no more laundromat?

Well we are not quite there yet...

We bought a new washing machine and a dryer a couple of weeks ago. Since we had only limited space to get anything down the cellar stairs we needed 24" wide models. The stair is only 25" wide, which left us just an inch of wiggle room. Funny thing I found out on the hunt for the perfect washer/dryer is that the smaller the appliance the more it seems to cost...

The Bosch models need a 240 Volt Outlet to be plugged into and we still haven't even called an electrician to install one for us. Both of us don't really like to schlepp our stuff to the laundromat. That's what I call procrastination at its worst...

There were two washing machines and one dryer (or was it two dryer and a washing machine?) in the basement but none was working. One machine was small enough to be carried up the stairs and was taken away by the people who delivered the new ones, two were not. They are still sitting in the basement waiting to be taken apart.

The big mystery here is how did the appliances get down into the basement in the first place? Guess we'll never find out...

bye bye old apartment

We miss the old place but are also exited to create something new in our house. These are some pictures I took in our old place during the time we lived in it. Some artwork is missing in a couple of pictures. Can you find it?

biking

There has been nothing really going on in the renovation department besides small projects here and there for the last couple of weeks. We thought we should enjoy the summer before it's over. Yesterday P finally got a bike and we took our first little bike tour along the Hudson. We plan to further explore our new "hood" either on our bikes or just by walking around. Will keep you updated...

Also I have started to ride my bike to the train station every morning to go to work and I love it. It's so much faster than walking or taking a bus. Plus it's good exercise. On the way back there's a pretty steep hill which I finally mastered today without getting off the bike halfway up. Yay! :)

thank you mr. president!

A couple of days ago we received the check with our first time home buyers credit. Thank you Obama!

We will invest the money in a new bathroom and some other little things that we want to fix...

let there be light

The new light fixtures are up. Much better than the chandeliers and another plus is that they are clean. The chandeliers were so sticky I don't know how long they haven't been cleaned and all the dead bugs sticking to them...Yuck!

All the fixtures are from Ikea. Left to Right Fado, Kulla and Foto

Above the dining table I would also loved the Maskros fixture from Ikea or the Random Light. But ultimately I felt that Maskros would be better suited in a bigger room. Still love the look though. And I wasn't quite ready to splurge on the Random Light...

i ♥ spackling

Last weekend was a holiday weekend and of course we used the extra day to get things done at our house. Even though it was about a 100 degrees outside and not much cooler inside I painted the room that will become the guest bedroom. Meanwhile Peter was working in the yard, with no shade in sight. Before I was able to start painting one water damaged wall needed to be fixed. First I scraped of the paint that formed bubbles and then started spackling the area to make it blend into the surrounding area. After it was dry I sanded it to smooth it out. Then I painted the previously damaged area with oil based primer, primed the remaining walls with latex primer and painted the walls with two coats of latex paint.

I have to admit I actually like the effect on the third picture...but the freshly painted wall is not so shabby either. Never spackled an area this big and who knew I had it in me...Really like the outcome.

kitchen - makeover part IV

The cabinet doors are finally hung except for the two doors above the fridge because their hinges are broken and I haven't gotten around to buying new ones. We really like how the kitchen is coming along. Since I took these pictures we have already started to put together our new kitchen island and changed the light fixture. More about that later...