It's the Holiday Season!

On Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Simon, Tyler and all of the other guys worked really hard getting us finished up.  The painters worked on touching up all around the house and getting the cabinets finished (I'll have to explain more on the cabinets later).  We have a newly installed mantle (more on that later, too), a nice wall and column outside by the carport and patio, painted carport steps, a cleaned outside, no dumpster, and shutters!! We also have most light fixtures installed all over the house. 

No more dumpster!!

Carport steps are finally completed.

We have a newly poured concrete wall against the patio where we had to tear out the brick support wall.  The carport column has been replaced and made pretty.  We still have to figure out what to do above the wall.  Possibly a built in bench or something.  Not sure about that yet.

We still need to trim back the bushes out front, but we do finally have shutters!  I've also gotten started decorating for Christmas.  YAY!  (Ineed a better picture of the whole front of the house but it was sort of rainy and wet and I didn't have on shoes to go further out and take a picture.)

I am confused on the upstairs bathrooms, but I do know that they are not finished for whatever reason.  However, we were able to use the bathrooms for the first time this weekend!  It makes such a difference to actually be able to shower upstairs!  The painters tell me we can go ahead and put all of our stuff in there and that they can work around it to finish whatever it is they need to do. 

There has also been a problem with getting off the old faucets in the hall and master bath.  They needed a different tool or something and were going to have work on that Monday.

This is the hall bath.  I found a shower curtain at Target that I loved and matches perfectly. 

Back to the mantle.  We decided to go with a more rustic, wood mantle.  When it was first installed, I thought I was going to die because I just really did not love it.  I think everyone knew I wasn't thrilled, but it is growing on me.  I think I'd just been staring at a blank fireplace for so long that when they put the mantle up, it was so different than what I was used to I just had to let it grow on me. 

Anyway, now that I've come to like the mantle, I do think it is too high.  I feel like I'm watching tv on the front row at the movies.  Simon suggested we hang it lower, but Graham and I swore it needed to be higher.  Clearly, we are not the professional.  So, after drilling some long bolt/bar things in the fireplace and hanging the mantle, they are going to have to undo and redo it lower.  Woops!

Like I said, it's growing on me and I am starting to really like the rusticness of it.  However, it is WAY too high.

Another shot.  Thoughts/suggestions welcome.  We also got the Christmas tree this weekend!  I ran out of lights toward the bottom and am going to have to get some more to finish it. 

Christmas Tree Side Note
For the fourth year in a row, I tried to go cut down our Christmas tree.  For the fourth year in a row, we bought the tree at Carolina Garden World. 

Graham did his part and brought the tree in and got it in the stand.

Accidentally scraped the ceiling with the top of the tree.  Good thing the painters still aren't finished!  ; )

You can see in the mantle picture that the lights towards the bottom of the tree are a little sparse.  I have got to work on that before I can put the ornaments on.  I am determined to have out my Christmas decorations, even if nothing else is unpacked yet! 

I am really struggling with where to put things, how to arrange furniture, etc.  I feel like I finally had everything how I wanted it at our old house, and now I'm back to square one with twice the space to fill.  Omg.  It is super overwhelming!  I'd love to just come home one day and it all be done.  My mom and I spent forever last week just getting the china cabinet put together.  I'm slowly realizing and constantly reminding myself that this is just going to take some time.

I'm still working on the dining room some, but it is the only room that is basically finished.  I need a sideboard for more storage/pretty display, but it is coming together.

All of my sit out pretty stuff now lives in the middle bedroom.  I just don't feel like I can get it settled until I don't have people in and out moving things and finishing things everyday.

Okay - getting back to the cabinets.  We were standing in the kitchen Wednesday (the day the cabinets were "finished") and I see Simon just staring at them.  Apparently they are not right and are going to have to be done AGAIN.  For whatever reason, the painters sprayed the new cabinet doors with a laquer.  (I'm feeling like I've talked about this before).  Anyway - the actual cabinets are hand painted.  The laquer and the paint are the same color but look different in different finishes.  So, when they glazed the cabinets (I was really happy with the new glaze color, btw) the glaze looks different from the doors to the cabinets.  The cabinet doors look more grey and the cabinets look more brownish.

