July 4, 2016

Busy As Beavers

We're not beavers of course and we have other obligations, but we've been putting a lot of time into this house.  It's hard to believe we've been at it since February.  We've been able to complete some projects in a day while others take weeks.  Yippee, our list is getting shorter :-)

When I last updated the blog (more than a month ago...) I showed you the finished laundry room, finished family room and ugly carpets going bye, bye.  Since then the hallway flooring and the front room flooring is completed.  The baseboards in the hallway were repainted and are installed.  We cut new baseboards for the front room, painted them and they're also installed.  The ugly bathroom has been transformed with the addition of a granite counter top and a new oak cabinet facade.  The master bedroom is painted and new baseboards installed there too.  The master bath has been painted as well.  Most of the major painting is done.  We still have a couple of doors to paint.

Yes, it's still a construction zone and an OCD nightmare in here, but we're finally in the homestretch!  What remains to do inside the house is minimal.  The yards and the garage need some work but compared to the house, it'll be a cinch :-)

Here's some before and after shots for those wondering...


the hallway leading to the bedrooms

it's great that we Ron can do this work!!

Ta-Da, it looks gorgeous!!!
 

This is our front door and entrance way.  Not too long ago it had wallpaper, two coat racks, a large mirror, a shelf for keys and such and some wall art.  Now the walls are bare and painted the familiar color of Navajo White - it's kind of grown on me actually...  I can't recall how many times we've had to move the TV in order to paint a wall, rip out carpet or install flooring. 


This looks 100 times better!!  The nasty old hardwood is gone and replaced with laminate flooring.  The old flooring came up without any issues but the glue left behind was a nightmare for Ron.  It took over four hours of scrapping to come up.  Then I spent another three hours washing off the remover residue from the concrete.



Our front bathroom sink wasn't perfect when we moved into the house.  We didn't bother updating it while the kids lived here and we rarely use it now that they're gone.  But we knew it had to be dealt with prior to selling the house.  We hired someone to apply a new finish to the whole sink/counter top area.  When the day came for him to do the work he began as usual.  After about an hour he informed us that there was no way he could make the necessary repairs.  The cracks were too deep and there was a crack in the drainpipe that couldn't be fixed.  I could feel my heart sink as we realized we had another momentous task of replacing the vanity :-(   

another project we weren't anticipating
We checked out a granite place near our home.  We liked a piece they showed us.  We didn't like the price tag.  It would cost us $350 just for the granite.  It would then need to be cut, polished and installed by another contractor.  Our luck changed tremendously when we got a referral for the granite guy in our business complex.  We should have gone to visit Adrian in the first place.  He had a slab that he GAVE to us!  He charged us a mere $100 to cut, polish and install it!  And he wouldn't take a tip when the work was complete!!  OMG, I wish you all could see it in person.  It's simply drop dead amazing beautiful :-)

WOW!!
The granite, the finally finished oak facade, the new faucet and the concealed hinges really make this a beautiful bathroom.  Thank you Adrian and Ron :-)       

I have one more transformation to show you.  Our master bedroom.  Simple enough but not so easy to accomplish as we've had our huge platform bed and surrounding dresser/mirror in the same place for more years than I can remember.  It's VERY HEAVY too!!  In order to paint behind it we had to move it.  Not an easy task.  But we were successful.



The bed set takes up the entire wall.  But at the same time there's no need for a dresser since we each have seven drawers, a small under-bed cubbie and a large cabinet.  In order to move it away from the wall we put some 1/4" plastic down on the floor and Ron was able to lift it just enough for me to slip it underneath the monster.   With it away from the wall, we're getting to know how it will be in a trailer since we have less floor space at the foot of the bed now.

new paint, new baseboards and new curtains
 
The bed set still needs to go back against the wall.  Eventually.  Today's job is to make sure the front door gets back on prior to us having to go back to work tomorrow!

 


But in the meantime, I'll take a few quiet moments to myself to enjoy some pages of my latest book while milk boils in the IP prior to becoming yogurt




     

6 comments:

  1. There you are! Glad you're surviving all the reno, and the house is looking amazing! Your realtor is going to be really excited to show that beauty. And homemade yogurt is a delicious reward :-))))

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    1. Yep. I wish I could share more fun stuff but we have to get out of the house first... We do take an occasional hour out of the day to appease ourselves and to give Rufus a little excitement. He's been pretty bored lately :-( I can't wait to show it to Suzanne. It really isn't the same house anymore! I'll make you some yogurt when I see you next :-) It's so yummy with a little added jelly.

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  2. You sure HAVE been busy! It looks fantastic! What an amazing deal on the bathroom counter top. Things are sure coming along!

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    1. Thanks for the compliment! We admittedly added things to our list that weren't initially on it. But we're so glad we're doing all of this work. I hope we get a bidding war and Ron hopes it sells fast even if it's a little on the low side compared to other homes in our area. Yes, Adrian really saved our butts on the sink. Everyday it's a little bit closer to completion.

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  3. The flooring is fabulous. You've done a great job!

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    1. Thanks Janet! We're hoping to finish it and put it up for sale real soon :-))

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