It is Day 64...

Before...should have thought to take the picture before we started painting.
New color! North Hampton Putty
Still playing around with odds and ends to decorate with but I think a new toilet is in order...don't you Brian?

7-10 days our new counter top will be in and can be installed with our new sink.

New back door

Bathroom window is ready to be covered up.

Hanging out in the new closet

A lot has been going on and today we had the electrical inspection. Tomorrow is the rough plumbing inspection and once we get the go ahead installation drywalling can start!

Exhausted...

The Weekend Warriors are exhausted. This weekend was spent painting the ceiling and walls in the bathroom and lots of shopping around for all the things we need to get this house in the same color scheme as the kitchen. I'm trying to get as much done as humanly possible before I go back to work (two weeks). There shouldn't be a problem getting the hallway and living room painted, it's just we won't be doing much else between now and then!

Pictures coming soon

Andi and I have been busy with bathroom remodel and painting and haven't got to post much in the way of pictures. There has been many new things to see today and yesterday. We'll get pictures soon, but here's a quick update.

Mudroom closet framed.
Back door installed.
Soffit framed.
Bathroom window removed, walled framed.
Basement window installed.
Basement opening created!

Pictures hopefully tonight if we're not too tired after painting.

Bathroom Project - No Turning Back Now!

On Monday replacing the counter top and sink in the bathroom was just an idea...

It must be done now...we painted the bathroom a color Stephanie picked out for us. No turning back now, the bathroom is getting a new look.

My Pleas for Decorating Advice Has Been Answered

...or much to my delight, done for me!


This morning (early) I mobilized the troops and got them packed up and ready to spend the morning at one of our friend's house. By 9:30 I was back home, quickly straightened up and was ready for Stephanie.

Stephanie is one of my favorite people right now (my other being Anna, who had the boys at her house). Stephanie is our designer and today she came over to tell me what I should paint everything. When I say everything, I mean everything. We picked colors for the stairwell, the mudroom, the kitchen, the dining area, the hallway, and two for the living room. Then, we discussed this horrible place in my house: the bathroom. It just wasn't in the budget to role the bathroom into the remodel but she gave me some great suggestions on how how to make it better. One of which is to just replace the counter and sink rather than the whole vanity. So, think we'll find the money for that. Our bathroom is awful and since the rest of the house is going to look awesome in a few months, it just doesn't seem right to have such a crappy bathroom.

Then, after I was done with Stephanie I had an appointment at Sears to pick out a microwave. This microwave is holding up the order on the cabinets so I'm glad I have it done now! Everything should be ordered today and be delivered in about 5 weeks.

Finally, I asked if our new island would be long enough to double as a breakfast bar. With a little tweaking it will! Whoo Hoo...Now we have a breakfast bar!

Slight Change in Plans & Electrical is In Place

Due to this whole soffit nonsense our plans needed to be modified just a little bit. Here is what the new drawings look like:

Above the refrigerator is the soffit that was our first unexpected problem.

New cabinet configuration

A much larger island is going to installed! Who cares about the soffit, we just gained more counter and work space!

In other Ranch news, our dryer is broken. For real this time. A few weeks ago I commented that I had a suspicion that something wasn't right with it. I guess I was right! We also need a new shower head since our current one is spraying water out of places where water shouldn't be spraying. Appliances and fixtures not connected to the project shouldn't be allowed to break during the project!

Day 53 - The Day of Power

Today started and ended with power. When I woke up to go running, I started the coffee like I normally do and then went to get ready. When I came back for my coffee and flipped on the light to see what I was doing I tripped a circuit.

!#@%

The "kitchen" and bedroom lost power. That meant no A/C and no alarm. Andi was non too happy with that situation. After some struggles with turning on the right circuit and resetting clocks, I headed out and finished a quick run. After I was done and the up and dressed, promptly at 7, Kevin showed up. Two minutes later the electrician showed up.

I thought they were only coming to take a look around and get a feel for the project. Noway, they were here to work. After a couple minutes discussing layouts of switches and placements of can lights, I had to leave. When I came home today, they had most of the power run as well as switch boxes and breakers installed. The can lights were delivered and would be they are next for installation. You can see them in the middle of the floor.

These pictures you most likely haven't seen. I am standing in the new part of the kitchen and the entrance is where the bay window used to be. The pocket door and wall separating the mudroom have been framed out too.

You can see the where the switches are going to go and just to the left of the window is where the stove is going to go. They couldn't move the fridge out of the kitchen because it was so huge and for the entire project they'll have to work around it.

The next picture is me standing behind the pocket door in the mudroom looking into the new kitchen. Next to the wall where the fan is, is where the fridge will go. The can lights are in the boxes. I'm not sure when they are coming back or even what they have to do, but hopefully it will be tomorrow and we'll have some kind of make shift lighting in the kitchen.

After I came home from work, this is the state I found the progress of the work in and I was pleased to see they accomplished a lot. When I walked into the bedroom to change, the clocks were blinking.

The power had been cut again. Figures.