Still plugging away at the baseboards! Mine are custom made, totaling almost 10" high, made out of three parts. I'm pre-painting them to cut down on the work afterwards, but I still have to fill, sand, and re-paint the screw holes. Since we already live here, I have to move the furniture as well. The baseboards are our official finish on the house, though. I'm trying to get them done before I have surgery in April, as I'll really be limited as to what I can do for about two months. We're going to Connecticut in March for my mother's funeral, and making a small mini-vacation out of it to visit relatives and old friends. I can't remember the last time I took a 'real' vacation! I also built a 4 X 12' raised bed for veggies this summer. Our soil is so terrible here, I gave up on trying to grow things directly in the ground.

There will lots more to do, but I need to get a job and make some money for a few years. My projects will then become weekend projects, and probably take forever. I want to finish the garage, build stairs down to grade off of our back deck, and make the barn more useful. Other plans include finishing a bedroom and bathroom in the basement, and finishing off a rustic great room in our barn. Phew! I don't see ever running out of things to do here!

Oh, my.
I've been working on the floor-to-ceiling book cases in my living room. The living room is the most finished. It's got paint, furniture and these bookshelves. They were a medium, damaged oak veneer. They're now a color I love, kind of a stone/oyster color with the backs painted the same as the walls. I plan face frames and doors on the bottom shelves, but in the meanwhile they change the whole room to a brighter place.

I've got quite a cottage industry going with my antique and/or French doors, but I've moved the stacks out of the living room onto the back porch. What space I have!

I am hoping to have my windows redone this spring/summer with the casement windows I got off CL. Very excitd about them and maybe some actual energy efficiency. It would be a dream to have trim, which would finish that room.

I work on several rooms at once, because I get overwhelmed. If I can change and work on another project, something's always moving forward. The first winter I haven't really been painting anything. Although I am working on an antique glass armoire for between the book cases. LOL! Took off years of brown(ed) wax with mineral spirits to reveal THE most gorgeous pine. Another story.

I will make a kitchen island this summer. On wheels, with a beautiful 33" drawer, out of reclaimed lumber I have, including some gorgeous 2.5x2.5x5' oak tobacco stakes for legs. I'm really looking forward to that. :)

I'd be surprised if everyone had another space they were working on. Just didn't think to mention it! :)

We've been working on pretty much the whole house since July, but having the kitchen 85% finished is a relief. This week we closed up the huge recessed florescent light box in the ceiling and the drywall guys came to finish making it look like a real ceiling. Now we just need some modern lights up there.

Other major progress was made on, believe it or not, the hall closet. This is what the wall containing that closet looked like when we moved in. The closet is at the left edge of the paneled wall. It theoretically opened with a hidden magnetic push latch, although mostly I needed a big screwdriver:

Here's the replacement for the original fireplace now moved to the outside LR wall (check the location of the green ladder is both photos). The drywall guys are finishing up the side walls and then the tile guys can put the tile on the front. I guess spring will be here before we can actually use it. Ah, well, the AC came online in January.

We had painters in every room most of last week, and we got a new driveway and paths in front of the house. I'm almost embarrassed to post photos of our run-of-the-mill California burb house given the beautiful locations and houses so many folks here have, but this is a supportive community so I'll go for it.

Man, I'd be killing myself on that step, Suzanne! I'm glad you got rid of it! The space opened up rather nicely!

I'm still saving and planning my basement. I'm going to have my friends husband come by to take a look as he does renos. They moved here a year ago and I work with her and just found out that's his job. I should post a completely rough sketch of the general floor plan so you can advise me on what to do with the "bedroom" down there. I'll send it home from work and post it tomorrow or the next day.

Algea, I'm jealous of your nice, smooth, level driveway!

algeasea - lovely cement work! We did block for a new front walkway and back patio, but we looked at a lot of cement work. One house across town we kept going back to see how it was coming along - no idea who lives there, but we got the name of the cement crew. You might find people doing the same and asking who did your work ;-) BTW, your neighborhood looks about like ours. Well, except for that house across the street with the amazingly green lawn. Who has a lawn, much less a green one in Feb?

algeasea, I can tell you that your property is probably double what ours will be. :)

TG, well said... :-) That closet looks huge! I somewhat took over my DD's old room and made it my closet/office/junk/building materials room.

