The scaffold is back….

Last year, we rented the scaffold to help us install our foyer chandelier, paint the two-storey foyer walls, change out our master  bedroom ceiling fan, and help Rick get onto the roof  (well, almost). 

We’ve rented it again to help us finish removing the wall in our soon-to-be library and install the supporting header.

Once the header is in place, we’ll also use the scaffolding to install sheetrock, prime and paint, then finally install crown molding in the two-storey entry way.  While we’re at it, we’ll probably paint the ceiling, and dust off the foyer chandelier.  Check back next week for an update on our progress.  Have a great weekend!

We’ve been making good headway with our renovation goals for 2010 (read about the goals here and how we are progressing here).  Lately, I noticed that the photo header that sits at the top of the blog is a little outdated and no longer reflects the changes we’ve been making throughout the house.  Here is the original header from when we bought the house and started the blog last year:

In the 3rd photo above we no longer have the outdated brass chandelier in the foyer, having swapped it  for a more modern chrome one last summer.  Similarly, in the 2nd photo above the fireplace in the front room is no longer brown, as it was primed and painted to within an inch of its life during one of our paint partays.  Plus, all that brown chair rail has been removed from the premises.

In short, it’s time for a header makeover.

The new photo banner shows a few of the changes we’ve been making round here lately.  The first photo gives a more comprehensive view of the entire house (taken on a blisteringly hot and stunningly clear blue-sky day).  The 2nd photo gives a view from below of the new foyer chandelier. The third photo shows our most recent acquisition – a steal of a deal found at Home Goods – this mirrored clock currently sits atop of the formerly brown fireplace in the front room.  And lastly, the vessel sink and waterfall faucet are an integral part of our downstairs bathroom makeover. The bathroom reveal will be made shortly – I promise (I know, I know.  I’ve been saying that for months, but I promise it’s coming s.o.o.n).

So there you have it.  A little blog makeover to represent our renovation progress.  I’ll be back with more posts next week. I’m back in the UK again visiting family, so although I am not at the house in the midst of projects, I’ve got a bunch of reveals to show you: the long awaited downstairs bathroom makeover, the dining room and its new trim boxes and the office reorganization. It’s going to be a before-and-after extravaganza.

When we installed our contemporary chandelier in the dining room …

we had to decide what to do with the original chandelier…

I didn’t particularly hate the shape of this light. What did offend me was the tacky gold/brass skeleton overlaid in plastic. And, although you can’t quite see it in the picture, there were millions of these miniature plastic flowers tied on with gold wire to keep the plastic covers on the chandelier arms. Nice.

We were originally planning on giving the chandelier away. But after my first successful attempt at spray painting some parts for our dining room light extension, I thought it might be worthwhile trying to fix this Dynasty throwback.

So I took that sucker apart and spray painted everything chrome. And I mean everything. Even the little connection wires between each of the squillions of crystals. After a few days letting the paint cure, we began putting the light back together (minus the plastic coverings and flowers). A few cute spherical bulbs gave the light a bit more of a contemporary feel, and voila! we had a madeover light (picture updated!).

It’s new location is going to be in our bedroom-turned-loft library. How luxe will it be to relax in a comfortable chair with a cuppa ho-cho, surrounded by a plethora of books, reading under the sophisticated, sparkly chandelier?

What do think? Do you think the chrome makes or breaks this chandelier?

One of the many concurrent projects we’ve been working on the last few weeks is trying to find a way to lower the dining room chandelier.  When we got the light a few months ago, it only came with 18″ down rods.  So when Rick installed it over our dining room table, our 9 feet ceilings made the light look completely disconnected from the table.

It is generally recommended that you hang a chandelier approximately 28-32 inches over a table with an 8 foot ceiling height. If your ceiling is higher than 8 feet, the chandelier can be mounted an additional 3 inches higher for each foot of ceiling. That meant for our 9 foot ceilings, we needed to hang our chandelier anywhere from 31-35 inches over the table.  In its original location, the chandelier was about 53 inches above the table, so we needed to lower it by about 18 inches.

