Tile floor- check- well almost!

Yesterday, my Mom watched the kids so Kevin and I could tile the floor in the new kitchen. It actually turned out to be fun. It was hard work. A lot of kneeling and carrying heavy boxes of tile, but looking at it now it looks great. We ran into one little flaw, we ran out of mortar, so today we are going to Lowes to buy another bag of mortar and the grout. There is only one small section that needs to be done, maybe about 20 tiles. I will post a picture when we finish that small section.
Overall, I was really proud how Kevin and I worked together. When we first bought our house, he didn't really let me do too much. His perfectionist personality drove him towards doing everything and I would stand and watch and be really bored or go out and get coffee or a snack. Boy has he changed. I was involved in almost every aspect of tiling the floor. The time flew by. I layed tile, applied the spacers, moved and opened the heavy boxes of tile, prepped the floor before we put down the mortar, sponged off the areas where the mortar got on the tile, and more. The only thing I didn't do was mix the mortar and actually spread the mortar, which was fine by me because I constantly had something to do. I worked really hard and Kevin gave me a few compliments. He said he was "very happy to have me helping" and "the job went really fast because I was there." It made me feel really good about myself.
Today, I am reminded of how much I miss working out. I have that familiar ache in my muscles. I love this feeling. It lets me know that I used my muscles enough to make a difference but not too much where I would have injured myself. When I would go to the gym 5 days a week before work, I would work specific muscle groups at a time, so the next day I would have this stretching type of ache in that muscle group. It always felt good and I do miss it.
Back to the floor, we didn't do the pattern that we thought we might in the beginning. We did the whole floor in the Katanga Copper tile. We decided with the wainscotting it might be too busy. Plus a large part of the detail would have been covered by the cabinets and table.
Now onto the table. I found a corner bench style table that I love. It is around $1000. Is this a good or bad price for a dining room table? If I could prompt a poll: please in the comment section, tell me how much you spent on a dining room table. To comment without an account, just click the button that says anonymous. You can leave your name in the post section. I would really appreciate it. Remember that our previous table cost less than $200 so we are pretty clueless as to what they cost. We are looking at one that can seat 8 people.
Another toot on my own horn, last week we didn't eat out once. I managed to make every meal at home. I used my crock pot and grill. We had steak, chicken, meatballs, soup and sandwiches, and a night at my parents and a night at my in-laws. So as a reward, tonight we are going out to buy groceries and then we are getting sushi! Yay- don't be jealous Meg!
Here is to progress being made and sushi ...

"Lights-Check" "Primer-Check" "Paint-Check"

Kevin went back to work on Monday, so progress has been slower, but still ongoing. On Monday, after work, Kevin installed the recessed cans. On Tuesday, he put the last coat of spackle on the walls. On Wednesday, he sanded the spackle and then we painted. I emphasize "we" because I actually helped. My Mom watched the kids for 2 hours on Wednesday and Thursday, so I could help Kevin. I did the cutting in part and Kevin "rolled the shit out of it" (an actual quote from him). I am THRILLED with the wall color. It is something that people will either love or hate. I love bold, bright or dark colors. I am not a pastel person at all. Not that I don't like it in other people's homes, I just don't like it in mine. My living room walls I hate because they are too bland. (Someone once told me to pick the color you like on the color wheel and buy the color in a shade lighter, usually the color above it. We followed this advice for the living room-the first room we painted- and I hate it. Why would you not buy the color that you love in the first place?) Kevin had to trust me on the paint color for the kitchen because I could tell he didn't like the samples. He won't admit it, but he does know I was right.

We decided to do 2 complimentary colors. The side walls are a color called "light copper". It has hints of peach and yellow, basically what it is called, it is a light copper. The back wall and parts of the front wall are "dusted bronze". It has hints of orange and copper. Together they look fantastic. Again, the pictures do not do it justice. It gives the walls a very "southwestern" feel.

