Still sweating, still gaining equity

This mission of creating curb appeal has taken on a life of it's own. Much like the bushes that haven't seen a good trimming in over 10 years. Who am I kidding. It could possibly be 20 years. I honestly didn't know what I was getting into. And I'm still not done.

I gathered all the branches, then trimmed them to size and bound them with twine. I'm hoping the city will take them curbside. I'm not holding my breath, but at least they'll be easier to load onto a trailer if I have to borrow one. 

It doesn't look like a lot, but trust me... It takes up the entire hellstrip! And my accomplishment was very satisfying. 

Still need to find someone to take out the stumps. 

So then it rained and I did this:

And then it stopped and I thought to myself, "Quit now? Or carry on?"

Apparently, I'm a glutton for punishment because I spotted this little beauty, which I knew was bothering my neighbor. So... Why not!?

And because I don't know when to stop... 
(I think it looks ok...)

I finished my afternoon with these 2 little gems!

My next project is to bundle these branches, take them to the curb and hope like hell my tax dollars cover pick up!

In the meantime... I'm not ignoring this one, but I might actually need power tools to do the trick. 

You'll just have to wait and see!

Sweat Equity

So it seems as though history and weather repeat itself. And not to my benefit.

When I closed on the house in July of last year, we experienced a heat wave with heat indexes of 105 to 108. That was the weekend I had to clear the house out so the contractors could start. It was horrible (no AC at all, just a fan).

Just last week, we experienced another heat wave with heat indexes in the same range. And as I watched the over grown shrubbery continue to grow past the roof line, I knew I was going to have to brave the heat, suck it up and start hacking away. 

So less than a year after I became the owner of my happy little house, I finally saw the front of the house, as it was meant to be seen! It's adorable!! So much potential!

This labor of sweat, tears, scrapes and bruises was a mission of mine. For the past 11 months, I have complained to anyone who would listen that my house still looked abandoned. Honestly, it just really bothered me. I'm sure it bothered the neighbors as well. It looked bad and didn't feel safe. 

Originally, I quoted out the work, mainly because I wasn't sure I could physically do it. But $400 was a bit steep for my tastes. And besides...I have tools. I work out. I could do this. 

And so I did. 3 of the 5 bushes (or small trees at this point) are gone. You can see the house. I've never been so excited (which has increased my motivation)!!

Here are some before and during photos. The official "after" probably won't come until fall or even next spring (or whenever you plant things!!)

Halfway there!

Not to brag (or point out that I don't know how to ask for help) but I did this all on my own! On probably one of the hottest Sundays this summer. In fact, I think it was the first official day of summer!

Now to get this junk hauled off (I did ask to borrow a truck) and get the stumps taken out (I will have to hire that out... maybe). 

Which then leaves one very large lilac and one semi-overgrown lilac. Guess I like to work outdoors!! Challenge accepted!

Starting on the Yard!

Now that the sink is back and basically finished (I need to do paint touch up and the second round of caulking) I somehow decided it was a good idea to take out the bush in the driveway. And I do mean the bush was IN the driveway. A good foot into it. 

I had, once or twice, taken to hacking away at it. But I didn't really make a dent. Just took out some frustrations. Mainly due to scratches on my car! But on this, the first official day of spring, I decided it was time to get outside and take care of some things. And what a difference it made!! 

Before...it sort of made the driveway look trashy (and I found several beer cans and water bottles in that damn thing). It just wasn't very nice. No one could pull all the way into the driveway! Consequently, the north side of the driveway had a rut that got muddy. It's not a narrow driveway, but the bush from hell made if feel that way!

Note the arrows and the awkward parking job

After! I realize I need to get the rest of the weeds out, but this initial swipe at it makes it that more open. It's incredible!!

I've come to realize that when the original owners planted the shrubbery, they really didn't take into account that these shrubs and bushes grew...and got bigger unless maintained! Everything is planted so close to the house (or the driveway in this case). The last owners clearly didn't give a crap about the house OR the exterior, as seen in my blog from the beginning. Everything is over grown. To the point where I think the house still looks abandoned! Except the grass is "normal" height.

But I'm working on that. And with the help of friends, the hacking project went relatively smoothly until I realized...I need to borrow a truck. No way I'm cutting this up to put it in yard bags!! There are some things that just take too much time.

After the other shrubs bloom (viburnum and Korean lilac) I'll be taking those down (or out) as well. The lily's are starting to pop up. I wish I had some daffodils. Maybe some tullips. But that can all wait until next year. I'm sort of excited to see if my raspberry's come up again (I hacked those to the ground based on an article I read). So the yard will be quite interesting this year... to say the least.

It's all about progress and keeping up with it... that's the challenge!

Day 50 thru 53 - It's ALIVE (Ok, it's just WALLS)

When they told me things would move quickly, I didn't really realize just HOW quickly. And it's so exciting! I keep saying "this is so exciting" when last month I was saying "this is so stressful" but I really have no other words for it. Now that the stress of getting my necessary projects done, the colors picked out, the fixtures, the tile, the toilets...and almost all the painting completed, things are starting to take shape.

Even though it was a holiday weekend, it's also the weekend where appliances go on sale because the new models will come out soon. I bought my appliances from Sears, after I price shopped and did my due diligence with Consumer Reports (and walked out of Nebraska Furniture Mart when no one would wait on me). Then I cried when I paid the bill. Seriously. I didn't go overboard, I didn't get all the bells and whistles. I bought what I needed, what will fit, and I'm going to hope it looks good as well. 

I started looking at carpeting. That's all I can say about that. Other than I took pictures. Again, what's with all the damn choices?!

We also started to spruce up the yard. However, we still haven't touched the bushes in the front of the house. It's not the right time of the season to clean those up. But the choker weeds, and the rogue trees are now gone, and it looks cleaner. 9 yard waste bags later, it should. Thank you to Bob and Anthony for helping me. I had originally just wanted to borrow the lawn mower!!

I also remembered that I needed to paint the laundry room (opps). So I started that and will finish up in a day or two. Small room, one person job. Using the same paint as the front bedroom because I like it. It looks cleaner already (and I really am bad at taking "before" pictures!) Also thinking about shelving in the room. I struggle with that because all the walls are plaster and lathe...so I don't really know how to hang shelves. But I'll figure it out at some point.

So, without further ado... here's the attic space with WALLS. That's right, I said it. REAL WALLS! And so many choices for bed placement! Squeeee!

Looking towards the bathroom.

Remember when?!

Bathroom, where the vanity will be

Looking south, towards the back of the house