We are at the sheetrock stage on the cabin.

This afternoon we worked on the yard. Dh decided this one very tall pine tree needed to go. I really liked the tree, but agreed it was leaning and a hazard. I thought maybe he'll get to it in about a year from now or forget about it. Oh noOoo! About an hour later it's on the ground!

Mushcreek, 10" baseboards? I love that! There always seems to be some project to do huh?

Christine, please post a photo of your bookcases. I look forward to seeing your island, now that the peninsula is gone-baby-gone. Btw, just so ya know, you Rock!

Suzanne, that step. We had a sunken living room in one house with two steps. I hated it. Tripped regularly. Your floors are beautiful!

algeasea, that is some excellent concrete work!

mgmum, yes please do post your layout!

Here's a picture of what was only the biggest crack in the old driveway.

With a major earthquake fault about 200 yards away and the regular creep, we're not banking on it staying as nice as it is now. It sure is pretty for now.

Suzanne, the lawn across the street is green because it rained in January. We have a six week dormant season, and temps have been in the sixties and seventies for the last three weeks. Nobody around here is watering. The hills are glowing, the mustard is blooming, the plum trees are buzzing with bees, but it hasn't rained much for a few weeks. We'd love more rain.

Mushcreek- I thought you already figured out your new job? Building cabinets for all the GW folks!! ;)

Christine- pics!!! You always describe amazing pieces and then deprive us of actual shots. Pretty please? The bookcases and armoire sound awesome, we need to see them!

Suzanne- I find it hard to believe that is actually the same space. It looks so different!! Love the flooring!

Algeasea- trust me, my house and location are nothing special; your new driveway though...I really like the pattern! Mine is just one large slab of concrete. I always appreciate the more artistically done driveways that actually have a pattern.

Mgmum- I agree, you should post the layout.

Rebunky- it is hard to photograph the closet without photosphere (what I used for the above pic) and in some ways, because it is empty it seems small.

Then I go stand in my new kitchen addition (12x12) and remind myself that my new closet is half that size and suddenly it doesn't seem so small anymore.

I'm looking most forward to my rotating corner shoe rack.

It will be similar to this

except instead of paying a few grand for one, I will build it myself for a couple hundred dollars.

Omg I love that rotating shoe rack idea. Do you have a plan drawn out that you can share?

I'm trying to squeeze in putting in shelves and reorganizing my husband's side of the closet. He got more clothes recently and I have no room for my own stuff.

My shoes are set up in boxes right now and I have to climb a ladder every time I need dress shoes. It makes me super lazy and slummy. I also gave away a lot of shoes because I was too lazy to climb up all the time.

I rebuilt the closet rods last year after DH was so lazy in taking clothes out that he pulled down the half the closet. I should have planned it a bit better then vs just putting everything back and using metal rods.

TG--rotating shoe rack? How did I not know about this? I learn the best things here.

TG- Haha! I'd love to build cabinets for a living, but I'm sooo slow, and most folks couldn't afford me!

The closet pics remind me that I have yet to finish the master closet. I want to build in some drawers, and upper and lower closet rods. Have any of you used the swing-down closet rods? Seems like I'm finding mixed reviews online.

algeasea: I grew up in a run-of-the-mill SoCal burb house -- no apologies required! But I I don't ever recall seeing a driveway THAT beautiful. :)

Thanks for getting us out of the kitchen, Texas_Gem. Coincidentally (and feeling rather disloyal with my covert ops), over the past week or so I'd already broken ranks and been dabbling in the Garden side of GW -- it's that time of year. Focusing on resurrecting my butterfly garden (go, monarchs!), and some very generous folks are sending out free milkweed seeds.

I had some leftover seeds purchased last year, decided to skip all the formal stratification steps (which failed me last year), and just throw the seeds into a spare pot. Lookee-lookee!

