We’ve Moved In!

We’ve been in the house for a little over two weeks. It has been A LOT of work. We are still up to our eyeballs in boxes and clutter.

I know you all have been waiting for an update, so I snapped some pictures last night with my phone. When we get everything cleared and cleaned up I will take some daylight pictures with my real camera.

The countertops were installed yesterday. They are Sea Salt by Martha Stewart. I love them. They are so soft and smooth. It’s like touching glass.

As you can see, everything that was on the plywood countertops is now up on the window sill. We need to get that sill painted and paint the wall next to the windows. I am going to the Tile Shop on Friday to pick out the backsplash tile. I assume we’ll wait until after Christmas to get that up.

We need to buy some corbels this weekend to support the countertop, and that wall underneath also needs trip and paint.

Here’s another angle showing the fridge and the pantry (and the wicker cow head that Donnie makes fun of). 

Here’s the living room…..and boxes.

The front door…..and boxes.

The eating area.

The hallway heading towards the garage and the laundry room. As you can see, more boxes and more unpacking.

 

So that’s where we are at right now. Donnie and I are working like crazy and trying to tackle as much as we can at night. Combine that with everything that comes along with the holidays and you can see why we are moving a tad slow.

My next update will be in 2013, so have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

More cabinet progress….

 

The cabinets are installed! They are all in and they look great.

Here’s a shot of the fridge side of the kitchen. You can tell how tall the ceilings are because the fridge opening looks really short.

At this point, the fridge panel is too big  The cabinet maker needs to cut about 6 inches off and re-install. That should help lighten up that dark corner behind the fridge. The fridge is only 30” deep and he has it set at 36” right now.

Although that corner will be a good place to put the coffee maker. It will keep the counters looking less cluttered.

Here’s a wide shot of the kitchen. The oven will be in the opening and the sink will be on the right, centered under the windows.

So now we need trim, hardware, countertops, glass, lights,etc…… The list goes on and on. :)

The cabinets are here!

 

The cabinet maker dropped of some cabinets yesterday and will be back today with the rest and start the installation.

I’ll update more as they are installed.

Making a Knee (wall)

 

Over the weekend Donnie and Brian stained and sealed the floors. It was a mix of light and dark brown, but it looks mostly dark. Even though they don’t have the variation they had hoped for, I still think they look good. Best of all, they are ridiculously easy to maintain. They are definitely no fuss floors. If you know me, you know that’s good. I’ve never been accused of being a neat freak.

This is the new knee wall. That’s what the peninsula cabinets will be up against.

Here’s a shot from the other direction. You can see where the under-counter microwave will be installed.

The appliances were delivered today and the guys are working on all the trim. Now we’re just waiting on the cabinets. I can’t wait!

Cabinet Preview

 

The cabinet maker sent Donnie some sneak peeks of the completed frames.

Here’s the sink base. The color is Benjamin Moore’s Dove White.

Notice the feet. I saw something similar on a Martha Stewart cabinet and had him re-create it.

Here’s the Martha version:

This is the corner cabinet where the lazy susan is going to be. I think we are actually going to have two of these. It’s always weird when you move into a new kitchen and have to decide where everything is going to go. I have no idea what I’m going to use the lazy susans for. I’ve never had one before.

We also had to pick out the hardware last night. The cabinet maker sent over a catalog with our choices. I took inspiration from this kitchen, which is another Martha. :)

 

We are going to use chrome handles and on the wide drawers we are going to double up on the handles. The light fixtures we chose are also chrome, so it should tie in nicely. We haven’t picked the faucet yet, but I’m assuming it will be more satin than shiny.

Lastly, we picked our exterior paint colors. The funny thing is that we picked them off of the internet. I think we are just tired of making decisions. I know I am . I just don’t have it in me anymore. I just want it done and anything will be better than what we have now.

This is the house we liked. It’s light and beachy.

The house colors are both Benjamin Moore. The base is Horizon Gray and the trim is Antique White. We aren’t able to get a new front door quite yet, so we are going to paint the existing one brown.

The guys are actually working on the exterior today while the flooring guys are skimming the concrete.

Have a good weekend.

Jacobean it is!

Last week the guys sanded down the floors on the upper level in preparation for staining. The upper level consists of the master bedroom, the guest bedroom, a hallway, and closets. The floors had not been touched since they were put down in 1951.

I was out of town last week, so Donnie sent me a picture of the stain options.

Since it’s hard to make these decisions from a cell phone picture, I told Donnie to pick his favorite.

We wanted something dark, but not too dark. We also didn’t want anything with red in it.

We ended up picking the one all the way to the right…..the Jacobean.

Here’s the hallway after the first coat of satin poly.

I think it looks very nice.

Tomorrow the flooring guys are coming to skim coat the entire lower level in preparation for the concrete staining this weekend.

I am hoping we are less than 2 weeks away from moving in.

Layering

 

So the first new layer of concrete went down yesterday. It’s about 2 inches and it went down in the kitchen area.

Here’s a shot of drying concrete and Tim putting down acid in preparation for the next pour.

They also got the drywall up in the laundry room. The washer and dryer will go underneath that window.

This is the view when you walk in the front door. I knew something looked different yesterday, but I thought they had just cleaned. It turns out they took out the metal pole that was dividing that opening.

