This thread sounds like an episode of "Designing Women::)

But with real people.

Di and Jimmy are getting to know my new neighbors.
She has also been giving the neighbor that lives behind me
advice about painting.

Everyone is excited about the house getting a new
look. It is like a butterfly emerging from it's cocoon.
I'll post a picture when the shutters are back on.

I'm keeping my camera handy and I keep hoping I'll
catch Di in her funky work attire.

The sweaty t-shirt and black lace bra?

Here's one view of the kitchen.
It's getting a new paint job, counter tops, back splash,
wallpaper and lighting. I'm also changing out the knobs
and putting crown molding in the place of the little
thingy on top of the cabinets.
I wish I could gut it and start over. Di and I both think
I should remove some cabinets and make a pass through to
the breakfast room. I think the oven should be moved.
Maybe I'll work on a plan.

{{gwi:187575}}

That is white! Where's the sink? If it's this direction from the cook top (which I like) then yes, the oven needs to move. You'll be doing laps around that island to prepare a meal.

{{gwi:187579}}

Here you are.
I like the window over the sink.

You are right about the kitchen being white.

Love, love, LOVE that kitchen window. And the sink hardware. And your choice to replace that country trim with crown molding. Replacing that hardware is going to be tricky since your hinges are "outies" and will need to either match the knobs or be replaced.

The whole white kitchen thing is especially predominant in the South, isn't it? Matches the trim wood and plantation shutters that are almost always white too. We Yanks, it seems, gravitate towards natural wood finishes... My ATL kitchen was that white... Or I could be way off-base and the white kitchen trend could be just something that was popular in the 90's that I only saw in the South because that's where I was looking at houses in that time frame... but I don't think I'm off on that whole white trim work thing...

Glad you're changing the light fixtures. It'll be inexpensive... you can keep the same track, just get something smaller, more stylish, more efficient and halogen. You won't even need to re-wire. Oh wait! You said you were shopping for recessed lighting... you didn't mean in the kitchen, did you?

Is that a single or double oven? That looks like a wonderful cook top. Do you have a vent fan for that cook top? Is it one of those hidden pop-up from behind jobbies?

Are you thinking of adding color? If so, which? And the backsplash? Tile? Stainless? Glass? Other? Inquiring minds want to know!

Looks like a wonderful blank slate! Plenty of prep space. Lots of storage... Do you have a kitchen bookcase for your wonderful cookbook library? Is there storage in those bulkhead thingies above the cabinets on the window side, or is that HVAC or something? What's your floor surface? Obviously, I'm fascinated!

Oh, and I love Di to pieces, but please, please, please don't post a wet t-shirt pic of her... no matter what color her lingerie! ;o)

Jan, I know your head is swimming, and this is a way scary process. Maybe even you weren't entirely ready for it... But once this is over, you can let go of that dreaded feeling of impending change. The change will be over. You will own it, and you can burrow in and never leave. I continue to be in awe of you, woman.

{{gwi:187585}}

Michelle, you are right about the white trim. You seldom see a house without it.
I'm a white kitchen person as a rule and if you buy a house that already has white cabinets, you either paint them or rip them out.
I have to have a LOT of light wherever I live. This house is dark so it is getting recessed lighting to light dark corners and new light fixtures.

Jimmy and I discussed the hinges.
I'm looking for new ones. If I can't find them or they don't make them any more, I'll just ------------------.

The floor is tile, the cooktop has a downdraft vented to
the outside.

Di says the master bath is way too big and she drew a plan
for me to consider when I gut it. It is on hold til I sell my house.

Have you considered sunpipes/solartubes for the addidtional lighting? There's a good variety of types available, including some with flourescent lights for use at night.

Several brands out there, but I'm most familiar with Velux, linked.

Here is a link that might be useful: Solar lighting

Jan, the more I see of that kitchen, the more I love your house. Of course you have bookcases! And ample ones at that!

Your lighting is going to be awesome when all is said and done. As for those solar tubes, I know people who have them and they love them. They're way less prone to leaks than skylights and they easily snake around your ductwork with their mirrors so you can put them in the unlikeliest of places. There's nothing like natural light.

