Finally!!

Folks, sorry it's been a bit since I've said anything about the goings-ons at our home. Truth is, there's rather been a lack of goings-on, hence the silence. I was waiting until we passed final inspection and that FINALLY happened Wednesday, May 13th. We were away in St. Simon's Island for an amazing week celebrating my dear friend's wedding, but Mike was here meeting the inspector. When we came back we started moving tidbits in, but had yet to move the big furniture pieces up because we worked a few days then left town again for another friend's wedding! This week. Moving will happen this week. It has to happen! Meanwhile, everything looks as wonderful as I'd wanted. I'm not all handy-dandy with photo collages and such, so here are some before then after photos.

Coming in the front door and looking left:

From the far corner of the living room:

Looking into the dining room:

Coming up the stairs:

Looking from the top of the stairs towards the front door:

Kitchen shot:

From the corner of the dining room into the kitchen:

Other items that I was very happy with include,

Our built in bench with storage:

The closet-turned-appliance-pantry:

The floors:

(Zara was helping me take pictures.)

The new built-in sideboard with butcher block top:

The appliances:

(Induction cooktop with deck-mounted pot filler. This has already been used immensely!)

(Double ovens! I haven't used both at once yet but it's only a matter of time.)

(Refaced dishwasher but brand new fridge! And that stainless farmhouse sink ain't bad, either.)

The quarter-round shelves added to the right of the sink:

And of course, the counters!!! My loves!

(This part reminds me of a guitar.)

The backsplash:

The pendant lights:

All of the built-in cabinet pullouts have come in very handy:

(trash and recycling)

(pantry)

(pots and pans)

 (spice storage)

Alright, that's it! At least for now...maybe I'll post some new photos once I get some decorating done. But that may not get finished until next year. Happy Summer folks!

Awaiting the Khaki Commander

The floors are finished! (Sort of...)

With lower lighting they look a bit darker:

They spent Monday and Tuesday doing the polyurethane coats (one coat each day). That stuff is stout! We were thankful for a good attic fan and low pollen count, cool Spring days. We were able to open the windows in the bedroom side of the house those nights and pull in the fresh air. It was about 60 degrees Monday night so it was brisk at bedtime!

Tuesday was another beautiful day and in an effort to avoid the poly fumes, Ryan and I took an afternoon hike. We have a trailhead right across the street from our house, and while Ryan has trekked up it many times, it was my first time. 

It was beautiful! Lots of busy squirrels and chipmunks, a few birds, and lots of mud puddles after all the rain we've had. When we made it to the top we took a quick breather and soaked in the view. You could see for miles up there.

A big "thank you" to Phil and Bethany for the amazing hiking sticks they gifted us for our wedding. Mine kept me a lot less muddy than I would have been without it!

Wednesday was a busy day, and most of it before 1pm. The flooring guys came around and put up the quarter round. 

Mike was here putting up the bifold doors on the appliance pantry.   

The new food pantry door and above-refrigerator-cabinet were finally delivered, 

so those were installed. 

Mike also put in the little shelves by the sink:

The dishwasher repairman through our home warranty company came and looked into that pesky dishwasher leak. He attributed it to the new line that was put in between the dishwasher and garbage disposal, and with a little of this and little of that he had it up and running. He wasn't here longer than 20 minutes, but it still cost us a service call fee. Luckily, Mike came back from his lunch break right before the guy left, and instead of me having to relay an exceptionally brief and lacking of the right detail explanation of what the repairman actually said, he heard for himself what the issue was. Turns out it's something that Mike and his plumber should've caught so Mike said he'd credit that service call back to us in our final invoice.

Mike also bebopped downstairs and started working on fixing those water spots in the laundry room.

The electricians came through and covered all our outlets, then called for the electrical inspection.

Wednesday night I grabbed dinner with Kathryn and Tecie, wiped down all the walls 

and marked spots that needed paint so it'd be ready for touch-up, and then hung out at the hospital for a couple hours waiting for the latest Labor and Delivery family addition. He was born after I'd left, but he's super cute. (Congrats Bethany, Jake, and Eleanor!)

I highly recommend wiping down the walls before paint. I'm not sure that all painters do this, and in our case it was more than necessary.

That was just ONE wall. I went through 12 Swiffer sheets that looked like this before it was all said and done.

During the cleaning I noticed some marks on the floor in the dining room area. Case in point, the toast shaped stripes:

Up closer, and in other areas of the dining room:

See all those swirly divots?

Thursday items included:
-passing our electrical inspection!!!

-touch-up painting
-the flooring guys came to see the flooring spots that needed to be fixed, but the painter told them I was asleep and not to make any noise so they didn't fix them today. (I was sleeping because I was on call but may not have to work.) They'll be back tomorrow to make lots of noise and fix the floors...when I KNOW I have to work that night. 

-enjoying some outside sunshine with our predominately indoor kitties. And then this one escaped through the fence. 

I chased after her into the ditch (where the deer were that I posted about earlier). As I approached her she bolted back through the fence, but not before I'd made good friends with all sorts of suspicious looking leaves. I showered immediately to (fingers crossed!!!) ward off the poison ivy.

How does this fit through the fence???

Once the floors are completely finished Mike will call for final inspection. OMG-so close!!!