Christmas Rush

Again, the more I work on the house, the less I post. In this instance, correlation does mean causation.

I do feel like I have a true following because I'm getting requests for photos and updates. So here goes.

I took this week off from work. Some call it vacation. Others call is "staycation." I call it more work than my work. But it's been a productive week thus far.

First, Jay Wilichoski, our super painter, finished up painting everything but the breezeway/den. I am really loving the colors. The white dove is the perfect trim - a lovely soft white that goes well with our kitchen cabinets and the colors we chose for all rooms. The fact that he sprayed all the trim, doors and ceilings really makes everything look uniform and perfect. We did a semi gloss on the doors and trim but, since it was sprayed, it comes off as more of a cross between satin and semi gloss. Which is perfect, because I couldn't decide between those two finishes.

Of all the colors, we love our master bedroom most. The Manchester Tan is THE perfecte neutral.


Second favorite is the Revere Pewter, which is a perfect "greige" for our open floor plan.


Thirdly, I am a little bit obsessed with the Van Courtland Blue in my office.


Lastly, I am very happy with a soft but rejuvenating creamy yellow for our guest room.


The painter plans to come back in a week or so to finish/touch up...

In the mean time, I've spent my vacation...cleaning. And if you ask my husband, it is a chore that I am actually pretty awful at doing. Not this week. This week, I rock at cleaning. To the point that my hair is covered in sawdust and my fingers are shriveled from spending countless hours in a soapy bucket of water.

It took forever, but I can finally say that all of the kitchen cabinets are clean and READY FOR DISHES!

While I was cleaning today, I was also on standby to answer questions from the electirician like... Where should I hang the wall sconce, how long do you want the pendant light to hang, what should the order of switches go on a certain switch box?

We're making good progress on the electical front. Our electrician is coming back next Tuesday to finish up, but check out some of the more exciting lighting intallations:

Pendants!


Office light! LOVE IT (see above) - thank you Nate Bennett!

Murray Feiss Barrington Sconces for living room - thank you Nate Bennett!


HVAC came and installed all of the vent covers today as well as thermostats...that, combined with the fireplace install, means thats I was nice and toasty at the house this week.


What else can I update folks on...

...Kel is installing the stairs between the breezeway/den and house.
...I can't tell you how messy, dusty and gross everyhing is in the house. It took me an hour to clean off fan blades for the electrician to install.
...The granite on the island just got installed...as did the quartz on the master vanity...and the window sill in the kitchen. It took a couple trips to get it right, but they figured it out and we're happy with how everything looks. Kel will install brackets on the island so the 12.5 inch overhang won't cause a major issue if someone decides to lean on it.



...We. need. furniture. Anyone heard of Modern Rust in DC? We may check it out over Christmas while we're in Virginia and have some items sent.
...I love wayfair.com
...We are moving December 29th!!! Let's hope we have an occupancy license before then.
...Carpets arrive in the bedrooms one week from today.
...We bought stools for our island. Who knew World Market, our favorite place in DC delivers?


...I need to rent a husband. Chris is working all week and I really need a husband to: hang mirrors, install doorstops, swap out our side door, patch a hole in our master bath (Long story there but not incredibly interesting so I will save for later), and install closet systems. I found Steve Butcher on Craiglist and we're going to give him a whirl...in hopes he doesn't butcher our walls. I mean, he can't screw them up any more than the guy who actually plastered the walls did!

That's all for now. Wanna know something kind of silly but true? The simple act of installing the plastic covers for the outlets really made the house look like a home. We can't wait to move on in to Salt Wall...in time for our second anniversary on December 31 - and even before then - our first overnight guest...Ms. Ellen E. Carey

Let the Finish Work Begin

I can't believe it's been two weeks since my last post, especially since so much has happened in the past 14 days. We were thrilled that Chris' parents were able to come and see our progress this weekend. They loved the house, the street, everything! Here's some of the progress we were able to show them:

Lots of tiling...

My brother Kevin and Chris spent all day Saturday tiling the breezeway (soon to be den). We used these awesome porcelain tiles that look like thick wooden planks. Love them and love the look of this room.

Chris and I started grouting on Sunday morning but decided to spend Sunday afternoon visiting with his parents. We'll finish up next weekend.


Looks great though, right?

The tiles on the floor of the master bath are also coming along.

You can see where Kel started the charcoal grout. Looks great with our clawfoot tub. The walls will have white subway tiles and the floor of the shower will be the hexagon mosaic just like the bathroom floor - but all white, no black.

Lots of thought given to the mantel...

I found a mantel surround kit at Lowes on clearance, primed it and then Kel installed it. But, before doing that, Ryan tiled around the fireplace. And, before doing that, I had to pick out the tiles. It was a tough decision, but I narrowed it down to six and then three options.

Black Galaxy won out. Here's what the mantel + tiling looks like pre-grouting. The "hearth" is just for show and has not yet been tiled. But this is about what it will look like.

Before we tile the hearth, we are having the tiles "bullnosed" so we can tile right on top of the hard wood and avoid having rough, unfinished edges. Grossman's Bargain Outlet in Peabody is where we found the money granite tiles (for only $4.99 a sq foot) and they referred me to someone who can do the bullnosing.

LOTS of trimming...

In addition to tiling, Kel spent the last four days trimming the doors and windows. And what a task that has been. We bought 3.5 inch trim from Builder's Supply in Peabody and Kel set up a work station in our dining room.

It's quite a process, but he's doing a great job and it makes the whole house feel that much more finished.


And a good amount of cleaning...

Before Louann and Greg came to visit, Chris wanted to make sure the basement was cleaned. It was covered with insulation, old tools, inches of dust. Really, the most disgusting place you've ever been in. This is due to the fact that the demolition and pulled up floor boards on the first floor created holes through which dust, insulation and any particles could fall through. If you were ever in the basement while someone was doing work, you would leave with some sort of grey dandruff. But not anymore! I brought Chris a surgeon's mask to protect his lungs but it was a bit too late. He coughed up black soot for a day or two.


Floor and stairs related stress...

Since my last post, there has been a TON of drama with the floors and stairs. Suffice to say, don't ever let floor guys install stairs. The floors are installed (though not yet finished and let's not even talk about the weird water/oil stains that are seeping through wood right now) and the stairs have been fixed (by a different contractor after our floor guys walked out mid-project never to return) so crisis is (almost) averted... It will make for a good story some day - and an excellent blog post...one that my husband is in the midst of writing.

That's all for now!