Hey, if you're completely overwhelmed by those mirrors in the master bath, but you don't mind the reflection of light they afford... before you do a total gut and rebuild... have you considered going into an auto-glass place to look at their film options? For not much money at all you can get something that'll make the glass frosted... That way the light will still bounce around, but you won't need to see an infinity reflection of your butt when you brush your teeth.

Jan, this home is beautiful. I'm sure there's a spot in the yard for pentas too. ;o)

Jaz- that's a great idea about using tinted or frosted glass, and I think you solved a future decorating problem I've been contemplating.

And a similar thought, is to use foil paper to reflect light without glare or reflections. I rented a house with a bathroom which used a printed foil on the walls and it made the room bright so one never noticed that the room actually only had one tiny window facing north!

This is my living room. The room you can see to the left
is the dining room. There are 2 of these and they both
have fireplaces. The former owners must have loved this
brown color or they found a sale, it graces the walls not
only in the master bedroom and bath but it also is in both
bedrooms on Katrina's side, the sitting room across from
the master bedroom and upstairs. I call it turkey t*rd
brown.

I feel so lucky to have Di and Jimmy here. They really are
professionals. You wouldn't believe all the prep work that
Di has been doing. The house is really going to shine when
they get finished.

Jimmy said my next door neighbor came over and mowed my
grass today. He tells me I'm going to love my new
neighbors.:0) They have been making friends here and no
doubt could stay on and work here for a very long time
if they really wanted to.

{{gwi:187588}}

It's been a few days since I last posted about the house.
Since then the outside is almost finished. Jimmy is pretty
sick of painting brick. They remind me every day how much
they must love me to paint the outside of my house. I feel
sure that it will be the LAST exterior they will ever paint.

The color is going on the interior walls now and every room
is taking on a new life.
Jimmy has named the color in the master bedroom GLO WORM.
Di laughingly calls it SQUISHED and SMEARED LIGHTENING BUG
and Neil calls it SQUISHED CATIPILLAR.

The Tomato Red that Katrina chose for the breakfast room
is pretty and very lively. That is the room that has the two corner cabinets.

I showed the lake house to two different families today
and they both want it. Maybe it will be sold pretty soon.
The first person is seeing his accountant and banker on
Monday. There are two more people that want to see it and
I see no harm in showing it to them.

I'm still trying to get Di and Jimmy out here to just visit
but they are such workaholics.

Jan, sounds like you have potential buyers lined up - that's good and it's a relief to have the old house settled.

Your new house really look great the more I see revealed of it and despite some color issues it looks to be in very good shape and Di and Jimmy have the color well in hand it seems.

First how I ever bought had the kitchen totally painted dark brown and all the walls in the house were yellow! But I loved that house and a butterfly emerged from the chysillis and I lived in it for almost thirty years.

Hi to Neil from me ...and your paint saints.

Sheila, you call them Paint Saints. Di really got a kick out of that because I call them the Gypsy Painters.

They finally came out tonight. Jimmy had stopped at the Pizza Hut but Di came in saying FEED ME and started rummaging around in the empty fridge. I confess, I haven't been grocery shopping in weeks. Poor Di had to settle for Ritz crackers and cheese and a lettuce and carrot salad.
If it had been anyone else but Di, I would have died on the spot from embarrassment, she just has a way of whirling in like a little tornado and making herself at home and I love her for it. Jimmy headed for the computer room and checked out EBay.

I want to keep them with me but they are too far from the ocean here in north Georgia so they will be leaving me soon.

Here is a picture of Di working while Jimmy takes a break
and Neil tries to see what is going on.

{{gwi:187590}}

Aren't they just the cutest? They're like a matched pair of energizer bunnies. But I don't see any paint on the brick...what color did you paint it?

Suzanne, it's called downing sand.
The brick is soaking up paint like you wouldn't believe.
The shutters and door are a bronze color. They really are going to look good when it is finished.

