Renovating Regent St. is overwhelming (if you haven't already noticed!) Not only have we taken on a complete gut job in the main house but we're on the clock to get the apartment finished by this weekend when our renter moves in and STILL packing up Featherfoil (can't I pay someone to finish that up??) All of this and we are still trying to squeeze in time for the everyday household chores; laundry, putting clothes away (my achilles heel), dust, grocery shop, vaccuum...you see where I'm going! Oh, and did I mention we have Irish Twins who demand (and righfully so,) our full attention? You just have to involve them and make a game of even the smallest of mundane projects. For instance, I started a game with the girls called, Find My Match. A matching socks game where I am always the winner :-) Bonus, they love it!!
Somedays I don't know where to start so I began to think...if i put something down in writing it then becomes real and I'm forced to own up to it. Truth be told I don't even know where to start; where do I begin the organizing, putting up pictures, decorating every room, finish painting, UGH! Then I heard my mom's voice in my head, "just take one step at a time," or in my renovating world, take one room at a time. So that's the plan and I'm starting tonight. Maddie's room is getting tackled first. It's the smallest room in the house (besides the bathroom's of course) so I'm hoping and praying it's the least overwhelming. I'm a HUGE proponent of lists (I <3 lists - checking things off is so theraputic!) Below is my my list of things I want to accomplish in Maddie's room. Not in any particular order because I'll obviously go for the easiest first!
1) Organize Closet
a) purchase and install closet door
b) finish molding around closet door
c) install shelving/drawers
2) Finish painting
a) bedroom door
b) window moldings
3) Organize/purge/merge dresser drawers
4) Decorate top of dresser
5) purchase bedside table
6) create (albeit very small) play area
WOW - I already feel better
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Pin It!
Pinterest is to me what fantasy football is to Chip - a necessity of life. I'm completely obsessed with it. Actually, I don't think obsessed is the right word....need something more severe; dependent, fanatic, completely engrossed in, devoted, invested. Need I say more?
Pinterest came in to my life at the most opportune time. Renovation time. B.P (before Pinterest) we were still living in Malta, content, with not many home projects on the forefront. A.P (after Pinterest) we bought Regent, began the renovation and moved in. To say I needed some design inspiration is an understatement. My life needed Pinterest.
Some things you probably don't know about me (unless your my mom or hubby reading this;) I'm a procrastinator, I'm completely disorganized at times, I love interior decorating but I think I'm pretty horrible at it, I get overwhelmed shopping for our home even in Target and I come up with many grandiose plans but only follow through on about 1/2 of them. So, Pinterest has been the perfect tool in many ways for the Regent St. renovation. I get to browse through zillions of pictures of bedrooms, bathrooms, entryways, porches, etc. I can find similar sized rooms as the ones in our house, in a color palate that I like, and decorated close to our taste, put the Lawrence Twist on it and voila - I have a blueprint for a room. Here's a perfect example; the bathroom below (from my pinterest bathroom board) is a very similar size and layout to our downstairs 1/2 bath. The first thing that caught my eye were the horse pictures and the wallpaper. Then after further inspection I found the hardwood floors. I don't love everything about this bathroom but I guess that's the point. My fondness for Pinterest comes from the fact that you don't have to love everything in the picture but that you can lift certain elements from it for inspiration. My plan is to do something very similar in our guest bathroom thanks to this one picture. How can you not LOVE Pinterest??
Pinterest came in to my life at the most opportune time. Renovation time. B.P (before Pinterest) we were still living in Malta, content, with not many home projects on the forefront. A.P (after Pinterest) we bought Regent, began the renovation and moved in. To say I needed some design inspiration is an understatement. My life needed Pinterest.
