Fireplace Wall - Nearly Done!

This is actual progress - done today!! All that remains here is the countertop on the cabinets (and handles!). It looks beautiful, and I am looking forward to using those cabinets. My plan for those is to use as linen closet.

Bar

From November 18 but I am finally posting now. Since then all the light rail and toe kick has been installed. "All" that is left in the kitchen is lighting (mostly under cabinet).

Plumbing and tile progress

The pot filler! Eric's quote: Even if we never use it, it looks cool.
That is all that is matters!

Tile done in breakfast nook, and plumbing in work. The cold/hot water dispenser is little faucet. This is Eric's hand washing sink. Or Abby's seventh drinking fountain!

Labor Day weekend progress

Eric did backsplash in breakfast nook (still needs grout), and I did base coat of faux finishing on fireplace wall in our bedroom. Fireplace itself will be tiled. Brown paper on walls is covering glass shelving.

Done!

Or at least the floor is done. I can't believe how great it looks!

Flooring started!

Dining Room

Living Room

Master Bath - Double Vanity Edition

Eric and I have not had double vanities since we moved into this house in 2009. In most ways, we get along, but I think we are both ready for our own. Maybe because we also have to share with the cats!

Tile floor with floor heat done as is lighting at side of medicine cabinets.

It is all beautiful.

We're Back Baby!

Or I am excited to get appliances. Last night cooking dinner in the camper was rotten. Out of propane, which I did realize for 15+ minutes, late, have to sit outside because bed was set up from camping. Anyway, it is nice to be in the house again. Appliance delivery is the last big item with a very, very long list of short tasks.

We will see how it goes with the new appliances. They are intimidating! The manuals will need to be kept close by for awhile.

Floor delivery is Friday. Installation is July 6 so that is the next big thing to get ready for.

Backsplash!

Mostly done. Needs grout. It is beautiful!

Backsplash behind hood

Eric started it this weekend. It is absolutely gorgeous. It is also glass and a pain in the rear to work with. I definitely know true love!

Bar

It is looking pretty good. Don't mind the messiness. I forgot what moving feels like. It is just like this - mess everywhere!

Kitty Heaven

Abby waited in the sink for an entire day to have a drink.

She made it!

Also it is lovely to have a sink in the kitchen!

Abby Girl - Our Lover of Sinks

Abby figured out what the kitchen sink was last night. She has been a crazy cat in an anticipation. Eric is working on plumbing and electrical (for disposal). Hopefully she will make it...

Abby has really good taste in sinks. Her current favorite is the sparkly laundry room number.

Counters!

Or we are happy that we don't have to walk through the rain for breakfast tomorrow!

Kitchen view from dining room

Kitchen view from breakfast nook/desk area. Yes, you do see a cooktop there. It is nice, but not hooked up! Appliance delivery/installation not until June 3.

Bar sink area in breakfast nook. AKA sink for Eric to wash his hands so he doesn't get in my way.

Desk area at window. Ha - we said we don't need a desk anymore, and we wound up with more desk than we have had in years! It will be a good space to work on cookbooks and planning meals.

Snow (and the Romance of Camper Eating)!

It snowed 1-2 inches here, which is way better than the 5-10 inches they predicted. It is all in your expectation I guess!

The allure and romance of having to trudge (work with me here - I know it is not a lot of snow!) for breakfast is over! We really could move breakfast into the house now - or at least when we get counters we could manage it.

We heart Restaurant Runners too. It was nice to have pizza delivery last night when it was pouring rain!

Cabinet installation - check!

Kitchen cabinet installation is done. Remaining task (after floor installation) is toe kick. Counter template was done today. Counters take 7-10 days. Need to set up appliance installation. Kitchen looks great. I am excited to reopen kitchen boxes from October 2010!

Kitchen Day 2

Progress is great! Don't tell Eric - this is how we find out if he reads blog or not. I might have too many cabinets. We will never speak on this again.

Kitchen Day 1

Downstairs: The guest bathroom handles are all installed (finally!), and basement bath vanity is in (with handles on the day they installed - not that I am bitter or anything!).

Upstairs: About 1/3 of the cabinetry is installed. Bar also has handles. And if you were worried, we have tried all the drawers for liquor and wine, and everything fits. It is one thing to see the plan on paper; it is another to realize it in life. It is really strange to go from empty kitchen to this in a day.

Ready!

Exhausted but ready. Somehow again we have are successful at crazy projects. Obviously this is due entirely to Eric!

We peeked

It is torture to have the kitchen cabinets here and to have to wait two weeks for installation (except of course for all  the work we need to do between now and then).

Today we looked at desk cabinets so we could do electrical. We are going to hide all charging in a desk drawer. The charging situation is a little out of control with 3 iPhones, 3 iPads and all Eric's cochlear implant stuff. Maybe if it is an drawer, it will be "neat". Anyway, we had to look at cabinets to see if we could switch them or not (nope!!).

Here is file drawer and cookbook cabinet. Another rule right now for me: no more cookbook purchases until the kitchen is done. I could be (am?) obsessed with cookbooks! A little weird for someone who has no time to cook.

Window coverings

To help us live like normal people again, we got window coverings in great room and breakfast nook and in Murphy's room (TV room). By the way, you must name rooms and stick to those names to avoid confusion. This has been difficult with all the bathrooms. Anyway, we always called Murphy's room that, and we are sticking to it.

Kitchen cabinets

Living room prior to delivery Friday

Living room after

Installation starts May 4

Crazy house starts...

In preparation for the kitchen install, our house has become more crazy than normal.

Eric installed the pot filler, but the old stove does not fit under it. So for now the stove sticks out in the galley kitchen. First world problem but it is annoying! Pot filler is cool though for people who make pasta every night. New cooktop is here so we could check filler location. I am so excited about it!

Master bedroom fireplace

Pretend there is beautiful tile surrounding it!

Countdown to kitchen cabinets

I have zero pictures to share but lots of updates:

• Kitchen cabinets were ordered yesterday. Delivery is in 6 weeks.
• Base molding is nearly complete downstairs, which means all the molding in basement will be done. Base upstairs has to wait for floors.
• We picked up fireplace for our bedroom today.
• Eric finished master shower plumbing over the weekend.

I am so excited for the kitchen and so anxious about the process and being without a kitchen for about a month.

Guest Bath - Check!

When Eric and I first moved back into the house post phase 1, we did not have a fully functional bathroom. The thing we really learned is all the necessary functions of a bathroom, which are never included in real estate counts. So we prefer to think of bathrooms as seven piece:
1. Shower
2. Sink
3. Toilet (ideally these are all in the same room!)
4. Light
5. Mirror
6. Outlet
7. Towel bar

It took us 3 months to have towel bars.

Anyway, we now have a fully functional 7-piece guest bath!

TBT Ugly House Edition: Basement Bathroom

Eric finished the tile last weekend, and the shower door and mirror are going in tomorrow. So we will have a nearly complete bathroom after this weekend!! In celebration, let's have fun with before and after for TBT!

Before - Perhaps I don't need to specify that. There was a cloth ceiling in there, but it was taken down immediately so no pictures. I went in this room less than 5 times because it scared me!

After