Home renovations are wearing me thin

Well, I haven’t updated for two weeks, partly because I’ve been really busy, and partly because there isn’t much progress to report.

Last weekend, my dad went to Maine for the weekend, so pretty much nothing got accomplished, since everything that’s left to be done is awaiting his expertise. Also, Adam didn’t want to do anything, and I had a hunter pace on Sunday, so…nothing.

I did do a TON of cleaning in the evenings after work last week, though. I wiped the inside of every cabinet and drawer with bleach. That was pretty gnarly. It was like the former occupants spilled oil inside every single cabinet. And had a food fight with spaghetti all over the house...

The newly cleaned and polished handles are back on the cabinets; however, the countertops still remain covered with random tools, paint cans, and trash. UGH!

Also, put up curtains, which need to be hemmed (because nothing can ever just be DONE):

Cleaned the shower with excessive amounts of bleach and installed some fixtures in the bathroom:

This weekend went very much the same way. Saturday Adam was busy, and my dad showed up at the house while I was running an errand (because after 3.5 months of doing nothing but working on the house, god forbid I have to do anything other than work on the house once in a while), so he turned around and went home because I wasn’t there. So, the appliances remain unhooked up, and we still don’t have electricity in the bedrooms.

I did get the kitchen pantry painted, though:

The photo was before the second coat, so it looks even better. The walls were so gross in there. Adam sanded down the shelves to make them shiny and new. I also painted the bathroom shelves since they were also dirty (like every other surface in the house).

I also painted the window frame and door frames in the bathroom since they were scuffed and dirty.

Here’s Adam, hard at work:

There’s crap everywhere, as you can see. I’m sick of it.

Here are the killer zombie weeds which have sprung up all over the damn yard. Also, the lawn got mowed on Saturday, so that’s one thing, at least.

Luckily, my dad did get over on Sunday to mow down the bamboo.

Anyway, I’m seriously losing patience and seriously broke. I am about ready to put the house back on the market. There’s still so much left to do and no money left to do it, everyone’s burnt out, everyone’s got an attitude, everything always goes wrong, and I can’t take it anymore.

Here’s all the crap I’ve been spending money on lately:

-curtain rod, bath fixtures, three floor lamps, clothing hangers…$84.46

-returned a door stop…-$3.78

-bathroom cleaner, shower cleaner, toilet cleaner, felt pads for furniture feet, Mr. Clean Home Pro, screwdriver, door bumper, razor blade scraper, dowel for closet, weed killer, a machete (that was all Adam’s idea)… $37.68 (because I used $44.12 in gift cards)

-a nightstand and a clothes rack from Target…$20

-I got $100 off my fridge because of a small dent in the side! so -$100

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$8653.57 spent on renovations (and I haven’t even been adding monthly electric bills and property taxes and home owner’s insurance…wahhhh)

Also bought $300 worth of stuff at Lowe's last night, but I don't have the receipt at the moment, so I'll add it on to the next post.

Getting the ball rolling / sneak peek at interior

Adam got the ball rolling on the house today. We have an appointment with the electrical inspector tomorrow. You can’t get the electricity turned on in a house that has been unoccupied without a wiring inspection, and we need electricity to start working on it. The inspection fee was $40.

We are having a 30-yard roll-off dumpster dropped off tomorrow so we can start clearing the debris out of the basement. The cost for the dumpster is $200, plus $85 per ton. I won’t add the tonnage into the costs, yet, since I don’t know what it’ll come to.

Anyway, blah blah blah, onto what you’re all dying to see: photos! These are just the teaser photos—the blurry photos from the real estate listings.

Doesn’t it look so cute? The nice green lawn makes a difference.

Here it is again. Our driveway is unpaved.

Did I mention we have a half acre lot? I can’t wait to start a garden!

Okay, and now what you’ve all been waiting for: interior photos!

Here is the kitchen.

It looks so much better in the picture than it does in person. The border going around the top of the walls features these creepy Animal Farm-esque bipedal dancing pigs. I can’t have boogeying bovines in my kitchen, so the border’s gotta go. The stove seems pretty nice; it’s electric with flat burners. I’d like to replace the countertop and the sink, but the cupboards are fine, albeit dirty. There’s even a Lazy Susan. I think new handles and some wood polish would bring these cupboards to life.

I would like to tile the space between the cupboards and the countertop with turquoise tile, but I’m not sure if it’d be too much in an otherwise unassuming kitchen. I’m thinking we may have to keep the walls a flat white. Does anyone have any suggestions for what color paint would work for this kitchen’s walls?

Here is the largest bedroom in the house.

The carpeting is no longer in the room, so try to imagine it without it. You can’t see in this picture how stained the walls are. I was thinking of painting this room a neutral oatmeal color or else something bold like olive green. What do you think? I’m not sure yet if we’re going to recarpet the bedrooms or pergo them; I guess it depends on the price. But this room will most likely be our bedroom. The closet is a good size too, with built-in shelving.

So now you’ve seen the inside of our igloo (I say igloo because there’s still no heat on…brr!). I need decorating suggestions! More “before” photos to come, don’t worry.  This weekend we will sally forth into the gloomy perils of The Basement, so you will get to see the real scary stuff soon. ‘Til then!

By the way, the running total is now $1411.

The Madness Begins: Who We Are

About 8 months ago, I had the bright idea that I’d like to buy a home. I could build equity for less than I’m paying for a rent and I’d have my own place. Of course, it was not this simple. After seeing house after house, we (my boyfriend, Adam, and I) realized the disappointing reality that there weren’t many houses in our price range that didn’t reek of cat urine.
Finally on Dec 31, 2010, we found the right little place. It did, unfortunately, smell like cat pee but we felt it was a diamond in the rough. A small and filthy diamond in the rough, but a diamond nonetheless. We have months and months of work ahead of us—and you’ll see why—but first, let me tell you a little about us.
This is me:

My name is Emily and a lot of my friends call me Diggs (hence the name of the blog). I’m 22 years old, I graduated from Boston University with a degree in History, and I like unicorns, elephants, and the Russian Revolution. I have practically never even held a hammer, never mind renovate a house.
This is Adam:

Adam is 26 years old and grew up on his family’s farm in Minnesota. He has a great sense of humor. He likes whiskey, fast horses, and has some impressive carpentry skills. He is also a newly diagnosed type-I diabetic (he found out less than a year ago, at age 25) and it has been a major adjustment in his life. Adam has worked in carpentry and kitchen remodeling, so he has an idea of where to start with fixing up our house.

Adam and I met in California a little over two years ago. He was working at a large horse ranch as a wrangler, and when my friends and I decided to rent some horses while we were on spring break there, Adam was our trail guide. I’m convinced it was love at first sight, as we flirted for the entirety of the ride he took us on (to the annoyance of my friends who were also along for the ride). A few cross-country weekend trips and an expensive phone bill later, Adam moved to Boston and neither of us have ever looked back.

We currently live in southeastern Massachusetts and are eager to start our renovation project together.