The kids and I are overhauling the living room. We've already pried off half of the 'barn wood,' and now we're beginning to work on those fake bricks behind the woodburning stove (which, after we reapir the wall will be replaced with some light gray stone tile). The barn wood areas (also after repairs) will be painted. I'm thinking a nice bright pale 'spiced pumpkin,' with a deep, pale, greyed-out blue in the hallway behind (thus this before picture; I'm really looking forward to how the orange and blue will play off of each other to differentiate the spaces...)

I'm outside the bedroom, touching up the wall. Cheddar is inside the bedroom, and decided that he didn't want to stay curled up on my bed because Interesting Things were happening out in the hall... things which he couldn't get to. It's hard to laugh and paint at the same time.

Here's what the den looked like after they dug the trench (about a foot and a half wide and a foot deep). As you can see, they also had to remove the drywall to a height of 32" from the floor.

A good hammer works everytime.

Lisa used the electric chainsaw to cut down the mostly-dead tree-of-heaven. A much more lively specimen (possibly with a common root structure) is to the right.

Finished Dining Room!

I decided to paint the boys room something other than white. They both really like blue, so we went with a soft sky blue. It looks darker here than it really is.

Now all that's left is to coat all the trim in two layers of primer and paint white to match the windows.

aux. gas shut-off valve.

We added a washer/dryer hookup in the small bedroom behind the upstairs bathroom while we had the bathroom gutted.

Ceiling buttons have been placed. I used 1 1/4" drywall screws and placed several along either side of the most major crack lines. Then I cut away a chunk of the loose plaster between them and filled in (liberally) with drywall compound.

Floor plan before the remodel. When previous owners added an addition they took out the wall of the old bedroom, added a closet and made one very long room.

Also the completed wall! Now my underwear, socks, shoes, and pants are in a different room from my bed.

Also please note the boring light blue paint. I repainted the bedroom(s) a few months ago because the bright green that I had painted it originally was "too much look" for prospective buyers. Makes sense, but still: boring.

The kitchen, over the sink.

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Paint swatches on the walls to help decide on the next color.

Installing the ductwork for this range hood was a giant pain in the ass from hell. Shoulda paid the pro's to deal with it. Ah well it's done now!

Yes, I do use the putty knife, but mostly I spackle with my fingers.

I am ze spackle monster.

Test fitting of the speaker stand.

I'm going to have to hang some draperies in here later today, but I figured I'd grab a photo of the view from our redone bathroom before it disappeared again.

we painted the cabinet our stuff sits on.

Folding door needs to be installed to the walk-in closet, electric outlets need installing.

There's few things quite like coming home to see that your closet has completely come off the wall, with everything pretty much on the floor.

Empty space and a bare wire and an exhaust pipe.

Now look at it!

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The matting on this painting is a lot purply-er than I thought. The color I had in mind isn't going to work but that other one will (see notes).

Once upon a time our bathroom floor had these small black and white tiles. I wonder if that was before or after the owners decided to go with a CEMENT subfloor.

Attic window prior to window seat installation and carpet. Windows by Windowpros out of Allentown. Window seat by contractor found on Servicemagic.com. Carpet by Royers Carpet out of Boyertown.

An herb garden, with parsley, rosemary, lavender, dill, thyme, oregano, and basil.

Most of the smaller stones have been removed from the wall, leaving a few very large stones. I haven't been able to pry them out but they are sandstone and many of the other smaller stones have broken already. I figure a few smacks with a sledgehammer will be able to break this down to size.

Don and Patricia can work together well as long as I am not in the picture--no pun intended. They are installing crown moulding into her bedroom.

Standing in what will be our kitchen...in April or May.