Some things you probably don't know about me (unless your my mom or hubby reading this;) I'm a procrastinator, I'm completely disorganized at times, I love interior decorating but I think I'm pretty horrible at it, I get overwhelmed shopping for our home even in Target and I come up with many grandiose plans but only follow through on about 1/2 of them. So, Pinterest has been the perfect tool in many ways for the Regent St. renovation. I get to browse through zillions of pictures of bedrooms, bathrooms, entryways, porches, etc. I can find similar sized rooms as the ones in our house, in a color palate that I like, and decorated close to our taste, put the Lawrence Twist on it and voila - I have a blueprint for a room. Here's a perfect example; the bathroom below (from my pinterest bathroom board) is a very similar size and layout to our downstairs 1/2 bath. The first thing that caught my eye were the horse pictures and the wallpaper. Then after further inspection I found the hardwood floors. I don't love everything about this bathroom but I guess that's the point. My fondness for Pinterest comes from the fact that you don't have to love everything in the picture but that you can lift certain elements from it for inspiration. My plan is to do something very similar in our guest bathroom thanks to this one picture. How can you not LOVE Pinterest??
Friday, January 20, 2012
“And will you succeed? Yes indeed, yes indeed! Ninety-eight and three-quarters percent guaranteed!”
Gotta love the chance to throw in a Dr. Seuss quote! Well, we're not at exactly at 98-3/4% percent but baby, we've come along way (in the Kitchen that is.) Just a quick update/post as I'm working on a doozy for a cross-promotional post with the Mamatoga blog. I'm so excited that Jenny invited me to guest blog for her while she is out on blogaternity leave.
It's been a very busy week at Regent St. Monday morning was quite the shocker; house temperature read 54 as we left for work/school (it's really daycare but calling it school takes away some of the mommy guilt I have.) Couple of phone calls later and Rotterdam Heating and Air Conditioning were on their way to assess the damage. Thankfully, due to our own neglect/inexperience it was just a filter issue. Problem fixed.
Next up on the Monday agenda - final kitchen cabinet install. Home Depot had finished about 85% but still had some finishing work (moldings, shelving, etc.) They did an amazing job from start to finish. As I said in this post - I would highly recommend the team that we worked with. Kristen Lombard from the Latham, NY Home Depot and installer Ed were top notch.
Finally Wednesday came - a big day for the kitchen renovation - installation of the granite. As I have said before, we've been using plywood as our countertops so this day could not have come any quicker for us! Hubby texted me around noon at work to tell me the installers were done and it took every fiber in my being not to bolt out of my chair and zoom up the Northway. I must have told 30 people at work that the countertops were installed. Honestly I think everyone at work is a little sick of hearing about my renovations - oh well.
Knowing that the countertops were going in on Wed we had invited my Mom and Chip's Mom and Step-Dad over for our first official dinner party. We wanted to thank them for all their support and love during this process because honestly, we would have NEVER gotten to where we are without them. Chip's stepdad was a very integral part of our renovations having refinished, stained and polyed all the downstairs moldings, front door and staircase. The intricate and tedious job would have been on the back burner for a long time if it weren't for him. He's almost finished but leaves for FL for a few months so when he returns he'll finish the staircase. Hopefully by then we'll have another job for him to take on :-)
Below are a couple photos of the kitchen. Mind you we still need to finish molding throughout and around the window but what a difference!
It's been a very busy week at Regent St. Monday morning was quite the shocker; house temperature read 54 as we left for work/school (it's really daycare but calling it school takes away some of the mommy guilt I have.) Couple of phone calls later and Rotterdam Heating and Air Conditioning were on their way to assess the damage. Thankfully, due to our own neglect/inexperience it was just a filter issue. Problem fixed.
Next up on the Monday agenda - final kitchen cabinet install. Home Depot had finished about 85% but still had some finishing work (moldings, shelving, etc.) They did an amazing job from start to finish. As I said in this post - I would highly recommend the team that we worked with. Kristen Lombard from the Latham, NY Home Depot and installer Ed were top notch.
Finally Wednesday came - a big day for the kitchen renovation - installation of the granite. As I have said before, we've been using plywood as our countertops so this day could not have come any quicker for us! Hubby texted me around noon at work to tell me the installers were done and it took every fiber in my being not to bolt out of my chair and zoom up the Northway. I must have told 30 people at work that the countertops were installed. Honestly I think everyone at work is a little sick of hearing about my renovations - oh well.