We thought it would be a relatively easy task to find an 18″ extension rod to lower the light.  We were wrong.  During the numerous trips we made to various DIY stores in the past few months  (and I mean *numerous*), we weren’t able to locate anything in the lighting section that would enable us to extend our light.  If you were in a Home Depot or Lowes in the Raleigh, NC area recently, and saw a bewildered blond haired English woman muttering to herself saying “surely we’re not the only people in the world who have come across this problem” (peppered with a range of expletives), then that was me. I mean, come on people!  How hard is it to find an 18″ long, 5/16″ diameter chrome pipe in a big box store that sells millions of items?

The lighting section wasn’t offering any solutions, so it was time to think outside of the electrical box.  We came across a solution in the … plumbing section.  Rick found exactly what we needed – an 18″ chrome toilet connector pipe. In order to connect the pipe to the existing light rod, we got a couple of  3/8″ chrome compression nuts and a  3/8″ compression union (in brass unfortunately – nothing a bit of chrome spray paint couldn’t fix).

Using a hack saw, Rick cut the bulbous end off the toilet pipe, and then flared both ends (using his flarey tool thingy-me-jiggy – I’m so technical, don’t you agree?).  The flared ends made the compression union and nuts fit snugly.  So, one end of the pipe was connected to the down rods attached to the light plate (using the compression fitting that originally came with the light).  The other end of the extension pipe was connected to the rods attached to the light itself, using the new compression fittings.  Et voila! We now have a newly extended dining room light that hangs at the perfect height over the table.

Check out the before and after.  It’s amazing how 18 inches makes such a difference.  Size really does matter after all

One project down. 311, 563, 899 left to go.

Ever have one of those days where you seem to be working all the time and not getting anything accomplished?  That’s how it’s been here for the past few weeks. We seem to be working around the house every spare minute we get (when we’re not working for our regular jobs, both in the day time and in the evenings).  However, we still really haven’t finished many projects around the house just recently.  We’ve got several on the go.  For instance, Rick has been working in the garage, trying to organize some of the boxes of stuff we still have left over from moving.  He’s also been working hard replacing the garage door opener (and fixing the banged up garage doors), so that when Winter rolls in, we might actually be able to put the cars in the garage.  The previous owners only installed one garage opener, despite having three working doors, so eventually Rick will be installing two other openers so we can use the full extent of the three-car garage. 

Back in the house, we’ve also been working on getting a few rooms finished.  When Rick first installed the dining room chandelier, it was obvious that it needed lowering over the dining room table.  The light didn’t come with any extension rods, so we’ve been coming up with some creative ways to lower that sucker (more details coming soon).  I’ve also been playing around with paint ideas for changing the Gothic red to something more airy and contemporary.  The wall going into the kitchen (opposite our one replaced window) is currently decorated with about 7 different color patches as we try several different looks for the room.

We’re still working on hanging the header in our upstairs bedroom-turned-library.  The header is up, but we still need to make a few adjustments to some supports before we remove the middle studs.  And lastly, we’re thisclose to finishing (and revealing) our downstairs bathroom makeover.  All that’s left is a few finishing touches – some caulking, some crown moulding, hanging some pictures and so forth.

Maybe it would be easier to focus in one project, rather than tackle several at one time.  I keep telling myself that we are saving time by multi-tasking – every time we go to the DIY store, we can get items for several projects rather than make many trips for individual projects.  That’s the theory anyway.  Do you guys multitask and work on several projects at once, or do you prefer to work on one thing at a time?  Do tell.

I have a good feeling that we will get at least one these projects finished this week.  Stay tuned for details!

The house renovations have slowed down a bit lately.  Maybe all that new homeowner vim and vigor has finally run out. Or the money has run out. Or perhaps is just takes two to do the renovation tango.  Renovating can be fun, but it also can be a tough job for two people to do together, let alone on their own-some. My month long excursion to the UK didn’t help our progress. Plus, as soon as I got back to America, Rick had to go on a week-long work trip to Notre Dame university (I tried not take it personally). Yesterday, a good friend noted that I hadn’t posted on the blog for some time, to which I replied that we hadn’t recently finished many projects to blog about.  But it got me thinking about all we have done around the house.  Today marks six months being in our new house.  Six months! Where did the time go? Seeing as I tend to be a ‘glass half empty’ kind of girl, now seems like a good time to think about all the projects we have completed so far:

All carpet has been pulled up

Back yard fence was built

Front and back doors were replaced

Landscape lighting has been installed

Downstairs bathroom was gutted and new tile installed. Bathroom vanity made over with a granite top and vessel sink.

