(I’ll have to check into why some of you haven’t been receiving my blog posts each day!)
We did it! We finished the painting in the house and it looks fabulous! So clean, so bright, so fresh, so updated, so modern, and much more cozy!
The tinted primer you saw in my pictures was a much darker color than the actual paint color, Assessible Beige. (Don’t know why it was) the actual top coat paint is a very soft and warm color that looks modern but doesn’t have that khaki tan tone to it.
All the spots and bulges and spackled areas are a thing of the past now!! We were surprised and relieved at how well the rooms turned out. It’s a 1948 house and there were so many dried paint drips and runs and layers and layers of repaired plaster, it’s just a miracle it looks decent.
It even has a little built in phone area! My hubby was kidding one of the girls telling her he could put in an adaptor plug so they could charge their cell phones there. I told her she should look for an old black rotary phone or a pink princess one! :o)
Here is a wavy panoramic shot of the big bedroom…
Aren’t those windows wonderful? We had the spot lights on as we were trying to see where we were painting on it.
…and one of the smaller bedroom…
The girls moving in HAD seen the house before it was even touched by us and came in today to see how things were coming along. They are thrilled and it wasn’t even finished yet…when I hang some curtains and we get the outlet covers on and the doors put back on their hinges it will really be fun to see their faces!
Here are a few pictures…
Before…
…and After:
Before…
…and After:
(Yes, the windows are still missing a piece of trim to be completely finished, but that’s for someone else!)
When we got home it was almost dark and Reuben kind of gave us the stink eye after his first initial greeting! He went over to the couch and faced the wall… wouldn’t even look at us when we called his name. I think he’s experiencing “abandonment issues!” :o)
Also, I ordered some tiny 3mm metal buttons in a few assorted colors, some mini doll buckles and some mini magnets.
I’m ready to give them all a try…
The buttons and buckles on a purse or some shoes and the tiny flat magnets for doll strap closures!! I’m really hoping the way I am thinking of using them will work. I’ve always loved “miniature” things so these are right up my alley!!
Today was our longest day yet…9:30 till 9:00… and I’m dragging from doing this for 4 days…so tomorrow might be a slideshow!
Thanks for chatting with each other today! Thank you again, Anne, for all your quilt pictures!! They are SO pretty!
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
Those rooms turned out beautifully! I remember those little phone cubbyholes–I never lived in a house with one, but I think Aunt Ethel and Uncle Arvid had one in their house, and possibly someone else, too. The little slot under the alcove was for the phone directory, of course!
Those are Really tiny buckles, buttons, and magnets, Jeanne! Yup, I’m sure you’ll find uses for them. I think the magnets would work great to fasten purse flaps and such, also.
Joy, thanks for sharing your latest dolly caper with us!!
Oh, I meant to add, it used to be I would get TWO of your blog posts every day, one from jeannewiedlocher@gmail.com and one from donotreply@wordpress.com. The one from gmail.com no longer comes to my inbox. So for those who aren’t getting the blog, maybe going to the wordpress addy and signing up again will be what you’ll need to do. Just a thought.
It’s good to know that I’m not the only person not receiving your blog in my email, Jeanne! I haven’t received any since Saturday, so I do what Anne does. I keep the latest one I received, and then open that to find the newest blog. Hope you can figure out what is going on!
Well that room is just perfect now! The girls will love it, and I see that they already do! What a difference a week makes when you and George are the workers! That phone niche is really cute, and I have lived in places where they have them. Especially when you are as old as I am!
Your new sewing accessories are really tiny little things that I could never really work with. I can’t iimagine sewing those teensy buttons on anything! For one thing, the needle would have to be so tiny, that the hole for the thread would be almost microscopic! But yes, to those being very useful for you, and I’m sure the right outfits will come along so you can use them.
WHOO HOO! I got your email this morning😉 Those tiny buckles and buttons are sweet! Some itsy doll is going to have some cute accessories.
I got my coffee, zucchini muffin and another muffin for Mike and was ready to enjoy your blog but as I walked toward him with 2 plates and a coffee cup they went whacky and I got dosed with hot coffee😳 That will wake you up! So coffee soaked muffin and coffee all over and hubby cleaned it up while I got ice on my hand. All better now🥴.. not trying that again.
The rooms you brightened, cleaned, repaired, speckled, painted look perfect! All your good deeds will be so enjoyed by the girls and anyone else that uses them. Is it possible to take a day of rest for you two?
Joy.. maybe try the opposite idea for the doll coming USPS and tell other person to watch for it ….how long you have had to wait …and what it is like. He may get excited about it coming from France too…or am I dreaming?
No company today… so maybe a few dolls will get finished. Have
Oh, I hope you are alright, Kathie. Scalds are definitely no fun.
Oh, so clean and fresh. Here I thought the little metal things would be mini blinds. But, no, tiny things for dolly outfits. Fun.
So, when will the carpet people arrive? They had better be very careful putting it in and not nick up the walls or a couple of people will be after them. 🙂
And the phone niche is so memorable. With the phonebook slot, the lady of the house is all set to give a number to the operator. That is if the party line isn’t already in use. 🙂
Petunia from France is out for delivery. Definitely will be caught with this one as she is coming with the regular mail that other person stalks. Ugh.
Hope Jeanne and George can still walk this morning after all those days of going up and down the ladder. Lots of work, but the result will be so appreciated by the new residents. 🙂
Looking forward to hearing how Petunia makes it in. I guess other person never sees the bills for these sweeties, so if you can smuggle them in you’re home free. Kathie’s idea was funny, but I doubt he’d go for that. LOL
Btw, my kitties favorite doll is a wonder to me. She was purchased NRFB just as my others. The only difference is I re-wigged her with a new AG wig.
