but the hummingbirds live there or The Fence: day 2

Well, after two months, C finally convince our unresponsive neighbor to take out her side of the fence. I still don't think she's sold on it. But the vine on OUR property was actually supporting her dilapidated, termite infested thing. So that was a problem. She is really attached to the atrociously crazy and unruly vine. She likes the hummingbirds. She thinks they live there. But I promise no nests were harmed in the building of the fence on carver. A failed attempt at trying to convince C that we should buy her a birdfeeder and call it a day resulted in a few branches left for her. So, um, she gets to the couple of pieces that were on HER property. I better never see that vine again once our bamboo grows in. Or else.

one side

a big mess

our yard into our back neighbor's yard and what remains of that massive vine

other side of the house

santa's bringing us a new fence

Our old fence was termite infested, falling over and just plain ugly. Work finally started on it today and we are super duper excited for a new fence, gates and a bamboo planter. Now that we've finished the interior, the exterior can commence! Exterior will include: new fence, faux grass, new driveway/walkway, new paint, new roof and a new garage door. This phase is going to be more slow going than the interior, but it will all get done in time.

very old fence

neighbor's yard

the crazy vine living between two fences

not your grandma's wallpaper

Wallpaper is back in a major way and I've been loving the look for a while now. We decided to wallpaper one of the bedroom walls for a pretty pop of hotel luxury. I've always wanted a bedroom that felt like one of our fave boutique hotels (Thompson LES, Viceroy Palm Springs, Portrait Suites in Rome to name a few) and I think this gives the room that extra pop I was looking for. The process took a while to get the hang of, was definitely time consuming and left me wishing at certain points that we just paid the dude I found online $180 to do it. But it was all worth it in the end.

the bedroom + other finishing touches

We're full speed ahead trying to complete the big pieces of the bedroom before Friday when our new bed will be delivered. Last week we gut the room and C skim coated all the walls and ceiling to give the plaster a nice smooth finish. This weekend we accomplished a giant checklist: painted, laid the floors, installed an elfa closet system, hung the last 2 doors, and installed baseboard and trim around the doors and finished up the hallway and stair landing.

In the next few days we will paint all the molding and wallpaper one of the bedroom walls. While we won't be completely complete (will we ever?) we will have accomplished the major interior renovations on Carver! Just in time to make pizzelle's and trim our fake white christmas tree. Since this time last year we were crammed into the one bedroom we just finished, we have a lot to celebrate in gratitude.

bedroom before

a door on the bathroom

laying floors

finished (dirty) floors

closets before

closets after

an industrial towel rack

We were in really bad need of a towel rack for our half bathroom. But wanted something unique and different. Galvanized pipes saved the day! Now if only we could find a mirror...

upstairs in progress

We spent last weekend painting and laying floors. Next up is hanging new doors and putting up the molding in the office, guest bedroom and hall. Then we'll move onto our bedroom. The last room with carpet and beige paint!

new lighting from west elm

wood throughout the hall

i spy the last bit of carpet and vertical blinds

upstairs renovations

After having a nice summer doing summery things like taking weekend road trips and riding our bikes to the beach, we're back at carving up Carver. We just celebrated one year since the keys to Carver were handed off to us and have been reeling over everything we've accomplished instead of thinking of everything we had left to do. Now we're onto the upstairs, getting all the doors replaced (including closets), pulling up the carpet and replacing it with hardwood floors, painting everything white and replacing windows.

Some before/during pics from last weekend:

sheetrock in closet that was broken into to access the plumbing

guest bedroom

hall

C's drywall work in the closet! Perhaps he has a future in drywall afterall?

hall torn apart

single light in hall

addition of light over stairs

C in attic. Guess he really wanted a light over the stairs.

replacing the front room window