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Just a Little Bit Fickle

What's four months between friends, right? The last post I wrote was back in December, when I discussed the fact that Tim and I moved from Georgia to Seattle. The Pacific Northwest is beautiful, it has the best running weather, and there were bumper sticks with bleeding-heart liberal slogans on the back of every Eco-friendly car. I was in love.

Except things don't ever work out quite that simply, do they? Long story still pretty long (sorry about that), I am writing this post from Central Florida. A few months ago, from our apartment in Bellevue, Washington, Tim spotted his dream house. He has long been into Usonian-style homes a la Frank Lloyd Wright, and this random, run-down, 1950s house in the middle of nowhere, Florida, was perfect. But it was in Florida. And we JUST moved from Georgia to Washington.

To top it all off, Tim started a new mid-century modern furniture company: Trystcraft! If you like MCM style, Danish lounge chairs and high-end pieces from the likes of Eames, Finn Juhl and Hans Wegner, definitely check it out. There's a shop and a blog (I help with that!), so even if you just want to learn more, you should head over there to see what's new.

But what's the point of being flexible, being child-less and having a work-from-home job unless you take advantage of it? So we did. The house was previously inhabited by an older couple who were, essentially, hoarders. We tackled as much of the renovation as we could on our own over the past six weeks, but we had to call in the big guns for things like putting on a new roof and installing an air conditioning system. Most of the work, however, was cleaning. Imagine 30 years of dust and grease coated onto every surface of the house, and then sprinkle a healthy amount of cockroaches into that image. Yeah. Delightful.

From this(buckets for roof leaks, natch)....

...to this (filters for that proud yuppie glow!)


Getting my sanding on.


I think the roof might have been a little rotten. Maybe.






Morning sun in the interior atrium


Lest I sound like I'm complaining, I have been running straight out my front door around a lake each morning in amazing Florida weather. Don't hate. (Also, feel free to laugh in my face when I can't handle going outside in the heat for the entire summer.)

Views from my run

Basically, this is a post to a) explain my absence from the blog-o-sphere, b) explain why my Facebook location got changed, and c) rub everyone's nose in my nice sunny weather. I think I have accomplished all three perfectly, so I'm done now.

Obligatory question time!

Are you a DIY-enthusiast? Or a call-a-handyman-to-hang-a-picture-frame type person?
I'm the latter. No shame. We kind of had to do most of the stuff for the house that were were capable of doing, because $$$$, but I would much rather call in a pro and then blame them if it goes wrong. Thankfully, my husband is a lot more handy than I am. That being said, it feels really good to accomplish something with your own two hands.



Comments

  1. Ha, I thought so! Well, at least you lived here long enough to get a taste of the wonderful PNW, and perhaps, you will come back for a visit!

    I'm totally a DIY-enthusiast, mostly because $$$$. If it can be done for cheap, and it doesn't put anyone's life at risk, go for it. If it does put life at risk? Make sure you watch the YouTube tutorial videos at least 10 times.

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  2. How exciting! We are definitely DIY people. Paul is really handy. I am good at fetching tools and holding flashlights. ;) Can I please have some of your sunshine? We got 9 more inches of snow last night and I'm dying up here.

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  3. My husband is a general contractor so theoretically we could be DIYers. But he is so sick of construction work by the time he gets home that he really doesn't want to do anymore! There's a joke about contractors' own homes...it involves blue tarps.

    Good luck to you!

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  4. That is a lot of moving! The house looks awesome and I am jealous of the weather, so tired of snow snow snow!

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  5. We bought a house last year so I'm learning to be a DIY gal because of money. I'm operating a sander for the first time in my life and it's kinda terrifying!

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  6. I hope you're loving it. I'm definitely jealous of the weather now - since I still have about 2.5 feet of snow in my yard and the snowbanks beside my driveway are about as tall as I am, but I won't be jealous in August :)

    I hope we get to hear more from you now that you're more settled!

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  7. The space looks gorgeous all ready! What an interesting fireplace...keep up the great work!!

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  8. Damn you! Was just going to invite you to run the half, marathon or 10-K on San Juan Island in June!

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  9. I am DIY all the way! One, because I am poor, but mostly because I love the feeling of doing something myself and seeing and enjoying the result. Love the new house!

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  10. How exciting! And get this - I just got back from a run and was thinking of you at the end of it….I was even thinking of emailing you to see what you were up to and then I come home to this post! The house is beautiful! I might need to persuade you to come up to AR soon…we are NOT DIYers and are in the middle of a move as well…..

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  11. Oh and let me know if this changes your mind about doing Ragnar Cape Cod May 9th and 10th….our team is registered, but one runner just had to back out, so we need one more runner…..

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  12. I'm so jealous of your transplantability!!!! That's so exciting! Congrats on the new place. :)

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  13. I can't believe it! This is so cool. However, I'm pretty sure in each post from now on, you'll need to repeat your relocation story so I can keep everything straight.

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  14. Oh I am so behind on blog reading that I missed this important news! Florida! Wow...I hope you are happy there! For the DIY...well for the most part I say call the pro if you can afford it but I did paint my whole house all by myself 3 yrs ago. 3 bedrooms, 1 loft, 1 den, 1 family room, one kitchen, one dinning room and 3 bathrooms! Plus staircase!

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  15. I am so behind.
    BUT I LOVE YOUR HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!

    And you are awesome because you are handy!
    Watch out, girl has a sander in her hands!

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  16. Despite the dust, rotten roof, and other problems this house may have, a 1950’s house is still a quite a catch. Because not all houses like this has lasted this long, and yet still be livable. And with regard of your question, I would have to say it really depends on the task at hand. If it easy to handle, I'd like to do it myself. But in terms of roofing and other tough tasks, it’s best to call an expert to do it for you.

    Gretchen Holloway @ Americas Choice Roofers

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