We have been working on stuff, I just haven't posted in a while because there isn't much in the way of pictures to update. We have the entryway and the fireplace tiled and grouted. We are now working on the mantle and trim around the fireplace and trim around the doors and floors. In my extensive Google research I discovered that getting your trim up before getting carpet makes for more finished look then the other way around. So we were cutting and painting trim this weekend. I think we pretty much have it all ready to go for the living room, hall, and office floors, which is where the carpet is going. Now Adam just has to get it up and we have to get more molding for the doors. We also need to go carpet shopping soon so we can get that lined up. Oh I never knew how happy I would be to have floors coming into my house, and so I am a lady in waiting to have a finished living room and thus something in my house will be done!
On a side note we also did some celebrating this weekend. I helped host a shower for my good friend Kim who is getting married next month and got to make party food. I like this kind of hosting/cooking stuff and made Bruschetta, Spinach Artichoke Dip, and Pasta Salad as well as the punch. We also didn't do the normal bridal shower game, instead we played Cranium but made it a shorter version and made questions that dealt with either weddings in general or with Kim and her fiance Eugene. I think everyone had a lot of fun. Most of our husbands/fiances went golfing while we were being girlie, the golfing lasted much longer than the shower so we capped off the evening by going to see Mama Mia. All I have to say is that Pierce Brosnan does not have a future on Broadway, his looks are much better than his voice!!!
Monday, August 18, 2008
Monday, August 4, 2008
Slate.....My New Best Friend
The last couple of weeks we have been working on getting the entryway and fireplace tiled so that we can get really close to having carpet.
Below is a picture of the fireplace in the living room as it was when we moved in.
Here is the fireplace after we stripped it of anything really resembling a fireplace. First we removed the brass and glass cover. Then we dismantled the mantle and the trim on the sides. Lastly Adam took a hammer and pry and took off all the tile and residual mortar as gently as he could.
Part of our plan was to build out under the actual fireplace to give it a little more presence and also to to help provide additional protection for the soon-to-be carpet that will be installed. I didn't like the idea of just a hearth pad on the floor (this is the few little tiles that sit on or near the floor in front of your fireplace), if we had a gas fireplace that would be one thing but the idea of ashes on new carpet wasn't a pleasant thought. Here (below) Adam just took some 2 x 4's and built what I refer to as "the bench"
We used a brick pattern gobi slate that we found at the Tile Shop. It wasn't the cheapest tile, but luckily this isn't a huge area and we ended up getting just the effect we wanted. Here is Adam putting it up. We just used a normal thinset mortar with a trowel specifically for wall tiling. We also replaced all of the area behind the previous tile with new cement board, as well as put cement board on the "bench".
And after Adam's wonderful work below is the fireplace with all the tile up. It got a little tedious at the end b/c he had to kind of piece the sides of the bench together due to the area not being exactly 12 inches and requiring a partial tile piece. I think it looks great! We still need to seal the tile, since it is slate (a natural stone) you must seal it before grouting or the grout would stick to all the groves and stuff. After that we can grout it and then seal the grout. My participation in this project, other than cleaning excess mortar between the tiles, was to spray paint the brass doors black. I didn't take a picture yet but it looks so much better. Finally we will add the mantle and the trim and have a new beautiful fireplace.
We are also retiling our front door entryway and decided to use slate there also. We used a design consisting of 6 and 12 inch tiles. These we just purchased at Lowes and they weren't anything too special. Here is the tile all laid out we just need to get the mortar adhesive on and then we will finish it the same way we will finish the fireplace with the seal and the grout.
Below is a picture of the fireplace in the living room as it was when we moved in.
Here is the fireplace after we stripped it of anything really resembling a fireplace. First we removed the brass and glass cover. Then we dismantled the mantle and the trim on the sides. Lastly Adam took a hammer and pry and took off all the tile and residual mortar as gently as he could.
Part of our plan was to build out under the actual fireplace to give it a little more presence and also to to help provide additional protection for the soon-to-be carpet that will be installed. I didn't like the idea of just a hearth pad on the floor (this is the few little tiles that sit on or near the floor in front of your fireplace), if we had a gas fireplace that would be one thing but the idea of ashes on new carpet wasn't a pleasant thought. Here (below) Adam just took some 2 x 4's and built what I refer to as "the bench"
We used a brick pattern gobi slate that we found at the Tile Shop. It wasn't the cheapest tile, but luckily this isn't a huge area and we ended up getting just the effect we wanted. Here is Adam putting it up. We just used a normal thinset mortar with a trowel specifically for wall tiling. We also replaced all of the area behind the previous tile with new cement board, as well as put cement board on the "bench".
