Ho Hum..."Maybe next week"

"Maybe next week" and "sometime next week" has been the remodel motto the past few days. This big snow we got really put the brakes on anything getting done during the latter part of the week. The cabinets were supposed to get delivered to our contractor...but the snow held up the delivery truck. I wanted to go pick out floor samples with the people who will be doing the floors...but the sign on the door said "we will reopen as soon as the weather permits." (My thought: I just drove to your doorstep...weather is permitting...) I tried to solidify faucet and pot filler decisions...but that local supplier is also closed related to the snow. We didn't have a single inspector come by this week...because the first places to close related to weather will be government-type offices. As much as I enjoyed walking through the snow with the love of my life, I think I'm good on the white stuff for a while. Let's keep this house stuff moving, and then I'll have a little more flexibility in my opinions of the weather. And since the only news to report from here is regarding snow, you get to look at snow pictures:

(Our back deck the night of Snowmageddon)

Ryan shoveling the driveway on Thursday before all the snow refreezes that night:

Zara and Giada have not been outside since we moved to the new house. We thought we'd be safe from them trying to make a run for it seeing as how the snow would keep them from making it very far.

All that construction noise has stressed Giada out; she is considering her escape options.

And today (Friday), the girls are practicing their synchronized bathing routine,

and I'm reluctantly getting ready for work.

See you on Monday! 

Snow Day!

Wednesday February 25th brought us snow...eventually. And we're glad for it! Ryan got the whole day off and I didn't have to work, but the electricians did get in a lot of work today before the flurries started falling. 

All our can light and pendant spots are wired (4 holes running parallel). 

Switches are where they're supposed to be. And the big wires are in place for appliances. 

While they were wrapping up, Ryan and I ran to Ceramic Harmony. I had just received an email saying that the few slabs of Fantasy Brown from Stone Connection in Atlanta had arrived. We'll end up having 75 square feet of countertop, which equates to  needing at least 2 slabs. There were 3, and they were all in a sequence (cut from the same block of stone), which means the slabs will be better matched color-wise. I could only see the surface of the first, but it looks beautiful. We also looked at backsplashes, and we may have a top contender here as well.

That's our sample door with a small piece of Fantasy Brown, and we like the bottom blue/grey tile for backsplash. The floor color is not what we're thinking, but we brought it along just to solidify that decision.

When we got home, the work crew was gone, but Ryan was able to sand down the storage bench, while I continued to research faucets. Cabinets are set to arrive for layout on Friday (again, weather permitting) and then we'd be templating for the counters on Monday. In order to template, you need to know appliances (namely, cooktop) and fixtures. No final decision on faucet or pot filler has been made but major narrowing down has occurred. Yesterday's successes included buying appliances! I went to Bob Wallace and their price was comparable to the better online prices I had seen. 

Kitchenaid 30" Induction cooktop:

Induction guys! I'm super excited about the possibilities...of having less crap get stuck on my cooking surface. The induction magic works by way of magnetic technology (that's as much as I understand it), and your pot starts boiling water in minutes but the cooking surface is barely warm to the touch! And see those two eyes on the left? They have "a bridge." Meaning, I could start making things on a griddle. If I had one...and if I knew how to. But hey! At least now I have that option.

And our ovens are Maytag 30" wall ovens, one with convection and one without (let's be real, I am not a master baker in need of TWO convecting ovens!):

Today ended with Ryan and I walking in a winter wonderland, all the way down to Ben and Kathryn's house. Claire enjoyed playing in the snow. And then we met up with Tamra and Kiel, and their daughter Caroline. After which, we all walked down to a carved wooden totem-pole height bear wherein the 3-and-under crowed started growling ferociously. 

People sledding down Willowbrook:

Here's the driveway we won't be going up tomorrow:

Beautiful day! Big shout out to all my L&D coworkers who have to hold down the fort tonight. I hope there aren't too many ladies trying to have their baby on Snowmageddon 2015 so you get to go out and play a little!

Oh Monday...

If I didn't know better I would've guessed today was a Monday. I got off work this morning and after working 3 12hour night shifts in a row, you don't know what day it is really. But having icy road conditions AGAIN this morning, and finding out that the electricians wouldn't be showing up until later as a result of the weather, and being worried sick about a postpartum coworker who is having complications...all signs point to Monday.