{{gwi:187592}}

That really does change the overall appearance! Are you using elastomeric paint or regular latex?

Neighbor painted her brick house about 10 years ago, and it still looks lovely. She swears the secret to longevity when painting is doing all the prep work thoroughly... and having enough paint, lol. Bricks are notorious for the sponge-effect.

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YYYYYYYYIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPPIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!

The whole ball of wax is awesome. All ya'll together make a wonderful adventure... And ~di knows just how much I like an adventure!

I LOVE the hardwood floors. Are they hickory?

Jan, from the North but knows ~di is from 'southern' Maryland...

Jan,

Just wanted you to know I haven't posted much but check almost daily.
Thanks for the updates.

They paint brick??!!
OOOHHH!!...my brain is in overtime.

Treehouse,
~di may be from southern Maryland, but she is, without a doubt, still a dadburn Yankee!! (Bless her heart)

Jan,
Thanks for the pics!
Good to see the three of them.

How much longer do you think it's going to be before y'all can move in?

Painting brick reminds me of taking the paint off the bricks on our house in St. Louis. What a mushroom project that was! The paint was old & had lead in it, so the guys in hazmat suits had to come to remove it off all three stories & then haul away the debris to the chemical waste dump.

At least these days, you don't have to worry about that.

Wanda, even though ~di is a northern southerner she can 'bless your heart' with the best of the southern ladies.

She said it to me and I just about melted right on the spot!

Jan, another northern southerner...

I thought it was time y'all met Old Besse.
She has been 220,000 miles or more.

{{gwi:187595}}

I stopped by today after my haircut and appointment with
the doctor. Di was painting the outside trim. I love it.
It's a luscious color. Jimmy was putting the final coat
on Katrina's bedroom. I love all the colors in the house
with the exception of the Glow Worm room. I may have to
pick out another color.

Gail and I are cooking for them tomorrow night. I'm going
to bake a ham and do garlic cheese grits. Di will be
pleased that I finally went to the grocery store.

I'm going to miss the Energizer Bunnies when they leave.
They have worked so hard on my old house. They really,
really do a great job, of course, now I'm spoiled.
The only thing I regret is that we haven't had any time to
just play. That means they are going to have to
come back for a visit, no work, just play.

Hey,Jan...Neil looks good! I swear he doesn't look a day older than when I saw him four years ago!

I haven't had the time to take pictures.
Di always shooed me out the door after 5 minutes.
I would walk in and start chatting away about how good everything looked and Di would hand me my purse and
say "time to go, Jan your 5 minutes are up"

They are leaving tomorrow. They will be here for breakfast and then hitting the road. Di saved one valium for the
mountains. They have been working long hard hours trying to get as much done as they could. Jimmy put the wallpaper
up yesterday. It's beautiful. (pictures later)

Neil has named Di "Hotshot". Needless to say we are so
sad they are leaving. My new neighbors are sorry to see them go. I think they've made friends with all of them.

Jan, the floors are oak, I think.
Wanda, We will move in when the house sells.
Katrina can move in when her bathroom is ready.
Lord luv a duck, Andie, no way is the paint coming off those bricks. Jimmy would kill me!
Meldy, I have no idea what paint was used, maybe Jimmy will leave me some notes.

Jan,

I know things at your place seem like the calm after the storm at this point!
LOL!!

I'm so envious of y'all being together.

Hopefully, you have a good start on your new home and the remainder of what you have to do isn't going to be so overwhelming.

Did your decorator ever show back up or is she pretty much history? :)

Wanda, who fired her contractor the day before she was having first-time-out-of-town guests and not one bedroom or bathroom in the whole house had a door hung.

I haven't been contributing much to this thread, but check in every day to see the progress. I really think you did well and having Di and Mr. Di, as she calls him there, was a grand idea. It's like having a support group as well as a mentor and doer. I'd trust my house to them anytime. I'm looking forward to more pics when you get the dust settled.

I have to tell you this though, you know how your mind reads things according to your own paradigms? Well, every day, I've read the title of this thread as "I've bought a Horse". rofl.

