Renovation Update: Floors and Cabinets

So once the big issue was fixed last week - the team really got moving and got a lot done, despite the short week. 

In the kitchen - the floor went down after spending the weekend acclimating. We ended up going with an unfinished white oak so that it's the same species as the rest of the first floor. I will just finish it later, once there's room. They quickly covered it up to protect it, and then the cabinets arrived. On Wednesday and Friday they were able to get almost all of the base cabinets installed, so that the countertop people can template today. We had a couple issues - and thankfully I had the day off and was there to help - firstly, the floor isn't even (shockingly), so they had to build up bases to level them all off. Secondly - the corner cabinets couldn't be opened without hitting each other, so they ended up having to cut down the massive pantry cabinet so that the door next to it can be opened. The real news is that they hooked the stove back up - so we can cook again. This is a huge improvement - since we had been grilling outside and it has gotten cold and dark. 

new floor goes down

cabinets arrive!

cabinets coming together

more cabinets getting installed

countertop selection made - should be bright and white and sparkly!

The big action was all downstairs, but there was some progress upstairs too. They worked on floor and window trim, and hooked up the new vanity. Since I was home on Wednesday, I painted the bedroom - so one room is starting to look finished. I still have lots more painting to do though. 

bedroom gets floor trim...

...then i paint it- looking almost done

window trim

vanity all hooked up and working

 So - the countertop people are coming today to take measurements. I'm hoping that means all the remaining cabinets go in quickly, and then maybe they start doing tile and finishing touches. We're getting close! 

Renovation Update: Big Issue Solved!

So - we haven't had a renovation update in a couple weeks because there was nothing to report. We had called out a structural engineer, and were just waiting for him to get us his drawings so that the team could get to work. Finally - after a lot of calling and harassing him, he got us the drawings and they got started. They installed one new steal beam across the doorway between the kitchen and mudroom, and another along the side wall. Then after about 2 days with the beams - they quickly put the sheetrock back up and got the walls all finished up and nice. 

new beam across the doorway

new beam along the sidewall

the two new beams

 

sheetrock back up

looking nice and finished again

Upstairs, they finished up the sheetrock and started working on the trim. They also installed the new vanity and medicine cabinets - so it's beginning to look like a bathroom. 

trim going up in the bedroom

bathroom doorway getting finished

toilet flange in! 

medicine cabinets and vanity looking like a bathroom!

So now that they delay is over - things should really start moving quickly. We have cabinets on their way, and a new floor ready to go down in the kitchen. I'm hoping everything pulls together fast and we can almost be done by Thanksgiving.  

The Main Bath Project - Paint and Paint Chips

I haven't posted a lot about our main bathroom, which is currently our only full bathroom until the new master bath is finished. It's original - and not in a good way. It's covered in lots of black and white tile, with a bunch of cracks and broken pieces. The walls are a textured wallpaper that has been painted white, making it impossible to remove, while also being sort of fuzzy and always dirty. There's no vent, so trapped moisture has made a lot of paint peel and chip off -- which is really horrible in the shaft of the skylight - so the skylight window (which is meant to open and close in a very cool way) just stays closed all the time to prevent chips from raining down. Three years ago I tried to just clean up the skylight window, and we've done basically nothing since. The feeling has always been that someday we would gut it, so there was no point in bothering to do anything until then.

Well, now we have come to realize that we probably won't get to gut it ever. Our contractor explained that the tile is set in a bed of concrete and requires a jackhammer to remove, so he gave us a rough estimate of $20k to refinish it. We're never going to have a spare $20k to pay them, and I really draw the line of DIY at jackhammers, so I think the tile is staying put. That means that all we can do it clean it up and make some small tweaks to make it a little more functional and attractive.

While the contractors work on ripping apart the rest of the house, I'm focused on this bathroom. It's my new weekend project. We're starting with just getting rid of the falling paint chips.

