We have bought our first house and are enjoying landscaping, gardening and also doing some interior home improvements. Soon
after we moved in, we painted three walls of the living room covering up a yellow wall, a tan wall and one white wall. We
left one white wall. Now, three walls are green and one is white. It looks sharp. We have added some electrical outlets,
added a front porch light and replaced some old wiring. Outside, we
planted a small garden, which was very prolific. We expanded it this summer
and again we had a great harvest. We also moved
9 bushes from in front of the porch to various places around the yard. We planted lots of
perennials. We transplanted about
15 deciduous trees and got 60 evergreen trees seedlings from the
 conservation district. The house is really starting to feel
like "ours". Last fall, we spent many hours and many $$ blowing cellulose insulation into the walls and attic.
It was quite a big job and we are sure glad to be done!
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Last winter, Jason pulled
the paneling and plaster off along the upstairs stairway and replaced it
with drywall. It added a few inches to the width of the stairway.
He still wants to get a handrail and also needs to finish some trim around
the doorway.
He also removed the plaster along the basement stairway and painted the
exposed walls white. He also removed the old rotten basement steps and
built new ones that Janine even feels safe walking on! |
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Early last spring, we
repainted the nursery,
added a wallpaper border and trim around the doorways and the base (floor). |
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Labor Day weekend, we
decided to start on the biggest job yet. The surround around the
bathtub was leaking and Janine was annoyed with having carpet in the
bathroom, so we decided to remodel it. We tore off all the wall
covering down to the studs (3 or 4 layers worth). We also pulled up
the carpet and the vinyl floor, which the carpet was glued to and the
underlayment that the vinyl was glued to. We had to replace some of
the sub floor that had rotted out. Then screwed down new underlayment
and put down new vinyl. We also put all new drywall on the walls,
leveled the tub and installed a new vanity. We still need to finish
the walls and paint them, install the new surround, install the exhaust fan
and redo the ceiling. it is turning out quite nice, and with the
absence of all the wall coverings, we added 3 inches to the length and
width of the room! |
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We have plans to replace
the carpet in the kitchen with a wood laminate floor sometime soon, but
first we need to finish the bathroom! |
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 We, of course, bought the house and property for the location and the barns. The house isn't bad, but the barns and the rest
of the property are great! There are places to keep all of our
toys:
sailboat,
camper,
Corvair,
motorcycle, etc., plus,
places to park both our daily driving vehicles inside and also a place for a
workshop... and lots of extra storage space!
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We were originally planning to post directions on here as well, but figured people could just contact us for directions.
We are near Martin, Michigan, just a few minutes off of US 131 (exit 55), north of Kalamazoo and south of Grand Rapids. Come
see us! Contact us. |