Outside Before and Afters...

Okay, so this is it for my before and afters! I've had a lot of fun reminiscing about the things I've done around DeluxeVille. I'm kinda proud of myself now! I can't believe I've done so much work around this joint...I've been totally working my ass off around here...hahaha Now you all know what $54,000 got me...lots of work!

BACK OF HOUSE

Everyone always asks me..."what's that building back there?" Well that building is attached to my garage and Jerry used it as a work area. Jerry was a motorcycle pinstriper and customizer so his shop was back there. By the time I bought DeluxeVille, the workshop was literally falling down from lack of care. Notice the plastic on the roof...my Dad did that to try to save it through the winter because the plan was to rip it down and rebuild it the following summer. I was planning on making it my studio space!

Check out my new studio space! Slant roof, sky lights, new window and door! Thanks to my Dad because he guided me on this big project. MaryDeluxe has the best Dad ever!!! He told me it was up to me to finish the interior but he would help me build it. Interior still not finished but it's still on the list! This is also the project I discovered that I can't do roofing and I lay my shingles crooked which meant that Dad had to rip them all out and do it again...yup, roofing and MaryDeluxe= epic fail! Notice, I've also gone a weee bit plant crazy and added privacy fencing on both side because high fences make good neighbors!


My awesome Daddy Deluxe!! Thanks Daddy!


I love sitting out here at night!


One year I dug a fish pond...just because???



The ugly of my back porch! The little shed to the left was an outside entrance to the basement. It was falling down too. We took it down and put metal doors on instead. I still need to fix my porch and right now there's a car jack holding it up! I need to replace a post...hahaha I impressed the Sgt with that one :-)

FRONT OF HOUSE

The first summer I lived here, I took down the front section of trellis. Once again, WTF Jerry??? That's when I met my neighbor from across the street "Harley" I call him this because he's a Harley guy and has even taken me out for rides. Harley is in his 70's and tattooed all over...he even has a cute little butterfly on his neck which takes away from his scary persona...no man with a butterfly tattooed on his neck can be that bad! hahaha Harley and I have a great friendship, I borrow things from him like tools and he watches out for me like I'm his daughter. I can't get away with ANYTHING around here.

I had a dying tree in my front yard and about six years ago I had it cut down to the relief of my neighbors! Notice all the yucky grass...BOO! I did however plant some ivy and bulbs in the front garden but was working on bigger plans now that the tree was gone!



Grass be gone!!!

Before and After...

Okay, I'll stop picking on "Sgt." (sorry about that sgt, i couldn't help myself...i have an extreme lacking of self restraint!) and get back to more before and after pics!

Living Room Befores:

Okay, Jerry ripped out the floor of a bedroom to create a loft...but his design sense was once again a wee bit half assed. If you look out from the loft you will see there are two corner tables on either side of the large window and a wooden plank that runs across the floor beams?? Hmmm there was also a dark stained wooden rail that ran beside the wooden planks to prevent someone from falling...I took that out right away because it blocked the window. WTF Jerry?? The only way to get out there on to the wooden planks was if you walked on the narrow wooden floor beams and hopped over the railing.....so, WTF Jerry. The cats however, loved it and it was like a jungle gym for them! What's the pint of ripping out a floor if you're just gonna enclose it again with more crap.


Okay, looking down from the loft you saw a built in entertainment storage unit around the front window. Cool but made the tiny living room even tinier and darker...so you guessed it..DEMO!

I took it all out and really opened up the space! I mean did I really need to crawl out on a floor beam and sit on a corner shelf anyway?? Nope!

Isn't it amazing what a little paint and demo can do!

Teacher's Pet

Teacher's Pet
Doris Day
Written by Joe Lubin

Peaked at # 56 in 1958
Title track from her 1958 film, co-starring Clark Gable and Gig Young.