This picture makes it hard to tell - but we did finally get our missing doors!  They have not been painted, obviously.  However, you can tell how the drawer fronts look different than the doors and that the wall to the right of the fridge (far left in the picture) looks way more brown and glzed than the doors do.

I think it's most obvious (especially in person) on that huge cabinet door.  It looks really blue/grey to me - a lot different that the part above the microwave.

I have no idea what will be done to fix it, but Simon says (ha - that has taken on a whole new meaning) that the painters will be making it right.  So...we still wait on the painters.

 

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving at our house was a success! We clearly are not put together, work is not 100% finished, but we still had a great time.

Graham and Gil went down to the neighborhood Thanksgiving Day "turkey fry" early on Thursday morning and fried a turkey for us. I think they had a great time eating, drinking bloody mary's, smoking cigars, and talking to all the other men that were there. Luckily, frying the turkey was all we were really responsible for and everyone else brought all of the sides and goodies.  It turned out to be  a great day and I think everyone enjoyed it!

Maybe this time next year, we'll be finished! Only 2 more weeks...

Painters...

The paitners are still painting.  STILL. 

I swear they were on a roll and really set to be finished before my cabinet meltdown.  Anyway - I did make my cabinet decision, and they still aren't done.  My bathrooms upstairs also aren't done.  Both need one more coat on the tile floors and the master bath needs one more coat of paint on the walls. OMG.  I cannot even begin to say how I felt when I left for work this morning and no painters were here.  They are generally here at 7am so I knew not to expect too much on the painting front today...unfortunately, I was right.

On a more exciting note, Simon and Tyler worked very hard over here today.  I think I have a concrete wall outside where we had to tear down the brick one at the patio.  I couldn't see because it's dark and rainy and today could possibly have been the longest day ever, so I didn't look that closely.  Either way, I know it's in the works if not finished.  They also have almost completely finished the backsplash in the kitchen!  It looks amazing!  I am very happy with it!

Graham and I worked like crazy people all weekend trying to get the house straightened up and unpacked.  We managed to get everything out of the storage builiding and here.  We got our "new to us" dining room furniture from the Harrison's and a good bit of furniture from my grandmother's house and brought it here also.  I have unwrapped all of the breakables (who knew I had so many?!) and tried to get everything as close to where it's going to be as possible. 

So excited about the dining room furniture!

Trying to get things unwrapped from the newspaper we packed it in and put away.  The dining room pretty much still looks like this!  I've got to get busy putting away!

I've decided it's almost impossible to get things unpacked and put where you want them when there's still brown paper on the floor where the men are walking and things aren't quite finished.  I put things in the general area that I think I want them and am hoping to get everything straight by Thursday when family comes for Thanksgiving.  I'm also really hoping to decorate for Christmas on Friday and don't feel like I can get that out if the other isn't put away.  I'm cautiously optimistic (have I said that before?) that we will be done with the inside by Wednesday. 

On another note, tomorrow is our anniversary.  I cannot believe we've been married for 3 years!  Time is definitely flying!  I never would have dreamed we'd be involved in this renovation project!  I'm very happy we did it, though...even if it is taking longer than expected!

A picture of us out infront of the house or from our wedding day would probably be appropriate, but I don't have wedding pics on my computer and we haven't taken one out front.  We definitely need to do that!  This is from Hollie & Manning's wedding this past weekend at the Cliffs at Glassy.  Happy Anniversary to us!

Still Working...

I'm pretty positive that the painters "promised" they'd be done LAST Wednesday!  Hahaha.  I should have known better. 

Either way, they are working hard and the inside is almost done.  The cabinets are still coming along in the new color I like, the foyer is completely painted, the hall and master baths are almost finished, and we are waiting on the backsplash and mantle to be put in. 

I ended up going with a darker brown color in the foyer.  It's a few shades darker than the living room but not as dark as the dining room.  I really wanted wallpaper but never could find one I liked enough to buy.  I've seen a stenciled wallpaper on Pinterest that I may get brave and try...

