Neil & Diana's home projects:

Today is Friday-April 25th. I thought I better give an 'update' on our happenings. I am so impressed with Julie's blog and her kitchen construction pictures! How exciting! We are in the process of getting our house up and ready to put on the market. WORK! WORK! WORK!

I can tell you 3 things I 'DON'T' like to do:

1-The smell of stain (painting); it's low odor but when it's too cold and I can't open the window,

well it doesn't smell bad, but it has a low odor.

2-Painting

3-Cleaning up the mess! UGH! :o/

I 'DO' like:

The great results from the 3 things I didn't like to do! :o)

In one of the upstairs bedrooms the closet door is 36-inches wide. That's not a normal door width. When you open that door it takes 1/3 of your wall space so nothing can be behind the door! We took off that door and are putting in a door that folds in the middle. Now you know why I 'don't like' the smell of painting the stain finish! The door looks great though!

I re-stained all the kitchen cupboards. There is a product called 'Pro Fin' by Dalys. It comes in 'satin' and 'gloss' finish. I use 'satin'. It comes in a pint, quart or gallon. A quart goes a long way! If you have wood stained cupboards and they are showing water marks or wear, take some steel wool and gently go over those areas. You have to wipe the surfaces very clean (dust and lint free). Then use the Pro Fin (open the can and stir really well, it has settling on the bottom) with a regular paint brush. Leave it on 5 to 10 minutes and then 'wipe off' the stain. It takes about 4 hours to thoroughly dry, longer in the rainy weather, shorter in warm weather. It brings the wood back up to the beautiful stain it once was. Sometimes you have to do two coats. You can wipe off the 2nd coat or leave it and it will be shinier. Works terrific!

I stained 'all' the window sills in the house and the door jams where they were worn. I did all 'three' of the bathroom cupboards. Hmm. Do I want to see a paintbrush again real soon??? NO!!!

Now I have to work on 'downsizing' all the rooms and de-cluttering and making our home look ever so spacious! I made new kitchen curtains and master bedroom curtains. They are not fancy but look nice. All this prep work just to put your house on the market and look ever so appealing! :o)

David, our son, is both landscaper for us and our real estate agent. He's working so hard! He pressure washed the roof and got rid of the moss. You have to spray 'before winter.' You'd think we learned that one! NOT! :o/ Then he's putting in more decorative brick walls in the front and along the side yards. We have to get more sand, dirt and sod to bring in. :o/ He has to paint the white trim again on the house and sand and restain the front steps. We hope to have 'all this done' by may 15th. If we are lucky, May 12th! AND, Neil and Kirsten and I are going to be gone for a week starting next week! Yikes! WORK! and more WORK! But 'it will' all come together and 'we will' finish on time! :o) I keep convincing myself of that! :o)

Below are some pictures that show the 'stain' on the cupboards, finishing the closet door, curtains in the kitchen and our bedroom and yard work.