ETA: mushcreek -- DH and I feel the same way about the custom drawer dividers we built for our cabinets. For a brief moment, we thought about fashioning/selling them locally (to friend and friends of friends) -- but we're slow (but meticulous!) and folks couldn't afford us. :)

I blame Texas Gem for lack of sleep. I stayed up til 3am last night for 5 hours of cleaning up my husband's side of the closet. I hadn't seen what it looked like for 2 months while I was sick.

Now things are no longer exploding off the rod. I still have more to clean up the pants area but I need to buy more of the hangers that I like.

beachem- I have always been somewhat of a perfectionist. Sorry if I infected you. ;) A place for everything and everything in its place. (You should have seen my locker in high school!)

Here is my side of my current (tiny cramped) closet.

Its crammed in there, but still sorted by tops (sleeveless to long sleeve in each color), pants, capri's, skirts, dresses and each section color sorted. I fought for years with hubby until I realized it was a losing battle.

Now I just try to ignore his side of the closet and it's massive disorganization since it causes my blood pressure to rise. I remind myself that I don't have to dig through his clothes to get dressed.

I SOOOO look forward to spreading out in my new closet! He will still have his own section and it will still be segregated from my overly organized section.

It makes it easier to get dressed and more enjoyable to walk in to a well organized and easily laid out space, right?

The sad thing is, for the past several years, I've been stuck in the SAHM rut. My daily wear is usually comfy pants and a T-shirt but I still maintain a wonderful wardrobe. Now that my baby has turned 3 and we are done having kids, I'm starting to wear "real" clothes and leave the house again!

Here is the inspiration for the shoe rack.

A friend shared the pic and I LOVED it, until I found out the price.

I'm such a DIYer that I scoffed at the 3k price tag and said, "I can build that!!"

I haven't solidified my plans yet but they are based off of these easy plans from Better Homes and Gardens.

Instead of having the entire structure rotate at once, I want to build mine where each layer can rotate individually.

I was initially planning for the bottom layer to be really tall for boots but now I'm thinking I should make the top layer for boots because then my midget self will be able to reach all the shoes without using a step stool.

I have all the plans for my closet in my head but I do need to draw them out.

When I do, I'll post it here to get opinions.

In the meantime, I hope my inspiration pics give you some ideas about plans!

I've got serious closet envy from your post, Texas_Gem! My closet space is 3'd x 4'w. That's it! The kitchen is what brought me to this blog, but everyone's projects are giving me inspiration on where to go when that project has been put to bed. Our 1952 San Fran Bay Area house was designed by a physicist with no idea on the need for storage! So, a big "Thank You" to each and every one of you for your ideas, your cleverness and willingness to answer posted questions. As a newbie, I am grateful!

That closet does look amazing but I can't imagine having enough clothes for that big of a closet or shoes for that fancy shoe storage. Mine is about the size of Swedepie's and it's not even full. And I keep our bedroom linens in there and extra blankets. And outdoor gear not worn all the time (ski clothes, hiking clothes, yada yada). I don't even have clothes in another place (like a chest or bureau). I'm a bit of a minimalist. Everything can mix and match so getting dressed is easy. And my organization system is very much like TG's. Yay for organization!

DH, on the other hand, has the same size closet and it's packed tight. Plus he has a 5-foot tall, 4-foot wide chest of drawers packed. Nope, he's not a clothes horse. He's a hoarder!! Nor is he organized. I swear, if it wasn't for me, he would be on that TV show because the whole house would be like his closet.

Swedepie- I must admit full disclosure.

I've always read about people packing up their winter gear or summer gear and I laughed; until I realized it really is true for the majority of people living in other areas.

This is just my personal opinion, but I truly believe our climate is what spurned "Texas sized closets".

I literally CAN'T pack up out of season ware, because it's almost never out of season. Where I live, we have only ever had 2 recorded months without snow; June and July. This doesn't mean we normally have snow/cold fronts throughout the year. Many years I can recall us having an Indian summer with temps in the 70s through December.

The only thing predictable about our weather is that it is unpredictable.

