Puffer St. House Progress

Apartment Therapy Loves Our Nightstands!

2009-11-09T13:52:00.001-05:00

We were recently mentioned on the popular home design blog Apartment Therapy! They gathered five nightstand ideas that will fit into a 12" wide space next to the bed and ours were one of the five! Check it out here: http://ny.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/bedroom/5-nightstands-under-12-wide-099192

The last time I mentioned the master bedroom and our nightstands was back in July of 2008 so I think it's time for a new photo! Here's an updated shot.

To make the nightstands we bought a shelf from JCPenney and reconfigured it into two shelves to hang on the wall. They're just wide enough to fit our bedside lamps and alarm clock. Here's what we bought.

Our Backyard Wedding

2009-10-24T09:43:00.061-04:00

On August 1st we successfully hosted 40 of our close friends and family for our backyard wedding! We chose our own backyard for the location based on the fact that we wanted an outdoor wedding in the summer and we wanted the location to be somewhere special. We thought about renting out some outdoor location but in the end we thought, why do we have to rent out somebody's property when we own our own! Our house is so special to us and every project we've worked on together led us to our special day.

The ceremony took place in our house. We hired a pianist to play our antique piano as guests gathered in our living room and fireplace room to watch me proceed down our black and white painted stairs.

Food & Refreshments
We filled galvanized steel buckets full of ice and cold bottled coke and beer. We also provided bottled water, sugar free lemonade in a big glass pitcher, and a variety of wine. I bought all the wine glasses at Ikea because it was cheaper to buy them rather than rent them.

We decided that we would take on the task of cooking all of the food! Some might think we're crazy for deciding to do this but we really wanted the whole day to be memorable including the food. We refused to settle for catered food that was "just ok" so we opted for our most favorite dishes that also didn't require any heating besides the use of a grill for the chicken and steak. Guests enjoyed a menu that included a potato salad, a tomato-cucumber-onion salad with a lemon pepper vinaigrette, and grilled steak and chicken kabobs. Since we knew it would be a hot day, we made sure that the salads we made didn't contain anything like mayonnaise that could spoil in the heat. We rented a large charcoal grill for my uncle and dad to grill up the kabobs so that we could feed more mouths at once than on our regular gas grill.

For dessert, we took a less traditional route than a wedding cake and I baked mini dark chocolate fudge cupcakes and frosted them the morning of the wedding.

Tents & Tables
I had concerns about renting a tent because i was afraid it would eliminate so much natural light in the backyard and it would take away from all the hard work that we put into our landscaping and gardening. I discovered that renting a large tent would also cost more than just buying a few Tivoli gazebos from Target that we had to put together ourselves. So we opted for the gazebos and they looked beautiful. We put two in the backyard and one in our driveway.

We rented a few pub-height tables and white tablecloths to place under the gazebos. By choosing the pub-height tables and no chairs for under the gazebos, it allowed guests to feel free to mingle. We also rented a couple lower tables and chairs for people that preferred to sit. My mom and aunt decorated the tables with black satin ribbon and added a bow to each one.

Table & Food Set-up
Since we chose to have a buffet style menu, I set up the plates and napkin silverware bundles on one table near the food.
We bought plastic plates and utensils just to make the cleanup easier. The plates weren't your average plastic though. I found some great heavy duty white plastic plates with a silver trim around them that looked a lot like real plates. I also found plastic silverware that are actually silver colored so they also looked like the real thing.

I also purchased white dinner napkins and wrapped them around a pairing of silverware and tied a black bow around each bundle. I bought 6 sets of tiny chrome topped salt and pepper shakers and tied a tiny black bow around each pair and placed those in the center of each table. These were just a few touches that I think really made the day fancier and not just your average backyard bbq.

Flowers
We bought all of the flowers from Globalrose.com and they were shipped from Columbia two days before the wedding. There were a total of 16 beautiful bouquets that we rearranged and placed in wrought iron torch holders that we normally have citronella canisters in. The rest of the flowers were placed in vases throughout the house and on some lowers tables in the backyard.

