Under Construction...

I am living in a construction zone...literally!  I thought I would give you all a short update on what we are up to...or more like what many projects are going on.  I believe we have at least 5 projects at this moment.  You know how it goes, we have to take the base boards off to get to the flooring...insert *bright* idea, lets put bigger base boards back on.  Carpet comes up...well we might as well re-do the surround on the fireplace and I really don't like the mantel.  Do you see where I am going with this...one thing leads to the next...

 

I am very happy with the progress we are making and can't wait until I can finally start the real fun~Designing!!  I bought a mini-chandelier a week ago and just for fun took it out of the box to put all the bling of the many tiny little crystals on...I called my husband in to see the silly grin on my face, he thought I was a little wierd...I really was happy. I then hung it above me in front of the kitchen window and envisoned my little light of happiness above me while I looked out my window...*sigh*, so I then had to put it back away in a safe spot because at this very moment our home is..

I am debating if we should even pass out trick-or-treat candy tomorrow due to all the top kitchen cabinets that are sitting in the front room...hmm, thinking Mr. Wonderful can take our Ninja and Muscle Spiderman out and about in the
neighborhood, I will just keep the porch light off with all the good candy we have...what?...you know I was thinking of the kids, I don't want to scare those little goblins and ghosts at my house.  It doesn't quite resemble a home at the moment. They might think it is an abandoned haunted house.

As I said, "making some progress".  We still have yet to have the movers bring all of our things, we are literally still living out of our suitcases and thank goodness for air mattresses.  This is what DIY remodeling is all about...right? :)

So here are a couple of photos to show you what we have been up too.  I wasn't able to help the first week we were here due to me being sick...I do have Mr. Wonderful in action, so thankful for him! 

 I finally have been able to get my hands dirty and let me just say...I need a really good manicure after all of this!  I decided to tackle the kitchen while he is busy on the wall and fireplace in the livingroom/great room.

 Started taking off the tile, much harder than I had expected.  I tried to preserve the tile maybe to recycle it...but it did not want to come off in once piece!  So then got the hammer out and let me just say, something satisfying about smashing tile...anyways it took a couple of days for me to complete but I was happy to have done it mostly on my own.  Real women can do the hard work...remember we are no sissy girls, get in there and put some muscle to it.  Oh, did I mention my arms were sore the next day?

O.k. I said I was keeping this short so on to the photos...

Mr. Wonderful prepping for the ceiling to be scraped.

Using our paint sprayer he was able to wet the popcorn ceiling down to soften before he scraped it.

This is a tool designed for just this...it is a little harder to use.  Towards the end he used another tool that had a razor edge,

it worked better on the scraping.

Love this man!  Not only is his mind amazing, (he is a Computer Scientist)...he is a hard worker when it comes to manual labor!  I am sure he never dreamed he would be doing all this 10 yrs. ago before we married. He really loves me. ♥ ♥ ♥

We will have to rent some scaffalding to finish the top of the ceiling.  We will re-texturize the ceilings when we are all done scraping.

Had to share the first snow we had since we have been here.  I love having a deck to entertain on for the summer and can't wait to add a lot of love and work into our yard this spring.

This is part of the Living room that connects into the eat in kitchen.  When this was first built they made a cut out for the t.v. area.  I wanted to put my Armoire in this room but was worried that it wouldn't fit.  We decided to close the hole just big enough for built in shelves for our componets for the t.v. and will put a door over it with glass. Above the fireplace we are doing an insert that sits just inside the wall to mount our flat screen.  I then am going to make some kind of doors, art not sure exactly what yet to fit over it. 

Taking off the base boards.

Took the drywall mantel off. 

Will be adding a wood mantel and decorative surround.

Taking out the tile.

More popcorn ceiling removed...

So much better without it!

Framing added for the t.v. The surrounding drywall had to be sanded so when the new drywall is added it can adhere to the tape and mudding.

 

A peek at the travertine tile and glass accent tiles

that will be on the surround of the fireplace.

One of the wood accents that will be on the fireplace.

Here is part of the kitchen.  It is a little smaller than my old kitchen.  We are re-doing the flooring, change the island and cabinets will be painted.  I am doing beadboard for the backsplash and eventually will have stainless steel appliances.

The tile wasn't awful just not the look I wanted.  In our daughters room it had been a nursery.It has beadboard

around the whole room.  Luckily they didn't glue it to the

wall so I am recycling it and using it for the backsplash.

So happy that I can re-use this!

Because the drywall came out in pieces with the tile we had no choice but to cut out that area and will add new drywall here as well. I brought a piece of the beadboard down to give a little vision of how it will look in here...going to love it! 

So the deconstruction phase of a project is never the great part...it has to get bad before it get's better.  We are that much closer to having the shelving added in for the living room and should be able to start the drywall tomorrow.  I can't wait to eventually show you all the vision that is in my head for this home and seeing it come together is a great feeling!  Will post on progress as we get more done. 

I guess I can never do a very short post...

I am trying to get around and visit many of you.  Have tried not to spend too much time on the computer right now so work is getting done!  I think of you all often and am so grateful for all the love and support you give!  Thank you!  I hope your Halloween is filled with fun and saftey!

Hugs and love,