2 Months

We had a housewarming party at the end of April...so I guess it's official...we are really living here! We are thoroughly enjoying the layout of our new house. Harry has  nice quiet office upstairs and the girls have their own space downstairs at the end of the hall. It's working out great.

The only remaining thing on the original remodel list that is not completed, is a piece of trim that is preventing the barn-door from operating smoothly. Other than that...everything else is done.

And when I say everything...I mean there are still lots of things we would like to do. But when are you ever really done?

Next summer's projects include landscaping in the front and back yard and a new deck. Stay tuned!

Still a work in Progress...

Well....we did move in, so that's good, right? We moved from our fully furnished rental house last weekend and spent this weekend cleaning out the old house and putting all the hideous fake plants, pictures and enormous furniture back in (we had stuff in storage for the last 18 months.) It was a big job and a big pain but we are glad it's over!

We now have all of our stuff at our new house. Some of it in unpacked and put in it's place but the garage is full of boxes...makes us want to just leave it all there! It's nice to be in our new house though!

Unfortunately, the new house remodel isn't complete. We just started week 9 of a 4-6 week remodel! We are still waiting for the fireplace log set and insert to be completed so we haven't been able to enjoy relaxing by the fire :( We are also waiting for the trim and the barn doors to be completed...or should I say started...sigh. We also found out that we have a venting problem in our roof (something that wasn't discovered during the inspection) so this is an unexpected and unpleasant expense. Boo.

On a positive note, we really like all of the things have been completed so far. Happy with all of the choices with lighting, paint, carpet, tile and furniture.

A Light at the End of the Tunnel

This has been a good week!  The house is totally painted, the new and fabulous lights are hung and the floors have just been stained. We love the paint colors that we chose as well as all of our new lighting. In January, our designer and contractor suggested that we stain our floors darker. We were hesitant and had a hard time visualizing what the end result would look like but we got to see them (but not walk on them!) this afternoon. They look amazing and we love them! Hurray!

Next up...carpeting, tile work, countertops and barn doors....just to name a few of the things left to do.

The Final Countdown

That's right...only 2 weeks to go! Today, I picked the out the color of our "floating concrete hearth" (didn't expect to have any choices), the piece of raw barn wood for our living room fireplace mantle (really cool Barn Wood Warehouse with like a zillion pieces of wood to choose from) and our fireplace "fake logs". Harry was out of town so, I guess if he doesn't like it then it's just too bad!

We should have our flooring in by Tuesday March 3 (it's Alder BTW) and start to move things in slowly. Only 2 weeks past the "promised" date so I guess it's not that bad?! It seems like we could have been in a week earlier though because we had almost 8 days where pretty much no work was being done...so that was VERY FRUSTRATING!

The painting is supposed to wrap up this weekend. Electrician to install our fancy and probably overpriced (and ridiculously hard to get in a timely manner) fixtures on Monday. Flooring guy to install, sand and stain floors next week. Carpet install Monday 3/2. Barn wood doors to go in week of 3/2. Fireplace tile to be completed week of 3/2.  Countertop install on Wednesday 3/4 and backsplash and plumbing reconnect on Thursday and Friday 3/5 and 3/6. Ready or not...Move in on 3/6!

I think if you decide to do a remodel, my advice is that you should not be the impatient, blunt, type A,  control freak type(s) who hate surprises. A low-key hippie Buddhist who is totally easy going would work out really well. Just sayin'...think it might be easier on your contractor and allow you to sleep at night ;)

Paint!

So.....we took this perfectly nice house-fully furnished-and we completely destroyed it! Ripped out the carpet, bashed out a TV built in, smashed and removed the granite countertops, threw out  lighting, removed doors and frames, sold furniture and sent a truckload of stuff to a charity. It's kind of getting to us. We've been in full on demo mode and it's a bit disturbing! Did we make a good choice...why are we spending all of this money...what are we doing...when will it be done...why is picking a paint color so hard...why can't the range hood be centered over the stove?

The great news is that we have an awesome painter. They patch, they drywall, they make good decisions and they get the job done! The girls rooms are painted-pink and turquoise-their own choices-and they are excited! The whole house is being painted Benjamin Moore colors. Almost the entire downstairs will be painted Smokey Taupe. The master, office and powder room will be painted Stone Hearth. Harry's office is already done and we LOVE the color and the upstairs loft is mostly painted and we are happy with that choice as well...hurray!

The painting should be done by next week. The flooring guy comes next week. The template gets done tomorrow for the new countertops.

Got Squirrels?

Before we closed on the house, we had a few inspections. Actually, we had 2 re-inspections because the seller hired a handyman who did not complete the job he was hired to do. The seller's handyman was supposed to put the insulation and duct work back up under the house and take care of the "squirrel problem" in the crawlspace. Anyway, today, as new homeowners, we hired a new handyman of our own choosing! He fixed the insulation and duct work but told us that a squirrel was there somewhere and making a big mess! Animal lovers stop reading here....so now we have to hire someone to get trap that little sucker before he starts multiplying. Oh, and I was told that squirrels love peanut butter! Mmmmmm.

Demolition begins, selections made

We sold lots of the furniture that came with the house and now, demolition is starting. In earnest.

The river rock is totally removed from the living room and the bedroom, and the carpets are starting to be pulled back.

We also visited Precision Countertops - chose Dekton Danae as our surface on the tops. Then afterwards, went to Baptista tile and chose a few tiles for our backsplash.

Closing day

Well, we closed on the house & got the keys yesterday.

Laurie's in the process of boxing and selling most of the contents... since the house was a vacation rental, it came fully furnished and stocked.

We spent a few hours there yesterday, and probably this afternoon more of the same.

Once we clear out much of the furniture, demolition will begin - nothing too major... but the river rock from the fireplaces will be removed and all of the carpet will be gone.

Making an offer

After many sleepless nights, hand-wringing, and excitement we made an offer on a permanent place in Sunriver, OR. We're supposed to close on 1/14/2015. But, we're not moving in 'til we've done some remodeling. 

Stay tuned for pictures and stories about our foolish adventure.