Golden House on a Hill

Inspired undoubtedly by the home improvement greatness of his big sister, my brother and his lovely fiancee purchased their own fixer-upper. Okay, so I probably had very little to do with it, but eldest sister-type person that I am, I'm taking credit anyway.

Steve and I were thrilled to be able to walk through the house just a few days after keys were acquired. I think Jim and Brooke picked a fantastic project, and we look forward to watching (and helping with) their progress.

The house is on a hill, so what appears to be a petite, adorable one-story home from the front is actually a spacious two-story with a lovely backyard.

 I inspect the front room:

Amazing view of the bay area from their sunny kitchen:

I stood by that window for awhile and watched several Bart trains skirt along the bay... because I have approximately the same enthusiasm for trains that small children do.

I am really jazzed about the whole thing, as you can see:

Fortunately, Brooke is tolerant of my silliness.

Little brother already fixing things (the doorbell chimes, in this case):

It's a gorgeous house with tons of character. I am so ridiculously excited for those crazy kids. We'll try to help however we can. So far, Steve climbed around in the attic taking pictures, helped Brooke pull up some carpet, and assisted Jim in trimming a hedge. I... supervised. I'm an excellent supervisor. 

Of course I saved these...

Finally having the house (reasonably) under control, I've moved on to organizing. I actually finished cleaning out and organizing the attic. Now I've moved on to the stuff lurking under the bed.

Since we built our lofted bed, it has been a bit of a black hole of storage. But I've dragged everything out and begun the sorting and organizing process. The biggest challenge has been the paperwork.

A common affliction, I hoard papers of all sorts. In one container, I found movie stubs for every movie Steve and I had attended starting in 1999 (before we were actually dating).

I kept only one of these stubs. It's for What Lies Beneath, a Harrison Ford movie that was basically a ghost story. I wouldn't argue that it's an exceptional movie, but there's a little bit of a story behind that receipt.

Steve and I went to the movie with our friend Lindsay. As the spooky-ness began to really heat up, I started watching the movie through my fingers, hands held to my face (an irrational habit, but it makes me feel better). Steve held out his hand, offering to hold mine. We weren't dating at the time and I was stunned into inaction. Steve took it as a sign that I wasn't into him... a misunderstanding that was fortunately later rectified.

We'll see what appears in the next unmarked box...

The Painting Continues (continued)

I'm afraid of heights and generally uncomfortable on ladders. Today was not the most fun painting day. 

No pain (or, in this case fear sweats and shaking), no gain.

By the way, Steve did offer to paint that section for me. But he'd already been working so hard in the garden, I wanted to handle this painting task myself. That may not have been the best decision I've ever made. But I'm still alive to blog about it, so all's well that ends well, I suppose.

The Painting Continues

I spend a decent amount of my free time perusing pictures of other peoples' houses online. Real estate websites, design blogs, home improvement websites, etc. One interesting thing I noticed, particularly on old Southern homes, was that some porch ceilings are painted blue. There are differing theories as to the root of this tradition, but my primary thought has been that it's a quirky and fun design detail.

Steve has a wonderful enthusiasm for my strange ideas (or at least fakes it well). Today, this supportiveness came in the form of painting our porch ceiling. 

Work in progress:

First coat complete: 

The grey-blue we used is the same shade as the wall paint in our living room. It also appears on the toe kicks of the porch stairs. Usually traditional blue porch ceilings are done in more of a sky blue, but I wanted to try out this color we were already using in our decor. Eventually the main color of our house will be yellow (instead of the current peach) and I think the final color combination will successfully tread that fine line between fun Victorian and whoever-chose-these-colors-clearly-hates-their-neighbors. We'll see, but I'm optimistic. 

Oh, and here's proof that I don't just make Steve do all the work while I goof off:

I am a disastrously messy painter (not in the work that I do, but in the quantity of paint I get on myself in the process), but today was impressive even by my standards. How did I get paint on my back!? Oh, well. That's why I have designated painting clothes.

32: A Day 20 Review

I had the good fortune to turn 32 partway through last month. I find that I like my life more with each passing year. Perhaps I will reach peak contentment someday, and it'll all be downhill from there, but so far so good.

My brother and his fiancee came into town the day before my birthday for some festivities. More than anything in the world, I wanted to finish my masterpiece: a cookie jar painted with various ocean creatures fighting over said confections (because while the rest of me is now 32, the arts-and-crafts part of my brain is permanently somewhere around 5 years old). Steve and our lovely guests were kind enough to accompany me to the pottery painting place. Thankfully Brooke took some pictures, since I rarely remember to do so.

Painting pottery is serious business:

My brother works on his project (a tile designed to look like a computer chip... because he's an engineer, that's why):

Some happy dork opens presents:

Tax season tends to really pick up right after my birthday, so I'm occupied with that nonsense for now. But summer will come again... and it'll be time to work on the backyard.