Happy Halloween! Donnie’s going to cut out early tonight to trick-or-treat with the kids. :)

A little bit of everything….

We have decided on stained concrete for the main level flooring. We went back and forth between it and tile, but the concrete won out. Since the existing floor is a hot mess, a thin layer of new concrete will have to be poured over the entire thing. The guys are starting on the kitchen area today.

Here’s a shot of the new dry wall in the pantry. See how the floor is green? That’s the adhesive they put down last night to help the new concrete stick. That’s not toilet paper hanging on the wall, it’s dry wall tape.

Here’s a pic of the kitchen with the dry wall up. Can you start to envision it?

Here’s a few shots of the master bedroom. It’s painted and the crown molding is up. The next step in here will be sanding and staining the floors. After that, the base board can go down.

Lastly, here’s where we have left off in the bathroom. The crown is up, the base is down, and the light fixtures are installed. The toilet is set and the vanity has been built.

Donnie has to do some adjusting to the pipe so that it fits above the shelf. Once that’s done, the faucets should go on and all we need is a mirror. Almost one room done!

The tile is up (and down).

The guest bathroom tile and grout was completed yesterday.

Notice the cubbies and the border. Ignore the stuff stacked in the tub.

This is the floor. My goal was to make the regular tile look a little fancier with the border.

Today they should be painting the walls and getting the trim up. Maybe even some fixtures….I don’t know. I always expect things to move in HGTV time vs. real time.

The Windows are In!

 

This has been a big week at the house. We have two new septic tank covers (which is very important, ask Brian), the tile is going up in the guest bath, and all the windows have been changed out.

Here’s a preview of the bathtub. Notice the built in cubbies on the left and right. I am pretty excited about those. Sarah Richardson (my most favorite designer ever) puts them in all her showers, so naturally I must do the same. :) I’m also copying one of her signature floor tile moves, but  that’s not laid down yet.

 

Now for the windows! I am so excited about having all new, operational, and insulated windows. The big window is the living room and the little window is the t.v. room.

 

In all the houses we have lived in, we’ve dealt with the original windows and their issues. This is going to be so much better.

The two smaller windows are bathrooms, and the big one is our bedroom.

Now here’s the back of the house. It should be light and bright and provide a great view. Although that also means I’ll have a lot to keep clean.

Step into the backyard…..

….but don’t miss the step. :)

The new doors went in at the end of the last week. I love them! They are really tall and heavy and provide a great view.

Ultimately we will have a patio back there, but in the meantime, if you come visit, only use the middle set of doors.

Some Closure and Some Opening

 

First things first, we sold our house last week! It was on the market for 5 months before it was under contract, and then another 45 days to close. The weird thing is that after it was under contract, three other parties called to try and put an offer on it. They were all people that had seen it during that previous 5 months and never pulled the trigger. Oh well.

I was a little sad last week. We lived in that house for 6 years and Q was born there. We have a lot of great memories and will miss a few of our neighbors in particular. It feels weird walking away and handing the keys to someone else, but I know we will make great memories at our new place.

 

Moving on…………..Donnie and the crew spent last Friday taking out the back wall and re-framing it.

They got it all finished, but I wasn’t there to take pictures. The windows and doors should be here in about a week. Until then, they put plywood up in their places.

Here’s the view from inside the “kitchen”.

That tree right in front of the window is going to be removed, as well as the one you can partially see at the right edge of the picture.

This is the view from the eating area. We are putting in 3 pairs of 8 ft French doors.

So that’s it for now. Things should be moving more quickly, so I’ll update more regularly. We are living with Donnie’s Mom and would like to get into the new place in a few months. We’ll see. :)

Great Deals at Lowe’s

 

I went into Lowe’s during my lunch break to scout out appliances. We are bringing our washer and dryer with us to the new house, but we will need to purchase everything for the kitchen.

They had some great deals on the french door refrigerators, so I’ll have to bring Donnie back to check them out.

On my way out I walked through the lighting department, and boy am I glad I did!

The light below is from Shades of Light. It’s about $250. This type of light can be seen in a bunch of different catalogues and websites. I love the look of it, but I wouldn’t pay that much.

Lowe’s house brand, Allen + Roth, is a great way to get designer knock offs at a better price.

I was able to snag this guy on clearance today for $35.

I actually grabbed two of them. I’m not sure where I am going to put them yet, but at that price, I couldn’t leave them.

Let there be light!

 

Donnie has been spending a lot of time at the house working on the electrical. The entire main level of the house is getting recessed lighting. We decided to go with LED lights. They are supposed to last 25 years and cost less to use.

Here is a picture of the hallway leading to the girls’ rooms and laundry room.

There have been many decisions to make in regards to lighting. Donnie wanted me to pick the color of the switches, the shape of the switches, and which switches control which lights. Honestly, I don’t have a really strong opinion about any of it. I will let him make the call on this and I will surely make the call on many other things down the road.

 

In addition to laying out the lighting, they also closed in the back wall of the kitchen.

This is what the wall looked like before:

This is what it looks like now:

 

That is the wall that the range and upper cabinets will be on.

 

 

This is what it looks like from the outside.

That plywood is temporary. Ultimately we plan on putting siding around the whole house. That will be down the road a bit.

 

That’s it for now.