“Everybody needs his memories. They keep the wolf of insignificance from the door.” ~Saul Bellow

So...

Last night, I sat here and scrolled through approximately 40k photos looking for a nice "before" photo of the living room.  No such luck.  I did see a whole bunch of cool photos I made when I was at school.  I had already passed almost all of them before I had a "Doh!" moment and exported a few to post on here.

Enjoy...

“Sometimes," he sighed, "I think the things I remember are more real than the things I see. ”
― Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha 


.

"You stay classy San Diego." ~Ron Burgandy

Ok...

So, here is the finished product.  The rooms turned out so well!  I am really impressed, although, we almost look too fancy now.

See all of our new artwork?  I purchased most of it at auction or at several different thrift stores we frequent.  And the two Charley Harper's were found at a yard sale.

I bought the Eastlake desk at auction and Pappy found the Tiffany-style stained glass lamp in the trash.  He bought the Oriental rug on Amazon.

We found the buffet on Craigslist (I wanted something fancier for the TV stand).  Jason's Xbox is all stored behind one of the doors.  He and Pappy modified the buffet to accommodate the wires.

I have this one so you can see the "custom stained glass inserts" above the television.  It was an art project Pappy and I put together.  Very cool and very pretty!  You can see how the living room, dining room and kitchen are an open floor plan.  Pappy and Mara had fun painting over the cabinets.  :)

Here, you can see the new blinds and curtains.  Pappy even chose a Shepard Fairey for over the mantle.  I love the colors!

Here's another good shot of the art...I think I snuck one or two of my pieces in there, too.

This is a little peek down to the foyer.  The stairwell is really weird, with different levels on which my mom has several different collections displayed.  I'll work on documenting those in the spring...when we have the foyer painted.

I've been collecting all those cool wooden boxes and cigar boxes from Goodwill.  Quite interesting and inexpensive!

We've had this Hoosier cabinet since I was a baby.  Pappy acquired it from an estate when we lived in Ludlow.  It looks even more beautiful up against the new paint. 

The rooms look enormous now.  It's amazing what a change of color can do.

The color really brings out the white cabinetry. 

Overall, it looks like a who new house!  Pappy hinted around that he could use these photos...for when he puts the place up for sale. 

Hey, wait a minute!!


.

“If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities.” ~Maya Angelou

So...

Several months ago, Pappy started researching prices on laminate hardwood flooring for the living room.  The carpet in there was pretty sad...along with the carpet on the stairs.  I mean...who in their right mind puts WHITE carpet in a house...the WHOLE house?  Needless to say, the 15 years we have lived there has compounded the situation. 

Well, I told him, since he was replacing the flooring, the walls needed to be painted, also.  Which lead to new art, new curtains, new room size rug, new furniture, new blinds....

So, I decided I was going to document some of the progress here.  The only thing I forgot to do was take a photo of the very beginning of the process.  A "before" photo.  You know, the old art, sofa, carpet, etc.  Well, I spent an hour tonight looking through the 17,000 photos on the hard drive I carry with me for some kind of photo showing all of the above.  No such luck.  I DID find one from 2013 with the old sofa...and Emily and Pappy.

See how boring and dull the wall color is?  And "not white" the carpet is?  I found another photo of the mantle, and the art that was hanging over it, before the makeover.  Oh yeah, Mara and Dylan are in the way, but you can still see the art.

I should have started documenting with the painting, but alas, I'm a loser and didn't think of it.  Mara and Pappy did an awesome job, didn't they??! 

Well, here are the photos of the new flooring being laid.  We already had the art on the walls to keep from having to move the furniture around on the new floor. 

 
The installers pulled up the old carpet and carried it outside in less than 15 minutes.  I couldn't believe how fast that part went!

Then came the first piece of flooring!

It was so exciting!  I couldn't believe how quickly the floor was installed.  The two guys were fairly efficient and had a large portion down before we ordered pizzas for everyone...and I had to get some sleep.

They were there until about 9pm but didn't get completely finished.  The lead guy came back the next day to install the quarter-round molding and the transitions between the bedroom carpeting and the laminate.  There were some hiccups, (they forgot to send the molding and the bullnose for the stairs - but Pappy sent "Jason the Enforcer" up to Lowe's to get them...at no charge) but all-in-all the living room turned out REALLY nice.

There was another installer for the carpeting on the stairs.  I don't have any photos of that, yet.  Pappy wants to have the foyer painted, also, but that is going to have to be done by someone else.  There is no way we could do it ourselves...the entryway is open 2 stories and it will require scaffolding.  There is no way anyone in our house should EVER be up on scaffolding.  EVER.

Tomorrow, I will have the "after" photos.  It has been quite the transformation!

“How does one become butterfly?' Pooh asked pensively.
'You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar,' Piglet replied.
'You mean to die?' asked Pooh.
'Yes and no,' he answered. 'What looks like you will die, but what's really you will live on.”
― A.A. Milne

Did I kiss all the cowboys?

Okay...

Why do I keep finding all of these miniature liquor bottles in almost every parking lot in Greater Cincinnati?  It's kind of frightening if you think about it....

(They're only a mouthful....)

Hair of the dog?

Earworm of the day....

You're welcome!!!


.

"Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew ya...." ~Leonard Cohen

Well...

This will be (yet) another demonstration of just how bored out of my mind I am while I am at work.

You take a somewhat expensive piece of professional photography equipment, a tissue box for a tripod, a Lysol wipes canister for a fun surface, (ugly) overhead fluorescent lights and 50 cents worth of miniature rubber dinosaurs (they came in a plastic egg and each is about the size of a quarter).

Voilà!

Hey...at least I'm not over here weaving pot-holders (Okay, okay...I've done that, too.)  Putting that BFA to hard work! 

Here are all of the "portraits" of the herd - is it referred to as a "herd"?

The freaking hardest part of this "assignment" has been trying to get the white balance anywhere near normal (and consistent).  

The guys were very patient with me while I was experimenting.  They held their poses while I fiddled with aperture settings, focal points and such...

See how the dude on the right wouldn't stand still?  It was like he had ants in his pants!  I think he was doing it on purpose, ruining the shots - smart aleck.  There's one in every crowd.

I remembered that I had my little swatch of green carpet in my bag...kind of looks like grass...

These are the party scenes.  They wanted to make sure I captured their festive personalities.  All we needed was a DJ and a disco ball...

Phil was helping...isn't he majestic??

Geez...I am losing my mind....

On a COMPLETELY unrelated (and more rational) topic...I heard this tonight.  Holy shit-snacks!  They give me goosebumps...

Yowza.
 

"I want to be the one to walk in the sun..." ~Cyndi Lauper

So...

I just have a few photos from my latest adventures about town. 

Enjoy...

“It is the flag just as much of the man who was naturalized yesterday as of the men whose people have been here many generations.”
~Henry Cabot Lodge