And There Was Much Rejoicing

After 9 months, we now have a working oven and stove. It's beautiful......and blue. But only on the inside. And it works like a dream.We've already baked fish, roasted veggies, heated bread, boiled water and made cookies. And it hasn't even been hooked up for 24 hours. Can you tell we are excited?

Photo Friday: Home Improvement

I haven't posted pics of our remodel in a while and some of you have been asking, so since I didn't take many photos this week, I thought I'd take the time to show you what's been improving around here lately...

We now have rugs in the family room. Daddy is sad that his beautiful floor is partially covered, but the girls are really happy to have a softer spot to play. We still have a huge open space of floor (not pictured) that makes everyone happy. It's great for playing, dancing and general silliness AND we can still admire the floor's beauty and Daddy's hard work.

The kids' rug...We got our pool fenced this week. While it's ugly and the yard seems smaller now, I'm so happy to be able to send the kids outside without having to be out there every second. Just this morning, Kate went outside to play with playdough. Oh, happy day. And besides, it's mesh and it can come down. So, when we have a bunch of people over, we can just pop the poles out to make more room.

I've been working on the far corner of the kitchen. I moved the girls' couch and little TV in there and tried to make the corner cozy. Their little white table and craft supplies are also there. Eventually, I'd like to do some kind of built-in where they can do their homework, play games and hang out. Really, I just don't want all their stuff in the living room.As you can see by the minor disaster that is my living room/kitchen, I am slowly unpacking. We still have some things in storage, but I've been getting a few things out here and there. This week I have been looking for our silverware. I've gotten most of the kitchen boxes out of storage, but I still can't find it. And I'm tired of washing plastic utensils.

We also got a new kitchen table this week. I didn't take a picture of it, but trust me, it's beautiful. See? (Ok, that's so not my kitchen or table setting, but everything else is mine. We did get the bench...actually we got two. But we are keeping them in the entry way and will pull them up to the table as needed.)

And finally, since you don't want to just see my house, here are the two kids that didn't go to school today...

Happy Friday.

Girl in a Cupboard

This is one of the sink cabinets in the kitchen. Clearly, the sink isn't in yet. But Kate thinks it's a fabulous place to hang out. That contraption next to it is my new microwave. I love IKEA.

Photo Friday-Life in a Fog

What? It's Friday already? It seems like it was Friday just yesterday. Since I can't get my act together to take any pictures today, here's a random assortment from the week.

Robert Katelyn
PadynOh, another piece of news. We are moving into our house this weekend. Here's what it looks like with no furniture...didn't the hardwood floors come out fabulously? Daddy worked really hard on those...

The kitchen floor...this was taken before all the tile was laid and the grouting process had just begun. As of today, all the tile is laid, but it isn't all grouted. Minor details...
Happy Friday.

Progress-Photo Diary of a House Remodel Entry #4

The painters FINALLY finished on Monday. And Joel has been busy sanding the floors all weekend and yesterday. What a difference those two things make. Even without being finished, the floors look great, and the paint really cleans up the joint. It is actually looking like we might be able to live in it sometime in the future...it looks so much more livable than it did here.

Kitchen looking into the family room...those white boards on the floor are the baseboards that will go up after the floors are done.

Kitchen with a view to the backyardEntryway...look! No more brown front door! No more streaks on the floor! No more ugly brown beam! (That door to the right is the office)
Family room looking into the kitchenFamily room...no more gray fireplaceThere are two rooms in the house that aren't khaki. Can you guess whose they are?
I don't think I'll be able to live with the pink or the blue for 20 years, but that's the beauty of paint. When the kids are going through their black/red/purple/rainbow stripes phase, we can just change it.

Still to do...

Starting tomorrow: oiling and staining the floors

This weekend: beginning to lay the tile in the kitchen

And I really should take a picture of my garage filled with Ikea cabinets waiting to be assembled. That's a sight.

Photo Diary of a House Remodel Entry #3

This is where we were a week and a half ago...Daddy was finishing up the electrical and plumbing in preparation for the painters.

family room looking into the entry way-this is where the large closet used to be.

the kitchen-no dividing wall yet and wires everywhere. Yep...that's Daddy.

the night (late late at night) before the painters started-the frame for the semi-dividing wall between the kitchen and family room is up, the electrical, lights and plumbing are done, and we're ready for drywall and paint.The painters have been in for almost a week and a half now. They should be done this Thursday or Friday. I'll get you some pictures of that this weekend. I think it's going to look and feel very different. Like we might actually be able to move in one day.

Photo Diary of a House Remodel Entry #2

Here's what we were left with during and after the demo. We ripped everything in the kitchen and master bathroom, most of the hall bathroom, and removed one of the closets in the family room. We are partially opening up the wall between the family room and the kitchen. There are no pictures of it, but we also are taking part of the laundry room and making it a walk in closet in the master. Nothing is changing in the other bedrooms. And we still have one nasty bathroom that is intact and will probably be our primary bathroom until we get the hall one completed after we move in. I'll be investing in bleach.


kitchen-before the drywall was removed. Doesn't that look nice?kitchen-before we knocked out the wall. That's where the oven and sink originally were.kitchen-that wall is where the pantry and refrigerator will be. The white door is the entrance to the garagekitchen-that window is where my sink will befamily room looking into the kitchen-we are taking out part of the wall to create a bigger opening between the two rooms. Notice the large closet is gone. hall bath-we're keeping the tub but we'll eventually replace the cultured marble. Do you think we should keep the blue?

entrance to the master bath master bath-we are taking out a closet to make the bathroom bigger. It's even better now...more to come.

Photo Friday-Photo Diary of a House Remodel Entry #1

Here's what we started with...

kitchen-closed off from rest of house

family room-the kitchen is on the other side of that wall

family room looking into entry way-that monstrosity is a closet-coat and shelves

entry way flanked by two closets

entry way closets hall bathroom-I think my favorite room in the house

laundry room-it's HUGE!

master bedroom

master bathroom
Tomorrow, what it looked like after demo.

Happy Friday!