The bouquet that I held for pictures was extra special to me. My mom and I picked the flowers for my bouquet from the others and arranged them exactly the way I wanted them. My mom wrapped the stems with a white satin ribbon and tied a small bow.

Invitations
My invitations were from Target on clearance for $7.49 per box! I only had to buy two boxes and I had plenty left over if I messed up printing them out. I had to come up with the layout for my text and a font and then I followed the instructions on the template for printing. They also came with envelopes for the invitations and reply cards with envelopes. I used the leftover reply cards for food description display cards for the food tables.

Off-Site Photos
One of the greatest surprises we've had since we moved into our home is how much we've grown to love the city of Lowell. So often newlyweds find streams and fields and waterfalls to take their post ceremony photos at but we're city folk and find the old mill city charm of the cobblestoned streets of downtown Lowell appropriate. We snuck away from the house after our ceremony inside and posed for pictures downtown.

My Dress
The dress I wore was the first and last dress I tried on and I didn't even go to a boutique to try it on!

I had my dress custom made from a seller on ebay. That's right, EBAY! All they needed were my exact measurements to make the dress from. It was shipped to me about 2 and a half weeks later in a bag. I tried it on and absolutely loved it. It fit like a glove. My mom and I made a few tiny adjustments to the front of the dress but there wasn't even a need for me to take it to a tailor for alterations. The dress has beautiful details and I know that the designer version of this dress (Jim Hjelm style: 8800) could cost up to $5,000!! I would never pay that much for a dress that I wore for 1 day. The cost of my dress was $155 including shipping!! I would recommended taking the risk of buying a custom dress on ebay to anyone. It's a gamble, but the amount of money it costs is definitely worth the risk. I ordered the dress months ahead of time just in case so that if I didn't like it, I still had time to shop for something else.

Cost
We planned everything months ahead of time and spent a lot of time gathering ideas and finding ways to cut costs here and there. So how much was our wedding you ask? The total was less than $4,000 and that's including my dress and hired photographers!

We had a lot of help from family to pull off the day and we couldn't have done it without their help! We were lucky enough to have perfect weather on the day of the wedding which was a nice surprise since all day the day before we had heavy rainstorms.

An Old Corner Hutch Gets a New Life

2009-09-14T18:45:00.009-04:00

Since we moved to our house we've been hanging onto a corner hutch that's been collecting dust in our basement. It was a piece of furniture that belonged to my parents originally until they moved and then it was stored from basement to basement...until now. We were about to put it on craigslist until we started measuring it to see if it might fit somewhere in the house. We discovered that it fits amazingly well in our living room! So with some sanding, priming, painting, new hardware and new glass, we have a new piece of furniture!

Here's an old photo I found of my brother and I with the old corner hutch behind us.....

Before: This is the hutch after we took the doors and hardware off before sanding it.

After: Here it is after in our living room. We updated the hardware to a brushed nickel finish and replaced the glass with ribbed glass panels.

New Living Room Seating Coming Soon!

2009-08-31T07:42:00.010-04:00

It's been a while since I've posted anything lately but that's because we were very busy with small house projects to spruce up our house in preparation for our small backyard wedding that took place on August 1st! I'll be posting very soon about how our wedding on a budget turned out to be a fabulous day!

In the meantime, we were in need of a new sofa in the living room. I made the mistake of buying an inexpensive sleeper sofa a few years back and the sleeper part has started to sag in the middle so when you sit down you sink into the couch. Not comfortable at all.

So we've been searching for a sofa for a few weeks now and we finally found a sofa, chair and ottoman that we love. We went with a different colored fabric than the one in stock so we have to wait until November (ugh) to get it. It's hard to tell what color the sofa pictured is but it's actually considered a "moss" color. We ordered more of a beige color though. Here it is!

We bought the set from Boston Interiors, a wonderful local furniture store. They have some really nice furniture and surprisingly the price isn't too expensive compared to other furniture stores. They also had a promotion going on for the end of the summer for $100 off or more depending on the total of your purchase. Our set was on sale anyway so it was a really good deal in the end.