Teacher's pet
I wanna be teacher's pet
I wanna be huddled and cuddled as close to you as I can get
(That's the lesson we're guessin' you're best in)

Mm, teacher's pride
I wanna be teacher's pride
I wanna be dated, paraded, the one most likely at your side
(Ya got a burnin' yearnin' to learn)

I wanna learn all your lips can teach me
One kiss will do at the start (are you really?)
I'm sure with a little homework
I'll graduate to your heart (to your heart)

Teacher's pet , I wanna be teacher's pet
I wanna take home a diploma and show Ma that ya love me, too
(That ya love me, too)
So I can be teacher's pet long after school is through

(Oh, teacher's pet) Mm, mm
(You wanna be teacher's pet) Ah. ah
(You wanna be huddled and cuddled as close to him as you can get)

I wanna learn all your lips can teach me
One kiss will do at the start
I'm sure with a little homework
I'll graduate to your heart

Teacher's pet (you love the teacher), I wanna be teacher's pet
I wanna take home a diploma and show Ma that ya love me, too (Wow!)
So I can be teacher's pet (yeah!) long after school is through
(Teacher, teacher she loves you)

"The Sgt." my favorite teacher! :-)

EDIT:

George Clooney?
Hmmm Well I think a comparison is in order don't you....

The Sgt is a handsome man...
but I've always been a Johnny Depp kinda gal..
hahahaha
he's gonna kill me. :-)

(photo by Mark Falzini)

More Before and After

Since I found my old pictures and I'm having so much fun reminiscing, I've decided to share some more before and afters. Today: The Bathroom.

We've already established the fact that Jerry loved a dark wood and used it every where! The bathroom is of course no exception as the pictures will show! Unfortunately, I don't have original before pictures of the bathroom because as I recall it was one of the first places I started painting the wood! Since you know what the kitchen looked like, I'm sure you'll have no problem picturing everything that I painted white, as dark stained wood. Please take notice also to how dark the floor is!

Yes, I painted the medicine cabinet and wash stand white!

Yes, Jerry encased the bath tub in dark stained wood??? Which of course I painted white! I lived with it this way for a few years and then the tub started leaking and I knew it was time for demo!

Yes, Jerry put dark stained wood on the ceiling above the bath tub?? WTF Jerry???This is an exciting day for me here..DEMO day!!

Dry wall and plumbing provided by my then boyfriend and faithful side kick Art. Looking back at all the "projects" I dragged him into and made him do with me, I realize...he must have really loved me or perhaps he just liked me bossing him around?? Either way, it was a win-win for me!

4 days, 4 trips to Lowes, and $600 dollars later... a new tub surround!! I would also like to point out that this is the first time I tiled!! I kick ass if I do say so myself. :) I think Art and I had a fight that night about who got to take a shower first.... I won :)

A year later...after I saved more money, I did the floor!!

Another exciting day...goodbye ugly floor...DEMO day! I remember Art had no idea I was gonna do this and he came home from work to find the floor missing. Once again, I will insert...he must have really loved me?? The poor guy. I can't tell you how many times he would come home to find me destroying something and then he would just start laughing his ass off at me. Then I would say...what aren't you gonna help me?? I wonder how he lasted in a relationship with me for 6 years?? I can't believe he didn't kill me??

$400 bucks later and so much better!!!





And because it's only fair....Art my faithful side kick!
Girls, he's single and handy! I can hook you up!
And just so you all know, it wasn't always about me...I helped Art with his projects too...
Like for instance...I reupholstered the interior of his 53 Ford for him...because I rock like that! And yes, Art and I are still good friends...even though we aren't together anymore.

Good Bones

If a house has good bones, don't be afraid to do a little work. Here's the kitchen $54,000 bought me...hahaha

The cabinets are not original to the house. The original cabinets were metal. Apparently, the man that lived in my house in the early 80's decided to do some renovations. He was a real "woods man" and tried to turn this little built in 1950's house into a log cabin. If you like wood (like my Dad) you might not want to see what I did! Please advert your eyes now...because I painted the wood...if it makes you feel better, I still catch hell from my Dad about this to this day. The guy that lived here also ripped out the bed room on the second floor to create the open beam loft feel...I'm telling you this guy wanted to live in a log cabin and that's exactly what he did do when he sold this place in 1986. I hear stories about this guy all the time! I live in a small town and when I give people my address they say..."oh, you live in Jerry's cool old place". After Jerry sold the place to go live in his log cabin, DeluxeVille passed through a lot of owners. It got foreclosed on at two different times, the last time being when I picked it up. I kid you not, I have randomly run across not one but two people who owned my house at different times after Jerry.... I have yet to meet Jerry but I know were his log cabin is! :)

I was living in the house for about a month in the pictures below...I painted, cleaned, got the really bad smell out and that was about it at this point!

