A few images…

I have so many pictures to share.  I’ll eventually put up a good series and before and afters, but for now here’s a taste of how everything looks.

Living Room

Dining Room

Another view of the living room.

The rug looks just as perfect as I thought it would.

Laundry Room... note floor and perfectly working appliances.

My first load/un-load in the dishwasher. It took two tries to get a working DW, but it was worth it!

I really need to take a few more pictures… updated exterior sans Pod, patio, upstairs, etc.

Greta

On moving day and looking lovely in one (of three) witch hats...

My parents came to see the new house last week on Tuesday (10+ days ago), and unfortunately, I wasn’t even close to moving in at that point.  I was so happy to have both my mom and dad there to see everything.  Unfortunately, we had to do a lot of visualization at night when we would stay at the Clarion.  After three nights at the Clarion and dropping my dad off at the airport, Greta and I moved in.  Both of my parents were troopers about the logistics, the hotel, etc.

After my dad left, Greta’s star shone gloriously at 9 Boulder Ct. and beyond.  I wouldn’t have made it, and I probably wouldn’t be sitting in a beautifully finished living room drinking coffee and blogging if it weren’t for my mom.

A re-count of Greta’s glory:

- She stripped and re-painted all heat register covers with much more attention to detail than I could have ever given.

- She presented me with three beautiful house-warming gifts- a new painting of the house, a set of updated note-cards, and a painting of a fig plant for the kitchen.

- She cleaned my basement and organized it many times.  She always used the shop-vac too.

- She cleaned out my Lincoln pre CLUNKER deal.

- She went car shopping with me and helped me make the best decision about vehicles (new Hyundai Elantra).

- She found my appropriate registrations and insurance cards in order to make the deal… even helped tape them back together after a burst of organization on my part.

- She cleaned all the walls and screens from the floor sanding fine dust.

- She touched up paint.

- She restored the upstairs desk that Herman gave me- perfectly repaired the top and cleaned it with care.

- She orchestrated different workers, deliveries, plumbers, repair calls, etc.

- She hung many pictures.

Including her beautiful rendition of my street from a few years ago.

- She organized, did bookshelves and kitchen cabinets, un-packed boxes, and worked tirelessly on the beautiful pantry.

She strategically organized and decorated the pantry so that from most views, it just looks pretty and the food, etc. is out of a typical line of sight. I love it.

My mom completed so many wonderful tasks around the house.  It’s so comfortable and “home” because of her.  I didn’t even mention all of the evening errands that she ran with me, the new sheets, the meals, etc.  I would still be staring at piles of boxes right now, but I’m not.

Mom- thank you from the bottom of my heart.  I can’t wait for you and Dad to come back and just visit.  Thank you, thank you, thank you….

Days 68-80,81,82…

Where to start?  In short, all major projects are complete, I have moved in, it’s beautiful and I adore it.

The last two + weeks have been hectic to say the least.

Completed/Accomplished…

- all painting/touch-ups

- kitchen cabinets installed- I think they gave Tony & Co. a run for their money; they were installed the week that school started and the floors were being finished, etc.

The finished kitchen- cabinets, counters, appliances, floors, and plumbing. I love it- ripe fig and all!

The breakfast bar and the pantry in the kitchen.

- doors back on hinges

- lighting fixtures and ceiling fans installed

- finished all plumbing; Dave “the dream” (my quote in June- HA!) quit the job unceremoniously and left me precariously up a creek.  Karl came galloping back in happily to finish the job.  Guess I ticked Dave off at some point or he found something better.

- finished vanity, etc. in bathroom

The beautiful bathroom...

- floor installed in laundry room/shelves too!

- concrete patio poured

- moved in

- got new furniture and appliances

Phase I of my "big girl bed" being delivered/assembled. It's a heavnly bed- the mattress came shortly thereafter. Despite my huge leg bruises from walking into it repeatedly, I love it!

The guest room's new bed... $129 dollars from JCPenney- love it!

- countertops measured/installed

- bought a new car on the last weekend of Cash for Clunkers

That’s the short of it… I’ll write other posts with more pictures!