We could have 80 degree days on Christmas and/or blizzards at the end of March; and everything in between is normal.

A few weeks ago, we had a nice run where the daily temps were in the upper 70s-lower 80s and everyone was wearing shorts and flip flops. My 4 year old got excited and asked if we were going to open the pool, according to the daily weather.

Three days later a cold front came through with snow and ice and everyone was wearing their warm pants, coats and boots. A week later we were back to wearing shorts. A few days later and we were all wearing spring/fall gear according to the daily temp swings.

This is a normal occurrence in this area. We literally CAN'T pack up "out of season" clothes because we never truly know if they ARE out of season.

We basically have to have all of our summer and winter gear ready, ALL the time, which means that we need more readily accessible year round storage than others might need in other parts of the country.

We don't build much "out of season" storage, my Christmas decorations go in the attic but that's about it.

So yes, feel free to feel jealous of my (our) storage, but also recognize that it is born out of necessity.

I could (and frequently HAVE) needed a winters sweater in April one week and summer shorts the next.

My "Texas sized closet" is borne of necessity.

All of my year round clothes are squeezed into the above pictured space. My tops range from sleeveless tube tops and spaghetti straps to full blown sweaters in each color range/catagory.

Right now, my year-round clothing selections are squeezed into an almost immeasurably small space.

Since I can't ignore the realities of the environment I live in, I'm hoping that my increased closet space affords me the ability to view my entire yearly wardrobe and piece together an appropriate outfit according to the days weather.

I have a single wide tiny 3x3 closet. But I wear a uniform for work, and otherwise am on the soccer pitch or ice rink with the boys, so I don't need a whole lot other than jeans/tees.

So, what I want to do in the basement is add proper lighting. It's a 7' ceiling so it will be can/pot lights. Remove the cheesy 70s paneling, and put in proper insulation and drywall. There are plugs along the exterior so I'm sure there are 2x4s or furring strips (?). I have flooring already purchased, but that can wait for installation if necessary (money!!) after we at least have working lights and drywall. The ceiling will likely have to wait too, I think the tiles are glued on.

Here is an extremely rough sketch of the basement that I made at work when it wasn't busy the other morning. It is absolutely NOT to scale however I am really only asking about the wall next to the "bedroom." The basement right now has no working lights except one. It has one window in the main area (long and narrow like a bowling alley) and two in the "bedroom". They are up very high and are not egress windows (I can't afford that) and so the "bedroom" will not be used as such. Right now it has our suitcases which will be moved to the laundry room when that is finished, a dresser containing school supplies, a broken rocking chair which I need to get fixed, a small filing cabinet and some other items I will be putting in the furnace room. I was thinking about opening up that space to a giant L shape, just to have it more open and a bit more light coming in.

My sister thinks I should leave it closed for storage (I'm trying to get rid of crap) and in case my 14 or 10 year old want to move down there in the future. I just want a nice area for tv, their friends to hang out, have sleepovers etc. I was thinking if I get rid of part of the wall there (red line), I could have a double sliding barn door style opening and then we can keep the doors open normally and close them if necessary. Ignore the furniture placement, I was goofing around trying to show my sister what I was talking about because she only saw the space once 4 years ago. I have a steel I beam running the length of the house, so removing the wall shouldn't be an issue. The ceilings are very low. The heating duct runs right on the other side of the wall. In real life the house is more rectangular. The bottom portion is not as deep. I do have room for storage in the laundry room and furnace room, if I organize it properly. The fireplace is a little electric plug in woodstove.

Ignore the mess, that's flooring and some stuff I need to sort out for donation/garbage. Also we have our porch swing cushion there. I'll have to rig a strap system from the ceiling of the furnace room so it can hang there in the winter.