This is the hall bath.  They got a 2nd coat on the walls today.  I'm not sure if they are done with the tile and sinks or not, but I'm thrilled with the fact that we didn't rip it all out.  Saved tons of money and it looks just fine with the white tile.  Loads better than the brown speckled!

This is the master.  I think this is only one coat on the walls.  We ended up using the same color as the foyer.  I originally wanted it to be just like our old bathroom but it was way too light with all the white tile.  I felt like we needed some contrast in there because the white is really bright and there is tons of it!

 I spent most of this afternoon and tonight un-boxing and unwrapping all of our house stuff (picture frames, candles, etc).  I got everything all out of newspaper and in the living room so that I could look at it and hopefully decide where to put everything.  I haven't seen my stuff in so long, it was really fun to unwrap it all!  I had forgotten a good bit of it and can't wait to get things situated how I want them. 

After all of my unpacking, I decided to try cleaning the glass chandelier and glass foyer light.  They were left in the house and I'm sure have a good 60 years of dust, dirt, and who knows what all on them.  I originally thought I'd have to take them to a lighting place to have them cleaned, but thought I'd give it a try first.  Oh my goodness!!  I'm so glad that I did!  They look amazing!  The pictures I took really don't do them justice, but I'm so happy with them.

It's hard to tell in this picture, and I didn't have a good close up before, but I still can't believe how clean this thing is! (Or how dirty it was in the first place). I love how sparkly it is now. It sort of reminds me a disco ball or something.

We also got the rug down in the dining room and the silver chest in the corner. Lexie was very glad to have a familiar rug! We are getting the rest of our dining room furniture this weekend. Just in time for Thanksgiving festivities at our house!



She was not moving off that rug! Haha.



In other exciting news, I got found a rug yesterday at Hodge Carpet.  I love that place.  They have amazing deals on great rugs and the people are so nice.  Anyway, it looks really good in the den and with the new couch.  We (mainly Graham) put together our bar stools last night.  They look great, and we are really happy with them!

Excited to get the rug out!!  Amazing what difference a rug will make in a room!

Ha - Lexie enjoyed this rug too...

We are going up to my grandmothers the weekend to hopefully get a few more pieces of furniture.  We are also getting our dining room furniture and the rest of our stuff out of storage.  Hopefully we'll have things more settled next week.  I wasn't sure if it would work out, but it looks like we are having the Bulman's and the Broome's over for Thanksgiving.  Should be interesting!! 

Then it will be time to decorate for Christmas!  YAY!  And maybe we'll actually be completely done with all this work by then.

Decisions, decisions...

After my cabinet meltdown, I'm pretty sure I scared the painters off.  We didn't see them again until today.  Even then, it was just one guy taking glaze off the cabinets and putting some new glaze samples on.  Lucky for me (and the painters, too), since the cabinets were originally sprayed with a laquer, paint thinner takes glaze off.  Anyway, after a serious sleepless night last night worrying about the color of the cabinets (and about the color of the couch I picked out, but will get to that later), I finally made a decision today.

It is hard to tell in the pictures, but the much lighter color actually has a very light cream glaze with some chocolate in it.  It looks much better with my color scheme than the more orangey one that I originally approved.

Like I said - it's really hard to tell in these pictures, but the cabinets on the left are the old orangey glaze that I didn't like and the ones above the microwave are the new ones that I do like.  Since I was torn between white cabinets and glazed ones, I can see why I like the ones above the microwave so much better. 

The upper right cabinet above the fridge and the ones on the bottom are the old glaze.  The others are the new one that we are going for.  The entire cabinet (not just the doors) will have the new finish on them.  I look forward to seeing it completed.

We met with the painter today and he seemed to think that the inside painting, including the bathrooms, would be done tomorrow.  Woohoo!  All they have left outside is the shutters, the iron railings, and the carport steps. 

Back to the couch issue...

I decided that we needed a new couch for the den (imagine that).  The one we have is really bulky and is not in wonderful shape.  Our den is pretty narrow and I wanted something a little more sleek and slim so that we'd have room to move up here.  Anyway, I ended up finding one online that I loved, but the shipping cost was outrageous.

