Moving In Eve (The Big Post)

We signed the paperwork for the house on September 13th.  Here we are only nine weeks later and we will be moving in in less than 24 hours.  We've been so focused on what to do next that it was hard to remember what the house looked like before we started.   So here is my long post with all our before and afters.

All the scraping, ripping, hauling, stacking, sanding, measuring, cutting, nailing, filling, scrubbing, framing, insulating, taping, staining, and painting was worth it.  Oh, I can't forget the shopping, that was the fun part.  Time to pop open the champaign and celebrate.

Our Final Work Weekend

It has been a long two months but we are finally coming to the end of our home renovation.  There will be a lot more to get done after we move in but the major  projects are almost complete.  The carpet for the basement is being installed tomorrow which is the last big thing needed to get done before we can move in.  Yea!

This final weekend Jeff spent cutting, installing, and calking the baseboards, hanging doors in the basement and finishing the painting.

Those are some mad painting skills.

My job was to finish staining the kitchen cabinets.

I thought painting was rewarding but staining, WOW.  It feels so good to take something dry and brittle and bring it back to life.  I love how they turned out.

Halfway through I was treated to a beautiful snowfall.  The only draw back was I had to leave the windows open for ventilation and it got a little chilly.

Finished pictures will be coming soon but for now I'm switching gears to cleaning and packing.  One last quick story to share.  We are hosting friends for Thanksgiving dinner so I figured I better start breaking the oven it.  I heated up a frozen lasagna for lunch and it tasted SO good.  Hard work and food out of a new oven makes me happy.

Painting, Painting, Painting

 Jeff and I finished installing the insulation on Sunday and I called the drywallers on Monday.  They came in to put up new ceiling and retexturize the walls.  All of a sudden it felt like we had real rooms downstairs and not just a basement.

Next to the downstairs family room Jeff built me a craft room and a huge closet.  He did such a great job.  I'm getting so excited about all the little projects I can work on once we move in, pillows, curtains, art work.

They were done with the new walls by the end of the week so Jeff and I spent the weekend painting.  I promise I was working too, I'm just the one who picks up the camera.

We also did some work in the kitchen.  We decided against the tile back splash and went with paint instead.  We were running out of time and paint gave us more color choices.  Plus we weren't looking forward to installing all that tile around those outlets so it felt good to cross that project off the list.

I can't wait to stain the cabinets and get the doors back on.  I'm even more excited to get back to cooking real meals again, we've eaten a lot of pizza and sandwiches lately.

It was a lot of work but the two of us painted three rooms, a closet, a hallway, plus the kitchen in two days.  I mean a lot of work, but to tell you the truth I'm really enjoying it.  It is so rewarding to clean up at the end of the day and look back on how much progress we've made.  Go give something a fresh coat of paint and see how good it feels.

Before

After

The Biggest Day By Far

Saturday was soda fountain removal day.

Getting this beast out of the basement was no small task.  The first step was removing a wall.  That was the easy part.  We were then left scratching our heads trying to figure out how to get a 700 pound steal box up a flight of stairs.

The ice box is solid but our only choice was to attack it screw by screw.  This fountain was put together like the Space Shuttle.  After removing dozens of screws we were able to get it into two pieces which made the plan for lifting it up the stairs a possibility.  Jeff's friends were out of town (lucky for them) so we picked up the phone and called some movers.  An hour later they showed up and had in the garage in less than 45 minutes.

It took 4 strong guys giving it all they had, but step by step they made it up.  It was worth every penny.

With the soda fountain out of the way basement remodel kicked into high gear.  Jeff and I spent Sunday installing insulation and getting the rooms ready for drywall.

It was hard work but the two of us got it done.  I can measure and cut.  He's tall.  We make a great team.

So here we are ready for a new ceiling and walls.  These rooms will be looking very different in the next 24 hours.  I can't wait.