Patching and Painting

We've moved out of the house and there was a lot of work that went into it. I do feel really lucky that I had three months to prepare. I couldn't imagine squeezing it all into 30 days. I would have had long days and taking time off from work. For that I am grateful I had 3 months.

After taking everything off the wall, I had to patch holes. Most holes were just nails, and those are easy. But the holes with anchors scared me. Not all my paints are in flat finish. When you work with non-flat paint, it accentuates imperfections. I’m a perfectionist.

I perfected my technique in patching holes. I did three coats each. I sanded in between coats. I was pretty proud. I even took some water with a rag to wipe the excess dust on the wall. Painting over the dust isn’t pretty. Even in some spots, I took a razor blade to get the raised drywall off the wall. I did that after I already applied the first coat of putty.

The part that I dread is the painting. Touch-up jobs are much harder than doing a whole wall.

I had thrown out my dining room paint the builder left me, so I bought a quart of it. My holes were perfect, but the paint shade was off. I knew it the minute I started rolling. And you can tell where I rolled.

I didn’t get upset as I knew it could change by morning. I woke up, still disappointed.

Dining Room

This meant I’d have to paint the entire room. Good thing the bottom portion is wainscoting! (Note: While packing up the house, on the VERY LAST day, I found the dining room can of paint left by the builder!)

Painting the whole room was not what I wanted to do. This is why it frustrated me. Even when I use the same paint can from the time I painted the original walls, it still doesn’t turn out right. I love painting, but HATE touch up.

The living room walls were frustrating me. They looked fine straight on. The color matched. But when you looked from the side, you could see the roller marks. I kept trying to fix that area until I called it good enough.

Living Room

The week before we moved out, I had a change of heart. I bought a new quart of the living room paint and decided to tackle it one more time. The new paint worked! I guess my old paint had gotten old enough. Thanks goodness it looks better now!

The room I dreaded most was Little JCrew’s room. The bed system was mounted to the wall, when I painted his room, I never removed the 2x4’s so I painted them. This meant I’d need to paint that portion now that it was gone.

Same issue with the boat propellers. Those suckers were mounted to the wall good. But the anchor caused a large hole.

I used the trick about leaving the drywall paper around the hole to create a smooth transition.

Tips say to cut a square because that’s easier, but I didn’t. I just used chalk around the circle and put my scrap drywall up to it to mark the size.

I then scored the sheetrock and started removing chunks.

The boys were helping me at this point. Little JCrew was identifying all the triangles.

At first the paper curled on the ends. That was because it got thinner during the process of removing the chunks. In hindsight, I should have worked to straighten them out, but instead I cut them.

I then tried to use the plaster to get the paper down, but it failed just like it failed when repairing the drywall on the stairwell. So, I used the same solution, of SuperGlue.

Then I used compound and sanded. I repeated those steps. It actually sanded down the sheetrock paper thinner, so that helped smooth the transition.

I waited to paint. It made me so nervous.

However, it wasn’t as bad as I thought. I did multiple coats of paint. Each layer that went on, disguised the drywall job I did.

Luckily, this is the new owner's office and he put a large wall system on that wall. It was really hard to tell unless you were looking for it. Glad it all worked out and all the holes were filled.

The bonus room was my next to biggest fear in regards to holes. The TV was mounted on the wall using large bolts into the stud. But I was able to patch it with no trouble and with new paint, you can't find it!

I learned how to perfect a skill but didn't master the drywall repair. I need more practice, but you won't find me making holes in my wall just for that.

Chapter Closed - Key Turn Over Day

Today is the day. We hand over the keys to our house.

Last night we went and took a few photos of us as a family at the house. I wanted to remember what age the boys were when we moved.

We spent almost six great years in this house. I look back and smile at all the hard work.

Just within weeks, the Crape Myrtles decided to bloom.

June 2, 2014

June 24, 2014

The yard I am really going to miss. It just started getting easy and at the same time, was pleasant to look at.

Me being the sentimental type, I think of all the memories in the house.

Mr. JCrew came home from his Air Force service to this first house of ours. My parents lived in this house with us. Bailey is buried in the back yard. Colby and Kates were new puppies in this house. We brought home both of our babies to this house straight from the hospital. We had memorable birthday celebrations here and a lot of other moments we shared as a family.

I look at the curtains I made with pride.

Mr. Brigglesworth's curtains, you never could see until the furniture was removed.

His pallet wall remains up.

I have gotten use to seeing the rooms empty, that now it is weird to look back at pictures just three months ago.

June 2014

March 2014

The new owner is very very excited and you can tell. He loves the yard, but we'll see if he has a green thumb. I tried to make the yard as low maintenance as possible.

And I did take some plants with me. I'll write a post over the weekend about that.

This chapter has now closed! We had the next chapter overlapping, but now we can focus on it. I'm actually really excited to have no more little projects over there. I was making sure everything was PERFECT and I'd always find a new thing to fix or make better. Now my evenings and weekends can be spent doing other things, like soaking up more time with my boys!

Happy Day!

Taking the Home Out of the House

Now that the majority of things are in storage, the house doesn’t feel like home anymore. It feels like we just moved in, with the exception of an awesome yard!

Today, I’m sharing what the house currently looks like with things off the wall, no décor and empty closets.

The living room still felt full because of the massive couch.