So, last night we went to Greenville to get some things at Marshall's Home.  On the way, we decided to run in Unclaimed Furniture.  When we got there, they were turning out the lights to close so we had to look really quickly.  I was so excited to find something we both liked - and for a really great price!  I was a little worried about the color so we put a deposit on the couch and brought home a pillow to check it with our colors.  After worrying about it (and the cabinets) all night last night - seriously, I was up from 2am to 4am - I decided we should get it.  I'm still not 100% convinced that I love the color in this room, but I think a rug will make a huge difference. 

Here's a picture of our den before...

...and after! 

We are still in a mess and don't have everything together, but it is so nice to have somewhere to sit up here.  I'm looking forward to getting a rug and getting things finished in this room especially.

Another big thing that's happened in the last couple of days is that we decided to get rid of AT&T Uverse.  I don't remember why now, but we decided when we moved that we (mainly Graham since he does all the dealings) were tired of dealing with Charter. 

Turns out Uverse was an even bigger hassle and the On Demand features were horrible compared to what we were used too.  They don't tell you up front that they don't offer primetime channels on demand.  They also only offer limited movies and we weren't able to watch a lot of our movie channel shows that we like because they didn't have current episodes.  Anyway - the final straw was when Graham called for the 3rd time this past Friday to ask them to come out and bury a cable they ran outside.  When they didn't show for the 3rd time, we decided we'd had enough and after one more night without cable, the Charter man came and hooked us up today.  Never thought I'd be so thrilled to be back with Charter, but I definitely am!

Besides a few odd and end things (and painting, which is promised to be finished tomorrow), all that's left to do is to have the backsplash tiled in the kitchen, have fixtures installed in the bathrooms, have a mantle hung over the fireplace, and a new support wall built outside next to the patio.

I plan to get a some serious unpacking and "sitting things out" done this weekend.  We might even get to have Thanksgiving at our house this year after all...

Slight Bump in the Road...

Well...I've made my first decision that I'm not so happy with.   So far, I've loved and been very happy with everything we've decided on.  But now, I am very torn over what to do with my kitchen cabinets.  The painters started glazing them on Thursday after I quickly approved the color on my way out the door Thursday morning.  The more and more I looked at them on Thursday night, the less I liked it.  The glaze is really pretty but I just don't feel like it goes with everything else I have going on.  It has a very orange/butterscotch tint to it that just doesn't quite flow with my wall color. 

After talking to Tyler and Simon Thursday night, we are trying to figure out what to do next.  The painters didn't come back Friday.  I feel so bad that they worked so hard and I now think I want something different.   My options are to re-glaze the cabinets a different color (free of charge) or to go back to white (additional cost).  I think I'm leaning towards white, but I just don't know.  When I looked back through my "idea book" most of the pictures I've torn out were of white kitchens.  I'm really unsure of what to do...decision has to be made tomorrow so we can move on and get finished!   

Productive Week!!

Bright light!!  I see bright light at the end of the tunnel! 

The pendant lights over the bar in the kitchen are up.  All of the appliances, including the washer and dryer, are in working order.  The cabient doors are on and they are in the process of being glazed.  The 1/2 bath has a new commode and pedastal sink.  The horrid pink tile in the master and hall baths is well on its way to being transformed, and the majority of our storage room has been moved to the house!  We  are in the process of getting the bedrooms in order.  I will have pictures of those soon.

1/2 Bath Before 

1/2 Bath After (minus accessories)  We removed the wallpaper, replaced the vinyl tile floor with hardwoods, replaced the commode and sing, painted, added blinds and new light

The kitchen is not completely finished just yet, but it is coming along! 

The reflection from the lighting is bad in this picture, but I was trying to get the pendant lights in and you couldn't see them  off!  Still lacking one set of doors...

The cabinets are in the process of being glazed.  Can't wait to see the finished product!

The laundry/mudroom side of the kitchen is completely finished!  Just need pulls for the doors.

Below are some pictures of the hall and master bathrooms and all of their beautiful pink tile before. 

