New Addition to the Yard: Olives!

Since Portland's climate is so mild it's considered Mediterranean, we brainstormed about what kinds of additional plants we would like to have that might grow here. Nick said he'd really love to have some olive trees, so I did some research online and found that olives do in fact grow here. I even found this website, which is completely dedicated to growing olives in Oregon. They even have grove tours, and the following weekend was the last of the season, so I emailed them to get on the list.

Here is a photo of a row of their olive trees, which are really more like large bushes:

These olive trees are about 8 years old

This is a small family-owned grove located about an hour southwest of Portland. All of the information anyone could possible want about growing olives in Oregon is on the website. The guy who gave us the tour has tried all kinds of varieties and sells established cuttings of the ones that grow the best here.

We decided it would be really fun to grow our own even though it will take years to get a large harvest. Fortunately they are really easy. The grower said he doesn't water them because there is enough rain year round here and that he doesn't even prune them, though that's something we'll likely do to keep them looking clean and under control. 

They had several dozen varieties to choose from, and we decided to buy a single start of three different cultivars, which gives us ample opportunity for cross-pollination. Below are our olive babies, which are still doing great in their pots a month after we brought them home. The three kinds are Pendolino, Amfissa, and Santa Catarina. They are all table olives, which means we will cure them and eat them whole. The Amfissa and Santa Catarina olives are large and green, while the Pendolino are a smaller, darker variety. Chopped and mixed together they will make a great homemade tapenade.

Spring is the time to transplant these guys, so they will remain in their pots over the winter. Then we will plant them in the front yard near the street where they will all receive direct south/east sunlight, which is best for heavy olive production.

Tearing Up the Kitchen Floor

I remember this being one of the first things I did once Nick started his job and I began working full-time on the house. I have never seen such ugly flooring, which was motivation enough to get it done ASAP. It was also pretty easy.

Here's a before shot of the kitchen floor:

It was in such bad shape that it must have been the original flooring. There was evidence that it might have been covered by carpet at some point. I just can't imagine that the previous three owners just lived with it like this...

Pulling this up was pretty easy. Had to use a razor to scrape up at the edges and then pull using pliers once I had enough to hold. Once a large enough chunk was loose I could use my hands. Some areas came up more easily than others. Some in strips like below, but many areas in ripped, random chunks.

Below is the floor with all the linoleum removed. Still ugly, but much better. I also had to go over every inch and pull out small pointy broken staple pieces to prepare for laying the new tile.

Notice the mini-fridge on the right of the photo? The only appliance the house came with was the pictured range, so while we waited for our new fridge to be delivered/time spent laying the new tile/grout/sealant, we lived out of that mini-fridge. It's now in the garage and will eventually be a fully stocked drink fridge, especially once we start brewing our own beer, cider, and perry.

The tile below was my favorite after searching and we quickly agreed that it was perfect, though they weren't available in the store so we had to buy without seeing them in person:

After the floor was prepped, I measured and ordered 6 cases of the 16 x 16 size. It's called Marazzi Imperial Slate, in 'Black'. We laid the tile ourselves, but that will be another post on another day!

The Big Move! (And Then Our First Big Household Purchase)

Well we've been in our new house for almost two months and I haven't done an update since we've moved. Part if it is because I've been busy DOING things, and when I'm not busy doing things I'm enjoying being lazy. Also part of it is that working on the blog while living in Utah was a way for me to spend time with the house. Now I'm actually living in it!

Since the last post was about the Eames lounge replica we picked up on Craiglist, I'll start with this adorable picture of the cats enjoying it.

They handled the move like champs and quickly acclimated to their new home. We packed the moving truck and left Salt Lake City on the afternoon of September 14th. We spent the night at a pet-friendly hotel in Boise and then continued on to Portland. After some minor trouble on the road, we arrived at our beautiful home the evening of September 15th.

The first thing we did after unloading the moving truck the next day was take the truck to Ikea and pick up the couch we'd already picked out: the Karlstad, in black leather.

Our friend and upstairs neighbor in Salt Lake had the same couch, and we really liked it. What we didn't like were the terrible block legs that came with it, so we researched alternatives. Fortunately we found an Esty store where you can order tapered legs in a variety of finishes. We quickly ordered a set and got them in about a week, which is fantastic considering they are made to order. 

Here is a closeup of the end:

Changing the legs really made a huge difference. This really is Ikea's most stylish couch, and with the simple (and cheap) addition of tapered legs, it looks like some several thousand dollar mid-century modern style couches we saw while researching what to buy. It's also very comfortable!