New exterior lights installed

Dining room window replaced

 French doors hung between kitchen and office

Foyer chandelier replaced

Two foyer walls removed and headers installed

Dining room floor painted

Master bedroom ceiling fan installed

Dining room chandelier replaced

Siding removed and rehung

Thermostats switched out

100,000,000 green bugs,  3,000 big-ass spiders, 2 bats, a mole, a lizard, a frog… and a partridge in a pear tree.

Pheww! We’ve been busy! But all this optimism is making me feel all Paula Abdul – I’m much more Simon Cowell-esque (must be a British thing).  If I wear my pessimist hat for a minute, I’d hate to compile a list of all the projects that we have left to do around the house. Wow, that list would be longer than a prize bull’s ba-donk-a-donk. We’ll get there in the end.  That’s what the bull said.

The dining room light has finally arrived! Almost three months after we ordered it. I won’t post the retailer we bought it from – although the price was great, the customer service has been terrible.  There was really no good reason for why it took 12 weeks to send a light we were told would arrive in only a few weeks. But let’s not focus on the negative.  The chandelier is here and has been put up in the dining room. 

I haven’t been able to use the light yet as I still need to get some special light bulbs (the smaller kind you push in and twist a half a turn). I’m also thinking that I may have to find a way to lower the light from the ceiling. The down rods were provided with the light and are suitable for standard height ceilings.  But our 10ft ceilings make the chandelier float way above the table.  When Amy gets back from visiting the UK, I’ll see what she thinks about  lowering the chandlier over the dining room table. She’ll also be able to take more detailed pictures with our better digital camera!

We’ve been trying to make the most out of renting the scaffolding, and so have been completing a few other vertically-challenging jobs around the house.  Rick has been busy painting the ceiling and the right wall on the second level. I’ve been painting the remaining walls that don’t need to be accessed via the scaffold. We chose a neutral color to make the white trim upstairs pop, but not too saturated a color that the entry looks crazy, dark or ominous.  We’ve also got a mirror project planned – details will be revealed soon…

I don’t know how he manages to do it, but Rick has broken yet another of the extendable paint poles (along with no less than 3 broom handles – all that raw manly aggression, I guess).  Rather than get another cheapo pole, we upgraded to the more expensive fancy-schmancy model – you know, the ones that work like a Star Wars light sabre (may the paint be with you). Hopefully, the construction will be a little better on the more expensive pole and Rick won’t break it (too soon).

Once we’ve finished painting in the foyer, we’re planning on moving the scaffolding into the master bedroom. The 15ft vaulted ceiling  will need to be painted, along with the higher parts of the walls.  We’re also going to be replacing the existing ceiling fan – not only to get rid of the dubious 80’s gold finish, but to feel more secure that we won’t be decapitated in the night by the wonky and misaligned fan blades. Will post pics of the new fan soon… Watch this space.

Foyer paint 

Foyer paint

This weekend, our task was to change out the foyer chandelier.  We knew it was going to be tricky, not from an electrical standpoint (Rick is a whiz at electrics – is there anything this man cannot do?!?), but because of the two-story entryway.  Before contemplating doing it ourselves, I got a few quotes from electricians.  Given the height and complexity of the task, I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised at getting quotes for several hundred dollars (in some cases, almost as much as we paid for the chandelier itself!).

So, we decided to replace the chandelier ourselves. We rented 15 foot scaffolding from Home Depot (at a fraction of the cost of the electricians’ quotes – $60 bucks a week). It was interesting trying to erect the scaffolding around the stairs, but after a little trial-and-error, we managed to get the base set (the back set of cross-braces went through the spindles on the stairs).

Once the base level was set, Rick climbed up the scaffolding (there was no way I was going up that thing), and together we erected three levels of scaffolding, all the way to the top of the two-story entry way. At its highlest level, the scaffold planks were higher than the balcony that connects the soon-to-be-library and the master bedroom.

Rick started dismantling the old chandelier by first removing the millions of individual glass pieces. Once they were safely stowed away, he then unhooked the chandelier frame from the ceiling.

