::Tuesday's House Building Progress 3rd Edition::

Whoa.

What happened to the last week?!

Sorry to abandon y'all.....I'll post about all the incredible news we got this last week as well as a million furniture flips I've worked on.

But tonight, I'm bringing you up to speed on da houz.

Last update (2 weeks ago) the Amish Dudes had just about framed the house in two days.

By that Friday, we had a house with a roof, windows and the ever lovely Tyvek wrapping.

That's 5 days folks.  5 days from slab to house.

Back view with my sweet covered porch off the kitchen.

Here's some of the inside handiwork those Amish dudes did....sweet arches throughout the downstairs! (and the corner walk-in pantry if yo look close)

Looking into the great room from dining area...that table looking thing will have open shelves on the great room side, and huge craftsman pillars to the ceiling on each side.

Cathedral ceiling in great room with fireplace at one end.

Looking down from the loft to the fireplace below.  The loft will be closed up because I have teenage boys, and I fear spit wads.

The past two weeks the plumbing and heating/air guys have been working inside. Nothing too spectactular to show you.  Think white pipes, metal sheeting and big black caterpillars weaving thru the rafters.  The did deliver drywall one day....I wanted to ride in the wee tiny black chair....see it?

Here's my hot hubby....inspecting the work.

Annnnnd......what male can resist dumpster diving when the dang thing is in your front yard?

He was digging out OSB for us to floor the attic over the garage.  And he might have been finding spare boards for me to paint up some cutie-patootie signs.

So that's my status report!  We should be in by mid-November at the latest.  

I'll catch you up on makeovers and other wild adventures I've had over the last week and a half in my next post.

::My Big News::

So my band of Paint Mavens have been doing pop-up vintage markets together for the past couple months. One gal who owns a shop has moved from her North Webster location to right downtown Fort Wayne!

Her shop is all cutie-patootie home decor, gifts and upcycled furniture....including my soap :)
Check out Emiley's Haute Cottage!

The shop is located in an old brick carriage house.  Here's the front (and the courtyard where we'll do our vintage market during Saturday's Grand Opening.)

But here's my great news!  The Paint Mavens are selling our furniture and finds in the upstairs of the carriage house!  Another Maven (Aimee of Restyled Vintage Designs) is a retailer for The American Paint Co, and her paint can be purchased there as well.  Her first 'Refunk your Junk' class is coming up!
Others are Cottage in the Woods, Foreverest Handmade Home & Vintage, and Revived. 

Here's a sneaky-peeky of what I'll have there from The Serendipity House:

You'll have to come Saturday to see them in their full glory :)

If you're anywhere around NE Indiana, this shop is definitely worth your time to stop.  All unique, one of kind items!  We're all thrilled to be joining together in this endeavor, doing what we love to do in a group of supportive women who all understand furniture hoarding and paint samples.  That's saying a lot.

I'm still fighting this sick thing, but slowly coming out of the fog.  Hoping to be 100% by our show on Saturday....would just love to meet any local readers!  Please introduce yourself if you stop by :)

::Tuesday's House Building Progress 2nd Edition::

I love the Amish.

I've lived near to one of their communities for 18 years....NE Indiana has the third largest population of Amish.  They have parking shelters at our Walmart for their horses and buggies.

You know what that means, right?

Suspenders.

Ok, and well, craftsmanship.

Last Tuesday we had this...forms, gravel over plumbing/electrical, heating/air.....all ready for the cement dudes.

See?  Cement dudes.  They had to use a conveyor belt thingy connected to that long tube thingy that reminded me LEEETLE too much of the birthing scenes in Aliens. Or maybe I'm remembering my own birthing scenes.  Either way.

So back to the Amish, yesterday morning the Amish dudes arrived in a muted rainbow of color and suspenders. They're making chalk lines to mark room divisions.

This shot, my sweet readers, is the first wall going up.  I.about.pee'd.myself, and I'm not ashamed to say it.
It's also the window for our master bedroom!

By last night they had the whole ding dang first floor done. They be wicked quick because they have special powers.  Bet you didn't know that.  It's the suspenders.  Or possibly the straw hats. Either way.  They have considered the ant, oh sluggard, for sure and for certain.

This next shot is from my bed looking out the window at the butt-crack of dawn this morning (like 6:15 no lie, not that I'm complaining) watching rainbow Amish dudes start on the second floor. I don't think they changed clothes from yesterday.

I now refer to them by their respective colors: Ecru, Washed Denim, Pine Green, Blah Gray.  I'm fairly certain there was a Pale Eggplant dude there at one point, as well as a Just-Shy-of-Navy, but I can't be sure.  There's also one 'English' dude (as the Amish call everyone else not Amish). He wears construction dude garb.

Annnnnnd.......BAM. Here's where we are tonight.  A house I can walk around inside and envision some decorating awesomeness in the near future!

BTW, we picked out appliances on Saturday.  Going with all white.  I'm not a fan of stainless, and I can't abide black.  Yesterday we picked some flooring....bottom is the laminate, then the carpet for bedrooms/living areas, and vinyl wood look for bathrooms.