Refreshing Stairway Overhaul

2009-06-08T08:11:00.022-04:00

We finally tackled a project I've been itching to get to and I love how it came out! We have a storage space under the stairs that had an accordion door on it. For a while I just put a curtain there to hide the door. But we decided to cover the space with beadboard paneling. We had a good friend of ours help us with it this weekend. The door is held on by a roller catch in the inside. I think it really makes it look fresh and clean! Check out the before and after.

After........

CustomPetCreations Unleashes a New Item!

2009-04-09T17:52:00.005-04:00

Bring your pet to the party! I'm proud to announce my newest addition to my CustomPetCeations etsy shop! I've started making hand sculpted wine charms featuring pet's faces.
Each wine charm has a distinguishing accessory sculpted from clay (i.e., different colored bowties, ribbon, or customer's suggestion). I modeled my first set of charms off of my dog Gary of course. I thought his polka dotted and solid colored bowties were perfect for him. Check it out! http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=23475358

Entryway Desk Area

2009-04-07T07:57:00.003-04:00

Our front door entryway area in our living room is almost complete. We have a little nook by the stairs that we turned into a little desk area. It's a perfect spot for the laptop and storing new mail. It's not completely done yet because we have to come up with a solution for some kind of doors so we can have access to our storage that is under the stairs. Right now I just put up a curtain but I'd like to put beadboard paneling there.

New Magnetic Knife Rack

2009-03-30T19:24:00.008-04:00

It was time for a trip to Ikea on Friday. Among a few other things, we bought the Grundtal magnetic knife rack ($8.99) to go with our other stainless steel accents in the kitchen. We put up some stainless steel knives and measuring cups.

Student Photo Project: "Pets.... and Their Owners"

2009-03-27T08:07:00.008-04:00

We had the opportunity to be part of a friend of a friend's photo project for a class she's taking at a photography school in Boston. She came to our house and took photos of the three of us. Here's how they came out!

Great Deal on Parsons Chairs!

2009-02-26T16:33:00.003-05:00

I scored two brand new wood and leather parsons style chairs the other day on clearance for only $24.99 for the pair!!

We put this chair at our new desk nook in the entryway area of the living room and the other chair is in a corner of our upstairs den.

I rarely go to Sears but I was there buying my first sewing machine and I saw these chairs up at the front of the store with clearance signs. They came as a pair in 1 box. They were very easy to put together. I love them!

Living Room Before and After

2009-01-10T13:19:00.003-05:00

Our living room transformation is complete!
Here are the gross before pics.... I'm not quite sure when "safari chic" was ever in style.

Before - Believe it or not, the picture above was used in the property listing when it was up for sale.

Before

Before

Before - Yikes, yes, that's a Hawaiian grass skirt hanging over the opening in the wall. The previous owners used to have a fish tank in that space.

Before

Drumroll please.....
Here it is after!

After

After

After

After - Our existing couch ottoman and accent chairs. Someday I'd like to replace the couch with a nice dark leather sofa.

After

After

After - Click for a closer look! The black and white house drawings I made are in the black rectangle frame.

After

After

After

Here's a rundown of what we did to transform the room:

Flipped existing ceiling fan blades to the white side.
Primed and painted all the window frames.
Sanded, primed, and painted the unfinished wood beam on the ceiling.
Painted ceiling white (it used to be the same pink semi-gloss color as the walls).
Painted walls a light yellow.
Painted stairway walls and ceiling white.
Replaced eyeball recessed lights in the ceiling with plain inset recessed lights.
Ripped up all carpet on the floor and stairs.
Sanded, primed, and painted the stairs a glossy black.
Primed and painted all baseboards.
Hired professionals to install and stain unfinished white oak hardwood floor.
We then decorated the space with our existing couch and accent chairs as well as a few new furniture pieces and accessories.

