The kitchen is the heart of the home

The kitchen is nearly complete! The cabinets and counter tops are in. When designing the kitchen, we asked a lot of people for advice on the colors to go with for cabinets, counters, walls and tile. We ended up deciding on a color called Cashmere for the cabinets and a dark granite counter that has some browns and tans in it.  Looking at it all together, I think it's tied together very nicely. It's very hard to imagine everything when you're choosing out of a showroom. You can see how the pieces match, but it's hard to know for sure that it will look good until everything is installed.

Fred went to the house after the cabinets and counters were installed and had kind of a freak out because the counters seemed different from the sample we picked. I tried to assure him that with granite, each piece was a little different. He was convinced it was black and pink, instead of black/brown. So he decided at 7:30 on Friday night that he wanted me to see it. I kept telling him that even if it was wrong, there's nothing that could be done until Monday and we'd be at the house anyway that weekend. He didn't care and off to the house we went. I was starting to get nervous that it was black and pink cause Fred kept freaking out, so when we got to the house I was hesitant to go in. When I walked into the kitchen and looked at the counter in the light, it looked fine. It looked black/brown. I explained to him that the difference is that the brown parts were bigger than what was on the sample, but it looked good. I think Fred saw the counter in the afternoon light and it looked more pink than brown. So all is well for that. Looking at the kitchen nearly complete, I'm so excited to finish everything and get moved in. It is exactly the kitchen I've dreamed of and will certainly be the heart of our home.

Upstairs bath tile- not yet grouted

We still have a lot to do though. We're still working on the upstairs bathroom. I hope to knock that out this weekend and hopefully the Master bedroom. If we can have a weekend where there isn't four million things going on, we may actually get some work done. The tile guys have put down all the tile in the bathrooms and laundry room, so those are almost ready to go!

Downstairs bath tile

The guys are supposed to come this weekend to do the outside. From what I hear a whole crew is coming and they're going to work Fri-Mon to get it all done. I'm hesitant to believe it will be completed that quickly. We're painting the outside trim white and some of the doors will be white and the front door will be red.

The electrician is also supposed to finish up this week, thankfully! We've had several issues lately with the breakers. I'm also hoping he'll get the track lighting in the kitchen up and the ceiling fans in the living room and bedrooms up. It would be nice to have overhead lights in those rooms- currently there is none. The best part is that the appliances are supposed to be delivered this weekend. Hopefully, the plumber will get out there soon to finish up his stuff, so we can get the dishwasher and faucet installed.

Laundry room tile

Our ETA is November. Hopefully before Thanksgiving, but we still have so much scraping, sanding, priming and painting to do, I'm just praying we're done by the end of the year. Looking around the house, I can see how far we've come. We're trying to keep the integrity of the house, but make it into the home it should be. The home was built with so much stability and character, that we would be doing it a great disservice to renovate instead of rehabilitate. We've been doing research on the house trying to find information on what the inside and outside looked like after it was built, because we want to restore the original charm. I hope we can accomplish the task.

Another weekend gone

New tile floor!

We have tile! And it looks good!   The cabinets are supposed to go in this week. The kitchen is getting closer to being finished. We're also getting closer to having all of the tile work in the house done. (Tile is being done in the downstairs bath, laundry room, and upstairs bathroom wall (around the shower)).

Fred and his parents worked hard on Saturday scraping the windows in the upstairs bath. I had my sisters in town, so I had the day off. We did go by to show see the house and say hello.  Sunday was a lot more productive.

Trim scraped to the wood

A friend of the family, who is a professional painter, came with us Sunday to help out. He gave us some great tips and helped a bunch scraping windows. He told about how a heat gun can melt the paint off of the trim to easily remove it. He even brought his over to show Fred how to use it. Fred is in love! He went and got one for himself and went to town on the trim in the upstairs bath. The heat gun gets up to 1000º and melts the paint, so you can easily scrape strips off. It was able to get three layers of paint off and get it down to the wood! So after some sanding to make it smooth, we'll be ready to prime and paint the bathroom.... which we finally decided on the color- it's called Bee's Wax (yellow).