Step 1: Scrape off the Loose Paint
Armed with a long scrap piece of wood with a paint scraper taped to its end - I got up on a ladder and poked all the paint in the skylight loose. Since I can't get above the swing window, I was pretty limited in what I could reach, but managed to do a decent job just poking at everything blindly with my eyes squeezed closed. This made a huge mess, which I then spent a couple hours cleaning up.

filthy skylight covered in paint chips

more pealing paint on the ceiling above the shower

 

see look - I tried to protect things

lots of pealing paint in the skylight shaft

after scraping - ugly, but no more pealing paint

Step 2: Paint Everything White
Once the chips were all scraped loose, I grabbed a gallon of primer and painted the skylight shaft and the ceiling white. To get up there - I was standing on the stepping stool, and then using an extender to get the paint roller as high as possible - so I'm not going to claim this was a work of precision. But I was able to get most spots pretty well. My hope is that it looks just good enough that no one will ever actually look at it.

skylight all white 

ceiling going white - so much brighter!

Step 3: Walls get Painted

So once the ceiling was all white and chip-free, the walls started looking really crappy. I pulled out the same gray that we have throughout the house to give everything a quick coat. Not only did it cover up all the smudges and discolored spots - but it added a nice contrast to make the tiles really pop and help blend this room in with the rest of the house. 

dirty shadow of art that used to be on the wall

 

so dingey

new paint!

no more chips and smudges 

no more dirt shadow

So - even though I always wanted to remove these walls and tile altogether - I think it looks a lot better. Just getting rid of the pealing paint so that you can confidently open the skylight window is a huge improvement. But just as soon as you make one thing nicer - now the trim and the door seem like eyesores in need of improvement - so maybe that's the next weekend project. 

Halloween 2015-2017

It appears that I have not posted about Halloween in the past few years, so I thought I should catch up. Before kiddo, we didn't really dress up, but post-kiddo, this has become one of my favorite holidays with mostly hand-made family-themed costumes.

2015: Mars
So for our kiddo's first Halloween - I happened to see an adorable martian outfit online, and came up with Mars themed costumes for both of us. The movie the Martian had just come out, water had just been found on the planet - so the theme was super topical.  I ordered painter's coverups from Amazon for Spouso, and added a few print-outs of a NASA logo and American flag, taped them on - and he was an astronaut. I ordered the largest orange sweatshirt I could find - cut off the sleeves, painted some random black and red splotches, and taped on a picture of the mars rover. I think I tried to get a hulu hoop inside to make me more circular- but ultimately ditched the idea.

because his first 2 teeth had just arrived

2016: Monsters/Dragons
Last year, I also found a cute costume online as a monster for him, and decided to make us matching monsters too. I ordered hoodie sweatshirts and pants online - and then glued on some leftover felt pieces for our bellies and horns. The tails were really my proudest part - I used cheap hand towels, cut them into long triangles, and then sewed them closed with more colored felt triangles as spikes. Then I attached them with belts around our waists.

monster family

tail close-up

2017: Sea Creatures
So this year, on a trip to Target, we swung through the Halloween section and found a few costumes that would fit the boy.  As the first year he could opine on the subject, we asked him which costume he wanted (though I'm not sure he really understands why we are dressing up) and he clearly chose a shark costume. I poked around pinterest a bit to figure out what we could be as part of the theme - and ended up going with a octopus and jellyfish, as two relatively cheap and easy costumes. The jellyfish was really quick - I ordered a dome-shaped clear umbrella, cut up some of the plastic tarping that's all over the house, and just taped on the pieces. For the octopus, I ordered a really big hoodie, cut the front and back all the way up to the armpits for 3 legs in the front and 3 in the back. I would've liked to stuff them and sew them together, but my sewing materials are all boxed up, so I just stuffed the arms with newspaper and stapled them closed into legs. I cut up some circles in leftover felt, and glued them onto the undersides as suckers.

master of the cheesy smile

tail

there was a fin too

jellyfish was awesome in motion

octopussing. 

didn't like the hat parts

octopus attack

A trend?
So - it seems that the pattern I have fallen into is to order a premade costume for the kiddo so that he can be super cute - and then pay no more than $20 for some random stuff on Amazon, definitely including at least one cheap sweatshirt, to make a family theme for the two of us. I'm not sure how many more years of family-themed Halloween costumes we will have - but so far this has definitely become one of my favorite holidays.