4 pillows -$24, Kohls
mirrored wall clock - $100, JCPenney
black square mirror - $29, Pier One Imports
vases - $24 Kohls and A.J. Wright
vase adornments - $2, Michael's
sisal rug - $29, Christmas Tree Shops
sisal door mat - $10, Christmas Tree Shops
3 black square frames - $30, Target
black rectangle frame - $7, Christmas Tree Shops
black console table - $50, Christmas Tree Shops
black end table - $40, Christmas Tree Shops
black tv stand - $99, Christmas Tree Shops
reading lamp - $50, Target.com

New Living Room Floor

2009-01-08T15:24:00.014-05:00

Back in November, we finally dealt with our living room floor and ripped up the stained berber carpet and had a professional install white oak hardwood floor. Here's a look at the condition of the floor underneath the carpet.

Before - in the process of ripping up the carpet.

After we got rid of all the carpet, the flooring guys delivered the unfinished wood a couple days before they were going to actually install and finish it.

Before - subfloor with unfinished wood that was delivered.

They installed the wood, and put two coats of the stain on in one day. Then they came back the second day to put a final coat on the floor. Total cost was $1240 for our 260sq ft space. I got a few more estimates from other companies and they were just about double what this guy charged us. Here's how it turned out!

After

We went with the white oak because we wanted to try to match the other hardwood floor we have in the dining room and fireplace room. Since we already had a perfectly fine subfloor, we just had them put the new hardwood floor over it. The only downside to that was that the fireplace room floor is now a slight step down from the living room floor. The flooring guy did a great job of beveling the edge so that the height difference wouldn't be as obvious.

After - beveled edge next to old hardwood floor.

Christmas 2008

2009-01-01T14:41:00.006-05:00

We had the right tree in the right spot this year in our newly re-floored living room!

Santa was good to us this year. We got a new stainless steel fridge! Ho ho ho!

Stairs - Before and After

2008-12-10T08:25:00.012-05:00

I have an update on our stairs!!! I'm so pleased with the transformation! Goodbye carpet, hello paint. It might be hard to tell from the before picture but EVERYTHING (including the ceiling!!) in the room was painted with a glossy pinkish paint that was terrible. I painted the stairway walls with a flat white, the spindles and risers with a glossy crisp white, the stair treads with a high gloss black Glidden porch and floor paint and the other living room walls with a very light cream color.

Before - We took this picture at the walk-through the day before we closed on the house. Gross!

After - New painted stairs with the new hardwood floor!

We removed the radiator cover and added a new black mirror over it. I got an unbelievable deal on the mirror from Pier One Imports. It was $119 originally but it was dinged up in a few places. All it needed was a little touch-up with the black paint I used on the stairs and it was only $29!!!!!! It's a really heavy mirror too.

Did you notice the new recessed light? We replaced all of the eyeball style recessed lights with the new flush recessed lights. It really made a huge difference in the room and each light was only about $6!

After - Closeup of the stairs.

We still haven't decided if we're going to paint the newel post and banister. I'm not sure if we would stain it to match the front door which we still haven't figured out what to do with. Ideas are welcome!!

Update On Our Living Room Progress

2008-11-06T19:03:00.013-05:00

Well, we've been moving forward with all the little living room projects. I tore up all the carpet on the stairs.....

After removing the carpet there were tons of staples that I had to take out. I also had to scrape each step to get the old glue off and then I used a palm sander to sand down the treads so they were smooth.
And then we primed the stair treads.....

We've also painted the walls and the window trim..... more pictures to come.
But lately I've been busy fulfilling custom sculpture/ornament orders from my etsy shop.
Here are a couple of the guys I've been working on.

I'm currently working on two Goldendoodle dogs named Molly and Abbie!

Our Staircase

2008-10-22T09:28:00.008-04:00

I couldn't wait any longer to see what was underneath the carpet on our staircase. Right now I'm in the middle of lots of painting. I finished painting the ceiling and a wood beam that runs across the ceiling but we still have to paint the walls.

Before - Beam and ceiling unpainted.

After - Painted beam and ceiling.

So I started to peel back the carpet near the top of the stairs and I'm very excited about the condition of the stairs! We plan on painting the stairs and not refinishing. I found that the stair treads are painted and they used to have some kind of a glue on them probably to hold some kind of an old stair runner.

