I've spent the last 2 weeks preparing the Lake House for move in. Most of my time has been spent fixing some of the worst trim carpentry I have ever seen and a lot of drywall as well. If I had more time I'd replace a lot of it.

Here's the living room so far. The fireplace will be repainted white. Most of the interior will be designed around this rug. Sharon is having the time of her life!



The accent wall took some time to figure out. Most of the blues we tried were far too bold.



This wall used to be charcoal gray and I repainted it to match the rest of the walls in the house. The color is "Repose Gray" and if you're going to have gray walls it's not too bad. I still don't like it ("Despise Gray") and hope to repaint when the budget allows. The hutch is flat-pack stuff but one of the nicer pieces I have assembled. If you look closely you can tell I installed the base on backwards. I've since fixed it.



Basement. We're calling it the Football Room. TV came with the house. Finally found some laborers to rassle it down the stairs.

I'm informed that the attached patio must include a fire pit or no one will come visit. I removed the little fireplace and gave it to the laborers.

The previous owner was a tech freak and the house is over complicated by half. The bath fan is bluetooth, the range hood is WiFi (why?), as are the thermostat, doorbell, garage door and refrigerator. The fridge has a built in TV/computer that has a feature that works like Alexa called "Hi Bixby".

The dishwasher has a feature that pops the door open at the end of a cycle. I found that if I hang a towel on it it pops open nearly all the way. Scares the hell out of the dog.



Water heater is absurdly complicated and it took me an hour on line to figure out how to change the water temperature. When it breaks - and you know it will - I'll replace it with a normal tank type heater.



OTOH I like these combination receptacles so much (USB-A and USB-C) that I've ordered some for this house.

Wait....you're moving? I thought you mentioned that you weren't going to move to the lake house because it was too far away from everyone/everything...

This has to be the toughest rose bush ever. It sits near the lakefront where waves wash over it, the wind blows it nearly flat and no one ever watered it. It took two days in the 20's to slow it down.

I thought it was a "Knockout" but I've yet to find one in these colors. If I find out what it is I'll plant a row of them at the top of the seawall. I admire survivors.



I'll also be planting a bunch of my new favorite juniper - "Gray Owl" on the slope to help stabilize it. Stays low and doesn't spread more than about 6 ft.

Regardless, I assume that you didn't once again hire the first painters who took their sweet time not getting your current house done before you moved in last year.

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:
Wait....you're moving? I thought you mentioned that you weren't going to move to the lake house because it was too far away from everyone/everything...

Not moving in to it permanently. Getting it set up to use occasional and as an AirBnb.

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:
Regardless, I assume that you didn't once again hire the first painters who took their sweet time not getting your current house done before you moved in last year.

Oh hell no.