10 days to go???  I will have an inspection this week and sign my final papers after Labor Day!  Yeee haaaaw!

Floor Preview…

They’re looking great.  I couldn’t walk around the house b/c they were still wet and sticky.  Here are a couple shots from peeking through the front and back doors.

Living room frome the front door

Dining room from front door

Kitchen from the back door... don't know what those dark spots are yet- might be a normal variation/character of old house

Another Delay…

To most- no big deal.

The floor is more stubborn than expected, much more sanding- in fact, a day’s worth of work.

Therefore, my cabinets can’t go in on Friday b/c the floors will be just finished with poly.

Thus, everything gets backed up by a day or half a day.

And, Tony is farming out the cabinet job to his brother- I trust him- guarantees his work, etc., but I just want Tony there.  His signature “That will work” line re-assures me.

Mom…  we may be nomads for an additional night- I have no idea.  Maybe I’ll  buy a car that we can sleep in together.  Actually, the Lincoln is pretty good for that.

Finally, the sanded floors upstairs look great.  They’re bare (no poly/finish), but a great taste of what’s to come.  I just peeked before a run tonight, so no pics; stay tuned…

Updated Task Checklist

More for my peace of mind…

- carpet tear out
- appliance removal/replacement (have purchased appliances and have tentative delivery date)
- replace and re-build 17 windows
- update all electrical
- strip wall-paper
- tear out all plumbing
- replace all plumbing; setting plumbing fixtures throughout
- bring plumbing and electric up to code
- sand all trim
- paint all trim
- paint every surface inside and out (outside will be purple/lavender!)
- restore vintage light fixtures
- restore door knobs (probably vintage too, but I’m using that term as I see fit; vintage really means old and cool)
- adding light fixtures (well, they’re added, but not really working yet or have fixtures yet); installing all new lights
- sanding and finishing all wood floors (all rooms except for the laundry room; carpet on stairs for noise mitigation and general coziness)
- adding a simple concrete patio (tentative- mid-August)
- cleaning up the outside (in progress, much better than the beginning)
- creating a pass through in the kitchen
- full kitchen renovation- cabinets, etc. (in progress)
- exposing an old chimney upstairs and down
- replacing the front door and adding a screen
- repairing wood shingles outside as necessary

- blowing additional insulation into the attic

Additional projects that I didn’t anticipate on day one OR that I forgot to list:

- repair the chimeny; tuckpoint, etc.

- remove the old coal chute; repair foundation/rock around that area

- re-build the laundry room

- skim coat damaged walls

- tile bathroom/tub

- add shelving to bedrooms

Days 68-72 (ball-park estimate at best)

I closed the door to a fully painted, empty house.  It’s ready for the floor repair and sanding crew to come tomorrow.  The painting went incredibly well, thanks to Mary’s help.  She worked for four full days; I worked about four full days with and without her including the weekend- not bad for two chics.

I love all of the paint colors.  Each bedroom has a little personality.  While my bedroom is definitely the most under-stated, I think it will be fun to play with color through rugs, pictures, bedding, etc.

The front/yellow bedroom/study sans furniture.

The living room in Bleeker Beige with two beautiful windows

Here's my bedroom before I moved in.

My understated bedroom now. I think that I have an identical picture on one of the last posts, but I'm legitimately losing my mind...

I was very decisive about all of my paint colors. I had a lot of fun thinking about them and putting them all together, but I don’t think that I agonized over them. Well, the kitchen was a different story. My first plan was to use a sage green that Ana has had really good luck with in many houses- always seemed to turn out well. Then, I thought that I would do an off white (similar to my bedroom) and just let the kitchen speak for itself. Well, it’s going to be a pretty simple kitchen and I kept thinking of other options, so I decided it was a little too dull. I strongly considered the yellow up in the bedroom for the kitchen, but, as my sister pointed out, it could look really funky with the cabinets (medium stained wood). So, I re-decided on the sage green….

Then, I painted the kitchen like this:

Ripe fig it is!

