I’m Handy (In 3 Parts)

>> Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Part 1: The Kitchen.

Back in 2007, we bought our first house. The SAME DAY we moved in, we tore apart the kitchen. That was a crazy summer: bought our first house, worked on a big kitchen remodel, AND trained for IM WI that September! Never. Again. (Matt helped with the plumbing and electrical. Thanks again, Matt!)


Before moving in.


The night we moved in.


After.

One more “before and after:”





Part 2: The Guest Room.

Over my spring break this year, I worked on our guest room. It used to be a blue and red “boy’s room,” and we made it “cuter.” It was also the room with the nastiest floors in the house, so we got those refinished before starting the rest of the room. Check out these “before and after” shots:


Before: nasty shelves and beat-up floor.


After: shelves down, holes patched, sexy refinished floor.


Before: fixure on wall was broken (but had power).


After: new fixture.


Before: nasty all around.


After: cuter all around.

Part 3: The Porch.

You heard me say it all summer: “I got home from my 30 mile ride, and got to work on the porch.” Or “the porch is getting closer and closer!” Well, we wrapped it up a few weeks ago (just before the TC Marathon and TC 10 Mile). Here’s the progression through the summer:


Before.


Before.


Removing the drop ceiling. WHO WOULD PUT THAT PANEL CEILING OVER THAT BEAD BOARD?!?


Tearing down the white paneling. Gross.


Tear-down complete.


Patching holes.


Trim done, ceiling refinished, old carpet up, new windows installed.


Painting all 4 sides of 136 pieces of wainscoting.
Driven to drink.


Drywall up, primed, painted. Notice the sexy ceiling!


108 strips installed in order to put up the wainscoting.


Done! With new furniture!

So, one last “before and after” pairing of how I spent my summer of 2009:


Before: gross!


After: sexy!

To see more photos, click here to see my Facebook album called “Front Porch Remodel.”

Oh, one last “handy” thing: on Sunday, Pharmie and I juiced about 4-5 dozen apples from her parents’ farm. Here’s the majority of the juice cooling on the stove after a gentle boil:


You can see some steam rising on the right.

That made our house smell GREAT! (Better than any of the remodels made our house smell! Ha!)

One last thing: any locals interested in hitting the track Saturday morning at 9? I’m thinking that will be my last hard workout before next weekend’s Monster Dash 10 Mile.

29 comments:

Lindsay 6:50 AM, October 21, 2009  

you are hired! i can offer you a warmer winter climate down in south carolina in exchange for such handy work and sexy remodeling... you may even run into george hincapie ... c'mon, you know you wanna!!

Jennifer 7:02 AM, October 21, 2009  

Wow! Is there anything you guys can't do? Nice work.

Unknown 7:06 AM, October 21, 2009  

You are a seriously amazing remodeler! I can't believe you did all of that! Can you work on my future house?

Maria 7:27 AM, October 21, 2009  

amazing, simply amazing!

Rebecca 7:32 AM, October 21, 2009  

nice job on the self remodel! but very important question: where is the refrigerator?

George Houston 7:49 AM, October 21, 2009  

I need you to come by my house and teach me a few things. Great Job!

Georgia Snail 8:11 AM, October 21, 2009  

I was wondering about the fridge too.! Is it on the wall across from the dishwasher? Lurve the porch btw....

Missy 8:16 AM, October 21, 2009  

Wow, that looks great. Looks like a total pain in the ass but gorgeous. I'm totally camping on your porch. I love that!

ItchyBits 8:38 AM, October 21, 2009  

bead board ceiling - total score - what is wrong with people!!!

Runner Leana 8:42 AM, October 21, 2009  

Wow, the remodels look great! You and Pharmie have obviously been working really hard. Love the bead board ceiling! Drop ceilings...shudder....

Steve Stenzel 8:47 AM, October 21, 2009  

Rebecca and GeorgiaSnail:

It was an "eat-in" kitchen even though there was no storage space. So we moved the fridge to the area that was the "eat-in" part, which is across from the new location of the stove. You can BARELY see the corner of the fridge in the last kitchen photo (to the far left).

Kim 8:54 AM, October 21, 2009  

wow how do you find the time? all the rooms like AMAZING. great job steve!

jen 9:16 AM, October 21, 2009  

Beautiful!! Well done. I love it

cdnhollywood 9:17 AM, October 21, 2009  

...where's the glitter? :)

Sun Runner 9:31 AM, October 21, 2009  

I'm a survivor of an 8-month long dining room overhaul myself. The end result is amazing, but the journey sucked. Who paints over original Arts & Crafts-style oak molding??? Idiots.

Regina 9:45 AM, October 21, 2009  

so what can't you do? I'm gob smacked. That is a fantastic job all around and I love the green room (my favorite color).

Add some slices of orange peel and cinnamon to that apple cider on the stove and your house will smell even better.

I do need some windows replaced...

kristen 10:09 AM, October 21, 2009  

Beautiful work!! My hubby and I are remodeling our house too. Lots of work, but so worth it. The first night we ripped out all the carpets. Nasty!! The kithcen will be our last $tage. Love the porch!!

kristen 10:14 AM, October 21, 2009  

wow- you ARE handy. I love the porch!

Bootchez 10:25 AM, October 21, 2009  

I especially love the porch . . . the ceiling is SUCH a find!

B.o.B. 12:11 PM, October 21, 2009  

wow! that looks great! seriously, kudos to you all. i am impressed. i'll know who to call for all my remodels now. sweet!

NC Kate 1:45 PM, October 21, 2009  

Wow! Did you replace the porch windows yourself? I'd love to get new windows for my drafty barn of a house. I'm so impressed!

Coach Liz 2:28 PM, October 21, 2009  

Can you come finish the painting project that my husband started Labor Day weekend in our breakfast room and has yet to complete?

I pay well and there is a pool and ample roads to train on. Pharmie can come too.

Darcy Franklin 2:59 PM, October 21, 2009  

Very impressive! If the whole photography thing doesn't work out for you, we've got a few projects over here for ya!

Oh, and I thought this post was way too clean that when I saw the yellow stuff in the bowl I thought for sure you were showing us how dehydrated you were.

Badgergirl 3:03 PM, October 21, 2009  

Nice job on the remodeling projects!

Beth 7:28 PM, October 21, 2009  

Great work on the house! Now you get to enjoy it!

Irish Cream 7:35 PM, October 21, 2009  

Wowsers! That's quite a lot of remodeling--and it all looks AMAZING. You are handy indeed! Dang, what aren't you good at?! :)

Carolina John 9:24 PM, October 21, 2009  

it's all looking good brother! I'm a remodel junkie too, so i know quality sexy work when i see it. Well done dude.

Melissa 10:54 PM, October 21, 2009  

Holey cow you guys are great! My favorite is the porch, I love the way it looks "After". Want to come to Boulder and do some work at our place? :-)

sRod 1:40 PM, October 23, 2009  

Damn, that is some serious haniness. Good work on all of that. If I had a house I might fly you in just to help.

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