 

 

 The bathrooms are not finished yet, but oh my goodness!!  I am so glad we decided to paint the tile (a much cheaper route than ripping out and replacing) because it really looks so much better.  Almost like new!  Very white right now because there are no colors on the walls....

 

 

I am cautiously, optimistically saying that the next pictures I post may very well be "completed" photos.  We'll see...

Movin' on Up!

Since my last post, I am feeling much better.  Things are really moving along, and I like it! 
Everyone has been working so hard the last few days to get things finished up.  And, we actually got to move upstairs into our bedroom!!  I finally feel like I'm at home, and it is such a good feeling.

On Friday, our appliances were installed. What a difference they make in the kitchen!  Saturday, Graham, Audrey, and I did lots of cleaning and unpacking of the things we had here already.  We moved lots of things from the basement upstairs and unloaded all of the boxes that didn't fit in the storage building that have been living on the porch.  Bryan came by and helped us move our heaviest furniture (again)!  It was such a life saver since all of our dads managed to be out of town this weekend!

This picture is a little dark but you can see the appliances and all of the wonderful organization Audrey helped me with in the kitchen!  We also have both light fixtures and the pendants up in the den/kitchen. 

I can't remember if I've posted a picture of the fireplace since it's been painted.  I'm loving it!  We should be getting our mantle one day this week.  Can't wait.

Graham and his dad hung blinds all over the house on Sunday.  They did a great job, and it is amazing how much blinds make it feel like a home in here!  We also ended up getting them on sale at Lowe's.  I couldn't believe it.  I swear those things never go on sale.  I know I've posted pictures of the dining room all ready, but it is the one room in the house that is completely finihsed (besides the guest bedrooms, but they still have stuff piled in them). 

Loving the blinds and the clean windows!  

While Gil and Graham hung blinds, Pam and I cleaned windows and all of the trim.  Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust.  It's so nice to see the white again, rather than the yellow/orange color that it had turned after all of the sanding that's gone on!

Our bedroom looks pretty much identical to what we had before at Rutledge.  I cannot even explain how wonderful it is to be upstairs.  It's so nice to have an actual bedroom.  I'm also loving being upstairs so much that I won't even go downstairs to sit on actual furniture and watch tv down there.  I've resorted to sitting in the floor in the den watching our little tv up here.  Haha. 

Yay for a bedroom!!  What I didn't realize before we moved upstairs was how much wall space there is in this place!  Coming from our little house in Converse Heights that was all windows, I have very little wall decoration.  Lots to decide in that area.

We are still having to use the downstairs bathroom.  The master and hall baths have not yet been painted, so we are still waiting to swap out bathrooms.  Either way - moving upstairs has been the best thing to happen yet!!

Almost 3 Months

It is hard to believe that we are just 6 days shy of being 3 months into the reno.  I was quite hopeful last week that there was an end in sight.  There's still an end, but just a little further away than I hoped.  However, the floors lack one coat of polyeurethane from being completely done, and they do look wonderful. 

Floors - looking much better than the last post now that they have the shiny coat on them.

This is the backbedroom.  I would say it is basically finished - which is a good feeling.  Graham even hung the new light fixture.  He also hung new light fixtures (just like this one) in the hallway and middle bedroom. 

There is a long list of things that still need to be finished.  It makes me nervous to list them all out.  Honestly, I'm starting to freak out.  We have got to get this done!  They tell me we'll be able to move in this weekend, but I'm not seeing it.  One of the major things that has me cautious of that is the fact that the master and hall bath still need to be painted - top to bottom, tile included AND we need appliances installed.  I cannot wait to have a kitchen!!!  *Siggghhh*  Besides that, there is a nice, long list of other things that need to be done.  I think they are things that could be done with us living upstairs, but I really was hoping to move up there and have no men trapsing around with all my stuff and making everything dirty. 

I think the combination of personal events, work, and living in a one room basement are starting to get to me.  I told my kids at school today that this week I have added a new wrinkle to my forehead and I expect to see grey hairs any second.

This picture sums my feelings up perfectly...