Summer Fun: Front closet renovated in one day!

I've been on a bit of a blogging hiatus... oopsie.  Life happens.  I have some interesting projects to show you once I get some pictures done, so we'll see if I can get that done this week.

Today's project was a bit daunting at first, but I got it done and I'm rather proud of myself!  This is what the front closet looked like.  It also has a little shelf and bar for coat hangers, but this was the nasty part.  There had been some carpet stapled down, but I took that out before I moved in.  It helped to reduce the general stink of the house to get the carpet out, but doing a whole gutting of this closet was a bit too much to tackle that day.  I promptly loaded it up with stuff and ignored it until now because, frankly, it was easier to close the door than to actually deal with it.  As I cleaned the stuff out, I ran my winter coats through the wash and rinsed the mud off my winter boots so they could go in a plastic tub for storage elsewhere.  My eventual plan is to use this closet for cleaning supplies and tools, and once I get the tall cupboard gutted and transformed into a pantry with pull-out drawers it will be closer to what I want.  Also, to completely finish that plan, my coats will need another place to live, but the front room won't be constructed for a while still so in storage they go.

As in the rest of the house, there were a ton of staples in the floor.  First order of business was to get those out so I could pull up the old (and terribly ugly) linoleum. 

When the trailer was parked last spring, before we could get it moved, it was parked in our field on a sideways incline with the front door facing uphill.  We had to park it because it wouldn't stop raining and we couldn't get it in position until we had 3 dry days in a row, so the rain dripped in the front door and got everything there wet.  Including this closet.  Thanks to the linoleum, it was still wet underneath.  Great, huh?  Made me gag.  I wondered if it was a leak from the roof or something, but the roof was fine and there were no signs of moisture on the walls, so it should just be left over moisture from then. 

So, I covered it with mildew/mold killer sealing primer and let it dry, like I had done with many other spots in the house.  I took the door off for accessibility but also to paint the frame gloss white like I've done with the rest of the woodwork in the house. At some point I'll set up an assembly line outside and get all the doors painted too.  A couple of them had been done already, and the woodwork was beyond saving, so it's all going white. 

My parents had saved some of their old linoleum at some point.  I don't remember if it was in their old trailer or if it was on the porch in the house they built when I was 1, but they had saved a little scrap for whatever reason and it was nearly the right size for this.  I had already gotten some flooring adhesive for this project several months ago, just to be ready when I actually got around to doing it, so all I had to get was a grout spreader and box cutter from dad to get the new linoleum down.

Next was to decide what to do with the walls.  Most of my wall colors came from the same paint chip, just in varying shades, so they all look good together but it's not all the same.  The kitchen cupboards are the lightest version, the living room and hallway is 3-4 shades darker, and the office and bedroom are one shade darker than that.  They all turned out to be pinker than I expected from the paint chip, but the shade grew on me.  It's sort of fleshy, a neutral with a little personality but not too flashy.  I decided to use the bedroom color in the closet.  Maybe so it wasn't quite the same as the rest of the living room, although the door will usually be closed so it really shouldn't matter.  This picture shows the start of the first coat on the back wall and the gloss white on the door frame.

Two coats of paint later, here we are!  I also added a little white shelf to expand my storage capabilities, but I'll need to keep in mind that there are no studs behind the wall so the shelf can't hold a whole lot of weight, even with wall anchors.  I'm pleased with the results after this sweaty day! 

Spring Fever: Spring Cleaning Part 1

Greetings my loyal followers!  It's been a wet, chilly spring here, which has caused its share of issues and frustration compared to how spring used to be here.  The weather has been just plain crazy for a few years... but I won't get into the climate change debate here. ;)  Today's exciting news is that my two little ash trees we planted last fall survived the winter and have brand new leaves on them today!  Yesterday the little buds were still sealed up so tight I wasn't sure they'd ever leaf out.  Those poor trees lived in their gallon buckets for too long, and we didn't get them planted until very late in the summer, plus it was a nasty winter, so because they had taken so long to show any sign of life I was wondering if they made it.