No structural changes will be taking place other than the possible removal of part of that wall. Money is limited!! With the exception of lighting/insulation this is all for cosmetic reasons and our living pleasure. It's not a house that will ever be sold for over $200,000. It's a tiny 3 bedroom in a nice neighbourhood in a small city. In Canada. Thanks in advance for your opinions! :)

Interesting, TG. I never thought about how weather can impact the wardrobe one needs. Through the course of the year, we rarely go below the low-40's or above the upper-70's. Occasionally into the 30's and 80's but those are unusual. So much of my winter wear is still needed in the summer because the temps are usually cool until early afternoon and then drop to cool in the evening, so I will likely need at least a warmer shirt or light sweater except for in the afternoon, and might even need to switch out shorts for long pants. In the winter, I might layer those long shirts for extra warmth but it's still the same shirts. I would say maybe 10% of my closest is strictly summer wear, another 10% for very cold weather only, with the other 75-80% clothes I wear year-round.

Around here we do say things like "whatever the weather, it will change in 10 minutes", but our saying isn't related to temperature changes as much as yours is. Ours is more related to wind and rain. Only in Aug-Sept do I leave the house without taking a light raincoat to top over everything, just in case. It often comes in handy.

Ditto Texas_Gem's "closet borne of necessity": shorts are always at the ready here, esp since we don't get any of the snowy/blizzardy weather. Hmm...seems my SAHM rutness has bled right into on-the-verge-of empty nest-ness! ;)

Funkycamper, really!? LOL! What is the purpose of all those fashion mags and commercials and their seasonal collections? Yes, people need cold weather crap and hot weather nothings.

Guys, what's a driveway?
I'm kinda figuring it's that place where I drive onto the front of my house, that's old gravel, dumped, hardened concrete blobs, dirt, and weeds. Kinda in front of where a garage used to be. Not that anyone could ever park in it, which is why now it's the den.

I have to share a crazy weekend.
I went to MI to see my nephew's last college play. Great, BTW.
Went shopping for the 1st time in memory for clothes other than waiter uniforms. My sister the Queen of Expensive Fashion took me. I'd have tried on a pair of pants, hated my body and given up. But, with my NEW JOB starting on Thursday, I need decent, casual clothes. It was tough trying to get her not to dress me in 5'9" tall blonde clothing. 5'2.75" can't wear the same things as a tall blonde. But she got it and I have some decent clothes now. I've been wearing the same 5 sweatshirts, country western tee-shirts under them, and paint spattered jeans for a couple years. When I wasn't in waiter uniform that is. I had N.O.T.H.I.N.G. Now I shall be properly attired. Maybe my self-image will improve a bit.

On the way home, about the MI/OH border, a grinding sound from the front of my truck started. I knew I was probably doomed, but thought I could get the remaining 8 hours home. My rotors have been warped for almost 2 years, so I figured something was happening there. Couldn't turn without serious tug.

Got 5 hours into the trip, just outside Pittsburg into the mountains, where the car started to fight me just a little bit harder. As I was moving on a big curve, towards the guard rail side, a big SNAPBOOM happened and I was all over 3 lanes. Back and forth.

Insert thank Gods here:
1) I had a death grip on the wheel because of the grinding & pulling.
2) I wasn't sipping coffee and fiddling with the radio.
3) I wasn't next to a semi, nor was one behind me.
4) I wasn't next to some woman in a mini-van full of kids
5) I am, evidently, one heck of a driver.

Got over to the side of the road, where everything BAMMED to a stop. Dead silence. Then like the living room the pets trash, people are looking at it in silence and a single, final thing falls? My truck fell off the wheel. BAM. Scared me to death again.

So.... The nice tow company has my truck up in Sharpsburg, PA. At that point, I also discovered that since my cute little truck was 10 years old, Progressive dropped the collision in my last renewal, which included my rental clause. (Who reads all that!?) So full out-of-pocket.

My new job's pay periods are such that I won't see a check until the end of March.

So insert good things:
1) I am not dead or in a coma.
2) my sister owed me a little money I didn't know about. From furniture when my mom died. (Rental paid.)

3) Craig's List has been extremely good to me, paying all my bills since Thanksgiving weekend, when I couldn't stand my job one more minute. I got a tax return from 2014. I was able to pick up some things and immediately resell them, helping me continue to pay bills. Today I have 2 people coming over, that if they purchase these doors, will net me $450. I have sold two sidelites for $200 (my costs on both, $120.) IOW, I will probably be able to pay for the repairs of these barings, the tow, and labor if I haven't been picked up by a highway robber company. I have faith. AND, I'm sure I'll make it through the month, anyway, just because of CL.