Maybe they like that she is a custom and unique.
Dear Jeanne, I would say it is time for you to take your show on the road but you have already done that (laugh). So I guess it’s time for you to actually have a TV show.
I am sure that the young ladies will be very cozy in the updated space.
I’ve been getting the blog posts with no issues right along. The one that comes to my inbox says “I Dream of Jeanne M” (the wordpress one) and the other comes to my promotions folder and just says “Jeanne” and that’s your gmail one. .
My great-aunt’s house had one of those phone niches in the hall. She had a phone bench to sit on by it. I actually still have the old black rotary phone that was in my grandparents basement. Used it in my own basement as the downstairs phone in the laundry room.
The house turned out so nice. I’m sure the ladies will be pleased.
Poor Rueben, he will need some extra love. Those little buckles are so tiny. It will be fun to see what you make.
Lovely reno job as usual. It is amazing what can be done to spruce up something that may look like it’s hopeless. We have a house on a street over from mine that people had lived in for many years. I think one of them passed away and the other went to assisted living. They tried to sell the house and I went online to look at it. It was a total mess and looked like it hadn’t received any TLC ever. But it had good bones and a flipper bought it. When it was finished and went up for sale, I took a look again and was totally floored. It had previously had two bedrooms and one bath. They added another bath and a closet in the hall for the washer and dryer and some storage. But what they did with the kitchen was totally amazing. The cabinets, stove, sink and cupboards were on opposite walls, and they put a large island with storage in the center. The dining area is like a hexagon to the side of the kitchen. That was always like that, but the kitchen previously was dingy to say the least. It’s still a smallish house but the use of space is great, and the bedroom closets are very nice. It has a little front porch and a little back porch. It went for a pretty price and was bought by the people that own the local “saloon” here in town. They do a good business (they have a lot of entertainment and Karaoke nights, and the place is always full) so I guess they can afford it and they may have had other property to sell because the down payment was over $20,000.
We have been promised rain for days but it never came. But last night we had a deluge and it came from the north so maybe some fronts will start coming through and cool things off. It was actually 91 when we went to lunch. David and I were on our way to dinner and Starbucks last evening as we do every Wednesday. When we arrived at the restaurant I checked the radar on my phone and realized there was not going to be a good time to get out of the car for a couple hours so we came home. I had nothing planned for dinner so we had Ramen soup. We’ll try again tonight. I’m not giving up my weekly Starbucks.
I had a friend whose mother had one of those phone niches. Their house was built in the early 1950s. So was ours, but we didn’t have one of those so we had a wall phone in the hall. What’s a phone book? Actually we still have a small local phone book but most of the big phone books we used to use are no more. Easier to ask Google.
I love the miniature items you bought. Can’t wait to see what you use them on.
Jeanne, I got your blog ok this morning, it came from your g mail address.
The house looks amazing, I am looking forward to seeing it with the curtains and carpets. You and George have done a wonderful job. My house is 1950’s but I doubt it had a phone niche even before it was renovated. I do remember that nearly all phone jacks were in the hall near the front door which, in the days we only had an open coal fire in the living room and no double glazing, was the coldest place in the house! I also remember when phone books were three inches thick and half of that was Yellow pages (business numbers). Now it is barely an inch with only a very small amount of yellow pages. We still have a landline here but mostly it is scammers who call me on it. I don’t even use it to ring family in UK, I use Messenger (it’s free).
I thought that when I finally got the quilts finished and the exhibition was over I would have time to make some dolly things but it hasn’t worked out like that! Poor Sara is still wearing the outfit she came in but I have a list of other stuff to make now that was supposed to be done a few months ago. Isn’t that always the case, we make plans and life takes over.
Last night was supposed to be the coldest night of the year according to the news last night (only 3 weeks from spring!) but It wasn’t much more than -1 C, we have had colder than that. Not as cold as it used to be in the winter though. -9 and -10 C was nothing unusual in the late 70’s and 80’s. I well remember standing on the sidelines with my sons at soccer games at 8.30am freezing my butt off. One game my younger one who was a goalkeeper, actually got hypothermia he had so little to do that game. I had to put him in a hot bath and put him in bed with a hot water bottle for the afternoon (probably not the right treatment but there was no Google to check then), he was pretty sick. I had a wool sweater that had shrunk in the wash so after that I made him put that on under his shirt. I don’t think he was impressed but at least he didn’t get it again. Nowadays -5C is really cold (that’s what they were forecasting for last night).
Have a great day people
You’re lucky to be alive burning coal. Not the most healthy thing. My father in law lived in Salida, Colorado, as a kid, and his job was to take a bucket and walk along the railroad tracks and pick up pieces of coal that had fallen off of the train coal car. That was the only heat in their little house. He did live until 88 though. 🙂 I can’t take cold weather. Always, taking a run through the house to try and warm up if it gets below 70. 🙂 Couldn’t live without my electric blanket either. Glad your son didn’t get pneumonia or something worse. Hope it warms up soon for you.
And I would love to see the outfit you are planning for Sara, when you get to it. I’m sure she will love it. 🙂
Keep warm.
We had a few coal furnaces while I was growing up, but that was in the anthracite region of PA so our coal was clean burning. I’d heard stories of kids going out like your father-in-law and picking up coal along the railroad tracks. And during the Depression when the coal mines were shut down, many “bootlegged” coal and that was very dangerous. But you often do what you have to do to survive.
I almost always get the emailed version of your blog, but it missed me on a couple of recent days. It’s back now, so that’s good news.
The work you did is wonderful. The new residents will be so pleased, and your sewing room will feel the same.