How well I remember, Wanda, Mr. Man came to our rescue
and put the bathroom door on.:0)

There is still so much to do. I think I'll just take drugs and try not to think about it.

The decorator will be back.

Whew, what a trip!
Old Besse made it though. Jan and Neil sent us off Saturday with a wonderful breakfast and through the mountains we went. Within two short hours I called Jan and charged that Jimmy was making the van sway on purpose, lol. Jimmy went as far as he could before we grabbed a hotel room for the night. Although the majority of our trip Sunday was a whole lot flatter, we did infact have a flat tire. Good thing I put my foot down and made Jimmy get that spare tire. Or so we thought. We were lucky because the tire actually blew and didn't run us off the road. For the life of me, I can't (Or maybe don't want) to know how it blew on the inside wall of the tire. I stood there trying to be the helpful assistant spraying Jimmy with a cloud of OFF since it was swampy where we pulled over. Unfortunately, the spare was flat so we crawled our way to the next exit, down the road, through a tiny town and found an air pump.

We decided to treat ourselves to lunch at the restaurant that is located in the middle of the Bay Bridge Tunnel. When we were finished lunch and approached the van, we both got instant indigestion when our eyes caught sight of our spare tire flat once more. We put our flashers on and drove through tunnels and across bridges as slow and as safety permitted. A nice cop put his flashers on and escorted us for the remainder of our time on the bridge.

We arrived home late Sunday night due to our motoring problems and couldn't of been happier to see Mike, get a hug or two before we crashed for the night. Since we were expected on another job site by wednesday morning in the western suburbs of Maryland, I had a day and a half to unpack, do laundry, repack, spend some time with Mike, do paperwork, appear in court and somehow rest up before hitting the road again noon, tuesday for a 3 hour trip. Jimmy and I were doing the zombie walk for days as it was but when Ol Besse's transmission died on our way back to my sister's house after work on wednesday, we both hit rock bottom. Since we had so many problems with tires and spares, we decided to buy her new shoes(tires) soon. It was like she spoke to us! "The heck with new shoes, I need new feet(tranny)first!" We feel blessed that she waited to drop her tranny after we were very far away from the mountains.

With all of these things going on, it hasn't been until now to get a spare second to catch back up with everyone. I'm on my nephews computer and I hate to ask them to use it. This is prime time, I think, lol.

I can't tell you how wonderful it was to spend time with Jan, Neil and their family, friends and new neighbors. Everyone was helpful and kind. We made friends with Terry, jan's electrician and Steve the carpenter,and his with Camilla, who also work for Jan. We even went out and grabbed dinner with Camilla and Steve one night. Such warm, wonderful people they both are. We really had a good time. Camilla has a great eye for detail and I ceratinly would feel confident if Steve was building my house from the ground up. Jan's in good hands.

I couldn't get enough of Jan's sister Gail, as I simply adore her. How great it was to spend time with Katrina! And Jimmy took to Neil like a horse to water and could talk for hours. Jan's lake house is beautiful and her gardens are awesome. The nicest gardens I have ever seen one single person create. I'm sure she'll dazzle her new neighbors with more spectacular gardens at her new home.