The glue comes off really easily because it's old and flaky. So I scraped it off with a scraper and here's how it looked....

Then I sanded it just a little and wiped off the debris and this is how it looked.....

Here's a look at the small landing after the first step.

I was thinking of painting the stair treads, railing, and posts a glossy black and the stair risers and the spindles a glossy white. I love the way Anna at Door Sixteen's staircase looks and I think I might use that as inspiration.
I know this will take some effort to get them in shape to be painted but I can really see the potential and I'm very anxious to start the project!!

Getting Started on the Living Room

2008-10-18T08:10:00.003-04:00

I'm finally starting to tackle the living room. I haven't gotten too far yet but I have made a little progress. One coat of primer is now on the trim around the windows! It's the beginning of a long project that will include painting the ceiling and walls, ripping out carpet and having hardwood floor put in, and ripping off the carpet on the stairs and painting them.

I haven't done much homework yet on the cost of having new hardwood floor installed. I'm considering Home Depot, Lowes, National Floors Direct etc. I did call a local company and told them the square footage of the area is about 200 sq ft and that we'd need red oak to match the existing floors on the first floor. He gave me a quote of about $1300. I'm going to check with the other places I mentioned above. Anyone have any feedback to share about hardwood floor installation and about how much you think it might cost for our 200sq ft space??

Hopefully I'll be making some progress this weekend and I'll have some progress pictures to post! My fiance (yes its official, we're engaged as of a couple weeks ago!) won't be much help today since he's filling in for a show tonight as the bassist for a country band he used to play in a couple years ago. He currently plays in a band called Silent Service.

Let the weekend projects begin!

A Little Bit of Green for the Fall

2008-10-01T17:06:00.010-04:00

A few months ago I found these cute little ceramic pots for 19 cents a pop. About 2 weeks ago I planted some basil and parsley in them and I stuck them on one of the windowsills in our enclosed porch. It gets nice and warm in there during the day and pretty humid when its been raining outside. Perfect climate for my little experiment with the basil and parsley!

The day I planted them:

Take a look at them today! 2 weeks later and they've sprouted. It's fun to check on them every day and see how they're coming along.

Black and White House Sketches

2008-09-29T20:44:00.009-04:00

Although we haven't been making much progress on our living room transformation plans, I've been busy drawing and creating new artwork of our house for the house.

I haven't decided where I'll put my new drawings but I found some cute little frames for them.

See You Next Year Summer

2008-09-18T10:42:00.006-04:00

I can't believe how fast the summer went by! We've had so much rain this summer in MA that I feel like we barely got any great hot summer weekends to enjoy our pool. We already closed the pool last weekend :( Oh well, Fall is just around the corner and that means cozy nights with the fireplace and apple picking season! I can't wait to go apple picking and then make some yummy stuff!

Our morning glories finally decided to come out. We planted them a little late in the spring so we really weren't even sure if they would come out. We were pleasantly surprised when they came out!

Near the end of our driveway our Balloon Flowers came out too.

I guess we won't be seeing another dragonfly like this guy until next summer. We found him in the backyard last month.

I bought this little birdhouse/feeder last month for $2.99 at Christmas Tree Shops. I think it's so cute. The birds liked it too -for a while we had to keep refilling it every other day.

Our sunflowers are in bloom. We had to bring this one inside because it seems that a little critter or something is trying to eat them. Squirrels maybe?

New Azalea Bush for the Front

2008-09-03T08:12:00.005-04:00

Last Saturday Tyler did a little landscaping in the front of our house. We had a holly bush on either side of our front walkway but we wanted to switch it up a little bit and add an Azalea bush. He moved one of the holly bushes to the left side with the other one. Then he planted the new Azalea bush on the right side. I can't wait for it to flower next year!

Azalea bush

Holly bushes

Gary's Outdoor Cabana

2008-08-26T08:29:00.012-04:00

When I spotted this canopy dog bed from Pottery Barn I thought it would be perfect for our dog Gary. The price tag on this one ($199.99) is WAY too much though.

