Couches!

At our old place, we had some very nice hand me down couches that were graciously donated to us by a friend because he was leaving the country. It was a nice set, but after a few years of wear, we decided it might be time for something new. Plus, the dark leather and style didn't really go with what we were planning for the new house.

So, we decided two things. 1. To keep our eyes out for a couch and 2. to finally get the couch and chair we bought for a steal at a garage sale in Wisconsin reupholstered. After just a few days, I found a steal on Craigslist. They had ordered a couch but it came in the wrong color. Company policy was to simply send them a new one and they were free to do as the liked with the old. So we got it for about 1/3 of what it was worth. Its a nice couch, comfy and over 7 feet long (which Matt likes cause he can lay out fully on it)

And then there were these bad boys. We loved the look of them but the fabric was old and ugly and the foam in the cushions was starting to go. So I called around and we decided to go with Williams Reupholstery. Ken was amazing, he really worked wonders and for anyone within 50 miles of Cincinnati (or further) I would completely recommend him. 

Before: 

And after. We had a tough time deciding on fabric but I love what we chose. Not quite navy, not quite cobalt, neutral but not boring. And of course we had to get some new pillows to go with it. 

Leroy immediately claimed the chair and he's pretty much always on it, sleeping in his epic kitty way. Matt likes to say its the most expensive cat toy ever made. But look how pretty!!

Death to the blue wall

In addition to a penchant for poorly placed trees, our houses former owner was also very fond of blue. In fact, we have two blue bedrooms, a blue bathroom, and this monsterous blue wall. Now, because of the porch in the front and the smaller windows, we don't get a ton of light to begin with and the giant blue wall in the living room/family room (picture below is from the original listing) just seemed to suck even more light out of this place.

So we knew it was a short timer, and I was not sorry to see it go. Here are dad and Matt taking off the baseboards while Mom and Leroy supervise.

Next came patching, as you can see there were quite a few dents and holes.

And then we primed. Even though we haven't picked a final paint color yet, the primed wall is so much lighter and nicer than the blue. (Don't mind the slight mess, and yes, those are new couches you see!)

Down with the skag bush! and other yard work

When we moved in, the backyard wasn't terrible, but it was sort of unremarkable. Unless you count the previous inhabitant's ability to put trees is really terrible places.

As you can see in this shot from the listing, there's a giant bush in the middle of the yard, which seems to me is not the best place for a bush. Plus, when we had our trees inspected, the guy told is it was really just a type of ivy that was likely growing out of an old tree stump. Needless to say, it wasn't doing us or the yard any favors, so we took it out. 

But then, with that ugliness out of the way, we were free to examine the rest of the yard with clearer eyes and discover that there was also a baby pine in the back that we didn't really want around for the long haul. (Matt is looking at it in the picture above). So with some help from Jimmy, that went too:

And of course, once you get the tree down you have the stump to contend with. Not only did we have the old pine stump but there was another stump from a tree long gone nearby. Luckily, the pine stump was pretty small and the old stump was, well, really old and rotted. So they both came out pretty easy.

But what were we to do with all the wood? Well, build a fire nest, of course! With skag bush out of the way, we had a large ungrassy area in the middle of the yard and a ton of wood to burn. So one night after work Matt and I moved some of the rocks from around the front of the house and created our very own giant fire nest, which we of course tested out with great success the next weekend.