Life of a Fireplace

Happy Thanksgiving

Our big milestone has been reached...after 8 weeks of working on our Home Sweet Home, John and I hosted Thanksgiving dinner for 14. And by all accounts, the house made a very positive impression. With furniture now in the living room (at least temporarily until the floors are tackled), our new majestic fireplace glowing, an immaculate bathroom, and an extensive (yet still intimate, I hope) Thanksgiving table, for the first time, 381 Smith Ave. felt like a home, not just a project. Mostly, though, I was just delighted to have a house full of people...people who really had very little idea what to expect when they walked through our doors, but they did it eagerly nonetheless. There were, of course, a few little hiccups...the new dishwasher was less than cooperative, and despite my "dry run" the day before, it turns out I just couldn't get everything to fit in the oven simultaneously. Oh yeah, and I accidentally served my father nuts and celery (though as far as I've heard, no Epi-pen was necessary). But why focus on the hiccups? It was a really wonderful and gratifying day...now let's get back to work! I need a bedroom! =)

Progress!

First off...my bad for leaving my last rant of frustration up as the most recent narrative post for such a long time. Look, I was having a bad day, I wanted to capture it for posterity's sake, and now each time I see it, I think, What a whiner!!!

We're almost to the point where we can have some pretty nifty before and after documentation of the kitchen. There are a few finishing touches to be made, but for the most part, it is done....and looking fine, I might add! I've become a bit of a freak with the stainless steel cleaner (man, that stuff can show some fingerprints!!!), but I'm sure that will wear off. Actually, John and I have are both being obsessive cleaners, which is a completely insane exercise of futility. This is a construction site, after all...

So you've seen the video of the countertop and cabinets and tiled floor and appliances in the kitchen. A picture is a worth a thousand words, so I won't wax on about that. The bathroom, though, is also coming along. Actually, make that bathroomS. John has taken on the sheetrocking of the basement bathroom as his own special project. I'd share a before photo of it, but with all the profanity scawled on the existing walls (well, wall...it was pretty much completely open), I opted against it. Anyway, the idea is to have two working bathrooms for our Thanksgiving guests...though, between you and me, there ain't NO WAY, I'm using the basement one!!! But, it's not because the new walls don't rock.

We've also got a neat little entrance way element added. We added some tile when you first come in the front door. John managed to talk me out of my 'it must be neutral!!!' mantra and we went with a very pretty design that actually does a great job of pulling in the colors of the kitchen and tying together that whole front space. It turned out great, but really it was more of a necessity than a finishing touch. We knew the floor there was pretty damaged so we needed to come up with a solution for the area...what we didn't know until we cut into it was that it was badly damaged by excessive amounts of cat urine. Candles were lit, holes were cut completely into the floor, tiles were laid, and no one will ever be the wiser. (By the way, David wins the "First to Fall through the Floor Award.")

Let's see...what else. We've got an attic door, we've got progress made on the fireplace, we've got two new doors (one off the deck and one into the soon-to-be-completed mud room). Next up? Trim all around! That, and framing the master bedroom...and inaugurating the new kitchen on Thanksgiving Day.

Kitchen Counter top

Manic Monday

In a completely unsurprising development, I’ve gone a bit manic. There’s just a lot going on these days – I’ve been traveling a lot for work, I’m transitioning to a new job, I’m trying to get myself coordinated for Thanksgiving, and oh yeah...there’s this little house project. Anyway, I am someone who thrives on order, control, having a plan, having a check list, and having everything in its place. Well that has all been turned on its head with this house renovation…my limited time and even more limited skills mean I have very little control personally over the home renovation projects. Things happen when they happen, and really, that’s okay…it just makes my stomach churn a bit, and my mind race, and my body refuse to fall asleep. Back to my manic tendencies…last night in a fit of trying to force a sense of control, I thought, ‘why not pack up my kitchen and get ready to move everything over to the new house?’ Then I thought, ‘well, with these boxes packed, I might as well move them down to the car so I can get that over with and not have to think about it tonight.’ So that explains why last night I extricated myself from my warm, comfortable bed (where I just couldn’t seem to fall asleep), threw on a sweatshirt and sneakers, and started loading up my car with boxes…boxes that can’t be unpacked, boxes of things like spices and wooden spoons and bread pans that are really of no use to anyone, but boxes that nonetheless are now in my car and will soon be in my new home.

See…I’m in control.

And…I have a kitchen that is nearly complete. (Man, "nearly complete’" has taken on a completely different meaning with this project…it’s all relative, I guess). The tile looks great (thanks David!), I’m loving the color of the kitchen and I can not wait to see the cabinets fully installed with doors and everything (hint, hint). (And not for nothing, once that happens, you know my spices are finding their home!)

And a giant shout-out to my painting superhero, Kirk. He came in like a whirlwind and got the job done. Talk about taking control… Both the living room and family room are painted and looking fine (again, another assessment that is completely relative).