After getting positive updates on our coworker around 10:00, and hearing the electricians show up, I finally try and cocoon myself up under my electric blanket, and with both kitties holding my legs down I drift off to sleep. I wake up around 12:30 covered in sweat and hearing a lot of banging upstairs; good, the electricians are still moving along. *Removes one cat from legs, turns down electric blanket, changes background noise channel from HGTV to Food Network, and drifts back off.* At 3:30 I come back to the 
land-of-the-barely-living thoroughly confused and not knowing where I am. You see, when you work night shift, it's two different days when you're awake and the day you wake up in is the same as the one you went to sleep in, unless you get lucky and crash for an 18 hour coma. So, after scrambling for my phone: 

and realizing it's still Monday and knowing our coworker is still holding steady, I sit on the couch and try to acclimate my brain for functioning. 

Ryan calls and tells me he's going to finish working on the built-in bench seat with our family friend Danny Davis. They started working on it yesterday, and after today's finishing touches, we've got EXACTLY what I envisioned for that space. Here's some pictures of that:

Yeah!!! We'll get it all sanded down and the painters will paint the bench when they're getting the rest of the rooms. I found a couple websites that do bench seat cushions, so a couple of those on top will make it more comfortable for sitting on but it's also functional. It has two hinged doors on top for storage underneath. Considering we love our Costco, this bench will store all the paper towel and dixie cup type goodies we bring home from our bulk-item buys. Ryan has gotten very handy with his woodworking, but with Danny's experienced help and myriad of tools, we've got a beautiful and sturdy bench. 

If you like this, imagine what Danny can do when he makes guitars! That's right: retired NASA engineer, bench maker, and luthier! Here's his website:     http://www.tangledstringstudio.com

The space where he makes his instruments is at Lowe Mill in Huntsville, and this studio also serves as a recording space for Ryan's band (Liquid Caravan) and a listening room for singer/songwriters and bands that come through town. If you live here or are able to get to Huntsville, swing by Lowe Mill and check out all the artists that this wonderful place houses.

We finish off our Monday with Which Wich and Yogurt Mountain.

Goals for tomorrow: go grocery shopping so we don't have to eat out all week, go by Bob Wallace appliance for price comparisons on cooktops and ovens, and try to paint a chandelier if the weather allows.

Day 4: Subfloor is down! Half wall is framed! And electrical work has begun! The electricians got a good head start today, but will be back Friday to finish up. I imagine installing 15 can lights, amidst rearranging cords and switches, will take a while. The plumber will be here Friday as well, and should knock out his stuff in a few hours. They put some insulation up in the ceiling's open space, so that should help with it not being quite so cold inside (it was 12 degrees outside today and maybe 30 inside-Brrrr!).

I got to Sherwin-Williams today and bought 4 sample colors, then put them up on several walls. I didn't do this until the afternoon so I'll recheck the colors throughout the day tomorrow to see what they look like in different light. I found a faucet and pot filler that I think will work, but they're a bit over budget...again, I'm falling in love with things beyond the allotted amount. Just a note: if you're considering pot filler, there are many more wall mount options than deck mount options. The half wall would not suit a wall mount, so I'm looking at deck mounts, and their price can get ridiculous!

 I really thought I'd like the grey on the far right ("Pelican"), but it's looking more lavender than grey. I think the middle color ("April Sky") may be our winner for most of the walls, and then doing the bottom color ("Languid Blue") to cover that red in the dining room. Thoughts? Recommendations? 

Baby, it's cold outside...it isn't real warm inside either

Yesterday was Demo Day #2, and after more banging, knocking, and general noise-making the rest of the fireplace has been removed, and you really begin to see the open-concept that we're striving for:

(Perspective is from the front door.) There are temporary supports holding up the ceiling until both LVL beams are up (you can see one of them on the floor waiting to go up). Those LVLs are no joke. Crazy heavy (from what I hear) and were hard to get up there (based on all the scuffling and grunted commands I could hear all the way down in the basement).

There's the finished product of both LVLs in place.

If I were the T.V., this would be my view:

LoOk At aLl tHaT LiGhT!!!

Now take a moment and notice the gaping hole in our ceiling. That hole, and the constant in and out traffic of the workers, means that Ryan has set our upstairs thermostat to 50 degrees during the day in an effort save on heating costs. And so I'm down here:

In between episodes of Grantchester and Fixer Upper, I manage to finish arranging the Laundromat Kitchen:

just in time for Mike to come down and tell me that he's going to need to put in some extra support below the column upstairs. Right there, behind that table.

 (Mimi, recognize this guy?)

