The Blog has Moved!

Hey guys! Guess what? Trimyworld changed its name and moved! I'll still be posting all the house updates, but over on think.CREATE.renovate.

The reasons for the move are explained over there so, go on...get out of here and go check it out!

thinkcreaterenovate.com

Can't wait to see you over there!

-Daines

Baby steps in the office

Hello friends! I know it’s been pretty quiet around here lately. We have been enjoying a lot of life in the form of surprise parties, cruises, and flying <3 We went on a cruise with some dear friends and we sailed under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge...

and the next weekend The Engineer flew us right over it!

We had so much fun with these guys on the cruise!

I also threw The Engineer a surprise party to celebrate his Pilot's License. He is usually really aware of everything that's going on so I worked really hard to be secretive about it and he had no idea! Haha, got ya! ;-) It was a blast and he loved it. 

We did find some time to do a little more prep work for the office so I thought I’d stop in and share!

We left off with fully installed cabinets and countertops. 

Since then, we’ve applied three coats of oil based polyurethane and are thinking that we want one more because there are some spots where the wood was pretty dry causing the polyurethane to really soak in. We also applied the poly to the bar. The countertops already feel so protected and another coat will totally seal the deal (no pun intended)!

This step needs to be completed before we can actually install the built-in shelves in the office. We'd previously designed the shelves and bought materials (I'll share the design soon!). There were several different variations to the design that we debated over. Ultimately we ended up purchasing baskets that will be used for storage and designed the shelves around them!

While we were working on the polyurethane, we started to cut and paint the shelves and supports. Without a table saw this process took a little longer, but we took our time and made it work!

Our cuts fit on two 4’ x 8’ pieces of ¾” birch plywood and we decided to cut everything first and paint before installation. We did this by cutting one piece at a time using the good ol’ guide board and circular saw method (just like we did on the countertops).

With one of two pieces of plywood cut, we called it a day and brought the cut boards inside for painting. I'm using one coat of primer, one coat of eggshell enamel, and two coats of semi gloss enamel for shine and durability. I applied each coat with a microfiber roller which is the best tool in the world. I highly recommend you get one if you have any painting projects ahead of you. 

Now if you will excuse me, I have a lot of boards to finish painting. I'll be back soon with the install progress!

The Yard Got It's Summer Shine On

I’ve spent a lot of time in the yard lately (you know, since it’s super hot now).  The Engineer just got his private pilot’s license and had been spending all his free time studying for his tests and practicing in the plane.  I wanted to make sure I wasn’t a distraction to him, so I decided to take on some more of the yard while the home office renovation was on hold during the end of his training.

Oh yes, yes I did. 

In the front yard, I still had two massive African iris plants that needed to be split and planted from the last overhaul of the front bed. Engineer actually planted them on the side of our front yard to make a new bed. 

After another trip to Home Depot I came back with a fully loaded truck to convert this to a real bed.

Before I really got to work though, I had to tackle the unfortunately large task of weeding. Our front yard is still a yard of weeds and the entire bed area was covered in weeds that had firmly planted their roots years ago :(

Luckily, I didn’t feel too bad about spending my entire Saturday morning weeding because it was nicely shaded!

Once the area was free from weeds I was ready to install a border.

We really like this border for our pathways and bed areas. We discovered it because the previous owners had utilized in for the shell path in the back yard. When we redid the path, we reused it for the new path. Even though it is old, it has held up very well and provides a nice definition between the grass and pathways or bed areas. We like it so much that our goal is to utilize it in all the bed areas of the yard. It is a more expensive option, but it has been a good investment for us. Thus, I laid it out and started digging a small trench to place it in.

Not only did I encompass the new bed area with the border, but I continued all the way around three philodendron plants in the front yard. In the process I did have to cut through some tree roots and I even cut the bottom of the border in a few spots to go around old irrigation pipes.

I back-filled around the border, compacted the dirt, and started laying mulch.

We threw around a lot of ideas about what type of plant to put behind the African irises. We knew we wanted it to be a tall plant and I finally settled on sunflower seeds. I love sunflowers and have been looking for an excuse to plant them in the yard. I chose seeds instead of plants for two reasons. There are a ton of roots in this area of the yard and trying to dig a hole for a plant is a pain. Secondly, I’m not sure if there is enough sun here for sunflowers. I know they can grow in partial shade and might be stunted, but I just don’t know how they will do. I figured with seeds, if they don’t grow, they don’t grow and we will go for plan b!

