Thursday, February 6, 2014

Home Improvement: Think Pink!

Good Evening Everyone!

Just dropping in to say hello! 

I've been taking a couple of nights off to finish up a tutorial for Graphic 45!  In all honesty, I did put the finishing touches on the tutorial TONIGHT and sent it off finally...Then what happened last night you ask? Well...Sheepish grin... I started the final touches right, laptop on lap...door closed...ruler and notes in hand...Then...I decided to just have some "accent noise" in the background.  Flipped on the tube, moved the screen away from me...Then this Crasher Lady did the most amazing thing to an UGLY garage making it into the coolest room EVER!! I ended up laying in bed watching HGTV home improvement shows all night!  I never do that!  I had a blast!  Needless to say, the tutorial didn't get it's touches that night! 

I used to watch those home improvement shows ALL the time!  I mean I was hooked and never switched the channel!  Shows like these made me think I could rip down walls and build new ones, rewire the whole house and lay wood flooring!!!  Who knew...I actually did!  The house I live in comes with a LOOONNNNGGG story that I will spare you!  However, here is the Campbell's Soup Condensed version....

I wanted to move out to the country with lots of trees and land to raise chickens, turkeys, peacocks, bees and basset hounds...Well folks, the house that the land came with was...was...plain old down and dirty UGLY, but the land...beautiful.  Full of trees, dreams and promise!!!  The man who built the house and owned the property was a recent divorcee.  Yes, there is a reason why I mention Divorcee.  Mr. Montgomery must have lived with his previous wife in a pink house...Why you ask?  When he became a bachelor again and was eating cans of green beans and microwave dinners alone with his long time companion, a dog named Blue (taking a breath) he decided that it would be really cool to finally use his favorite color in his very own house...He had waited for years for this day...decades even...So looking forward to the day when he could use this miraculous color...The color...BLUE!  Dusty BLUE!  Blue carpet, walls, trim, toilets, shower stalls, ceilings, tile, backsplashes, doors and cabinets!    It was horrible!  The house lived and breathed blue!  No Joke!  I've got pictures somewhere!  Now, we aren't talking blue with a really cool accent color...Or blue with white trim to offset....Just ALL the exact same shade of blue everywhere...On EVERYTHING...Get me? Bad juju me thinks as he remarried a lady called, Miss Pink Partridge who would not let Blue the dog come live in their new PURPLE house! 

I...we...completely redid everything in this house with our own hands, time, sweat and money thanks to these awesome home improvement shows.  I can't say it was all fun and games and that we didn't have to call out the plumber a time or two for busting into walls with pipes, but I can honestly say that I have laid floors, rewired the house, tore down walls, put up new ones, changed out doors, put in new toilets, sinks and tubs, painted, and completely gutted a whole kitchen are put in new cabinetry, appliances and even built my own 4 x 8 kitchen island....I loved every minute of it!  Thinking back...I would NEVER do it again!  Were we CRAZY! But when you are young and can get down on all fours to lay flooring non-stop for hours without your knees giving out or your arthritis kicking in...Oh yeah!  Good Times!

Back into the studio tomorrow!  Have an awesome day!

Jim
The Gentleman Crafter

13 comments:

  1. It's lovely to hear you had a night off. We all need one every now and then and those home improvement programmes are very addictive! :)

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  2. Awesome story! Thanks for sharing it. It's important to take a day off and let the mind wander every now and then. I'm sure you got many ideas for future CRAFTING projects watching all of those shows ;-)

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  3. Whew...makes my back...and knees...hurt just thinking about all the work you guys did on the house. I have to say you've done a bang up job on the remodel and made your house your HOME! I knew you'd done a lot of work but didn't know it was that extensive. Bravo for both of you!!

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  4. I like those home improvement shows too. One of my favourites is Extreme Home Makeover! So glad that you and Cesar managed to de-blue your home!

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  5. Loved the story. The only problem with remodeling is it never gets done. You no sooner get done with everything then you must go to the thing you did first and start all over again. After awhile you stop...look around.... say to one's self "What are you doing?" At this point you call a contractor and it is HIS problem. LOL. FUN watching someone else do it while you sit back with a beverage in hand. Now I'm tired. Smile.

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  6. This really funny Jim because I have my tv in my bedroom on HGTV all the time and I watch all those shows when I go to bed. My favorite is House hunters people kill me when they want all these things but they have a very low budget.or the people that try to renovate themselves and know absolutely nothing about it ha ha

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  7. Great story, thanks! I did not know you guys had done so much work on the homestead. Excellent! Wow, I used to watch HGTV all the time. Haven't in a long time since I started crafting more. Have a great day.

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  8. Oh wow, I did the somewhat same thing, built my own home, in my thirties and would never do it again. It was very amazing to live in it though. Sold it to my parents when the kids got older but that is another long story.

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  9. So now I get you...The chipboard is a replacement for the floors, walls, doors, toilets and kitchen island...You have just gone from life size to scale model! Brilliant plan if you ask me!

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  10. I too enjoy watching home improvement shows. But we don't own, so I can't put the knowledge to use. Well, I'm old, so I wouldn't anyway! lol I would love to see some pictures of before and after. Hugs, Jess

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  11. Your stories are so funny, Jim. Your words are so descriptive and I really could envison an entire house in Pepto Bismol Pink turned Dusty Blue turned purple. haha I remember those days when Mauve Pink and Dusty Blue were all the rage! And let's not forget the big cream ruffles that usually accompanied those colors! :) That was mid 80s I think. Yikes, I'm dating myself. haha And I have to admit, I did partake of those colors in a bedroom but not an ENTIRE HOUSE!!! You really had your work cut out for you but from the snippets I've seen of your home, you've done an incredible job! It's wonderful. Glad you took some time off to get swept away with HGTV. You deserve the rest. <3 Candy

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  12. I just love reading your stories....if the whole creating thing doesn't work out you should take up writing...you are a hoot!!!

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  13. What an awesome story!!! I completely agree... back when you could stay up day and night working on it and still go to work! When nothing stood in your way!!! Now it's a different story!!! Hugs!!!

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