Now it's finally getting nice enough outside to see some progress outside as well as inside the house.  I've been doing some of these things in stages over the last month or so, but here's a full list of what I've done so far that would be considered "spring cleaning."  Some of it may be a stretch to fit that definition...hehe!

1.  Winter clothes are washed and stored in plastic tubs and spring/summer clothes are now out of storage.  I keep a few hoodies and a sweater cardigan around to toss on when it's chilly, but the heavy work sweaters are all put away now.  There are a few reasons I do this twice a year.  It gives me a reason to go through everything and purge items that don't fit, never fit quite right, didn't get worn much, or are just plain wrong and get them ready to donate to the Salvation Army. (They got a new building last year and the store is HUGE! We always donate there because we know it will immediately be shopped for locally and it's easy enough to drop stuff off when we go up there).  It's been a struggle to let go of the "wishful thinking" jeans that I wore a few years ago and other similar pieces; they don't provide any true motivation to actually lose, all they do is take up space and give me a pang of guilt every time I see them.  The other main reason, other than just to keep my dresser and closet minimal, is that often I'll get a blouse or something on clearance at the end of the season, wear it a couple of times, then put it away.  When I get it back out for the next season, it's fun to take out because I often forgot I even had it!
2.  Mattress is vacuumed and turned.  I flipped it in January or so, but it's wearing out so I decided to turn it 180 degrees so it wears a little more evenly.  In a few months I'll flip it again.  Why vacuum?  Dust mites.  Gross, huh?  Yeah.  Just a little vac is probably not doing me a whole lot of good there, but at least I try, right?  I have lots to get done elsewhere so that's probably about as far as I'll get on this particular project for now.  My allergies haven't been near as bad lately as they used to be so I'm doing alright. :)
3.  My computer and cello have both been taken in for service.  This one's probably a stretch... but it certainly can't hurt to have the computer cleaned out or the cello soundpost adjusted and bridge replaced.  Probably needs new strings too but we'll see how it is when I get it back.  Both were behaving badly for the last several months so it was time to at least get them looked at, if not fixed.  The computer's just plain dying, which is sad and nervewracking, but I'm saving up for a new one.  The cello just probably needs a couple adjustments and it'll be alright.
4.  I've wiped out and disinfected the bottom cabinets in my kitchen, and everything in them.  I've had lots of mice recently and they can get into the wall and therefore the bottom cabinets, so that was a necessity.  It should be done every couple of months anyway.  I'm not sure whether the mice are coming in on their own or if the cats are bringing them in to play with... it's really hard to tell... but now I have a couple mousetraps working 24/7 to get it under control if the cats aren't helping lol.
5.  Another stretch... I've joined Weight Watchers.  It's working slowly, and it's tricky to plan my meals right, but I'm working on it steadily.  I have a vow renewal to go to (and look good for!) in July and I was sick of the plateau I was stuck on since January.  Overhauling my eating habits is like a spring cleaning project, right? hehe!
6.  I'm in the process of cleaning and ironing the curtains.  They haven't been up for very long but I still had to paint a few of my window frames so I figured while I had them down I could get them ironed nicely before they go back up.  Some of them can't be machine-washed, mostly the nice new thermal/dark ones (not sure they're complete blackouts, but they do a darn good job), and that's okay.  I'll vac the fluff off of them and iron them too when I get done painting those windows.  I'll get the office ones back up today, though I need to adjust the rod first.  It got put up rather crooked... oops!

I have lots left to do.  This is by no means the end of my spring cleaning projects, just what I've done so far.  We'll be installing baseboards in the next few weeks so my next project today is to vacuum really well down in all the edges and corners so I'm not permanently sealing Q-tips into the floor!  My younger cat loves to steal my used Q-tips out of the bathroom garbage and play with them.  Of course, because I have no baseboards yet, they easily roll into the gap between the wood floor and the wall and promptly get stuck.  Why does she do this?  I have no idea!  She's a strange little kitty lol.  She likes my used cotton balls too, even with astringent on them.  Beats me.

When I need to be done cleaning for the day, I have a necklace, anklet, and earrings to work on (each from separate custom orders), then to get started on my first crocheted baby blanket!  I practiced my stitches last night so I'm just about ready to get going on it.  Happy Spring!