A Dream of a Drive

I can't help but get a little giddy when I approach our new driveway, and walk up the spruced up walkway past my flower garden onto the completely refurbished front porch. I feel like the first impression made by the entry way is finally consistent with the rest of the house...no tree (or tree stump) in the middle of the driveway, no half-finished re-paving job, no scary-looking, precarious front stoop; just a welcoming, warm and secure entrance to our home.

I had more or less given up on the idea of having the driveway done. It wasn't really considered a priority, and the decision was to leave it a budget-contingent decision. John has been so budget conscious, though, and I know how much he wanted to come in under budget, that I figured the driveway would be the next owner's responsibility. So imagine my surprise to see John impusively agree when a paver randomly showed up at our door and offered to do the job that day. He tried his typical negotiating tactics to little avail (to his dismay), but agreed nonetheless. I was stunned, but very pleasantly so. While I was willing to sacrifice a new driveway to remain within budget, from day one, I had really wanted to see it done, and now that we have it, I make sure to take at least a little time every day to smell the asphalt.

Curb Appeal

News Flash...Our house is no longer the eyesore of the neighborhood!

Deck Video

Good Things...

...come in small packages.

One rockin' big deck just wouldn't suffice. Now we've got a precious mini version right off the mud room. The perfect spot for...collecting recycling???



By popular demand (okay a suggestion from John), I'm adding a "before" shot:

A Deck Transformed

The deck was one of the things I most liked about our house the first time we saw it. Admittedly, there was very little to actually like back in the days of dead bugs, smelly carpets and putrid wall colors. Nonetheless, I fell for the big deck in the back and immediately started envisioning cookouts and lazy Sundays reading a magazine outside. Turns out the deck wasn't all that...in fact, its partial destruction was one of the first projects John and David undertook. Partial because its size meant it not only blocked cars getting into the garage, but also our ability to open the bulkhead doors. So, the deck was partially dismantled, but left completely functional, and over the last several months, we did indeed enjoy a number of meals out there, and a number of lazy days and evenings. But a complete renovation of the deck was always planned, and with most of the indoor projects now well behind us, John and David turned their attention to the deck a few weeks ago. I think I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves...

A Deck Transformed, Part II

Spring in our Steps

Oh...I really should have saved that title for an entry about the "coming soon" stoop. Bugger.



We continue to be busily working away...John and David on fixing up John’s condo to lure in prospective tenants; and me, figuring out just where on our deck is the best place to get a little sun, read a book and sip on a nice cold drink. Oh yeah, John has also been busy planting a garden, complete with squash, peas and pumpkins, and setting up a pretty “low-rent” horseshoe pit. I’ve been diligently testing if it’s more efficient to refresh my cool drink by going from the deck to the kitchen via the family room or the mud room. (I may be lazy, but you can’t say I’m not self-aware.)

These last couple of weekends have been so gorgeous and we’re really enjoying all the sunlight the house gets. Something tells me that come July and August, we may be cursing that very same sunlight, but for the time being, it’s simply lovely. We’ve been opening up the skylights in the kitchen and living room and breathing in the fresh New Haven air. Mmmmm. We also got a patio set a few weekends ago and broke it in on Saturday with an impromptu barbecue with David, Pam and Matt. Hastas were planted (thank you, Pam!), burgers eaten and horseshoes thrown (and even a few ringers).

Meanwhile, John is *this close* to being done with the condo fix-ups. This has been no small project and the place looks better than I’ve ever seen it, and not unlike a Tiffany box. Next up for the house: a new deck, a new stoop, and come Fall…pumpkins!

Small Changes, Big Difference

A hallway and mudroom/entranceway may not be the most exciting of projects, but considering the sheer prominence of both, they really are key victories in this ongoing battle to transform our house. We walk up and down the hallway multiple times every day and it can be seen from practically every room in the house. The mudroom was such a mess when we first moved in that having it look polished and (almost) complete -- and completely free of bug carcasses -- feels damn good.

I'm a bit late to the game on this (oh approximately 10-12 years), but I finally got myself a digital camera...enjoy the really timely pics!

Office Space

John got settled into his new home office this weekend. The burnt orange color that he chose for the walls was definitely a bit overpowering when there was nothing else in the space, but now that all the furniture has been added, it actually has a nice warmth to it. The lamp is a favorite from his childhood...so I'll be kind and call it simply "special."

A few photos of the newest completed room...