PLUS! (4) my truck will have nice new barings on the right side to go back and froth to training, 40 minutes away. In 3 months, I'll be managing a restaurant 12 minutes from home.

Do I have stories or what!?
The crazy thing is I was supposed to pick up 3 sets of doors Wednesday, and can't without my truck. Don't get my new schedule until Thursday. I'm sure these CL Sellers are backing away from the wild story, because who would be believe it!?

Ok. I'm done. Thanks as always, for listening. One thing about living alone, is the cats don't care what happens as long as I feed them and they can sleep on me.

OMG, Christine! Thank goodness for numbers 1-5 is right! Although I had to chuckle about the BAM of the truck falling off the wheel. Like one of those horror movies when you think it's over and then...the killer is still alive! Glad you're safe and all seems to be working out well. You are a CL Goddess.

Texas_Gem, about your rotating shoe rack: Why do you want to rotate layers individually? Sure, it can be done with multiple turntables, but you're going to add a layer of wood for every additional rotation, which will increase cost and weight. As long as the whole thing is balanced, turning the whole thing would be a lot simpler, both to build and to use.

And now I'm trying to think of a place in my house where something like that would be useful (I don't have nearly enough shoes to use it that way).

Do all of these shoe racks remind you of the shoe racks on Goldie Hawn's yacht in Overboard?

OMG Christine, what a story. Glad you're ok.

Texas, I was all set to purchase that shoe rack for my new house when I saw the price tag. I'm thinking for my dozen pair of shoes I can get by with shoe racks. LOL.

rebunky, I'm loving that cabin. I really want to visit HI. ;)

So today I got my news and yes it was good news. Hoping that March is better as it certainly started on a better note.

Our original plot of land we agreed to purchase was 6100 square feet. We are allowed to build on 35% of the land. However what had to go was a second garage bay, and DH's study was too small according to him. (Size was 11'2" x 11'4") He wanted to use it as his study/man cave so wanted room for the tv, desk, bookcases and a sofa. Also our upstairs guest room was only 9'8" deep making it difficult to walk around a queen sized bed.

So as we thought more about it, we asked about buying 1/2 of the lot next to ours which would give us an additional 3022 square feet for a total of 9122. What we were waiting for was to see if the engineer would sign off on moving the drainage since we're in FL and they're very strict about having proper drainage. We were told today the answer is yes! (Happy dance)

So we'll be flipping the house so the entry is on the other street (we're on a corner). We'll be adding a second garage bay, increasing DH's study and making the hallway there a bit wider and making the closet longer and we'll be adding about 2' to the width of the guest bedroom so it will now be 11'8". Additionally we'll add about 18"-2' to the dining area to give us more room to maneuver in that space.

We've decided to keep my studio and the guest bedroom upstairs only so we don't have to redesign the whole house. Doing that would mean we'd lose our pricing and our builder has guaranteed holding our price since we're only enlarging what we already have and are not structurally redesigning the whole house.

This will also allow us to have a real lanai out back, a slightly larger pool so I can actually swim laps and enclose the whole front porch. We are quite happy and we feel because the area is one of the last areas downtown in a quiet neighborhood, we are making a wise investment even though it will cost us quite a bit more for the extra land.

Wow! What lovely plans. And what a fabulous investment. I'm willing to bed that once built, your property value will be crazy high!
I really look forward to pictures.
I know, I know. From me, too.

CP, awesome news! Christine! Holy moly! What a scary experience! I'm glad it is all going to work out, but damn those insurance companies!! Good luck Thursday!

Christine - after all of that - did you or did you not fall off the reese's peanut butter cup wagon? I almost wanted to stop myself mid-reading to go eat one on your behalf. Holy cow lady! That is a crazy scary story. I hope CL comes through for you as it seems to always do and woohoo on a new wardrobe! If I ever need a ride I'd be sure to hitch one with you with those mad driving skills.

cp-waiting oh waiting for the building to commence!

suzannesl-can't wait to see your new kitchen! ;) ;) I will need a new visual to replace my old visual that pops up when I see your name.