The rug is clean and rolled up. The pictures are off the wall and the “tower” as I call it, is in storage. 

Over this past weekend, Mr. JCrew's brother-in-law lent us his truck and we moved the big items. The couch, rug, ottoman are now of out the room.

The air mattress made its way into the living room now.

The dining room still has the table, but the rug is clean and rolled up as well. It has become my drop station since the foyer table is gone.

The kitchen has some empty cabinets. It’s been the last thing I was packing because of what we still use. We are making sure to eat everything in our large pantry, since we will have a smaller one. The dishes will be packed up soon and we’ll eat off paper plates. I’ve got the bubble wrap ready, just need to get more boxes.

The boys’ bedrooms are the most dramatic. Little JCrew’s room has mattresses only. I joke that the two little guys are sleeping on a king size mattress. They love it.

Mr. Brigglesworth’s room did just have his dresser and chest of drawers.

The dresser went to storage, while the chest comes with us. We'll use it for the boys' clothes. Now this room is my packing room. And thanks to Julie, I have a million boxes calling my name!

The new owner likes the pallet wall. He did ask questions about it as to why I did it. Kind of funny when I told him because I wanted to! Ha. But he said he liked it.

The master bedroom is empty. This room remained unchanged for a while, until we got the truck. I then took the clothes out of drawers and they are in makeshift drawers/bins until we move into Mom's house.

We did have the air mattress on the floor, but as you saw, it got moved to the living room.

The bonus room is also just as dramatic as the boys’ rooms.

It is completely empty. It was the room I wanted to empty first, but Little JCrew’s room won that contest. I sold most things in the room. The train table is currently at Mom’s house and the desk is in storage. I sold the couch, loveseat and bookcases (2 different sets). There was one bookcase Mom told me to hold on to because it was a good size to put in a closet someday. Great thinking, Mom!

And that’s it! The porch furniture is off the porch and spread out with my mom’s neighbors.They all openly welcomed rental furniture to use on their porch for the next year. It looks great! 

 The boys' big playhouse is over at Mom's along with other outdoor toys. Her tiny yard is filling up!

I’m kind of enjoying the emptiness of the house. It is weird but also calming. You don’t need a lot of things. Yes, décor makes a house feel inviting, but what makes it a home, is who you share it with. I’m making so many memories playing on the floor and finding unconventional toys to play with, that it really makes me evaluate all the “Stuff” we have. 

Sleeping on the Floor

Once I sold the twin bed system, I moved Little JCrew to a mattress on the floor. He loved it. We had no problem.

Then I tried Mr. Brigglesworth in there. He wasn’t too fond. He was use to his room and he’d cry til I put him in there. But I knew in the back of my head, that our trip to Florida would be the perfect opportunity to introduce them to sleeping in the same room and different beds.

It was great. I only had to separate them at nap time.

Little JCrew had Simon the cat as a sleeping buddy.

Once we got back from Florida, Mr. Brigglesworth has been sleeping at night with Little JCrew on the floor. The boys love it! Without anything in the room, there is an echo. The boys wrestle on the mattresses and have found a new kind of fun.

Yes, the room is empty. This was the first room to become empty. Last weekend, we moved the bookcases to storage. The closet is still full, but that will be a last minute thing. I put away all clothes that I had that would be too big even a year from now. I vacuum-sealed those things. I tell ya, that is one of my favorite inventions!

Now the boys can even nap together. Little JCrew wakes up Mr. Brigglesworth, so at my mom’s house, they nap separate. But we now had to put the mattress on the floor at Mom’s house. He is use to that and no longer wanted to get in the crib at her house.

The cutest thing I love seeing is the boys open the door and just walk out after they have woken up. They have a new independence. I don’t have to come in to a crying baby! It is so nice!

Mr. JCrew and I are not yet sleeping on the floor. This weekend we will move our bed and Mom has loaned us her air mattress. Moving day, we will rent a truck to take it and other big items to storage.

Packing

The first thing I packed were the décor on the walls. I have boxes and boxes of frames in storage now.

The good thing about a late closing is you have MONTHS to pack! I have been taking this slowly and I love the pace. We rented a storage unit when the size we wanted became available and we have been slowly filling it up.

Luckily, there is a storage unit 1-mile away. We can take a box or two on our way to work. Usually we take car loads on the weekend.

The coolest product I have found, also comes with a pricetag. Ziploc storage bags. You fill them, then take your vacuum hose to it to suck all the air out. I did all the bedding, pillows, clothes, and jackets like this. Even some extra towels and the shower curtains.

I was amazed. I didn’t need boxes for these items. I realized I needed it when I tried to put Little JCrew’s bed pillows in my largest box. Only four fit!

These bags can add up in expense. Costco had them on sale for the month of April. That turned out to be a good deal. I bought more than I planned for, because I knew I could find things to put in them.

Our storage unit is getting there. This picture was taken after I re-arranged. I had to show Mr. JCrew you could stack things to use the vertical space. As of this morning, there are even MORE things stacked high and the floor space remains open. Now I wish I had taken a picture. I think you'd be impressed. 

I dreaded packing, but stretching it out over time is helping. Another good thing with having time to pack, is I get to use my time to go through things before I pack them. If I was in a hurry, I’d be throwing things into a box without analyzing the need for it. If I no longer have a need, I am finding a new home for it.

I kind of like this activity called, packing.