Really Close

We are getting really close to being done with this project house...really close. I'm uploading some photos of where things currently stand. Furniture is mostly in its final resting place. Decor is still coming. Window treatments are basically non-existent (but hopefully that will soon change). The basement still needs a few bigger (but kind of simple) items. The shower door is a special order (and rather expensive, in my opinion), the door knobs will probably be installed tonight, and the basement windows will be replaced and trimmed out this weekend.

What will we do with our time after this weekend?!

4 days...4 days

In 4 days we will have carpet in the basement! Since we have no carpet in the rest of the house (all hardwood and tile), we are all (especially Bailey, the cat) looking forward to the carpet. Very exciting.

We have spent the past week/weekend finishing the bathroom tile, putting up trim and installing doors throughout the basement. It's hard to believe that in less than a week we will finally have enough space to take furniture out of storage and start putting things away in proper places. Ahhhh....come on, Friday...hurry up and get here.

Labor Day Labor

For our Labor Day fun we labored on the tile in the downstairs bathroom. As you can tell, the floor (in both the shower and the actual bathroom)are in. Sort of. The walls to the shower are going to be completed sometime this week/weekend. If you have ever tried to make large, heavy ceramic tiles stay in place on a wall...while keeping them perfectly spaced apart and even...you know that this week is going to be a party for us!

Painting!

The past couple weeks have been filled with basement projects. Sadly, most of them are terribly uneventful (creating a perfect sloping shower floor, placing the cement board for the tiled shower, etc). However, this past week I had my dad come over and help me paint. The bedroom and bathroom are an extremely light beige color (so light that it really doesn't show up well in photos). The family room is a gray'ish/taupe color - and I love it!

I'm totally thrilled that after this project I get to start painting baseboards and doors again. Yay.

Basement Progress

The basement has drywall and (in a few short days) should have primed walls - ready to be painted. It's so exciting! Trent has already started on the shower in the bathroom. We decided to tile it because there wasn't any way to get a shower insert through the front door and down the basement stairs...so I guess we really didn't decide anything. Either way, a tiled shower looks nicer (in my opinion). It takes several days of layering the floor portion of the shower to get the slope just right. So, it will still be quite some time before the tile even goes in (but that hasn't stopped me from shopping for the tile I want).
All in all, we are thrilled with how the basement is currently shaping up!

Booby Trap

Bailey (cat) has been part of my life since 1999. He is the most nervous, scared-of-everything cat that I have ever met. However, true to his species he simply cannot avoid his curiosity. Our basement is in the process of being drywalled and it's entirely open to the main level. We knew that it was going to be messy, but we assumed Bailey would be far too scared to head into the basement. After finding little paw prints all over EVERYTHING, we decided to try and keep him out of the basement for this week. Eventually (after trying several other things) we were forced to booby trap the stairway. We stuck tape (with the sticky side out) across the stairs. I wasn't paying attention and heard a loud thump as Bailey came tearing into the main level. I'm guessing he got stuck (explaining why our perfect grid of tape is not quite perfect).
I will not surrender to a 10 lb. feline.

Workin' Weekend

We spent the weekend working on the project house. It was long, difficult and (thankfully) rewarding! Trent worked on the basement. He had loads of tedious stuff to get completed before the drywall starts. (Drywall starts today at 8am) However, the electrical is entirely done, the plumbing is done, the old electrical is removed and new insulation is up everywhere.

While Trent worked in the basement, I spent my weekend outside trying to get the front landscaping to (at the very least) look like someone lives here. After a couple hundred dollars (a few plants, edging and mulch) and a LOT of shoveling, it looks acceptable. Not like a professional did it, but definitely better. We still have more exterior work to do, but this was a project I could mostly handle on my own.

Now we sit and wait for 4 entire days - while someone else does the drywall. What will we do with our time?!

More Progress

The framing in the basement is entirely done and the electrical is almost done. It's a good thing since the drywall starts at 8am on Monday morning. Drywall is generally the only thing we don't do ourselves. We purchase the drywall, we unload it and drag it into the house (piece by heavy piece). However, we use a professional to hang it. Yes, Trent has the ability to do drywall (me....not so much). We've found that this is the one job that we get our money's worth by paying a pro.

Sidenote (that just makes me happy): the drywaller came by this morning to give us a final estimate. He was in the project house when we first started the ENTIRE project (he did the drywall in the kitchen). His first words in the front door were, "Wow! I would have never guessed this house could look this good." Thanks!

Basement Framing

The basement is finally in the framing phase and we're both terribly excited. The basement was one large open space. We removed the paneled walls but decided the mustard yellow flooring could stay (we'll just put the carpeting right over it). We have divided it up into a storage space (that will remain unfinished), a full bathroom, a bedroom and a large family room. It will give this house an extra 1,000 sq ft (approx) of living space...and let me tell ya' that we need it. Now. Only a few more days of framing and then on to the electrical!

We Sure Are Tired

The past 36 hours have been rather productive around here. We officially started on the basement. (By "we" I mean that I managed to have a completely packed weekend schedule that didn't allow me any time to work on the house.)
"We" were able to rent a hand concrete saw and cut through the basement concrete in order to start on the bathroom plumbing. "We" then shoveled out all the dirt that went through the entire trench and 36" deep for the sump pump. After that, "we" put together the plumbing for the shower, toilet and sink. To end it all, "we" mixed new concrete and covered it all back up.
"We" sure are tired.

