We're Home!

*Wiping brow*.... Phew, what a fast and furious few days it's been! We moved home last Friday!

The cabinets started being installed Thursday of last week, and the rest of the appliances made their trek from the POD to the kitchen on Friday. The kitchen is gorgeous, even without countertops, wow!

After a brief homecoming party Thursday, the real work (for Dave and I at least) began Friday night. We stayed up until 2 am painting and unpacking. Initially, the color we picked for the living room, Eucalyptus, was horribly green and we considered that we may need to run to Lowe's for a change in paint. Luckily, when we woke up Saturday morning, we decided that the color would stay, as it had dried a very nice color.

Funny story- we cooked our first meal in the new kitchen Friday night, and talk about microwave gourmet.... However, we had to end up cooking by candlelight because we kept tripping a breaker! Our new microwave is super nuclear in strength; if we've got the fans and lights in the dining room, the light in the kitchen and the light in the carport on while we're using it, the circuit will be overloaded and pop the breaker. It took us tripping the breaker 3 times before we realized what was going on! Luckily, Mike said he can bump the breaker up 5 amps and that should be enough.

We spent nearly 3 hours at Ikea Saturday morning choosing out living room furniture- we knew that being back in the house we wouldn't want to be sitting on the floor watching tv, so new furniture was a priority. We picked out a couch, otoman, chair and entertainment unit... and as luck would have it, Ikea delivered the stuff later Saturday afternoon.

Besta Entertainment Unit

Kramfors couch and otoman

By the end of the weekend, all of the painting in the living room and den was finished (the den color is so pretty, it's my new favorite room in the house), all the furtniture was assembled (thank you, Sarah for helping Dave with the entertainment unit!) and some of the baseboards started to be nailed in. We packed a lot of work into 48 hours, and I'm still not sure we're fully recovered.

But the house looks *so* great. You see the pictures, am I lying? Our mantra for Sunday afternoon was 'We can't believe how big the house looks', and it still blows my mind. I was excited during demo, thinking of what a change the house would be, but I never knew just *how* great it would look when all was said and done. Dave keeps asking who's house we've broken into, cause 5112 is not the same house we moved out of 5 weeks ago.

Dave put the kitchen table back in on Monday

I, being the organizer that I am, have been unpacking boxes slowly but surely. The fun part has been deciding where to put all of the kitchen gadgets, since I have much more room than before. I've unpacked 3 boxes so far, and later this week I hope to start hauling stuff out of the POD. YAY!

Covered in drywall dust and *exhausted*

As much as the house looks finished, we still have a little work to go: front door, marble window sill instalation, transitions from the kitchen to the dining room and from the dining room down to the den, countertops, sink, backsplash.... All of which shall be finished in time. We are glad to be home and even more pleased with the outcome so far.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Hellllooo, Newman!

Ok, so I admit, I've been slacking on the blog (or at least that's what my contractor tells me!). But I've been busy! Running errands and getting grout that our contractor demanded (being very sarcastic here- he's not demanding at all. Just checking to see if he really reads this thing!).

So... where did we leave off in our last episode? We last saw our superhero.... Oh, wait a minute, we're remodeling, not changing the world. Well, kind of.

Yes, when we last checked in on 5112, the wood floor was being set laid down. They had finished up until it hit the bar. The next step was to pour the sub floor for the kitchen and the den. And pour the floor did they! So much so, that *all* the floors are finished (minus the finishing trim work). Can I tell you how amazingly wonderful it looks?! The wood came out even better than I thought it would look.

It's like a ballroom floor in here!

Mike asked us to pick up grout last night, and walking into Lowe's (where everybody knows our name...), I had it in my mind that I wanted a darkly stained grout, because the grout we previously had in the kitchen was a light color and got nasty dirty in high-treffic areas. After being re-assured by the guy at Lowe's that as long as we seal the grout it won't stain up, I to the Ivory colored grout. Seeing the finished product today, I'm super happy that we went with the lighter color- see the pictures below!

Kitchen

Den

Our cabinets arrived on schedule yesterday and they are *so* purdy! Just having a corner unit with a lazy susan (which is big enough that I'm convinced Ledder could fit and go for a ride!) alone is reason to celebrate. I think I stuck my head in one of the drawers for about 5 minutes enjoying the fresh new wood scent. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!

'Cabinetry', not cabinets...