And after Adam's wonderful work below is the fireplace with all the tile up. It got a little tedious at the end b/c he had to kind of piece the sides of the bench together due to the area not being exactly 12 inches and requiring a partial tile piece. I think it looks great! We still need to seal the tile, since it is slate (a natural stone) you must seal it before grouting or the grout would stick to all the groves and stuff. After that we can grout it and then seal the grout. My participation in this project, other than cleaning excess mortar between the tiles, was to spray paint the brass doors black. I didn't take a picture yet but it looks so much better. Finally we will add the mantle and the trim and have a new beautiful fireplace.
We are also retiling our front door entryway and decided to use slate there also. We used a design consisting of 6 and 12 inch tiles. These we just purchased at Lowes and they weren't anything too special. Here is the tile all laid out we just need to get the mortar adhesive on and then we will finish it the same way we will finish the fireplace with the seal and the grout.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Nothing says "Welcome" like a new front door
After a long arduous struggle we finally got our new front door installed. Like most things around our place a new square front door does not nicely fit into a 50 year old opening, so the whole process took us roughly 17 hours, yes you read that right 17 long hours. We ended up having to rip off some of the flashing and adjust the rough opening. When Adam started ripping things off I was a little concerned but he just said he'd fix it later, I couldn't argue, it is necessary to have a door on the front of your house. So here are a few pictures of our little project:
T: A picture of the door from the inside right after we purchased the house; B: The old front door after we took it off
T: Close-up of the new front door; B: View of new front door with more of the house
As you can see from the close-up for the new door, there needs to be some molding replaced. We had to take the molding in the pre-hung door off for it to fit and after it was so beat up, Adam said he would replace it with the no-mold molding so there isn't a chance of water and rot damage in the future.
T: A picture of the door from the inside right after we purchased the house; B: The old front door after we took it off
T: Close-up of the new front door; B: View of new front door with more of the house
As you can see from the close-up for the new door, there needs to be some molding replaced. We had to take the molding in the pre-hung door off for it to fit and after it was so beat up, Adam said he would replace it with the no-mold molding so there isn't a chance of water and rot damage in the future.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Aunt & Uncle once again
Adam and I were blessed to become an Aunt and Uncle again last night when Nolan Isaiah was born to Adam's brother Chris and his wife Kacey. He was about 10 days before his due date and weighed in at a "hefty" 5 lbs 15 oz. As you can tell from the diaper in the picture below he is pretty tiny. We are so happy for Chris and Kacey and can't wait to get to know little Nolan, oh and probably spoil him just a little because that is what good Aunts & Uncles do, right??
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Arrrrg???
Do you ever have one of those days that you just want to say Arrrrg and eat a lot of chocolate??? I think today was been one of those. Everything I do at work today seems to have some sort of issue and to my luck it hasn't been anything I have done, I just have the job to fix it, yay for me, huh.
My cell phone suddenly only has a white screen when you flip it open, you can dial and it rings but I can't use my numbers stored in my phone or see who is calling. Oh, and Cingular says I can't get an equipment discount until November. Since there is no way in hades I am paying $200 for a cell phone we just might be making the big switch to Verizon, especially since Adam can get a discount through Lilly.
Oh and this one isn't that big of a deal, but due to the storm last night we again have a large tree limb in our front yard, at this point we just shrug it off and Adam actually probably gets giddy because he can use his manly chainsaw.
It's probably a good thing we have House Church tonight because I need an attitude change. I know none of these are a big deal and they are all little things that just start pushing your buttons at the same time. Ok vent over..... on to Happy Thoughts, especially since I leave work in 15 minutes :)
My cell phone suddenly only has a white screen when you flip it open, you can dial and it rings but I can't use my numbers stored in my phone or see who is calling. Oh, and Cingular says I can't get an equipment discount until November. Since there is no way in hades I am paying $200 for a cell phone we just might be making the big switch to Verizon, especially since Adam can get a discount through Lilly.
Oh and this one isn't that big of a deal, but due to the storm last night we again have a large tree limb in our front yard, at this point we just shrug it off and Adam actually probably gets giddy because he can use his manly chainsaw.
It's probably a good thing we have House Church tonight because I need an attitude change. I know none of these are a big deal and they are all little things that just start pushing your buttons at the same time. Ok vent over..... on to Happy Thoughts, especially since I leave work in 15 minutes :)
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
A little curb appeal..
So this beauty is what we purchased nearly 9 months ago now, I know don't be too jealous of us!! We absolutely adored those aluminum framed single pane windows this winter when our gas bill consistently stayed over $300/mo.