This place was so dark inside from all the dark wood, it was like being in the womb! I hated it! Please notice the built in place for the microwave...microwaves were sure big in the 80's! Ha...Yup demo!

Over the stove top was a really BIG hood that wasn't an exhaust hood but rather a light...very stupid...what the hell were you thinking Jerry?? I took that down. There are some things Jerry did to this place that were not good design choices but I try to work around them. When I first moved in, you could often hear me mumbling, "Jerry what the hell were you thinking"??

Auction Finds for $25

That was my auction budget $25 and here's what I got...

4- 1942 men's pinup magazines (for the Sgt), another 50's radio (3rd one I found at auction now and some of you remember the first giveaway I had for 100 followers, I gave away the exact same radio), A 50's USA white bud vase, 50's heron planter, a ceramic teapot, and a bunch of western belt buckles.

I also got my Sgt a nice set of drinking glasses because I'm tired of drinking out of coffee mugs and mason jars when I visit. It's the least I can do for the poor fella....in the original box and never opened...well until me :) Can't beat that!

Bonus: I sat beside a woman at auction who thought I was the most adorable thing and loved my dress...she said..." Oh my you're vintage!" ...hahaha ...then we had a lively discussion about vintage material!

I Sit on Tables

Wearing 1950's house dresses... I would make a bad wife.

Dress: 1950's Top Mode Frock wrap house dress
Shoes: Keds
State of Mind: Sensational
Destination: Off to auction
A Moment: I just discovered Temperamental Broad has my missing boobs! Apparently they are on vacation at her house. Please send boobs home ASAP.... xoxo :-)

Monday Night Lounging

I often wonder... what do the neighbors see?

I bet they think I'm weird...hahaha...cool!

I love my little house with it's high loft ceiling, sky light, and big front windows! And at $54,000 the best thing I ever bought myself. Who says you need to have a lot of money to buy a house??

Three Good Things

Good Things #1 Books

Summer reads....I picked up two new books from the book store tonight. I rarely buy books anymore, I prefer to go to the library because it's free but tonight I decided to treat myself!

Good Things #2 Purging

Purging DeluxeVille of crap! Hurry come pick the junk pile before the junk man comes and takes it all away! I know you all want to...there's lots of treasures in there!

Good Things #3 The DeluxeVille Dog

My Sgt has two dogs and The Bear is my favorite. Awww he even looks a little like a bear don't ya think! He's a sweet dog...the cats however were like "WTF" and really happy when he left!

Rockin the Suit!!

Today I woke up, jumped on my scale and saw 120.8! I was in my early 20's the last time I weighed that!

Then I thought...Wow, I need a new underwear photo because I know how much you all love to see me in my underwear! Then I thought no wait, my Mom can only have so many heart attacks in a year and giving her two is probably not healthy for her, so to celebrate I give you...me in my recent $15 purchase 1950's swim suit! If you have a pool, I will gladly come over, look cute, and lounge around it for you! :)

The Old and The New....

I'm a gal who loves a project. I wish, I could find the original pictures of this kitchen when I first bought my house eight years ago....scary!! Dark, dark,dark wood is all I will say and the first thing I did was to paint the cabinets white...my poor "lover of anything wood" lumber jack father almost had a heart attack. Yes, my Dad really is a lumber jack . Anyway, he rolled his eyes and just let me do my thing. Thanks Daddy!

The Older Kitchen: always a work in progress.

The New Kitchen..almost done now!!!!! Told ya all I've been busy!