Kitchen: Done!

Our kitchen is done. The living room is done. The 3 bedrooms on the main level are done. The half bathroom and full bathroom are done. Unfortunately, things still aren't decorated and furniture still is in a temporary place. Eventually that will all change.


While finishing up the main level, we started working on the landscaping. We have a little (okay, a LOT) more to do (both the landscaping and exterior). I refuse to post any exterior photos until things are slightly better.

We're hoping to start the basement within the next week. Below is a photo of the basement when we purcahsed the house. The basement was one large "fellowship hall" room. Within the near future it should become a family room, spare bedroom and full bathroom. Hopefully.

Berry Pickin'

We've continued to work on some of the smaller details on the project house (as we prepare to tackle the basement). However, today we invited Ben and Vanessa Sanders over to pick some black raspberries in our "back 40." We thought there were a decent amount of berries when we first walked out. Turns out there were more berries than we were all willing to pick. It also turns out that Beckham (Ben and Vanessa's 1 year old son) could eat the berries faster than we could pick them. He was completely content to sit on the ground with a bucket of berries while the 4 of us kept picking. Hysterical!

Appliances....finally!

As of tonight, we have all the kitchen appliances installed and working. We haven't had a functioning kitchen since we sold our last house on March 21st - it's been a long 10 weeks. The appliances are beautiful and I love 'em. Items to still be completed on the kitchen: tile backsplash, crown (on top of cabinets) and window treatments. In case you are wondering, the snack bar counter is solid maple and will eventually be a shade (or two) darker.

As for the exterior of the project house, we have done basically nothing. However, we recently realized that we have an entire raspberry patch in "the back 40." I've been watching closely and they are just about ready. Trent was kind enough to mow a little trail through the general area so that I can pick them without killing myself on the thorns.

Moving In

As of late last night we have a kitchen sink, faucet and counter tops. Today, I spent a little time unpacking some of the kitchen boxes. It's been 7 weeks since we've had any type of kitchen. While we still don't have appliances (unless you count our little dorm refrigerator), it feels a little more like home.

Playing with Play-Doh

It is amazing what a little piece of baseboard trim will do. We went with a taller, 4 1/2" trim. I absolutely love it. 3 weeks from now is our (hopeful) completion date on the main level.

Filling all the nail holes has always been my job (I'm almost good at it). I have tried many types of caulk and filler. This putty is my absolute favorite. It's only $4 for a small container and it will last the entire project. It's basically like playing with Play-Doh.

Doors!

We finally have doors in the house!!! Naturally, when you have no doors in a home (and haven't had for 5 weeks) the obvious first door to be installed is the coat closet.

In other news, the kitchen cabinets are entirely up and only have the final crown (on top) to be installed. Kitchen appliances have been selected and ordered. The counter top has also been selected and ordered. Waiting, waiting, waiting.

Personally, I will spend the next few days filling thousands....no, millions of nails holes on the trim. And then I get to re-paint yet another coat of white.

Light at the end of the tunnel

We have spent the past few days priming and painting (and re-painting) doors and trim. 14 doors and 20 strips (each 12 feet long) of trim to be exact. We're almost done. Once the trim and doors are done, we can install them. Imagine that: doors...in a house. Once the doors and trim are installed, we are extremely close to completion on the main level.


Additionally, we have been shopping for kitchen appliances. I asked Trent what my budget was and he just said, "something reasonable." Huh.

Exciting Stuff

We finally have a working 2nd bathroom!  Yay!!!  It's only a half bath, it's very small and it also has no door or window coverings (yet) - but it works.

On an entirely different note, I've spent most of my spare time painting the baseboard trim while Trent has been carefully installing the cabinet doors and pulls.  Exciting, I know....but it is for us!

Cabinets: Part 2

We have about 25% of the cabinet work done.  Trent and his dad spent an evening this week hanging a few of the cabinets.  On our last project house I helped Trent hang the kitchen cabinets.  It became clear (within the first 30 seconds) that I was not the best helper for this project.  Thankfully, Trent and his dad were able to do a much better job on this project!  We still have another wall of cabinets, shelves, doors and pulls to install (the remaining 75%).

Cabinets!

This weekend we picked up our cabinets!!!!! I'm obviously a little excited to get the cabinets into place. Naturally, since we had an Amish man build them we had to pick them up (that would be a really long buggy ride from Wakarusa to Niles). We are thrilled with how they turned out. They are cherry and will get extremely dark over time. We chose to not stain them because we both like the natural cherry look. I finally found the pulls that I wanted and Trent is definitely looking forward to installing everything (note: sarcasm). Now I'm off to make some final decisions about counters and appliances. It's a good thing that I like to shop.

Slow Going and Half Decorated

We are at the point on this project where it feels like we are close to being finished. It's a trick. We are nowhere near completion. However, the things left (on the main level....we haven't even started on the basement) are all little, tedious items. Lots of trim work, lots of finishing items and a few major items (like kitchen cabinets, appliances and doors). Here are some photos of where things are right now. Personally, I absolutely despise having to put out any kind of decor items prior to everything being completed. However, we live here and I eventually caved in and realized that we needed a few necessary items (a couple of chairs, a lamp, a small tv, etc) to get us through this phase.