Its pretty weird when you take out a nearly 8 foot window and have a huge gaping hole in the front of your house. We kept being corny about the whole thing and commenting how clear our new set-up was, that it was almost like not having a window at all. Somehow we made minimal mess on this task which was nice for a change. We replaced the dining room window the next day and were literally trying to outrun a storm to get the thing in, we succeeded but seriously by the hair of our chinny chin chin.
So here is the new and improved front of our house. We still need to get in the new door, which should be arriving any day now, and the final window on the front replaced, which is the one on the far left of the picture. We have also, since this picture, replaced the outdoor lighting next to the front door and on the garage. The lights you see in the picture are literally like 3 feet tall on a ranch house, it looks ridiculous, we replaced it with something a bit more to scale.
This isn't technically curb appeal (see below) but is a change and enhancement on the back of our house. This was the sliding patio door that was in the 3rd bedroom when we bought the house. We didn't like that set-up and wanted the patio door in the kitchen and a window in the 3rd bedroom so we had contractors do that work. During the change the contractors commented that the way we wanted it was the original way it was on the house but a previous owner had changed it! Who puts a patio door in a 3rd bedroom (not the largest so probably not the master) and then just a window off the kitchen???
The contractors weren't able to brick in the opening in the fall b/c it was two cold for mortar and it was really expensive to get brick then b/c the builders aren't ordering anything.
Its pretty weird when you take out a nearly 8 foot window and have a huge gaping hole in the front of your house. We kept being corny about the whole thing and commenting how clear our new set-up was, that it was almost like not having a window at all. Somehow we made minimal mess on this task which was nice for a change. We replaced the dining room window the next day and were literally trying to outrun a storm to get the thing in, we succeeded but seriously by the hair of our chinny chin chin.
So here is the new and improved front of our house. We still need to get in the new door, which should be arriving any day now, and the final window on the front replaced, which is the one on the far left of the picture. We have also, since this picture, replaced the outdoor lighting next to the front door and on the garage. The lights you see in the picture are literally like 3 feet tall on a ranch house, it looks ridiculous, we replaced it with something a bit more to scale.
This isn't technically curb appeal (see below) but is a change and enhancement on the back of our house. This was the sliding patio door that was in the 3rd bedroom when we bought the house. We didn't like that set-up and wanted the patio door in the kitchen and a window in the 3rd bedroom so we had contractors do that work. During the change the contractors commented that the way we wanted it was the original way it was on the house but a previous owner had changed it! Who puts a patio door in a 3rd bedroom (not the largest so probably not the master) and then just a window off the kitchen???
The contractors weren't able to brick in the opening in the fall b/c it was two cold for mortar and it was really expensive to get brick then b/c the builders aren't ordering anything. This is right after it was done so the mortar residue is kind of smudged on the bricks, it doesn't really look that grey. The bricks aren't an exact match but we think it is close enough that if we do a little "decorating" of the patio around this area, no one will ever know that difference. You can see where we have installed patio door over to the left.
We are all chromed out....
Actually brushed nickel or stainless steel might be better description, but the title didn't sound as good. These pictures are a bit dated as this all occurred around the 1st weekend of June (only a mere month ago), but we were able to move our fridge in from the garage, and place it in its proper spot. What you can't see is that it isn't hooked up yet b/c Adam has to do a little plumbing reconfiguration to get the water and ice hooked up. After that we will get it plugged in and move a lot of our stuff from the old fridge (soon-to-be-garage-fridge) to the new sparkly one.
We also got the extra cabinets put up on the wall by the L-shaped cabinet and bar, which was nice to finally have a place to at least store my nice dinnerware, even if it can't be displayed in a hutch. It also houses all of our Tupperware. Does anyone else think Tupperware is like rabbits, at first you only seem to have a few pieces but it multiplies? That might have something to do with my Mom sending food home with us and then us keeping the Tupperware and forgetting to ever return it to her.
Finally we have almost all of the kitchen pulls on. All of the cabinet doors are done, just a few of the drawers still need them that weren't "regulation" size.
We also got the extra cabinets put up on the wall by the L-shaped cabinet and bar, which was nice to finally have a place to at least store my nice dinnerware, even if it can't be displayed in a hutch. It also houses all of our Tupperware. Does anyone else think Tupperware is like rabbits, at first you only seem to have a few pieces but it multiplies? That might have something to do with my Mom sending food home with us and then us keeping the Tupperware and forgetting to ever return it to her.
Finally we have almost all of the kitchen pulls on. All of the cabinet doors are done, just a few of the drawers still need them that weren't "regulation" size.
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