To finish the walls, there will be wood wainscoting around the bottom (we weren't lazy and didn't finish painting to the floor). There will be crown molding at the top (which is why we didn't risk painting very close to the wood on the ceiling). In the corners, there will be a wood strip going down. We didn't want to try to paint the corners too close and have it look sloppy rather than finished.

I think instead of the traditional dining room table, we are going to do a corner nook with benches. It is very "Montana cabin" but I love it. It will balance the room with the peninsula and door on the other side. Again, a lot of people will say "eww" but I can see it in my head and I know that we will love it.

I think it is funny that people come to our house and they do comment on the wall colors. They always say something like "I prefer light colors in my house, but I love yours". I can see behind their eyes they are wishing that they could try it. I think they are afraid to take the risk. It is only paint. A good coat of primer will cover it if you don't like it. I also think the older style of thinking is that a dark color will make the room look "smaller". I think if you accessorize the room with light accents like curtains, furniture, etc. that it doesn't make the room look smaller, in fact it compliments well and you notice the accessories more.

Hey Trish- I should apply my house coloring skills to my wardrobe right? I am so afraid to take a risk with my clothes, but will take the risk with my house. With clothes, I could decide not to wear them, but my house can't be balled up in a drawer! Go Figure?

I promise to buy some outfits with color to wear to Florida. (Aunt Chris-we are not sure if the project will be done by the time we come down, but you are right, we need the vacation). Any fashion tips, outfits, or store recommendations are appreciated!

In the meantime, I will try to apply my painting taste to my clothes and will try to keep you posted on what I buy. Here's to Emily actually opening her wallet and buying clothes!

Aunt Patty and Meg- I will try not to "choke" again ...

Here you can see the primed walls and the new recessed cans.

My "hot mama in the kitchen" paint job!

"When it rains, it pours!"

My poor Kevin! He has worked in the kitchen every day, morning til night, since last Saturday. It has been one thing after another coming up and disrupting him. I wrote about the walls and how he removed them and the electrical because of the crappy job that was done in the first place. Well since then, he hasn't been able to install the recessed cans because we are still waiting for them in the mail. The wires are run and ready so all that is left is to actually install the cans and fixtures. We ordered them on the 3rd and they are coming on Monday the 17th. Not too big of a deal because Kevin can get those in quickly at night after work. We thought they would be here sometime this past week but the company we ordered from uses something slower than "snail mail" (if you can believe that).
Then, Kevin decided to removed the two layers of crappy vinyl stick on tiles because if he tiled over them, there would be a slope in the floor. As he was doing this, he got to the area by the sliding door and found the floor rotted through. Luckily, he got a hold of Pat and they are fixing it today. However, he can't tile until the floor is fixed. To fix the floor, they had to remove the sliding glass door and rip down the deck. Both projects we were going to do, but not until after we finished the kitchen. So on Friday Kevin ripped down the deck. It was a good thing he did because he found that the previous owners never cemented the posts to the deck. They were just stuck in the ground and not even far enough to be a good support. We were very lucky that the deck was never used by more than 1 or 2 people at a time or it could have collapsed.
So the deck is gone and Kevin goes to buy a new door. We decided on beautiful french doors. Well, once again, issues. Our door is 5 feet by 8 feet. Kevin went to 4 places, and they only stock doors in the size 6 feet by 8 feet. We have to special order a door and wait for it to come in. So today, they are fixing the floor, taking down the door, and then they have to reinstall the old door until the new one comes in.
Pat is going to build us a new deck in the spring. I would love to have a "Florida room" like Aunt Leanne and Richard put on their house, but I think to ask for it now might push Kevin over the edge. After he discovered the rotted floor that had vinyl tile stuck on it to conceal it, I had to go buy him a 12 pack of Coors. After 4 or 5 beers, he was relaxed enough to go to bed.
In between the floor issues, Kevin redid the heating system for the kitchen. He pulled out the baseboard heating and is going to install heaters under the cabinets, where they won't be seen. To do this, he had to reroute the heating system in the basement. While doing this, he discovered that the circulator was bad on the system, which is why our home always seems to be cold. So he redid that too. Basically, we now have a new heating system, new floor, new walls, and a new ceiling. Kevin's favorite show is "Holmes on Holmes" and Mike Holmes motto is fix it once, fix it right. I only wish that the previous home owners had watched the show instead of doing their ghetto fixes.
By the time this project is done, I will show Kevin this blog and we will chuckle about all the things that "popped" up while in the process.
So...
To my Kevin- "when it rains...it pours, but after the rain is when the rainbow appears, and you can always hear the birds singing"

Here is to rainbows and birds ...