Knowing that the countertops were going in on Wed we had invited my Mom and Chip's Mom and Step-Dad over for our first official dinner party. We wanted to thank them for all their support and love during this process because honestly, we would have NEVER gotten to where we are without them. Chip's stepdad was a very integral part of our renovations having refinished, stained and polyed all the downstairs moldings, front door and staircase. The intricate and tedious job would have been on the back burner for a long time if it weren't for him. He's almost finished but leaves for FL for a few months so when he returns he'll finish the staircase. Hopefully by then we'll have another job for him to take on :-)
Below are a couple photos of the kitchen. Mind you we still need to finish molding throughout and around the window but what a difference!
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| Prepping for our first official dinner party! |
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Our first shout out!
I started this blog to document our renovation project on Regent St. My thought was, "how in the hell am I going to keep up with all the progress Chip is making in such a short period of time?" I knew that all the pictures I took would never make it off my phone if I didn't take action. I read a lot of blogs; some for pleasure (www.corksandcaftans.com www.mamatoga.com http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com http://seejaneworkplaylive.blogspot.com) some for work (no need for mentions here - don't think anyone is interested in auto blogs) and I also post/update our Keeler Motor Car blog so for me it was a no-brainer. With a click of a mouse and few tweaks Renovating Regent came alive. Well today I received my first shout-out.
Thank you to Jenny at Mamatoga.com for spreading the love. Check out Mamatoga at the link above or on Facebook and make sure to "like" her page. If you're a mom (or dad for that matter) in the Saratoga Springs, NY area her blog cannot be missed!
Thank you to Jenny at Mamatoga.com for spreading the love. Check out Mamatoga at the link above or on Facebook and make sure to "like" her page. If you're a mom (or dad for that matter) in the Saratoga Springs, NY area her blog cannot be missed!
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Sunday Family Dinners
We are an Italian/Irish family so it goes without saying that Sunday consists of shopping, cooking, drinking and eating. Since Chip and I have two little ones, our house seems to have become the Sunday Family Dinner place to be. I'm great with this except that since the move to Regent St. we have no stove or dishwasher. You read that correctly - no stove/no dishwasher. To add insult to injury we also don't have countertops or a working sink. Hubby easily corrected the "no countertops" issue with some heavy duty plywood and with our granite/sink installation right around the corner (next Wednesday to be exact) I'm coping. And by coping I mean we are using mostly plastic/paper products and washing dishes in the UPSTAIRS bathroom. It's amazing how much you actually miss the convenience of running water in a kitchen. Even to make coffee in the morning we have to drag ass up the stairs just to get water. You don't know what you miss until it's not there anymore!
SFD proved to be quite the culinary challenge. While shopping at Price Chopper Sunday morning I decided at the last minute to grab a Rotisserie Chicken. They are a godsend for busy families and usually a staple on a random Tuesday after dance class at our house. But for SFD?? My Grandma Cel would be rolling in her grave. Hell no - SFD is home cooked (usually Italian) comfort food. Think ooey gooey lasagna or delish Chicken Parm with homemade sauce (never called it gravy in this family.) Time for some improvisation. Sunday's menu at Regent St.; Rotisserie Chicken, Not-so-Roasted Red Potatoes, leftover Vodka Rigatoni with sausage and a green salad. Here's how we did it. Not-so-Roasted Red Potatoes; Mom and I quartered the potatoes and put them in two separate bowls (all my big bowls are still at the old house - more on that in another post.) Oddly I had some basil and garlic powder - the only spices in the new spice rack cabinet. I say oddly because I did not have salt and pepper. No olive oil so we used butter, covered with a damp papertowel and did the Microwave Rotation dance. Edible. That is all they were. Vodka Rigatoni; We were "gifted" with some delicious Vodka Rigatoni from our friends the Haskell's We had been there the night before for a birthday party and they knew of our Kitchen Situation and sent us home packed with food! Love them! Green Salad; pre-packaged greens and cut up some veggies on a paper plate. Dinner is served!
And that's how we rolled out our first SFD at Regent St. Down and dirty baby, down and dirty!!
