Chez Larsson

The Painted Foundation

So the foundation at the back of the house has finally been painted. I know several of you like the green color but it was so dark and dingy so I’m afraid it had to go.

 

And here’s the result. The same grey (called duva/dove) as at the front of the house. I like it because it’s grey but it’s light. It gives the house a base to stand of without feeling heavy.

Oh, in this shot you can see how the deck rests on the top of the stairs. A couple of you were wondering if the step down would be hazardous but on the contrary it’s safer as it’s now down as opposed to over and down before.

 

And here’s the before from afar. Or actually more like the during…

 

… since this is the real proper ghetto before.

 

And here’s the “kind of after” which still isn’t 100% complete. Will keep you updated with the flower bed process a little later on when the plants I ordered arrive. So excited!

366: Day 141-148

It’s been a glorious week weather wise. Wille’s room gets a lot of the heat so his windows have been open quite a bit. Mini enjoys the view.

 

My lawn is looking better and better. There are still some bald patches that I’ve filled in with grass seed and am waiting for it to start growing.

Bonus stayed away from the camera this week so here’s another one of Mini.

 

First mowing of the new lawn. I still water every day and still can’t walk on it properly. I stand on the old grass and push the mower over on the new grass and pull it back. I’m so over the electric mower though. We got it for the old house when we moved on and has worked well but keeping track of the cord, especially around the tree and having to carry it up and down the stairs frustrates me every week so I got a push mover the other day. Hey, it's free excersize. 

 

Getting ready to go to work on the Friday morning. Fridays are good! Fewer people in the office, get more done and get off earlier.

 

Some pretty lilacs from the tree between me and my neighbor. Technically it’s her tree but I cut what hangs over on my side.

 

Early Sunday check on the cleaning job I did on Saturday. The wood entrance section of the house had these black spots despite the fact that I cleaned everything thoroughly last year so this time I got a cleaner, Prickfritt (= Spotless) that you apply and scrub and then scrub and rinse 24 hours later, a job I did later that day. I also cleaned the rest of the front of the house on Saturday and scraped some of the wood work so I can soon start painting and make it look as good as on the back. Yay!

Voilà, week 21 of 2012!

Car Boot Loot

 

Last weekend Anne and I went to the local car boot sale, a flea market where the goods are sold from the trunks (UK boots) of the sellers’ cars, or “bakluckeloppis” in Swedish. When going to these events it’s best not to have too high hopes of finding stuff because then you don’t. I went with an open mind and found quite a few fun things:

1. A metal ornament. No use to me whatsoever but a nice decoration.

2. A glass mouse. This one will go on my desk as a paperweight. Wille wasn’t impressed.

3. Wille gave me a mission to find cool vintage sunglasses. Polaroid. Mission accomplished.

4. A Union Jack tray. there’s one exactly like it at Martin’s mom’s house and I’ve always liked it. It will go on Wille’s desk to corral all his bits and bobs.

5. Five DVD’s.

6. Two Opalex egg cups. We hardly ever eat soft boiled eggs but I couldn’t resist these. Egg not included.

7. More handles. Score!

8. A circuit board ruler and a Creatables noticeboard.

Total expenditure: 350 SEK or USD 50. I could probably have gotten away with cheaper but I’m lousy at haggling. If I decide I want something I just pay what they’re asking because I can’t be bothered…

Ps. Happy weekend!

The Gaps

Here’s one of those posts that I’m mostly writing for my own sake as a record of what ‘s been done at the house. It’s probably not something that will going down as “most interesting” in the history of Chez Larsson but here it is never the less.

 

My house was built in 1954 which makes it 58 this year. Over the year the stairs to the basement at the back of the house have started shifting away from the house leaving wide gaps.

 

The previous owners were obviously aware of this and had taken some not very successful measures to close the gaps by filling them with junk. I have to say it didn’t do a whole lot for the look or the function of keeping soil from above trickling down when it rained hard.

 

So I did a bit of excavation. My finds; a plastic bag, a clothes peg, some rocks, some strips of wood and some creepy crawlies that weren’t happy that I was poking around in their home.

 

I had every intention to do this job myself but when my contractors came to do the other work they offered to do it for me and since my to-do list is still as long as my arm I took them up on the offer. 

 

They braced the opening shut with a tall board at the front and a small one at the back and used planks of wood to hold it together. Then they poured down concrete and let it cure for two days.

 

This is what it looked like after the brace came off.

 

It was a bit uneven in places but I used a wire brush and a scraper to remove the excess before the concrete had dried completely a not seen in this photo because it was after I took it.

Like I said, not the most interesting post but I’m happy that my gap’s now closed. As for the other gap along the stairs I’ll show you in the after shot when everything’s all nice and painted.

New Seat Cushion

When I got my desk chair it had a black wooly seat cushion. First off I’m not a huge fan of solid black in interiors and secondly the fabric was a bit scratchy so during the cold months I kept a sheep skin on the seat. That started to feel a bit too warm as spring came along so I decided to cover the seat with fabric.

 

I chose Aristidia by Josef Frank for Svenskt Tenn. Because that fabric is so expensive (I always feel guilty after shopping at ST…) I didn’t get enough to make a proper cover for back and front but instead just cut a square, zig-zagged around it and then pinned the fabric to the back of the cushion with safety pins.

 

This way I saved on fabric but can also remove it for easy cleaning AND if I want to use it elsewhere for something else I can. Because of the width of the fabric I even have a piece left over for a small pillow cover! Not so bad after all.