I also picked lighting today, but it was so depressing I didn't get any pics.  We'll have a plethora of boob lights for most spaces in antique bronze, a couple cheesy pendants to match an equally cheesy chandy for the eating area and her evil twin for the entryway.  There was NO antique brass anywhere to be seen, so those will have to be changed out as Indiana enters the next decorating millenia...at which time the rest of the country will have moved on to shiny brass.  You know that's coming.

And that's a rap!  I'm fighting a cold or flu or some other annoying physical state, so I've not been to the garage to paint lately.  Hoping to remedy that tomorrow, even if I have to guzzle an entire bottle of nyquil tonight to get some sleep before Rainbow Amish Dudes awaken me with their musical saws and nail guns.

::Corner Cabinet Up-Do::

PSSSST...I'm no longer blogging here!

You can now find me at

www.acottagegirl.com

------------------------------------------------------------------

Meet Elinor.

Right out of a Jane Austen novel.

Elinor's before.

The glass was missing, so we just removed the door to use as something else down the road.

Like you do.

This is was my inspiration...from Heather Bullard's home I believe.

I used ASCP in Duck Egg for the interior, and a DIY chalky paint color match to AS Country Grey.  

It happens to be Sherwin Williams Relaxed Khaki.

 I also used American Paint Co.'s light antiquing wax on the outside, Maison Blanche on the Duck Egg.

Left the original hardware in Relaxed Khaki with no antiquing wax...you can see the slight difference the wax makes to the color on the doors compared to the hardware.

Elinor went to her new home after being listed for 20 minutes...

Think this color combo might be a hit :)

She'll be making the usual rounds with her Serendipity House peeps.  Parties go live when the girls arrive!
A Stroll Thru Life, Coastal Charm, Knick of Time Interiors, Cozy Little House, City Farmhouse, Farmhouse Porch, Elizabeth and Co., Craftberry Bush, Shabby Art Boutique, Common Ground, Jennifer Rizzo, Redoux Interiors, French Country Cottage, The Vintage Farmhouse, Rooted in Thyme, Start at Home, Stone Gable, No Minimalist Here, Domestically Speaking, Mustard Seed Interiors

::Tuesday's House Building Progress::

Finally.

(Our lot when we bought it in February.  We live just to the left behind the big fence).

I now have some progress pics on our new build.

If you want the back story on how we came to build in the first place, you'll have to read THIS POST.

So here we are 5 months after moving to our temporary home and the new build next door is FINALLY beginning.  Good thing I was sure this was all serendipity or I'd have pulled out every.last.hair.

So, 2 weeks ago, it was determined for the second time that the big 'ole pin oak needed to come down.  

I watched this dude perform a circus act getting those branches down.

I was so sad to see this tree go, but harnessed dude informed me the city would've lopped off tons of it soon enough due to encroachments on power lines.

Last Tuesday, they broke ground.  These pics are from my son's bedroom window upstairs.  Kinda fun to stalk the workers from a birds eye view :)  Here's the trenches in prep for pouring footers.

Pouring the concrete footers: 

And here we are one week later, and the foundation is ready for pouring the concrete slab. 

All the plumbing, gas, heating/air, and electrical that go in the floor are done.  They're bringing more gravel, then ready for the slab!  Once they start, it really gets going ;)

I promise not to bore you with constant house building updates.  How annoying would *that* be???

I will just post a progress pic or twelve each Tuesday.  

I've enjoyed posting furniture re-dos, and am so thankful I've had that endeavor to fill the frustrating time we've had waiting for our house to appear next door.  BUT, I'm really looking forward to getting back to some decorating posts....specifically having to do with making a new home feel 'old'.

Next week we go in to pick flooring, lighting and appliances.

I'll bring you along for the ride.

If you're good we'll get a Blizzard at DQ afterwards.

Thanks for hanging in there with me!

::Catching Up with 3 Before & Afters::

PSSSST...I'm no longer blogging here!

You can now find me at

www.acottagegirl.com

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Last week I got so ding dang busy finishing pieces I had nothing left when it came time to blog.

So tonight, you'll get a smattering of some of the before and afters I've done in the last 10 days or so.

Boom.

#1 Glenda the Good Witch Dresser

(Hubs said I shoulda named her Elphaba 'cause she's green)

Before:

Went to the ReStore to get some tacky brass oval back plates because I ruined the original hardware.

Don't ask.

Knobs from Lowes.

After I shook my puny fist at Hob Lob for selling out of the vintage-look green ceramic knobs I'd picked out especially for this color. 

#2 Page the Plate Rack

Found at a resale shop.

Knew she'd be pretty in ASCP's Duck Egg.  

I was right.

#3 Janice (sister to Janie)

I had a customer buy Janie, and wanted me to paint her vintage bed to match.

Here's where Janice started....3 coats of peeling, glossy paint.  

She killed my mouse sander.

I'm sure she felt bad about it.

Used the same colors and techniques as I did with Janie.

For the raised decorative thingy, I used an artists brush with the white paint I used for the 4 corner posters to highlight them a bit.

See?  A matching set :)

Ta Da!  I've got a few more too, but they'll have to wait for another day.

I have some really exciting news regarding my baby business that I'll share later this week!  

Things are really taking off, much quicker than I expected, and way more rewarding that I anticipated :)