"I hear Kevin cutting into walls now which means he is onto the electrical part of the project."

Remember this quote from the other day? Well, was I in for a shock. I was in the bedroom with the kids, they were napping and I typing. I heard the walls being cut so I assumed he was cutting in new electrical boxes. I walked out of the bedroom after finishing my post, and the walls were GONE! I stood there in shock for a minute. Kevin noticed my shock and broke the silence with a "hello, Emily" and I said, "what happened?" I should have known that my perfectionist husband wouldn't settle for someone else's electrical work or shoddy sheetrock job. He decided to rip the sheetrock off the walls and redo the entire electric for the room. I asked him, "why we bought a used house?" We should have built our own, because half of the walls have been redone with new sheetrock. If we ever decide to sell this house, the new owners would be getting a practically new house not a 20+ year old house.

With my dream kitchen going in, I don't think we will ever leave this house. Maybe in our retirement years we will buy a piece of property and build a log cabin. If we keep renovating our house in the style we love, it will be a log cabin on the inside and a modern ranch on the outside. (Speaking of cabin, how is Aunt Chris doing on hers? She has a gorgeous piece of land!)

I knew that I couldn't tell this story without pictures so here they are!

Here's to new walls in my new kitchen ...

If your refrigerator is in your living room...you might be a redneck.

Last night we moved the refrigerator into the living room. Kev and I had a chuckle as we stood at the open fridge, him drinking soda from the bottle and me pouring a glass of soy milk, wondering what the people driving by must think of us.(You have a perfect view of the fridge from the road through the living room windows.)

Our new ceiling is up and it is gorgeous. (check the album out) It really gives the "Montana cabin" look that we are going for. The cabinets are ripped out and the nasty dishwasher and sink are gone. Kevin is working on ripping up the old floor right now and then he is onto the electricity. He took a few days off from work this week to get a good jump on the project. Work has been pretty slow so it is not a big deal right now.

The electric plan for the kitchen changed a little. I am going to have three recessed cans over the countertop and two centered in the kitchen area, a fixture over the sink, a lighted pot rack over the peninsula, and a light fixture over the dining room table. It is really going to be something when he finishes.

I hear Kevin cutting into walls now which means he is onto the electrical part of the project. I have to once again count my blessings for his ability to put outlets and switches wherever it is convenient. We were able to move the fridge, microwave, and coffee maker into the living room because Kevin ran a new circuit last night. I didn't know what he was doing but within 15 minutes we had a new circuit box with 4 outlets to plug everything into. If he didn't do that we would have blown the circuit.

Aside from dust, we are doing pretty well. We had sandwiches and salad last night. We are putting chicken on the grill tonight and having it over a salad. We both have cereal for breakfast. Before Kev goes to the gym at 4:00 am, he has 4 egg whites on rye bread that he can cook in the microwave. We are lucky with Mia, she will eat anything we give her.

So it isn't too bad yet. I think I am still in the "honeymoon" phase of the project. I plan on revisiting this subject in about 3 weeks and seeing if I am still this content.

Until then ...

And so it begins ...

