Me.isms: EMILY BOUGHT A HOUSE

Yes, folks--all caps because Emily bought a house on August 17 2015 (closed on it a month later) and it has been a whirlwind/adventure/design marathon/tragicomedy ever since!

Emily-I am posting this to memorialize your experience and you can drag and save my photos too :D

She found "Ole Yeller" after looking at a house about 1/3 bigger and much less reliable (although upon later reflection-would have been true?!)

Quick stop before Mitch's white coat ceremony-exciting times for all of them!

Sold!

We thought he had a cute face-Kevin thought he was rotten through and through. Kevin was right. Down came the tree :(

She wanted to love Ole Yeller, but couldn't embrace the "yeller"

This house is on a lovely neighborhood street with caring attentive neighbors (named "old Frank" and "young Frank" and Emily is already planning a front yard Spring fling to meet everyone.

Cutting down trees doesn't always sit well with neighbors, but its better than having it fall on their houses!

After long discussions and exhaustive searches, she decided on Admiral Blue with white trim and a sunny yellow door. Ala Provence or Providence-take your pick.

She learned that deeply saturated colors don't just "dry", they need to bake in warmth for a day. October wasn't giving us that warmth. They decided to mix primer with navy and ended up with this blueberry monster. The neighbors were alarmed!

No worries! Its beautiful!

We call this the back-breaking day! (not affectionately). It was discovered that the load bearing beam under the porch was no good. Kevin cut and replaced it--but it took some house jacks and sheer determination to slide that baby in there.

Scary!

Torrey's cupcakes brighten our day!

Then we removed carpets--which was easy compared to removing all the STAPLES

Beautiful floors underneath

Emily carried rolls and rolls of carpet to the curb. Michaela had a friend nearby headed to the dump-what luck!

I can't explain how we hated the taxi cab yellow of the kitchen and the white faux brick oven hood that was layered with grease. I needed to get that cleaned and painted and Diane helped me scrub.

Still smiling after having a run-in with a roll of raggedy carpet-ouch!

Staples

Her beautiful upstairs suite. The carpet was torn out. Diane mentioned removing the second walk-in closet to make a sitting area--the door you see on the left and that whole wall was soon removed. Thanks Di

Stairway staples were the worst--can you see how much we hated this task!?

Beautiful!

Piling up!

Awful kitchen brick. The painting became our inspiration to tie the brown cabinets to a grey room. Onward to painting.

Painting-bad hair day!

Hami was the masterful floor guy-he and Kev discuss the upstairs post (but Em and Jeff Pavel had it all figured out) Look at the beautiful floors!

A lot of new space

Living room floors glowing!

Bedroom too

We start to accumulate furniture--painting the bed from the cabin

A cheap find at local thrift store will be her 'Kate Spade" desk--check it out much later below!

Big purchase at Hutch-pink sofa

Painting begins in earnest

Before

Window latches and hardware replaced, buffed or repaired. Doors removed and refurbished at home. Curtains made for kitchen and a new light fixture from Restore!

Old shades coming down

After

Diane helped us scrub this kitchen clean

In progress--the color is beautiful!

Amy helped one Saturday and Katie stopped by to paint also!

Mitch stopped by much later and even painted the upper parts of closets little shorty Amy couldn't reach :D

Kate was the afternoon shift!

Its starting to come to life

The actual official "moving day" thanks Kath!!!

Jen Emily and Maddy tackled the black and white study !

Kathi took on the guest bathroom

Beautiful blue :D

I'll borrow from Emily's latest to show you the finished results! We are about one closet and one furnace away from being a lovely inhabitable home. I'm proud of your fortitude and your skills Emily!

The week before Christmas Joe, Christin, Nick, Nicki, Mitch and Torrey all pitched in and gave Em a work day (or two!)--they tackled the upstairs closet organization, the (endless) sanding of first floor windows, staining of windows, painting dining room, re-attaching doors and door knobs, and all sorts of things I wouldn't know because I wasn't there! I also don't have photo evidence but nonetheless give them all mad props for their work, inspiration, support and advice. They truly "finished" her house for her.