Consider this more cowbell…

John assures me there will soon be video to document our progress, but in the meantime, I’ll try to be as descriptive as possible to help fill the month-long update void. John and David have been logging very long and late Saturdays these days, with only the occasional break for Archie Moore wings. Really, the progress that they’ve made this past month has been considerable. If I had pictures or videos to post here, you’d be impressed…take my word for it.

I’ve been dreading the sanding and finishing of the floors since the day “I” moved all the furniture in. I understood why we were waiting (it just wouldn’t make sense to do the floors so early on when we knew we had so many potentially destructive projects ahead of us), but nonetheless, I envisioned towers of furniture, mounds of sawdust, and nausea-inducing fumes. Mainly, though, I was concerned about my own inability to maintain a sunny outlook in the face of clutter. Seriously, I don’t handle it well...

Actually, though, evidence suggests that perhaps I’ve matured a bit. Sure it was tough when I came home from grocery shopping last Sunday to find myself locked out and/or forbidden to walk in any room other than the kitchen…but luckily I had my US Weekly and a positive attitude to help bide my time while I waited for John to come home from the gym. Really, though, the anticipated sawdust was a non-issue, and even the fumes weren’t that bad. That said, John and David worked until almost midnight that night…they were two determined Capeces! And while they each insisted on pointing out any flaws that remained in the pretty damaged floors, I was quite happy in my ignorance. As far as I’m concerned, it looks shiny and warm and (did I mention?) shiny!

Not satisfied to have mastered the giant sander, this past weekend, the Capece Brothers revisited their trusty friend, the tile saw. This is because the long-neglected mud room (or perhaps pantry???) is getting a makeover. The details are still up in the air…including whether it will be a mud room or a pantry, but whichever route we go down, we know the space will include hooks, shelves and tile. It will be nice to have an attractive looking, easily-accessible storage area for all the seltzer water, match books and giant rolls of BJs tin foil that sadly don’t yet have a home.

Beyond all of this renovation progress, there has also been significant moving in progress. With the floors done, John has started moving the last of his things from his condo, and I was able to (yeah!!!) unpack my books. But you know, regardless of how many books we have, TV still rules in this household. John’s big screen made the trek to Smith Ave just in time for the Super Bowl (the Steelers won, right???). The TV has been joined in the family room by John’s couch and love seat which has been tried out in every possible configuration, only to have us settle on the very first set-up we tried.

So, if you’re lamenting the lack of videos and pictures, really, plan on coming by…you’ll really be floored.

Windows on the World

Holiday celebrations, sisterly visits, busy work schedules and illness (on John’s part) means that our updating to this blog is not taking place at nearly the pace that improvements are being made to our house. It is truly a completely different space than it was when we bought it. Then, if you had said, “Turn on the hallway light,” I would have spun around in confusion wondering what on earth you were talking about. Literally, there was no hallway. That has all changed. Credit where credit is due, I think it was Cousin Bill’s idea initially way back in the day to create a hallway. I have to admit, I nodded and asked probing questions to make it seem like I knew what he was talking about, but really I was baffled. You’re going to do what? But, at the time, I was enamored with the idea of a hallway, even if I didn’t know where it would start and end, or how it would be accomplished. Talk of this hallway has continued through all the projects that preceded it, and still I had no idea what this would entail or even what it would ultimately look like. Well, now I know…it looks like a hallway! But think about it…consider a space that has no hallway and think about just how you would go about creating one. It’s a bit of a mind bender, right? Basically, it takes a lot of sheetrock and a lot of vision, from as far as I can tell.

So, stay with me here…one space that included an oversized, enclosed room; a regular-size room that you needed to walk through to access the added-on family room; and a linen closet is now…a master bedroom with large closet; a guest bedroom; and an office (with a closet) off of a hallway that leads from the master bedroom down past the two other rooms, the linen closet and the bathroom into the family room. Really, trying to describe this is an exercise in futility, but I wanted to try to get it down because every day I feel like I’m forgetting a little bit more of what the original house looked like. Good thing John has endless video documenting the journey.

Yesterday also saw another long-awaited improvement. Our new windows were installed. John gave me the lesson yesterday in how to open them for cleaning. I’m not sure that I’ve ever cleaned a window in my life, and I’ve had some OLD windows…so, I’m pretty sure that these brand spankin’ new ones won’t need to be cleaned for a good long while, right!!??