My current project is waiting for the snow to melt and stay melted so I can see what survived the first winter. I hope my hydrangeas made it!

OMGosh Christine, I can just picture that happening, the sweat stops, you let out a sigh of relief and reach for the handle of the car and BAM. I have taken that same part of the pike too many times (grew up in NE Ohio and now live in VA) You are, one hell of a driver.

DH is going up this weekend to switch out his mom's electrical panel, her house goes on the market Monday, 2 days after she turns 97. When it sells we move her down.

Kitchen progress is on back burner. Middle school design team yesterday, 2 doctors appointments today, piano moving tomorrow, found walnut armoire: pick-up Thursday, DH to OH, DD Home!!!! yea, Spring Break!!

Bathroom painted, toilet installed, 1st coat on family room, curtains selected, 1 door done, one door to go, refinish vanity, misc. trim and replace mirror to go!

Progress:

New colors for new space- looks greener IRL, at least on my screen!

Nice to see everyone's projects! Glad I'm not the only one. I told DD if boyfriend visits, tell him your Mom and Dad LIVE their hobby. They actually enjoy working on the house- well, most of the time anyway......

I haven't read the new posts yet. I will when I get some quiet time. But I just had to post this. Double rainbow just now over the cabin! Cabin to far left.

And here's the sunset!

That's Mr rebunky's under the umbrella out in the field with his trusty dog.

Ok, I'll read more tomorrow, but omg! Christine...what? That's crazy!

Ah I love seeing everyone's progress and projects-- makes me feel a little less crazy! We are still plodding away on the bathroom, which seems to be taking forever. Hubby is working on roughins and I am still laboriously dry fitting the soapstone surround from our kitchen slab remnants for our clearance tub find (it's biscuit yuck, but I can't wait to use it!!!!!) I have not actually soaked in our current tub in the house, cause well our bathroom is less than relaxing. Promise to share a pic after the new bath is done for comparison.

Only the back piece, faucet holes and sanding left (oh and plumbing rough ins) and we can finally set this darn tub!

spring is right around the corner which means getting ready to launch into garden season! Potatoes, tomatoes onions and every seed in between, yay!

Just catching up on reading everyone's posts.

So glad you are okay Christine, that was scary! Congrats on the new job as well.

Jawiva, isn't it exciting when seeds what you plant sprout? My husband and I have been trying out grafting. We wanted to graft our favorite mango (Kent) onto less favorite trees. We tried different methods suggested to us, but what finally worked was when he wrapped the splice in electrical tape. Ha! It is now sprouting leaves. We are so excited!

TG, I want that rotating shoe rack. I have just the perfect thing to make it too. I have a SS super Susan insert stored under my bed. Dh and I both have a hard time saying no to freebies. In his line of work, we constantly "inherit" stuff. I had planned to use it somewhere, but of course it's been under the bed for 3 years now. Now I know it's purpose! Maybe someday I will be as organized as you Beachum. It will feel so good to have my home back in order and not a construction zone. One of these days, or years, or decades....I know Christine can relate to the years/decade part. :-}

So check out the latest that we just scored for free. Yes Frrrreeee! Our friends manage this gazillion dollar home and due to a bathroom pipe leak, it made some slight water damage to the outside finish of this tub. Oh no the horror! Yes, the insurance paid for them to buy a brand new one from South Africa for $10,000. The shipping alone was probably another 10 grand. Our friend called and asked if we wanted it. Um, yah. It's too big for my master bathroom project. Instead I'm going to use it as an outdoor soaking tub on the cabin's lanai.

It looks like this now....

But picture this!!!

Mgmum, I think that is a great idea to open up that wall for extra light. I can totally see a pool table or foosball table for the teenagers in that part of the L.

Heatheron, that is so nice of you to do all that for your MIL. Wow, 97! It all looks lovely.

