Because of the storms we hadn’t been back to the house in 2 nights.  When Jared got home it was snowing, but nothing Monty (our mini) couldn’t handle, so we hoped in the car to get some things done on the dining room.

We couldn’t pull in the driveway.  We tried and almost got stuck, so we parked in the street.  We even tried to shovel, but the ice made it near impossible.  We turned off the heat last time we left so we would have 2 high heating bills this month.  The house was cold and dark.

The next step was painting the ceiling, which posed a problem with the new lighting (pendants don’t throw much light on the ceiling is you didn’t know *wink*).  We were going to have to wait until the weekend it use natural light, but Jared borrowed his dad’s spotlight which really helped and will make nights much more productive.

A clean white ceiling made such a huge difference.  Getting rid of the stripe on the ceiling where the old light was felt really good.  Jared grabbed the camera and caught me in all my fabulousness.  Yes, I am wearing Jared’s old pants.

We were working away when we heard the weirdest sound outside.  A cat?  I looked out the window and what did we find next door?

Two cats!  We decided they were husband and wife and the wife was wining about how lousy the weather was.  They stood out there in the tire tracks for the longest time.  Naturally I was worried about them so I put on my boots and tried to offer them some food, but the ran off before I could get to them.  It was pretty weird.

Revenge!  Jared needs a haircut.  Haha.  Even with the heat on it was still a little chilly.  Conveniently the spotlight gave off a good amount of heat and we used it to warm our hands.  The ceiling paint went very quickly between the 2 of us.  We got pretty excited and the next step happened to be pulling up the carpet.  It was only 7:45 so we figured ‘what the heck’.

First real glimpse of the floors in the dining room.  Not as bad as I expect from the other corner, but still pretty rough.

It’s covered in paint.  The clearly never thought anyone would ever want the expose the floors again.  I keep having “what were they thinking?!” moments.  There is a very clear traffic pattern right down center of the room.  The wood has promise though.  If you can look beyond the discolored varnish and paint it’s in pretty good condition.  No broken boards or rot.

Jared worked on pulling up the tack strips while I pulled out staples.  I had a much easier time.  45 minutes later Jared had only gotten about 6 feet of tack strips up, but I think he figured out the best way to handle it by the end.  It will still be slow, messy work though.

About a quarter to 10 Jared cleaned up paint while I snapped some photos.  It’s really starting to feel like a different room.  It’s starting to feel like OUR house.  It’s amazing what a difference getting the carpet up makes.

Tonight we are going to continue cleaning up the dining room floor and start work on the living room ceiling and floors.  We have decided to prioritize the public spaces.  We will get the floors done throughout since that’s easiest when there is no furniture, but the painting upstairs and in the guest room will probably be done as weekend projects after we move in.  It will give me more time to make decisions on color and decor.