the existing painted wall of the hallway and the new drywall. So far my feelings towards mudding haven't changed, still love it, but I am worried that after volunteering to do this, I might have to leave a lot of it for Richard because I haven't done anything this finicky before. We'll see. You'll know I pulled it off if the next post with primed walls shows up next week, and not the week after.

After all the mudding today and typing tonight, my joints are stiff and swollen, and there's so much more to do tomorrow now that I'm onto the second or third coats, so that's it for this Playing House. More next week.

Okay, you're probably wondering why my blog looked blank this week. The reason ties into the answer to Allyson's question, "Aaaaagh! What's happened to my bedroom?!". That end of the house is OUR bedroom now. This Labour Day weekend was the first long weekend of the year that we didn't have visitors, so we got a lot done, with some help from our neighbour. I've just been too exhausted with all the work we've done since the 27th to post any pictures. And tonight's not any different, I'm pooped, so this is just a "teaser trailer", with more explanations to follow later this week. Look for the next entry, Playing House, Part X, for all the pictures. To make this quick for now – since I haven't even looked at all the photos yet – here's a summary of what we've been up to.

I came home on the 26th with my sister Erika and her boyfriend Chris, and while they enjoyed the Shuswap (and frequent llama feedings, of course), Richard and I continued with the master suite and main bath reno. He worked on the electrical; I sanded, finished mudding, and primed the main bath. During the week, I finished painting the bathroom and cleaned off the floor, on which we've left the original linoleum. Friday night, we laid some of the maple-look laminate we kept from the old guest bedroom over top of the lino. Not ideal for a bathroom, but hey, it's free, and it looks great. It's the guest bathroom, not the regularly used one, so it should hold up well enough for a while. With the floor in, Richard installed the new toilet. This thing uses half the water of a standard toilet and could probably suck down one of the neighbour's shitzus without a hiccup. Kind of scary, actually.

Saturday morning we tidied up the master suite and Richard framed in the 17 feet of closet along the east wall. I took a truck load to the dump just before it began to rain. It has cooled down a lot in the past week and rained quite a bit this weekend, which made working on insulation and drywall more difficult, but at least it's a comfortable temperature. It didn't really pour until we'd finished insulating on Sunday afternoon. I could hear it coming down as I stepped out of the shower in the main bath, which we'd just surrounded with sound insulation – and it's the only room in the upstairs without an exterior wall. Buckets of rain, but it was over by the time we left for the city, for our monthly HD run. Paint, moldings, and 4"x4" stone tile for the counter, backsplash and tub surround in the main bath (which we were able to do because we reused the laminate for the floor.) I have my work cut out for me preparing the tile with sealant this week.

This morning we had just finished taping the vapour barrier and were clearing tools etc from the room when Jonathan came in. He needed Richard's help with something, so he insisted on helping him get the main sheets of drywall on the walls first. I was amazed how quickly they did the largest walls, starting with the bedroom window in the photo. After lunch Richard was on his own and it went more slowly, with me getting underfoot trying to stick the mesh on the joints and sweep up the gyprock waste. I'm doing the mudding during the day this week, although we didn't quite get all the drywall on. Close enough that we can probably prime next Sunday, though. Hooray!

We quit at 7 tonight. Richard is back at work in the morning, and in addition to Unimog stuff, he's got another little project going on. But I'll let him share his news another time. Right now my feet really want me to get to bed. Looking forward to sharing the rest of the reno pictures later this week!