Jml, that jetted tub will be amazing. I love the soapstone surround. Keep us posted. You too, swedepie.

CP, That is awesome news about buying the half lot and expanding the home a little. Now the isle between the corner of the island and your wall with the built-in will be plenty. I would love you to come to Hawaii someday. And that goes for all of you!

OMG Rebunky. I have such tub jealousy right now. That. Is. Amazinggggggg. What type of material is it made out of? I can't tell from the picture

Jml, I have been trying to find out more about this tub and what it's made of. I found a few SA manufacturers, and it seems to be made out of some kind of composite of crushed up stone and resin. I found a few pictures that looked just like it.

Here it was in it the original home. It is 84" long x 42" wide and really deep. Two could fit easy.

It has been a busy week for me on the life front so I don't have time to respond to all the posts I've seen right now.

Mgmum- your post with your basement pics didn't show up for me until way after you posted it, so it's a good chance others didn't see it. I like your idea of the sliders though, reminds me of my elementary school actually. Each grade was actually one large room but their were dividers that were pulled out to create smaller rooms for daily classes. If a large activity was happening with all the classes, they pushed the dividers in and created one big room. It always seemed very functional to me.

CP- I haven't been over on the build forum in a while but I do remember the issues you were having trying to lock down a layout when you couldn't go outside the footprint. I'm so glad you will be getting more breathing room. Let the building begin!!!

Rebunky- can I come live there? Or you know, at least visit after that awesome tub is installed?!?

As for me, my second oldest turns 7 tomorrow. The school allows you to bring treats up and have basically a mini party in the classroom on the day of your kids birthday, at teachers discretion. I was all set to do that and then we found out last week that our kids got the chance to go see a special exhibit at our science museum...and they are going tomorrow.

So, instead of a mini party for 24 kids, I'm having a mini party for the entire 1st grade at the science museum.

I made 80 cupcakes today, (school colors are white and purple and she wanted the cupcakes to match; with rainbow sprinkles) which isn't too difficult with 3 ovens.

Plus with 2 dishwashers, this is all the clean up I have to do now.

I'm pretty sure I would have been having a panic attack a few years ago and it would have taken all day.

Now, I whipped up the batter after school, popped the pans in the ovens and cleaned up while they were baking.

Let them cool while I made dinner, then whipped up 3 batches of icing in my stand mixer instead of having to painfully mix one batch at a time with a hand mixer and got them all piped.

Tomorrow after school I will need to decorate her cake for her party on Saturday, I went ahead and baked it today too while I was making the cupcakes.

I LOVE my kitchen!!! :)

For a few years, we've had a small rental condo. Last year, our tenant decided to move to a smaller space, and since the HOA was a big pain and not well run, we sold it and bought a slightly larger one in a better area. We weren't planning on doing too much to spruce it up, but one thing leads to another, and so here we are still working on it.

We've replaced all the tile floors, painted, and are almost done with the bathrooms. The kitchen needed a new sink, so since it was tiled in, it will need new countertops too. I'm going out again this weekend to look for pre-fab granite. The cabinets are in the process of getting a good cleaning (funky contact paper on the shelves), and will need some minor refinishing in some spots. Luckily, they are oak, and matching the existing finish is easy.

I don't seem to be able to load photos here anymore. Not sure why. If anyone has a suggestion, I'll try it. Thanks,

Oh fun...funky contact paper. I wish I could help with photos, what steps are you taking to upload them? Are you getting an error message?

I'm on mobile but this is how I do it and it works.

Click on photo under the text box and this submenu pops up.

Then I select the folder and image and it loads.

I'm never on here on a laptop or desktop so I don't know how different it would be. Hope that helps.

Thought I would update with a few pics of the cake. If anything, these should show how lighting and surrounding colors can alter the appearance of what you are photographing.

This pic is in my main prep area, under my can lights.

This is on my buffet, the only light is from my pendant lights over the island behind me. The wall color is the same as the above pic.

Finally this is in my pantry so the kids don't mess with it until the party. :) This is lit by my crystal chandelier.

Birthday girl is excited and loves her cake.