Sweeping up paint chips

I got started priming the shelves that go to the closets and linen closet.  One side of them is done and drying. We're estimating that the cabinets and maybe counters will be going in this week. I hope they do. Our task continues to be scraping and sanding, but we're getting closer. We now have 16 windows scraped! We're more than half way there! Of course we still need to sand, prime and paint 12 of them. I'm hoping we'll be able to get the upstairs bathroom completed this weekend and start on the bedrooms.

Two rooms primed and painted.... eight more to go

How much can we get done in a three-day weekend?  A lot.

Most of Saturday was spent at Lowe's, where we bought the appliances, four ceiling fans, a mailbox and post, a new lock, and lots of other misc items. Let's just say that Lowe's loves us now. After scouring the internet for deals on appliances and reading reviews, we decided on the Frigidaire Gallery series and the Frigidaire Professional series. Due to a great Labor Day sale, we were able to get the appliances we wanted- Stainless Steel. We also went ahead and bought most of the paint and primer we need for the house.

When we finally got to the house, we decided to go ahead and finish cleaning up the yard from the hurricane, so the grass could be cut. Fred continued to get large limbs and I grabbed the smaller stuff. We had to get all the yard debris to the street since pick up was Tuesday (the 6th). They don't give much time. Fred also decided it was a good time to start cleaning out from under the trees of other fallen limbs that have been there a while, since it's "free." We were going to wait to do it but since the city is picking up debris, we figured we should go ahead and get as much done as possible, so we don't have to pay for bulk removal later. A lot of the baby pines were pulled up, but there is still plenty if any one wants some pines or magnolia seedlings. We have plenty to spare, just let us know.

Painted kitchen- color is called Canoe

Sunday... fun day. The day to paint. Since the tile is being put down this week, we want as much paint up as possible in the rooms needing tile. Fred and his dad started cleaning up in the kitchen. They pulled the rest of the linoleum floor up and took apart the refrigerator that was already at the house and put it in the basement. This gave an open room, with no obstacles. My mom and her friend came to help us and we promptly put paint brushes in their hands. My mom primed the trim in the stairwell, while her friend worked on painting the ceiling in the kitchen. I was busy in the pink bathroom, scraping and sanding. I was determined to get that room primed that day. Fred worked on scraping the window in the bathroom and while I wanted on him, I primed more door frames in the kitchen... there are five door frames that connect to the kitchen.  Once Fred was finished, I went to town priming the bathroom. Finally, some of the pink would be gone! We still have the pink tile, but it felt so good covering up the pink trim. Of course I ended up wearing as much paint as I got on the wall. Fred's dad is far more patient and steady than I am, so he painted all the trim to the windows in the kitchen and bathroom, making them look almost new! Sunday was a very late night trying to get stuff done, but ended up being very productive... the kitchen and bathroom were ready for paint.

Labor Day was certainly that.... a day of hard labor. The day had finally arrived that we could get some color on the walls. While Fred and his dad started painting in the kitchen, I went and painted the trim in the bathroom. I think I may need a second coat to hide the pink. The primer and one coat may not be enough. A little pink keeps coming through :-/ But, it is a big improvement. When I got to the kitchen, the wall painting was under way and looking good. I really like the color. At first I was afraid it was too dark, but I think the light-colored cabinets will brighten it up. I worked on painting the trim on the door frames I had primed the day before. Finally, the kitchen is primed, painted and trimed, and ready for tile!!

Design/layout

We didn't get many pictures cause we forgot the camera, but I snapped a couple with my phone. The latest is that the subfloor in the kitchen has to be replaced before they can tile, but tile is still supposed to start this week. The cabinets are ready and should be installed next week, so, I think we can reveal the design and hope that nothing happens....

Design/layout

Fred and his dad also put up the mailbox and post and then continued to clean up in the yard, cutting dead limbs and cleaning up debris. It's finally starting to look like a kept yard- sort of. I stayed busy working on the other bathroom, scraping the trim and walls. There's still a lot to do in that bathroom, but hopefully it won't take too long. It was a very productive three-day weekend, although I think I need a week to really make a dent in the to-do list and then another week to recover.

Design/layout