Daydreaming

We started talking to our realtor about selling our old house in November last year, so in actuality, we have been in this whole buying/selling/remodeling  transition for nearly a year.  Although it has been an adventure, I have to admit, I've been daydreaming about some adventure away from home a lot this summer.  Luckily, Josh has kept me grounded.  We have quite a bit of business to attend to at home right now.  Our time will come.  Until then, I'll just keep watching these amazing videos from Rick Mereki featuring Andrew Lees.

3 guys

44 days

11 countries

38,000 miles
=

3 amazing videos that make me want to get up and go somewhere.

EAT from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

via Cup of Jo

Lights, Fireplace, Action!

Tons of work has been completed the past two weeks.  We have had plumbers, framers, electricians, and fireplace installers in and out of the house non-stop.  Let's take a moment for a few before and after pictures.  I think it helps put the progress in perspective.  Here are the living room/kitchen/dining room before pictures.

 View from front door looking into the living room and dining room.

 View from dining room towards the front door.

 Before picture of dining room and kitchen.

 Kitchen (north wall)

 Kitchen (west and south wall)

 Sunroom (north and west wall)

Sunroom (south wall)

Now for the current state of our home!  It's a little rough, but good.

 This is the former kitchen and sunroom (north and west wall)

View looking southwest (dining room, kitchen and sunroom)

 View from kitchen nook looking towards the front door

 View of the new 3-sided fireplace from the hallway.

 View from the front door looking into the dining room area.

Our new fireplace (not totally installed yet)

Wow, right?!   Things are moving right along.  Only a few more months to go.

Windows

Well, the windows are all finished. . .for the most part.  We still have to take care of all the finishing touches:  window wells, new drywall, sills, etc.    I know the pictures don't look so pretty, but we are loving all the new light.  We did take out two windows since they will eventually be covered by the deck in the backyard.  Right now they are just framed-in, so they look weird.  Maybe not as weird as the nasty faux stained glass window coverings that used to grace our walls.  Remember?

Here is what they look like now. 

Here are pictures of some of the other rooms.

 Master Bedroom

 Basement Guest Bedroom

 Additional Window in the Kitchen Nook

New Light Tube in Pink Bathroom (Josh put it in over the weekend)

Oh yeah, here is a look at the basement living space windows if you don't remember.



Beaming with Joy

Wow!  Time is just flying by me.  I apologize for not posting an update sooner.  We have made a lot of progress on the house.  Most notably is the removal of the west wall between the kitchen/dining room and the new addition, which I will now refer to as "the nook."  Below is the wall that came down, thanks to the handiwork of Josh and my dad.

Initially the roof was supported by temporary framing.  Seen here.

Then it was replaced by a nice, sturdy beam. The beam is no joke.

We also dried-in the roof with some help from Josh's dad, Bill.  No real roof yet, but at least the rain isn't pouring into our house.

That same weekend my parents and sisters came up to help us with a ton of clean-up work; the demolition of the wall to the nook; and the demolition of the brick for the bathroom pop-out.  Here is the bathroom progression so far.

 It is hard to tell from this photo, but the extra 4.5'x2' space is going to make our retro bathroom a lot more comfortable and workable.

While Josh and my dad were busy smashing walls, my mom, sisters and I were doing the heavy lifting, aka cleaning up.  This is a glimpse of the mess.  Yes, the extra dumpster is full.

 Sadly, we still have three more window wells like this one to clear out.

Speaking of windows, the guys installing the windows are supposed to wrap things up today!  I'll try to post some pics soon.

I Love Josh Because. . .

 . . .He made me this sweet beagle calendar for Christmas last year.  This month is my favorite. 

Yes. That is a normal beagle calendar with a hand drawn crown and tiny cut-outs of photos of Stanley and Riley.  I know you are jealous.

Dirtier, but Definitely Brighter

The house underwent some major changes this week.  I'll let the photos tell the story.

 Ta daaa!

 Looking southwest.  The large hole is for the french doors that will lead out to the future deck.

 Looking north.  This will become a pantry/coat closet.  The breakfast bar looking into the kitchen will be on the right.

 Oh, hello new windows.

Stanley and Riley enjoying the new room.

Ten of the seventeen windows have been installed.  They still need some finishing touches, but things are looking bright. Check this out.

They used to look like this.

  The basement bedroom window went in too.

Remember this room before?

The "before" photos do look cleaner, but I think the after photos are definitely brighter.