Fence and First Supper

At 7am this morning the fence installers arrived. I walked the perimeter of the fence with the boss and he casually said no problem to all of my requests. When I came home at 4pm the entire fence was installed perfectly and every bush, corner, spot, etc that I specified was perfect. Who could as for any more? And thus this afternoon dogs played free in the back yard and I was over joyed with the freedom of being outside with the dog but not attached to a leash!

And then after the joys of having dogs off leash I had my first dinner party. Here is my first setting of the dining room table at the new house.

Kitchen Evolution

YEAH for a practically new kitchen with light, air, and space for people to hang out while I'm cooking!

This past week

This week a million little things got done around the house but the big project was removing the concrete slab in the back yard in preparation for the fence which is coming this week (RUFF! says lula).

This monster project truly deserves a shout out to Todd the Great who has battle wounds to prove that he is the master of the jack hammer! Thanks Todd!

Last weekends Visitors

Beck, Pia, and Mia traveled down to MD for a weekend of water fun. Mia and Lula has a blast swimming and Beck mastered waterskiing!

Checked off the List

This week was busy and thanks to Todd and my dad many things got checked off the list. The most important one is that I finally have Internet at home and will post more pictures very soon......

Completed projects for the week:

Living Room
2nd coat purple edges and radiators

New Bathroom:
Sand, Spackle, and Paint walls
Install shower barriers
Grout threshold
Install heater

Kitchen:
Sand and Spackle drywall
Prime and paint walls
Install pantry shelves
Bar stools

Crawl Space:
Remove cement - THANK YOU TODD!
Re-Vent outlets
Install better gutters

New home owner "ah ha" moment # 1

At the closing for the house the previous owner made note to tell me he had turned down the temperature of the water heater. My response was basically, "yep, OK". A month goes by and it is move in day. I'm hot and sweaty so I head to the shower to take a nice cold shower.

The next day I went to work came home and jumped in the shower. Burr it was cold.

So I climbed up into the attic with some screw drivers and pulled off the control panel cover and turned up the temperature.

The next day, another cold shower.

Up I go into the attic again. Turns out there is another control panel. Off comes the cover and up goes the temperature. Yeah, hot shower tomorrow!

Day 4, and I have learned my lesson. Test the water before you get undress and jump in the shower. It was still cold.

Up to the attic again. I confirmed that it was plugged in, read the manual again and again and again, and then came back down and called my dad.

Dad was down yesterday to do some other projects so up he went to the attic. He confirmed that I had done everything correctly (except I had the heaters turned up too high!). Then he walked over to the control panel and low and behold, the switch was off. DUH!

OK so if something is electric and it is not working check the control panel and switch it to ON.

My hot shower last night (Day 7) was excellent!

My new best friend

To Do List

I think this is my longest "To Do" list ever.....

Living Room:
Paint mantel
Mantel light fixtures
Repaint trim
2nd coat purple edges and radiators
Fix weather stripping around front door
Paint front door
Chimney cleaning
Curtains
Clean windows

Dining Room:
Paint trim
Curtains
Strip wall paper and paint walls
Clean windows

Paneling Room:
BIN walls
Paint walls
Paint Trim
Sand and re-stain doors (Closet and room door)
Curtains
Hang light fixture
Replace outlet covers
Clean windows

Guest Bedroom:
Paint trim
Sand and re-stain doors (Closet and room)
Pick color and paint walls
Curtains
Buy a bed
Install ceiling fan/light
Clean windows

Hallway Bath:
REDO everything

My Bedroom:
Paint trim
Shelves in closet
Sand and stain doors
Install ceiling fan
Replace switch plates
Install door hardware
Clean windows

New Bathroom:
Sand, Spackle, and Paint walls
Install shower barriers
Install fixtures
Grout threshold
Install heater
Install baseboards
Paint trim
Paint doors
Install door hardware

Laundry Room:
Paint walls
Hang new cabinets
Get new light
Re-vent dryer
Clean floors
Paint doors
Paint trim
Change door knob

Kitchen:
Sand and Spackle drywall
Prime and paint walls
Clean outside of cabinets
Clean floor
Put up chair rail
Install fan/light
Install pantry shelves
Prime and paint trim
Prime and paint doors
Bar stools
Overhead lights
Cook book shelves
Molding above cabinets
Clean windows

Crawl Space:
Remove cement
Vent outlets
Install better gutters
Replace insulation
Re-vent dryer

Yard:
Install fence
Front yard English boxwoods move
Mailbox ivy
Review and plan front beds
Replant mimosa tree
Replant roses
Trim back bushes

Outside House:
Paint shutters
Change front porch railings
Install deck

House Tour Day 1: Courtesy of Lula

A tour of the partially unpacked home, courtesy of Lula.

See the little kittie on the cabinet. This is Tephra, a friends cat who is visiting and driving Lula nuts!

Moving Day

Yeah Yeah today is moving day!

Thank you Beth, Chris, Mom, Dad, Emily and Todd for all of your muscle strength.

One more trip to the dump....

Exhausted Lauren and Lula made just enough room on the couch between boxes to lounge after a long heavy day.

Floors done, Move in begins....

The floors only have one more coat of polyurethane tomorrow morning and they will be finished! This is a pictures from the kitchen because I couldn't walk on them today. The change makes the house feel completely different and almost like it is brand new.



Just for appreciation of the change check out these 3 up close shots.

Refinished

Sanded

Original


And back in my apartment the packing is in full swing. Just a few more car loads of this little stuff and then the furniture gets moved in on Friday. YIPPEE!

Bathroom Evolution

This is where this project started.....closet to right....
(picture taken from the one door from the bedroom)

Half bath to the left.....

The bathroom under construction

New bathroom with sink and toilet in the same original spots but this picture is taken from the new doorway off the laundry room.

And this is the new shower!

What an incredible transformation :)

The fearless construction crew

Tom the Great!

Thank you for all of your long, hard hours squeezed in before you leave the country :)
I am so grateful for all the transformations you made to my new home.



Matt from Creative Countertops - thanks for the glowing countertops which brighten up my kitchen!



Tom and his crew who did everything! Thanks!





The support crew who entertained us all....