Due to the fact that Jan had gone out of town and Jimmy and I were out of town ourselves just prior to our trip to Georgia, we weren't prepared for how much work would be done at jan's house. I was so overwhelmed the first night, I paced instead of sleeping, racking my brain on how Jimmy and I could possibly finish. We immediately added another week to the schedule for georgia and buckled down. We painted the exterior brick, 4 coats. This brick was the most textured brick I've ever seen. Thinly spaced rake marks that went in at least a 1/4 inch and a V mortar joint to boot. Totally unforgiving brick. I kept teasing Jan saying, "I feel like I'm painting a toasted english muffin trying to make it look like a toasted bagel,lol!" So, as far as Meldy question,lol, if Jan's house ever falls over, she'll have the house that bounces down the street.
But don't worry Meldy, plenty of paint and plenty of give. Speaking of paint, I think our last count was 82 gallons. Jimmy and I worked for 18 straight days, painted ten interior rooms, top to bottom, 3 coats each.(Glo-Worm room, got 4 coats,lol) Prepped old unforgiving plaster walls to our standards, deglossed oil trim... 6" base and 3 1/2" crown throughout, and converted it to latex, wallpapered two rooms, painted the exterior and painted her kitchen cabinets,inside and out, drawers and doors. I counted 31 cabinet doors,lol. We crammed 6 weeks of work into 18 days and kept our quality level at 110% but we unfortunately left about 2% work inside on one of the living rooms and about 5% exterior painting left for Steve. We know how much he hates to paint, lol, so in our extreme efforts to finish for Jan, we were trying to finish for Steve too! We are so proud of ourselves. I'm afraid Jan's new neighbor sort of spilled the beans one day as they were chatting and informed her that we were at it 14 to 16 hours a day. She already felt bad that we couldn't come out and "hang out", we didn't have the heart to tell her we keeping vampire hours,lol.
I only had one more IOV. (saved that for the drive through the mountains) but more amazingly, Jimmy and I did wipe out a bottle of ibruprophen. We've never done anything like this on this scale in such a short time span. We couldn't of picked a nicer couple, Jan and Neil, to go battling for in a painting extremes war.

Thank you all for your support on our great adventure in Georgia!
-1st Kim. I laughed more than once over the closet comment. It's still making me smile.
--tsk tsk, Marianne. Any rival of Duke is a friend of ours! Scroll up....that is a UNC hat that Jimmy is wearing!
all our love, ~di and Jimmy

OMG!
---What a SAGA! I stared reading just a while ago and am tired out already---What a makeover!! Di and Jimmy should have their own TV show!
What a gorgeous, scrumptous home---lovely rooms, screened-in porch----and the kitchen window is the 'piece de resistance' of the whole place----I want to come and wash your dishes, Jan!!!
I LOOOOOOVE that window! I will say though, that my eyes ache for a leeettle bit of color in that kitchen---mebbe some orange---give it a kick in the pans, so to speak...

We want more pics!! Go get the camera warmed up and show us wha'cha got, woman! (I know how little time you can spare, Hon----we just wanna see MORE!)
I am so daggone HAPPY for you guys! Even Katrina gets to play---it's a true family adventure for ALL of you.

PS: Ol' Besse looks pretty daggone GOOD for 220K ----there's a rebuilt tranny waiting at some used parts yard somewhere that'll take her another 80 to 120K!
$1200, parts and labor, should have her running fine----down here, it'd be about $800---don't get rid of her, she looks mighty solid.

Good grief! I'm exhausted just reading this thread. It took me two years to decide what color to paint my living room (Ornamental Grass by Ace). So that gives you an idea of how "domestically inclined" I am...not. lol What a great opportunity to brings friends together. Loved reading about it.

Karen

This saga sounds as if it should have its own special show --heck, maybe even a series -- on HGTV! The house is wonderful; what's even more wonderful is having friends who went "above and beyond" in their efforts. Thanks so much for sharing all of this, and please, more pictures!!

Well, its not my house, but if it was left to me to decide, I'd keep that kitchen as white and light as it is.

On a dark and drab old day, I'd find a few bright yellow touches, an orange tankard of utensils with yellow handles, a couple of pot holders, a dish towel, perhaps bright yellow flowers. On a bright and hot day, I'd add cool water blue touches... and in the early spring perhaps lime green and rose pink... and for Fall and Christmas...well, you get the idea...

When you're in a room a lot, light and bright is best...you can add tone and emotion with color, every month if you want.

What a wonderful beginning all of this has been.

s

I'll be posting more pictures.
I love my wall paper in the dining room.
Jimmy did such a great job on it that he challenged anyone to find a seam.
My head is spinning with ideas.

One problem is that I don't have a powder room.
We have Katrina's bathroom and the master bath.
Also a full bath upstairs.