During the week, Rick had already spent some time preparing the new chandelier’s electrics. The chandelier frame came in three parts – the large middle section, and smaller top and bottom section – and each section had its own wiring. So, Rick had to splice all the wiring together, and then run it all up the central conduit, which would ultimately be connected to the ceiling. So, after a little more handy work on the scaffolding, the new chandelier was attached!

Next, we tested the lights to make sure they worked (not that we any doubts, of course!). So, 18 bulbs later, we flicked the switch and voila! we had light!

The final step in the chandelier change-over was the laborious task of hanging 500 strings of crystals around the frame.  Poor Rick had to do this task all by himself, seeing as they had to be hung on the frame from the scaffolding. So, I did what I could to help – handing him the crystal strings and documenting each phase of the process.  Even including a brief break for dinner, the whole shebang didn’t take that long, and by Saturday evening, we had a brand new, ultra-modern chandelier….

We currently have two chandeliers in our house – one in the dining room and one in the foyer.  We’ve been wanting to replace these nice-but-slightly-dated lights with more contemporary ones. We’ve been doing a bit of Interweb searching and have found two contenders:

We’re planning on replacing the existing dining room light …

with the following modern crystal one:

For the foyer, we’re going to replace the existing light…

with this contemporary crystal chandelier:

Back at the beginning of May, we ordered both chandeliers online. Factoring in time for the order to be processed and the packages shipped, we were told to expect the chandies no later than June 1st. A couple of weeks went by with no communication from the company (not the best sign), so Rick had to chase them up to get tracking information for the packages. Last Friday, we finally got word that the chandeliers were being delivered in 3 packages. So I  waited at home all day (luckily I can work from home) and finally, at about 6pm, the ups guy knocked on the door.  Now, by the time I got to the front door (after battling 5 barking dogs) the ups man had disappeared. I peered out the front door and ta-da! on the front porch there were two large boxes.  Two. Not three as expected. The ups man was long gone by this point, so I couldn’t ask him about the missing third package. So, back inside I went, checked online on the ups website, which said that one of the packages had been delivered.  Hmmmm, something not quite matching up here.

So, long story short here, a very protracted phone call ensued with an unhelpful ups employee who couldn’t quite seem to grasp the conundrum we were in (yes, I replied for the seventeenth time, there should be three packages, only received two but your website says one has been delivered – must be all those baffling single digit numbers). After she finally managed to understand what was going on, she said that ups couldn’t do anything about it and that we would have to call the company we ordered the lights from and they would have to follow up on the error.  Ok, fine I said. So, another lengthy phone call ensued with said light company (yes 3, but 2, no 1, yada yada yada), who said that we would have to lodge a complaint with ups.  So, let’s get this straight – ups says the light company are to blame,  light company says ups to blame. Useful as a chocolate teapot.

Before getting my ’Simon Cowell’ on and letting rip on the phone, I thought I’d double check just to make sure that we didnt, in fact, receive the third package. Lucky I did, because after a bit of searching outside I found the much smaller third package neatly stowed behind a bush (!!) at the side of the house. God knows why the ups guy saw fit to deliver the two large boxes to the front door, and then hide the smaller, lighter package at the side of the house AND then only mark one as being delivered. Me thinks he was one package short of a full delivery – literally and figuratively!

Our woeful tale of chandelier shenanigans does not end there. Rick got home about the same time as the case-of-the-missing-package was solved.  So we set to opening the boxes.  30 minutes and 300 feet of packing paper later, we found that only 1 chandelier has been delivered. The large foyer chandelier had been packed into the 3 boxes – the frame in two boxes and all the crystals in the third. Back on the phone we went, only to be greeted with a voicemail message saying that the lighting company was now closed for the weekend and would re-open on Tuesday.  Grrrr.

So, this week we have been chasing up the light company (yet again) to see what’s going on with the missing dining room chandelier. We’ve now been informed that, due to the popularity and increased demand, this light is on back order and it will be another 4 weeks before they get the next shipment in. We can either accept the delay or get our money refunded, although the refund will probably take just as long as receiving the light (funny how they can take your payment so quickly, yet the refund process is painfully slow…).

So we’re waiting … for now.  In the meantime, we’ve got to figure out how to install the chandelier in our two-story entry way (and get the existing one safely down). Anyone got a pair of stilts Rick can borrow?