SFD proved to be quite the culinary challenge. While shopping at Price Chopper Sunday morning I decided at the last minute to grab a Rotisserie Chicken. They are a godsend for busy families and usually a staple on a random Tuesday after dance class at our house. But for SFD?? My Grandma Cel would be rolling in her grave. Hell no - SFD is home cooked (usually Italian) comfort food. Think ooey gooey lasagna or delish Chicken Parm with homemade sauce (never called it gravy in this family.) Time for some improvisation. Sunday's menu at Regent St.; Rotisserie Chicken, Not-so-Roasted Red Potatoes, leftover Vodka Rigatoni with sausage and a green salad. Here's how we did it. Not-so-Roasted Red Potatoes; Mom and I quartered the potatoes and put them in two separate bowls (all my big bowls are still at the old house - more on that in another post.) Oddly I had some basil and garlic powder - the only spices in the new spice rack cabinet. I say oddly because I did not have salt and pepper. No olive oil so we used butter, covered with a damp papertowel and did the Microwave Rotation dance. Edible. That is all they were. Vodka Rigatoni; We were "gifted" with some delicious Vodka Rigatoni from our friends the Haskell's We had been there the night before for a birthday party and they knew of our Kitchen Situation and sent us home packed with food! Love them! Green Salad; pre-packaged greens and cut up some veggies on a paper plate. Dinner is served!
And that's how we rolled out our first SFD at Regent St. Down and dirty baby, down and dirty!!
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Our first Holiday Season at Regent
Despite the fact that there was no snow this year (which I really don't mind) the Holiday Season came to our new abode on Regent St. The girls were quite concerned that Santa wouldn't be able to find us since we had just moved in the previous weekend but I assured them that Blaze, our Elf on the Shelf, would inform Santa of our new address.
The Christmas weekend was joyous for many reasons. First, Santa did find our new house with no problems, even without a chimney. Second, Santa was VERY good to all of us. Not only do we have a beautiful new (to us) home but the girls and I were totally surprised by Chip with a trip to the Bahamas and Florida this Spring. I'm thinking that trip is going to be perfect timing for all of us to unwind a bit from the stress of the renovation/move. Third, and most important, we were able to start showering at Regent. It was quite hairy (no pun intended) getting up every morning, getting the girls ready, packing the car up and heading to Malta to take a shower in our deserted old house. It was getting a little creepy too.
So, just to recap; when we moved in the weekend before Christmas we did have a working toilet and sink in the downstairs 1/2 bath but the upstairs full bath was not complete. No shower/bath, no sink, no toilet - basically a whole lot of nothing! It looked like this (and this pic was taken after some renovating - still looking for the original photo before we started gutting. I need to read up on photo organizing from one of my fave bloggers, http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/):
These are the earliest pictures I can find unfortunately. The following pics of our progress:
Somehow this post took on a life of it's own and became all about the upstairs bathroom and nothing about the Holiday's. Oh well - not sweating the small stuff. BTW - the Holiday's were fantastic and bonus, we found out that we can see the fireworks from Congress Park in Saratoga Springs perfectly from our porch. We were a little beyond excited about that. Peace out!
The Christmas weekend was joyous for many reasons. First, Santa did find our new house with no problems, even without a chimney. Second, Santa was VERY good to all of us. Not only do we have a beautiful new (to us) home but the girls and I were totally surprised by Chip with a trip to the Bahamas and Florida this Spring. I'm thinking that trip is going to be perfect timing for all of us to unwind a bit from the stress of the renovation/move. Third, and most important, we were able to start showering at Regent. It was quite hairy (no pun intended) getting up every morning, getting the girls ready, packing the car up and heading to Malta to take a shower in our deserted old house. It was getting a little creepy too.
So, just to recap; when we moved in the weekend before Christmas we did have a working toilet and sink in the downstairs 1/2 bath but the upstairs full bath was not complete. No shower/bath, no sink, no toilet - basically a whole lot of nothing! It looked like this (and this pic was taken after some renovating - still looking for the original photo before we started gutting. I need to read up on photo organizing from one of my fave bloggers, http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/):
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| Still original toilet and radiator in place |
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| Vanity already removed - yes that is plaster and lath |
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| pulling back old flooring and getting ready for new plumbing |
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| new plumbing installed |
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| Prepping for Vanity area |
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| prepping tub for tile job |
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| Chip starting the tub tile job and deciding at 7AM which beverage to begin drinking! |
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| Floor without grout |
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| Shower and floor finally grouted! |
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| New Vanity being installed - by my amazing hubby who is doing ALL of this work! |
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