The previous owners made a walk in closet out of the
bathroom next to the now master bedroom.
I'm seriously thinking about making a powder room out of
that. I have enough space to have a built in wardrobe
type closet and a master bath also. I could leave the door
from my bedroom and we could have access to the 1/2 bath
also.

The electrician is working diligently to correct wiring
problems. He is taking Neil's 4x4 truck in exchange for
some of his hourly wage. That will save me the trouble of selling it later.

WOW.....I'm stunned at the scope of the project and the time in which it was accomplished. Since I'm in the middle of setting budgets, getting quotes and scheduling people to do the work I can tell you that professional tradespeople are worth their weight in gold. And I've quickly discovered in my foray into general contracting that communication is paramount.

Each part of the painting involved at your house was a major project in itself. The prep must have been something else. My mom's house in Tennessee was built with that same brick - it's like someone scraped across it several times with a fork while it was still wet. To say it's a challenge to paint would be an understatement.

I'm in awe of the stamina, drive and work ethic that must have come into play to finish the job in such a timely manner. Heck - I can't even get a drywall guy to keep his appointment to give a quote....I don't think I'll hire him simply based on that fact.

KJ - Look lady - let me scrape that basement one silly inch at a time. My goal in life is to be KNOWN as a madwoman. Instead of the Madwoman of Chaillot, I'll be known as the Madwoman of Chicago. HA. Di assures me there's a machine that will remove the glue. I went looking but was probably asking in all the wrong places.

Jan, it must be a big load off your shoulders to have moved ahead so fast and bring the move-in date closer. I love nothing better that to tick things off the to-do list. It's such a feeling of accomplishment.

I'm looking forward to pics, especially of the wallpaper and the outside with the shutters in place.

Jan, what is a powder room? We don't have them up north.
I loved the place that you lived.Why did you sell?

Gloriam ~ In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a Powder Room was a very small room used when powdering the gentlemen's perukes (wigs). Nowadays, it means that little room which has a commode and a sink, and a mirror so the ladies may powder their nose. In Realtor's lingo it's a "half-bath" -- which makes no sense because it doesn't have any bath, much less half of one.

I think Di and Jimmy are unique. Their standards are so high that the only appropriate definition is 'outta sight.' If Suzanne_Il finds anyone whose work is half as good, she'll be thrilled.

Ok. I keep checking this post, hoping for more pictures. I love being able to place people in their houses when I read their posts.

{{gwi:187597}}

This is the wallpaper in the dining room.
I love it.

Jan, I love that color. It's the same color I painted my living room (the aforementioned Ornamental Grass by Ace lol). It's light and cheerful and you can go just about any which way with furniture styles.

Karen

More wallpaper pictures.
This is in the kitchen. This usually isn't what you
would put in a kitchen but I like to be different.
The breakfast room is painted the red color in the
wallpaper. The colors aren't showing true in this picture.

{{gwi:187599}}

Okay, here is the dilemma,the hinges on the kitchen
cabinets are old brass and can't be replaced. The cabinet
shop that made the cabinets found some antique brass but I
really don't want those. I can't afford to have new doors
made for the cabinets so I'm going to have to paint the
darn things. I have to get new pulls or knobs and am not
sure what kind yet.

So, here's the question. What color do I paint the hinges?
Do I buy the pulls first and then do the hinges, or do I
paint them white and find some pulls that will work?

Buy the pulls then find some shop that refinishes metal thingies and get the hinges refinished in the same finish as the new pulls. You will probably have to take all the hinges off and reinstall them.

Jan

Just doing a "Don" and popping this back up so it doesn't disappear. I was remembering the time Di and her husband told us to watch at a certain time because they were going to wave at the cam, so I went looking for them. In my heart extra special today. So many names of so many people I love. Missing you all!

So wonderful to bring this back up, rob, and to see post by my dear friend Marda, mwoods, who died way too young and was always so smart and loving.

I know how much you are loving your own house, nice to celebrate Di's. Wouldn't it be great if she say this and showed us some pics?

What fun to read this. I remember these posters from way back.

This is great..

rob, please invite anyone you like to drop by. I feel like I'm a party with old friends I haven't seen for a while.