Our kitchen remodel has started. We ate our last meal at our little table (we bought this four person table at Kmart for $179 when we first moved in together in the Spring of 2002) on Monday. Since Kevin finished prepping the wood for the ceiling, it was all moved upstairs. Mia thinks it is really fun to sit on the pile of wood. We started taking some of our things downstairs (Kevin cleared a shelf for everything because we wouldn't want to mess up the "man cave" -see post below if you don't understand!) and putting some of the things we will still use in Little Kevin's room. Kevin ripped out one cabinet and the pantry. He removed the ceiling fan and lined the ceiling studs with blue chalk lines. He may start installing the wood tonight. His timeline for this weekend is to get the ceiling installed on Saturday and the electric done on Sunday. He has to rewire the entire kitchen because the outlets are not GFI protected. Also, since we are adding a lot of counterspace, the electric code says that outlets have to be available every four feet of countertop so we will have outlets on the peninsula too. ( I added a few more pics of the before to the kitchen album)

Our hall bathroom is now fully functional. We decorated it with a beach/shell theme. I don't think the pictures do it justice because I find it to be absolutely adorable. (I added some new pics to the bathroom album)

There is a show on TLC called "moving up". It follows homeowners who sell their house. And at the end of the show, the original owners come back and make comments on what the new owners did to the house. I would be absolutely devestated if anyone were to come in and make a negative comment about the work we have done. Not only have we made changes, but our heart and soul was poured into every decision, along with a ton of elbow grease and sweat on Kevin's part.

The only room I am not overly proud of is the living room because it never fully came together like the other rooms, and needs a real theme to it. We also want to change our bedroom furniture and decor but do like the color of the walls and molding. When we finally undertake our master bedroom decor, we want to make it like a log cabin retreat complete with a log bed and furniture! That is another story worth waiting for!
As I lose more and more pieces to my kitchen, I would love some good and healthy crock pot recipes! That is where I will be doing my cooking until the end of the remodel when our stainless steel appliances are put in their places. Our goal is to have the entire remodel done by summer. If you drink, say a toast to the Mesnick's and our wishful thinking ...

A work in progress...

I am typing while both of my kids nap. I have the gentle humming of a power drill in the background and Alan Jackson on TV! Life is good!

Kevin and I and the kids just got back from a very successful shopping trip to Home Goods. We bought all of the decorations and finishing touches for the new hall bathroom. I can't wait to see it complete. Hence, the noise of the power drill.

Since the kitchen is our next undertaking, here is the plan. Thanks to my awesome future brother-in-law Anthony, we have a new design for our kitchen. (Ant is a kitchen designer for Lowes and he is AMAZING at what he does!) The design is perfect and completely functional, there is no wasted space. We have the typical 10 X10 kitchen right now. But that will change. We are extending the cabinets down the wall and adding a peninsula and a message center. The peninsula will have an overhang for bar stools to sit at and eat. I copied some pictures off of the Lowes website to show you the decisions we have made so far.

Our cabinets are from Shenandoah and they are a maple spice color with a mocha glaze on them.

We decided to go with the square door style not the cathedral style shown in the picture below.

We are using a square tile for the backsplash. This one is very close to what we are using.

And my favorite part, the granite countertop. Anthony designed the kitchen to have 55 square feet of countertop. No longer will people be bumping butts while preparing a meal or preparing for a party. The color we chose is called Baltic Brown.

For the floor we are going with 2 shades of tile from Lowes. The following picture is what we plan on doing. It is from the Lowes website and is the exact color and style that we are buying.

What has been done so far:

Kevin spent time yesterday and today putting two coats of clear lacquer on ceder wood planks. We plan on putting them up on the ceiling. For the walls, we may do natural wood wainscotting with a dark tan/maize paint color above it.

I am leaving the electrical design up to Kevin, the electrician. So far this is what he has told me. We are putting recessed cans spaced over the countertop. Over the peninsula we will hang a lighted pot rack. Over the dining room table, we will have some type of decorative light fixture. Over the sink I think he said something about hanging pendulum lights. And spaced out throughout the whole room he is going to put up "uplights".

Overall, the kitchen will have a very western/cabin look. We are very happy with our decisions. As we move along I will post pictures. I also hope to have up some updated pictures of the hallway bathroom tonight or tomorrow!