Maple Me Crazy

I've been doing a lot of outside work on my house lately. It's a slow process. Very slow. There are so many weeds. Tiny, little weeds that take forever to pull up. You should see some of the root systems on these weeds too. I like laughing when I pull them up though because although the root system is large, it's really pretty weak and chinsy. They're fun to pull up.

I have a really nice plan for the front of my house. A Japanese theme. You wouldn't think that would fit Michigan, but it will. Another house in my neighborhood has a Japanese themed front and it looks really great. When I say Japanese themed I mean lots of rock, and small pruned trees. I got my inspiration from two small trees that are already in front of the house that look Japanese like. Then, I saw a gorgous red tree that looked like a marijuana plant outside of a house and found out it was a Japanese Maple. Look!

Today after work I needed to get some things at Home Depot and they didn't have any Japanese Maples. I went to a nursery close by and they had about 20 of them. The problem is Japanese Maples are really expensive. The cheapest they had was $99. Luckily my dad is able to get one for me from a lady he knows. So I can hopefully get a free one. I'm excited about that and the landscape work to come.

This weekend I'm hoping to paint the small bedroom and finish up changing out the electrical outlets. This blog is becoming like a home improvement blog, but I guess I can post about other things next time. Stay tuned.

No AC

I saw this article on Google about what to do if you don't have AC in your car. I think these are just stupid. You should pay the money to get your AC fixed, or sell your car and buy one with AC - plain and simple. A block of ice on your floorboard? I don't think so.

What to do if you don't have AC in your car

Some Pictures

I decided to post a few pictures of the rooms I've painted so far in my house. I've done the family room, dining room, kitchen, and 2 bedrooms. I still have the living room, hallway, bathroom, and one bedroom left to do. Hopefully you like it, I'm pretty pleased with the results!

I'm Back

So many things have happened since I last posted! First off, I didn't get internet until this past Tuesday so that's why there was no posting.

I have internet now, so I can post. I guess since the last time I posted I have officially moved in my house and am now living here. This past weekend Paul and Lindsey came up to visit and made it one of the best weekends ever. I had my housewarming party this past Friday night and a huge number of people showed up. Some people I didn't even know. I'd say there were around 30 people here at any given time. It was a lot of fun though.

I'm going to have to start posting some before and after pictures of rooms in my house. I have painted 2 bedrooms, the family room, and the dining room. I still have to finish the kitchen, living room, hallway, and small bedroom.

I've also been doing some outside work with the yard and landscaping. I want to plant a small Japanese maple in the front of the house. They stay pretty tiny and I think they look really cool.

I'll post more later, but I am back.

Green is Go

The green bedrooms are staying. I was going to paint them darker tonight, but realized do I really want to spend $60 and 10 hours or so going a shade darker? You're right: NO.

So they look good now. I think it will really become whole once my furniture is there. I move in tomorrow, by the way. The inside is starting to come together now. I have the family room painted in a warm grey with white trim. The fireplace looks awesome there with the grey brick around.

Tomorrow I will be taking pictures to show you the fruits of my labor.

I Though Being Green Was Good

The green idea in the bedroom is a mixed one. Nobody will flat out say they don't like it, and I think I've only had ONE truly positive comment. What I get in person is them walking around, and then a "hmm, it's kinda limey" or "hmm...it looks really bright in this light" or something to that effect. The reactions I get in person are someone basically walking around, and thinking VERY carefully about their response. They have to think how to plan a response that sounds neutral. So now when someone walks in one of the green rooms I just watch their face to see what they think. Those response that AREN'T really responses are the worst. Examples:

"It's green alright"
"It's different"
"It's bright"
"Well, you could change it later" - that's the WORST

I honestly don't know how I feel about it. Looking back, I wish I wouldn't have taken Paul's wife's advice and gone a shade lighter than I originally wanted. Even though I may be colorblind I can still pick stuff out. I've been to their house and all their colors were pale. I like a little darker. I may go darker.

I'm honestly still convinced once I have my dark brown/black furniture in there it will all come together. Blank rooms always look scary, to me atleast. The family room is coming along in grey with white trim. It's not as daring, so I think I'll have a more positive response.

All I know is this house isn't going to have any white walls. I saw Terissa today and told her she needed to come take a look and she smirked and said "I'm nervous for you". I asked her why and she said "well, you're colorblind and picked out colors...that's scary David" and then she walked away. Ooof.

I Need Your Opinion Below, But Here Are More Pictures

Here are a few pictures of the living room and one of the hallway looking down towards the bedrooms. This will all be painted "classic taupe". Behr lists this color as the most popular in all regions of the country. A nice deep beige looks really classy and clean to me. With white trim to make it pop ofcourse...

What's Your Opinion?

I've spent a lot of time painting. I'm taking my time, because I want my house to look good...fabulous actually. I took a BIG gamble with 2 bedrooms. I wanted a green with white trim, if you remember. Paul's bedroom looked really good in green. I had originally picked out a darker, more deep olive green, but was told by a wife of a co-worker (she came over and looked at the lighting) to go a shade lighter, since my rooms are dark because of large trees that shade the windows. So, I went with "grass cloth". I spent 2 days doing 2 bedrooms. One of them is 12 x 10, and the other is 13 x 10. When I first applied the paint I flipped out because it looked neon green. It dried darker, and in the back bedroom is turned out really good (I think). The front bedroom is a little lighter, so the green looks lighter in there.

I'm mixed. Sometimes I walk in the bedrooms and think it looks really vibrant and good, and then other times I walk in and think it's a nursery or it's way too loud for a bedroom. Here are some pictures. Tell me what you think...honestly!

..."To Make it Pop"

I'm a homeowner now. It feels more real and exciting as each day goes by. It feels so real because I got the first water bill in the mail today: $334. Apparantly the lady who lived here didn't think she needed to pay her water bills, and racked up $198 in late charges. The water bill comes every 3 months and includes water, sewer, trash pickup, yard waste pickup, and recycling, so $130 or so is pretty reasonable I think.

I have really nice neighbors on both sides of me (so far, I think). One set (Joe and Marge) are in their late 60's and have been living there for 30 years. I think that's a good neighbor to have (to keep an eye on the house). The other set is in their late 30's or so with 2 girls, around 11 and 13 if I had to guess. I can't remember their names though.

So far I've mowed the lawn and cleaned the gutters. The yard is bad, really bad. The landscaping and lawn needs major work. I also patched a hole in the wall tonight. It was the size of a broom handle, and it was in the dining room. I was really proud of myself. It took me an hour or so, but that's because every time I smoothed it out I thought I could do it a little better if I did it once more, and that became a cycle of insanity so I stopped after it was level and smooth. I also sanded down some other patches that were done previously.

I'm excited about painting. I have some paint colors picked out. I want to do the living room, kitchen, dining, and bathroom in a light brown/beige color. The family room I'd like to go with a light grey. For the bedrooms I'd like to do an olive green color (the one I picked is called Guacomole) for 2 of the bedrooms, and then a blue/grey color for the really small room. White trim throughout to make it "pop". I love the floors in this house too. The living room/hall/bedrooms are a light natural oak color with thinner planks.

If you have any paint ideas let me know! Don't let me know if it's yellow though, because I don't like that.

Are you wondering how the game convention was in Ohio. Let me just say that Ohio (yet again) is a collection of NUTS. Being in Ohio is bad, being a game convention just exacerbates the weirdness of those people. Seeing grown adults dressed up having sword fights and rolling around on the ground is sad...very sad.