Hardwood Floors - During

The guys gave us many options for stain color. We picked "provincial". Jewels says it is the same color we used at the old house. It doesn't look the same to me, but it is pretty.

Hardwood Floors - Before

The hardwood floors were refinished this week. These are a few before pictures...

Kitchen

Living/Dinning Rooms

Boy's Bedroom

Upper Cabinets - Finished!!!

Jewels and Bill finished the upper kitchen cabinets. We think they look great!

Secondary sink wall. The microwave will sit in the opening.

The corner still needs the fill piece. The range vent hood will be in the space between the two cabinets to the left.




The main kitchen sink will be under the window centered in the picture.

Bill and Jewels posing with their handy work.

Upper Cabinets Almost Finished!

"It's a good thing she's cute..."

The little girl has had her moments these past few weeks. She has been teething for the past two months (yes, TWO) and she does not suffer in silence. We all get the 2:00AM wake up call. Jewels and I try to quiet her, but sometimes even Teletubbies doesn't work! Ginger sleeps through it better than the rest of us. Bill said the other morning after a loud overnight, "it's a good thing she's cute." We all agree!

She has also learned how to open doors - preferably bathroom doors while the toilet is in use. My advice to those visiting: please lock the door before going about your business! :)

Upper Cabinets - Secondary Sink Wall

The first lone cabinet was a "learning experience." The next three were a little easier.

Starting the Kitchen Cabinets

Chris comes back on the 23rd to sand and refinish the hardwood floors. Jewels thought it best if the upper kitchen cabinets were installed before then. His theory - better to drop something on an unfinished floor than scratch a newly finished floor. I support him in this.

We've had the kitchen design for months. We picked out IKEA cabinets - light birch. The appliances will be stainless. The newly installed wood flooring will be stained dark.

My cousin, Paul, used IKEA cabinets in his home. When I asked him about installation, he said they go together like Tinker Toys. He was correct. After assembling the pieces, the cabinet hangs on a metal track (that you make sure you nail to the studs). Once hanging on the track, you slide the cabinet into place, level, and tighten the screws. Now, of course, our kitchen is special. The walls have some issues - a 50+ year old house does sag a bit - so all the cabinets have to be tweaked. Jewels is also putting plugs in some of the cabinets so our under counter lighting will shine.

Kids #2 and #3 hang out in the pack & play when at the house. The floors will be sanded and refinished beginning on the 23rd. Right now they are still filthy with sheet rock dust, paint, old carpet padding residue and various other items a baby shouldn't be licking. The boy has fun climbing in and out entertaining his sister. Kid #1 also shares in the fun.

Helping Dad in the shower. Never know when one might need rain boots!

Things are quiet as long as she has her blanket...

Room Colors

All the rooms have paint. All the rooms need touch ups, crown and door casing. All the bedrooms' windows have casing and sills.

Proud of her color choices - Lime green walls with purple entry

The den is painted the same color as our living room in the old house

Little girl's room is painted a soft turquoise

The boy's room is "Ivorie" but looks like the hallway color

Tile Work Complete

The tile work is finished, and it looks great. We are extremely happy with the master shower. The tub conversion to shower has a bench, rain head shower head on one side and a hand held on the other. We chose 6X6 matte bisque tiles for the tub surround in the hall bath. They go to the ceiling. Right now it looks a little institutional, but will warm up with a shower curtain, towels, and shampoo bottles. The master bath, hall bath and utility room all have the same 13X13 porcelain tiles. The color is very neutral, hoping that it will survive the "oh, this was built in the late 2000s" comments down the road. We expect the finish plumber to begin work this week, hoping to have working toilets by the weekend!!!

Tile Work

The tile guys have been great. They were clean, nice, and fast. Curtis understood our need for perfection (and slight anal tendencies). We had a few issues with the master shower - the plumber had to fix a few things which created a hole in the newly placed hardi backer board and green board. Curtis did the patches and the final product looks great.

In the Beginning...

...there were mud beds for tile flooring.

Jewels found a great tile guy, Curtis Roane. He and his son worked Saturday and put down the concrete mud bed for the tile. (When Jewels gutted the bathrooms, he chipped out the old tile and sub flooring. The mud bed brings the sub floor up so when the tile is laid it will be even with the wood floors)

Painting Crew

It's been a busy week - painting. Bill has done the majority of the painting, from priming to top coats. Andy also helped. Even I did some work.