Another Craigslist Win

It was early Saturday evening and we were hanging out at our friend's house while waiting for the second coat of polyurethane to dry, so I browsed Craigslist. There happened to be a reproduction Eames lounge listed a few hours earlier in the color combination we were looking for: walnut with black leather. I texted to ask if we could see it right away, since we were leaving town the next morning. Within the hour we were checking it out and decided to buy. The couple selling was really cool and we talked with them for a while. Coincidentally, the guy needed a large photo print delivered to Salt Lake, so when he found out that's where we were driving he asked if we could transport it for him. They even knocked $50 off the chair for it.  Here's the photo from the ad:

Needs a little bit of touch up on the wood and the leather could use some conditioning but overall it's in pretty good shape. We took it to the house and left it in the garage due to the floors being refinished. On our trip last weekend, we were finally able to bring the lounge chair into the house. Here is Nick relaxing in the one corner that is now (mostly) complete! It's really coming together nicely.

Nick Refinishes the Floor

After the day of prep work we were ready to put down the first coat of polyurethane. I vacuumed one more time and then Nick started the application. He had done this only once before, but had a complete handle on it. 

I'm not going to include pictures of all three coats, though there were noticeable differences between each of them and I did document them. He did the first Friday afternoon, which took the longest. We allowed the first coat to drive overnight then Nick completed the second by early afternoon on Saturday. We went back that night to do the final coat, finishing that sometime around midnight. This was the first trip we stayed at the house, but these two nights we had to stay at a friend's place. Sunday morning we left there, stopped by our house to see how the final coat turned out, then got on the road back to Utah.

First room: Master Bedroom. Working his way toward the door where I'm standing.

Closet done

Close up: first coat compared to sanded area

Dining area after

Dining area before for comparison

Living room finished

And before shot of the living room floor again. Incredible difference.

Floor Prep

Even with four days of painting we didn't get everything completed. The studio/guest room still needs to be painted but refinishing the floor took priority for the rest of the week. 

The floors were really dull and very worn. There were some water spots in the living room and black marks that resembled tire treads on some of the bedroom floors, which was probably transfer of some kind from carpet pads back when they were carpeted. 

Dining area before

Living room before

Nick spent Friday morning sanding the wood floor throughout the house while I used the vacuum to clear out all of the dust so he could see the areas he'd already done and where he still needed to sand. I ended up vacuuming 4 or 5 more times after he was finished in order to make sure we got all of the dust and anything else that might have been on the floor.

Nick sanding the studio/guest room

He had to spend extra time on areas like the one below, but was able to reduce these marks significantly!

Tire tread-like marks in bedrooms from carpet pad 

It took several hours of sanding, but the floors were finally ready. We had an appointment to have the fireplace inspected that afternoon, so as soon as that was over Nick started with the polyurethane. Here are photos of the living room and dining area sanded and ready to be refinished:

Living room sanded

Dining room sanded 

And Even More Painting...

I'm combining the rest of the painting into a single post. We spent four days painting both walls and trim and finished everything except Nick's studio/guest bedroom. Sanding and refinishing the floors took priority after Thursday since we absolutely need that done before moving things in and were running out of time.

Before and after photos:

Kitchen - before

I pulled the stove (which we are replacing) away from the wall, cleaned and then painted several coats. The large wall on the right was mostly finished on the last trip so I continued painting down the hallway. I removed the ugly yellow cabinet doors and the kitchen is looking better already. I also removed all of the bedroom and closet doors to paint the trim and just left them off since we are going to replace all of the interior doors with slab doors finished with a walnut stain. No more paneled, two-toned doors!

Kitchen and hall after paint

In this photo you can see the finished hallway and some of the finished bedroom. This is the second coat of polyurethane on the floor, and it looks even better with the third and final coat. More on that later!

Hall and bedroom after paint (and floor - 2 coats)

This is a darker shot because the shades are down, but you can kind of see that the room was a light blue with white trim.

Bedroom before

Here is the after shot with the new wall and trim paint. I also painted the window trim the same color and it looks much nicer with the shades, which are an off-white. Again with the second floor coat.

Bedroom after paint (and floor - 2 coats)

Here is a before shot of the hall closet. Same yellow as the kitchen cabinet doors and the rest of the hallway.

Hall closet before

I painted throughout the entire hallway, again including all of the trim for a very modern, monochromatic look. The room on the left is the same color as the hallway, but it looks a little different in the photo because of the difference in the light between the rooms. The handle on the upper door still needs to be reattached, and the room to the right is the last that needs to be painted.

Hall closet after