So Tyler decided to make his very own version of the canopy with some pieces of wood we had hanging around our basement! Then we bought a cushion that matches the others we have for our patio set.

Gary loves his cabana! Thanks Tyler!

I'm going to buy some material and make the roll-up shades for the top and sides to make it more like the canopy from PB.

And I might paint it brown to match our patio set.

Here's how Tyler whipped up the cabana in a night.

He started with a pile of wood and made a base that would fit the size of the cushion. Then he made a platform and added four posts. And lastly, he added the slats for the roof. Viola!

Ideas for the Living Room

2008-08-12T18:43:00.010-04:00

Our living room is the one part of the house we haven't done much too. Besides moving in the furniture we already owned and tearing down some ugly curtains, we really haven't done a whole lot with this room yet. Here are some pictures of our living room in its current state.

I've come up with my own moodboard for the living room complete with color choices, furniture options, and accessories. See below for an explanation of the numbered items.

I like the idea of a buttery cream color for the walls and white for the trim and baseboards. I think a pop of red will be a good accent color. And the greenish/grayish color is a color we already have in our sofa.
We currently have Berber carpet throughout the living room. After a little investigation, I discovered that there is hardwood floor underneath the carpet in the entryway area but not in the bigger area. If its in the budget, I'd like to have hardwood flooring put in that matches the rest of the hardwood floor. If we can't swing that, we might consider exposing the hardwood in the entryway/front door area and then re-carpet the rest of the bigger area with sisal carpeting.
We currently have faux wood blinds in a tan color. Rather than replace them, we'd like to keep them since they are a custom fit for the windows. All of our trim is currently a pine color. The picture in #3 above shows a room with the same blinds we have with white trim and yellow walls. This is how I'd like our windows to look.
The fan in #4 is the fan that came with the house. It's not my favorite, but I think it still works ok in the room. I just have to flip the blades over to the white side.
I'd love a leather loveseat like the one above. I think it would go well with the current sofa we have. JCPenney Everett Loveseat $479 63x38½x34¾"H
This tv stand would be a great addition to the rest of the furniture. Walmart.com Sauder Vinegate TV Stand, Antiqued Paint $129.94 43.54 x 19.88 x 24.21
I'd love to find one corner next to a chair or sofa where we could fit this end table in. Walmart.com Genoa End Table With Glass Top $63.88 18.47 x 18.47 x 22.56
The starburst mirror and the framed artwork represent some wall decor options. Walmart.com Metal Wall Decor, Starburst $19.96 & Target.com Tercet Frame $9.99 4x6
This lamp would add that pop of red to the room and it would look great on the end table. Pier 1 Fluted Teardrop Lamp $49.98
The pillows and vase represent some options for additional accessories that would complete the room. The pillows tie in the yellows, whites and darker shades throughout the space and the red vase adds more of that red element found in the lamp. Walmart.com Ceramic Vase, Sedona Red Glaze $19.97 & Pier 1 East End Floral Pillow - Sand $20

Our first step will be to prime and paint all the trim and baseboards. In the meantime, I'll just have to shop around to find the best deals for the stuff I like for the living room!

My First Painting of Our House

2008-08-12T07:23:00.002-04:00

I decided to make a painting of our house on canvas and here's how it came out...

House Tour: My Brother's House

2008-08-04T18:16:00.021-04:00

My brother and sister-in-law, who live just a mile away from us, own a gorgeous Dutch Colonial house built in 1907. All of the moldings, doors, and hardwood floors are original to the home. It has 6 bedrooms and 1.5 baths. My sister-in-law definitely has an eye for design as you can see in the pictures below. Enjoy the house tour!

Julia over at Hooked on Houses had a fun idea to have one big open house tour on August 5th all over the blogosphere! I joined in by posting the house tour above. Check out more house tours at the Hooked on House Tours: Blog Party Headquarters.

For a house tour of our own house, check out my before and after posts or check out the photos and slideshows on the right sidebar.