Welp, then I proceed with covering all of that everything down there with plastic drop cloths in preparation for the dust that will fly. And come Wednesday (today), it does. But Mike is amazing, and he very quickly gets these supports in AND cleans up the mess. After the structural inspection next week we can cover it back up with sheetrock and then repaint.

He had to add supports in another spot too. And although this meant more walls getting cut into than I had anticipated, it does mean that everything is going to be more secure. 

This afternoon, I met the electricians and talked about light location. They'll be back in the morning to get that done, just depends on what the weather does as to what time they get started. Because in the South, when we see snow flurries: 

But we're pleased with the progress:

The main supportive column is up so the temporary supports come down, and you can just feel the room breathe. Already, it's eons better than those dark cabinets and compartmentalized rooms.

Other items: about to order our ovens and cooktop but looking into ventilation code requirements before we solidify our choice, we've picked up 27 paint chips in an effort to figure out what colors we're going with, and our sink arrived today!

Tomorrow's goals: pick a faucet, and pick up paint samples to do trials on the walls. If anyone has faucet input, I welcome it!

Demo Day, y'all!

February 16th, 2015: the destruction begins bright and early at 7am. I am still at work, but Ryan's is off for President's Day. There are several guys here, and they make quick work out of what would've taken us a few weekends to complete.

Getting the ceiling fan down:

Getting the flooring up! Turns out one of the guys has a friend that needs new flooring...in his RV...so our floor will be getting repurposed. Makes me happy to know that it's not all getting trashed.

                                        

The wall between the kitchen and dining room is down. You can really start to see how open it's going to be! Look at all that light!

The beams have come down and work at bringing down The Beast has begun.

Here's our front yard during this process:

 After lots of knocking, banging, and dropping of rocks, that enormous wall of stone has been removed!

Here's the kitchen all cleared out:

And here's where Zara was ALL day. She was having none of it. Hopefully this will get better as the days go on.

Here's the downstairs/basement living room and that workhorse of a wood-burning stove:

The Hubs is becoming a lumberjack, bringing in logs and starting fires that are so hot they put the cats in comas.

This is probably a good time to introduce you to our children, "The Girls." Zara on the left and Gigi on the right. We've got our fingers crossed that the remodel won't stress them out too much.

This week has been bananas. Let me just fill you in on what's been keeping us busy:

Saturday, Ryan's mom (Jane) and I went up to Nashville to narrow down the granite. We went to OHM International and their stock is overwhelmingly large, but a good place to go if you have no idea what you want. There's marble, there's granite, there's quartzite...and to confuse you even more: nothing has a price on it. It has a fancy name, and they tell you, "just pick out what you like." Well, you know what that means! Damn near everything I pick out is a material I wanted to avoid (i.e. marble) or an out-of-budget price. 

This is a beautiful granite, and Jane said it looks like a shark's tooth got stuck in it. I think, "love it! It'll go great!" Then I find out that this granite is crazy expensive...okay, that's out.

 The picture above and below show two different granites. One neat thing at this warehouse is they had the large slabs in the warehouse, and then they had these pieces on rolling trays where you could see how they would look in different light.

 Then we headed over to the Ferguson show room, looked at faucets, appliances, countertops, lighting...you name it, they had it. I even found some pendant lights that I think will work really well.

                                 

 A place next to Ferguson had this beauty:

 Here it is again, with our cabinet door sample:

I am IN LOVE! Perfect colors, lots of movement; we may just have a winner folks. And for anyone that can read my mind, you'd see I've been driving myself crazy about getting the right countertop.

Sunday, I was on call and didn't get called in, so it gave me a chance to research granite/countertops (again), and also to pack up some of the kitchen. Monday I worked, and when you have a 12-13hour shift to look forward to you just sleep, eat, and go clock in. But I did pick up some more packing boxes on my way in. After work Tuesday morning, I went by Sherwin Williams and picked up some of these 3M sticky mats, in hopes that they will catch a lot of the dust that gets on shoes and paws, and keep the amount of dust that makes it into the bedrooms to a minimum.

Tuesday afternoon: Mike comes over and we sign the contract!  It's legit...it's happening...damn, that's a lot of money. Seeing those numbers is definitely overwhelming, but knowing your budget, and where the money is coming from ahead of time is very helpful and smooths out (some) stress. That said, I'm still picking up extra hours here and there because every little bit helps.

Wednesday is Moving Day! A few friends and family came over to help get the bulk of our furniture down to the basement (HomeBase) and from there I'll be able to find temporary homes for all the small stuff.

It's getting close!