Another view with the very last shot of my avocado green fridge. Phil, the scrap metal guy, wheeled it away today. I'll miss its unique chirps (fan noises that sound like a chipmunk in the freezer).

Gentle Readers (translation- Mom): This color is bold…. there’s a lot of it right now. Keep in mind that over 50% of the walls will be covered with cabinets. In addition, counters (to be decided) and appliances will provide a nice, crisp contrast. Ultimately, I really like it and it looks great with the beige paint in the surrounding rooms and the white trim… we’ll see if it all works out as I envision.

The house is painted and empty. Dave should pull the toilet out first thing tomorrow before the floor crew arrives. I have covered the 220V outlet out of sight from most, so I hope they can discern where to get their power. I will be back “on contract” tomorrow at work and the kids come a week from today. Although I should be sleeping, showering, generally inhabiting this house in nine days, it feels like an eternity.

18 days (until 90 if my count has any validity)…. maybe less until I get Mike the friendly appraiser back to rubber stamp everything. Luckily, it’s still over three full weeks until the actual three month D-Day mark.

Go Mary!

A quick nod to Mary, my incredibly reliable and talented painter-guru-advisor.  By the way, I’m still trying to confirm if Mary and Tony are a bionic couple from somewhere beyond or actually just super-human.

She’s been amazing this week.  Since I decided to do the school’s Jump Start program, there’s no way that this painting would look nearly so good or be nearly so far if it weren’t for her!

Proud Mary keep on rolling.... (well, cutting the paint here, but she rolls it too!)

Here's another shot of Mary just rocking it today (but a little plug for how beautiful the Bleeker Beige- thanks Mary- sister and Ana for this color) looks in the living room, hallway, and dining room!

Days 61-67

Those days sound just about correct…  a few ups and downs here since the end of last week:

- interior paint is over 50%- the following pictures don’t seem to do the job and colors justice

- all delivery dates, etc. have been adjusted for the next three weeks;  I’m on track, but just not the original track

After Friday’s Kilz blitz throughout the house, I sanded and re-caulked a few things over the weekend.  Tony came on Tuesday to finish spraying the ceilings and all the trim.  Overall, it just looks beautiful- crisp white ceilings and shiny, smooth trim.

Interior painting started yesterday.  Mary (Tony’s Mary:) started painting while I was at Jump Start, and I have been joining her later in the day.

The front bedroom in a "new" banana cream yellow. It's bright and happy!

Another view of the front/yellow bedroom/study//////

Sarah's beautiful dining room blue in my south (guest) bedroom... this is a picture that probably doesn't do the color justice.

My bedroom- parchment paper (color)- somewhat boring, yet very pretty. I'm going to do some fun colors with bedding and rugs in here.

I have a pink bathroom.... must be a nod to the pink toilet and sink over at 12 Boulder Ct.!

Now to some bolder decisions… looks like I’m going to try a darker “fig” type color in my kitchen; this will probably be divisive amongst my blog’s readership, but oh well.  I’ll have to decide on counters accordingly:

A very small swap of the color; keep in mind- white trim, dark-ish cabinets, the light pass-through, and a white pantry... we'll see tomorrow!

Hard to see, but it's a line-up of many counter choices. I thought that I had decided this, but I'm nowhere near my future Formica!

Seriously?!?  Really… 23ish days to go!  Lots of yoga breathing here…  I must call the plumber, schedule the concrete, confirm the insulation, clean out my closet, clean and paint the laundry room with God knows what color, vacate for three days of sanding, hope the cabinets and bathroom vanity are in, make sure that Tony will fix my floor holes before Tuesday (5 days away), buy two ceiling fans, buy the sink, faucet, and disposal, get all fixtures ready for Patrick (electrician), re-finish the door hinges and door knobs or bite the bullet and drop them off for Dave V., re-paint the front porch to clean it up, get ready for dumpster removal, get Phil back this weekend to pick up the fridge, find all of my coaching contracts in the storage unit, and on and on…. Mamma Mia.