So in the ground the little seeds went. I left the mulch pulled back so the seedlings would get as much sun while they are growing. We’ll see how they do!

I also added mulch to the other bed out front and they both look so nice now.

I transitioned to the back yard to take care of the (future) garden area that had gotten way out of hand.

Umm…WHAT HAPPENED?!?!?!??!

I knew we had a little crab grass farm going over there, but we totally lost control. Don’t worry, it didn't take too much to regain control.

Not that the area is super pretty or anything, but it will be once we finish it! And we have little lemons growing <3

I made two more new beds in the back yard just like I had done in the front yard.

I had already transplanted a bush from the front yard to the corner by the work shop, and these poor plants have been sitting in their pots for weeks waiting to be planted.

Prior to trenching for the border, I salvaged some grass for transplanting :)

Just like the front, I put the border in, put new plants in, and mulched.

In this bed I planted a banana tree a friend gifted to us because they didn’t have a yard for it, but we're giving it lots of love here!

I also transplanted these plants from in front of the shed to this new bed.

Even though I only planted them there a few months ago, we decided that we wanted to go in a different direction by the shed. I hope they aren’t too mad at me for uprooting them!

Over by the shed, I had already done work along the fence so I put a new border in, planted new bushes in front of the shed, and mulched.

It sure has been a lot of work in the heat, but I am so so happy with the progress in the yard. I love looking at it through the windows and make little detours just to do so when I am walking around the house haha! What a goober right? The grass in the back really surprised us because despite half of it being completely dead six months ago, it is flourishing now.

Now we will be able to maintain the yard instead of overhauling something every time we go out there. 

Thanks for reading, come back soon to see more updates in the home office!

The Engineer became A Pilot…

…and I am SO PROUD of him.

The Pilot with his license and his plane

The Engineer is a very talented and smart man. He really can do anything he puts his mind to. Since the day we met, he has been obsessed with flying talked often about his desire to get his private pilot’s license. He listens to air traffic control on the reg, if he hears an airplane in the sky…he has to find it every. single. time, and we have been on many a date to random parking lots around airports to watch the planes take off and land.

Plane watching in San Diego

Plane watching in San Diego

He researched airports and schools to get his license when he was living in Miami before we were married, but simply didn’t have the time to take on such a task. After a new job and a move, he finally had the time he needed to dedicate to learning to fly.

Plane watching in St. Martin, on our honeymoon. 

Plane watching in St. Martin, on our honeymoon. 

Plane watching in St. Martin, on our honeymoon.

I strongly encouraged him to do it because I knew it was a passion of his. Just over a year ago he finally took the plunge and started lessons.

Long, long ago...

You may have noticed that since we started our big home office renovation around two months ago that we’ve been moving at a snail’s pace. The Engineer has taken lessons and studied for a year, but has done so around the schedule of our life. This sometime meant he didn’t fly for a month (or two :-/) when we were busy. He fully dedicated himself to our family and friends and our home renovation projects.

When he was getting close to fulfilling his requirements in May, he asked me if he could focus on flying. Of course I said yes, but that meant we didn’t have as much time on the weekends to work on the office together. There were of course things I could do on my own (like tackle our yard!), but once we got the cabinets installed in the office, we backed off so The Engineer could focus on his training.

The Engineer taxiing

The Engineer taxiing

He spent so much time studying and making sure he acquired the knowledge he needed to be a smart and safe pilot.

He passed all of his tests with flying colors.

I really am so proud.

The first thing he did was take his wife up on a tour of the town!

Us, up in the air

Beaches from the plane

The best view

The Engineer pointing out other air traffic

The airport on our way back in

Turning to land

Runway in sight

Lining up to land

It was amazing to have my husband fly me around in a tiny little plane over our town. I just wanted to share his huge accomplishment with you all…and to explain why things have been a little slow around here!

We’re ready to get back in the office though so you will be getting some good updates soon! Until then, you can find me up in the sky with The Engineer….ahem excuse me…Pilot.

<3