Oh, where was I? So, the major flooring is complete. It's time to let the grout cure and then.... drum roll, please.... the cabinets get installed on Thursday. AND, the refrigerator (#2 for those that are keeping score) gets plugged in too! If anyone is free around 5pm Thursday, come over for a celebratory beer- there will definitely be some celebrating going on! The cabinets will be finished and the microwave and range will be running on Friday. By the end of this week, the transformation of the house will be *this* much closer to being finished.

Did I mention we had a minor set back today (guess you can't win them all)? The new door that we ordered last week arrived damaged (and with the wrong glass inset). So Mike ordered a new one that should be in a few days, and will probably get installed next week. Luckily the old door hadn't been removed yet!

We are looking forward to moving back home this weekend, too (although we'll miss you Mark and Sarah)! We'll be spending a majority of the weekend painting before the furniture goes in. Unless we find something different, we've chosen two Ralph Lauren colors- Eucalyptus for the living room and Faded Silk for the den. If there's time this weekend, we hope to paint the hall and the bathroom. Just walking around the house tonight made me feel like we're in a completely new home!

I promise to post at the end of the week, once the cabinets are in. And if you're around the WP area Thursday night, drop me a line and come on over! I figure festivities will start around 5pm. We have much to toast: Good times, good work! And if you can't make it, plan on the open house party TBD.

Floors and Fans

Feel the breeze

Mike and crew have been busy with cleaning 5112 up, putting down paint and installing the fans and flooring. The ceiling work is great- the guys finished applying the knock down texture at the end of last week, and gave it a fresh coat of paint. The fans went up on Tuesday, and they really add a nice touch to the living room. We're looking forward to our house no longer feeling like a cave!

And dum-ta-da-dummmmmmm...... The wood floors are slowly *but surely* going in! The guys had what appears to be a ton of cut/trim work to do in the hallway (at least that's what it seems to my un-trained eye) and today, they moved on into the living room. I'm very, very pleased with our selecetion of flooring- it's looking great! Dave and I realized tonight just how much we need to paint the walls now!

Mike mentioned to me today that the cabinets are ready to be delivered on Monday, and they should be installed next Thursday. Woo hoo! He also ordered a new front door for us, and that's expected to be here by Monday, I believe. Humpty dumpty is starting to take shape!

We also received our new refrigerator today (!).... for those of you who've read the blog from day one, you're probably saying 'But, Mari, I thought you already got a new refrigerator before the demo began?' And I'd tell you that yes, you're correct! However, we recently realized that the fridge we got is not a counter depth model, and the cabinets were ordered to fit around a counter depth model. SO, off we went to hh gregg on Monday. *sigh*. Anyone looking for a brand new Kitchenaid stainless steel fridge? Call me!

Sitting here, reflecting on how far we've come (yet how far we have to go...), I can't believe that this is the fourth week of the remodel. Holy Moly! But things are surely coming along now.... Even Ledder gives his wink of approval!

Doors, doors and more doors!

Boy, has this week been super busy! Not only for me (hence why no blog post until today), but also for the guys at 5112.

The start of the week found Mike finishing the trimming and shimming of the new carport door and immediately, the thing I noticed when I used the door for the first time is that it seals! There's a distinctive 'whoosh' of the door sealing tight when closed. We've *never* had that with any of our doors in the house until now. Progress Energy should be getting a little less of our money in the coming months....

I need an old door and a new door...

The old door has been bricked and sealed off- the guys did a great job on this. From the outside it still looks a little rough, but that's nothing that a little paint can't cover. You'll barely be able to tell where the old door was once we do the finishing work. The inside of the door has been drywalled and mudded, and it's getting closer to the final sanding.

Pre dry wall Post dry wall

We added a component to our renovation, and it was the installation of new French doors to the lanai. Mike was able to find us a great deal on Pella doors (WOW!), and as dumb luck would have it, two sets of doors were ordered by mistake- and we got the more expensive set that has the blinds in the middle of the panes of glass for only $100 more than what we originally thought we were getting. The den looks fantastic! I'm most excited for fall to arrive (which usually happens in late November around here) to be able to open both doors (a feature our previous doors lacked, because they were old and crappy... to put it mildly!).

I believe the guys will be pouring the subfloors for the tile in the kitchen and den next, and after that, will be 'The massive clean up of the house... and then the magic begins with the floors', according to Mike. Ahhhh, Mike, did you go to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? *grin*