in the past month.....

We broke out the pressure washer to clean up some of the yucky green moss on the outside of the fireplace. Then, of course, we thought that the porch could use a little sprucing.
The initial reason for getting the pressure washer out at all was to wash the rocks that we dug out of the yard after making our fancy new fire pit out front.

First we measured how far out the porch will eventually be.

Then select the size you want your firepit to be by finding something round in the yard to use as a template. The green table worked perfect for this.

We placed the rocks (largest first) and then filled in with smaller rocks. When we ran out of rocks but thought the pit wasn't quite complete, we went back to the yard and gathered more.

We pressure washed this and then built our first fire. :)

Then came the distraction! :)

While enjoying one of our first fires in the yard the neighbor comes by with "the pup". Apparently we were meant to foster a dog for a short while and she was very happy to stay with us. She has since been placed with a nice couple in Forest Ranch on 20 fenced acres and I hear she is very happy. The neighbor had named her "precious" but we didn't feel that was going to be appropriate for a dog that will weigh 150 pounds (she is a tibetan mastiff) so we called her "pup".

We spent one saturday cleaning the garage. I am sure you have the same challenge that we have when taking on 150 projects all at the same time. There is a constant flow of tools and materials in and out of the house. Everything extra ends up in the garage!! Look at that floor space!! haha.. it's a beautiful thing.

The best laid plans and all.......

We decided against using the vintage doors that we have collected up. Those are now for sale on Craigslist if anyone is interested.

We purchased new these fir doors in the 5 panel craftsman style that we wanted and then used a wiping stain and clear coat on them.

Of course you must test fit everything as soon as you get them home just to make sure.

And here they are "installed", mostly... we still need to fine tune and put the handles on but don't they look nice?? We also put some fabric curtains in the ceiling to cover up the flourescent lights (it will do for now)..

Backsplash was also on the "punch list". It's finally installed and caulked in. In case I didn't mention it on a previous post, we installed the drawer pulls as well.

The list....

Molding for the doors and windows (buy, finish and install)

Stain and hang the laundry door

Install the hardwood floor

Purchase and hang blinds

and..... go on vacation... haha.. our first anniversary is coming up in July... can we finish before we go??

more to follow......

it happened so quickly :)

as promised in previous post... particle board countertops.. here we are cutting to fit. We made cardboard templates for the tricky pieces.

routered the edges and then stained them and clear coated them (3 times)

I think that for the whopping $25 it cost for all of the countertop in our kitchen, it was well worth the effort. (we just saved ourselves about 2 grand!)

They are wonderfully shiny and as my husband pointed out "you can't even tell when you have spilled your coffee" haha

And... finally... all of the countertop stuff is back in the kitchen where it belongs. :) this is a very happy thing!

We still need some moldings for the doorways and windows, some backsplash (which will be a thinner particle board stained to match), doors for the pantry and laundry closets (I have these already and only need to strip and refinish them), and flooring (again... already purchased and stacked in the spare bedroom for acclimation)...

I think that the house is looking like a million bucks...

This is HUGE!!

Big Big Big headway was made since the last post. We finished putting up the brown bags (thank goodness!) and steve finished his custom downdraft. Here he is installing the last screws and... there you have the perfect solution to venting when your range is under a window.

It's pretty sharp and works like a charm!

Of course we tested it before moving forward. Then comes the painting, which was done the night before the cabinets are getting installed (nothing like waiting until the last minute).

But we made the deadline and sure enough, the cabinet guy arrived on the first non-rainy day in the week.

He managed to make all the cabinets we needed (2) in about 10 days and it only took him a couple of hours to install. It was pretty amazing to watch.

Sure enough... with a little kicking and shimming, they went right in.

The final item was getting the Ikea sink to fit in the hole. After a couple of trimming attempts, it fits like a glove.

And.... There you have it! Kitchen cabinets! Custom angled drawer fronts, knotty alder shaker style, all drawers except for under the sink and full extension drawer glides. :) we are very happy!

More to follow...

look for the custom particle countertops in future posts. Yes... you read right.. particle board countertops...

Now that's doin' laundry in style!!

Well this past weekend was HUGE!!!
Washer and dryer relocation!! The move only took a couple of hours to unstack, secure, move(roll into the house on a handtruck), put into the closet, and hook up... :) :) :) :)

Thank goodness my husband is thin.. we were smart enough to frame out a hole behind the fridge so we could hook up the washer and dryer.. it worked perfectly!!

no no.. .he isn't praying to the god of the laundry.. he is making sure the feet are in the guides so when the washer spins it doesn't spin the dryer right out of the closet.

And... there you have it... Now all we need is some more brown paper and a few doors and that part will be complete!!

The best part of all of this is that I don't have to walk out in the rain to do laundry and ... bonus.. no frozen soap! haha

Pantries all around!!

Well this is a little bit backwards but if you go to the bottom of the post you will see the progress of the pantry almost to completion..

Progress, Progress... and by the way my toe is healing nicely.

Todays project... paint the shelf boards for the pantry... this means that yet again I will be setting up saw horses in the living room.. thank goodness there is plenty of space.. Installing the pantry shelves is pretty high on the priority list this weekend.. if it will actually happen remains to be seen.. Eventually (within the next week or so) we will be able to order our kitchen cabinets.. they will be made out of knotty alder (the door pictured is clear alder) and the countertop will be silestone (I think).. things have a way of changing just when you think you have made up your mind and have a plan... haha

The kitchen has changed a bit.... We moved the tower of shelving out of the center of the floor to make room for working with the long wood for baseboards and pantry shelving. The kitchen is minimal to say the least but completely liveable...

Yes... the curtains are temporary! haha.. but aren't they fabulous?

I couldn't sleep a couple of nights ago, so I got up at 3 am and decided to finish the brown bag treatment on the wall below... it took a couple of hours but it's done.. now all I have left to do is the walls in the kitchen.. It shouldn't take too long and then the "brown bag wonderfulness" will be done. yippee!!!

The is one of 2 shelves that we are using for "kitchen cabinets" and while it's close to the kitchen it seems pretty far away when you are cooking.

Below is the 1920's light fixture that Steve rescued out of a home in Paradise that they were disassembling and selling off. It cost him all of $2 and he took the glass out, sanded it down and painted it, replaced the ceramic socket and wiring for the bulb and ... there you have it... one vintage 1920's porch lamp for a "night light" of sorts.

This area is the focus this weekend... shelves on the left and a lovely stack washer dryer to the right.. molding, trim, brown bag... then maybe I won't have to go out to the garage to do the laundry (on a side note.. it snowed last night and the garage is not attached to the house!)

This couch is just about the only thing in the house that hasn't moved since we put it in place..

Hope you enjoyed the progress update.. more to follow.. we continue to work at it little by little...

Our goal is to have this half done by our anniversary. Of course I did leave out the part about laying the wood floor and having to clear coat hundreds of feet of baseboard and moldings for the windows and doors and of course the stripping and refinishing of the doors for the laundry closet and pantry and did I mention the part about taking out the stone entry/landing by the front door? ... Seems the more I think about it the longer the list gets so I think I will go paint something.. :)

Brown bags, paint and one trip to the ER...

so... lot's of progress on the brown bag treatment..... it's super easy and comes out looking wonderfully textured and leathery... it's so easy that you can have your friends help or.. as my husband says "a caveman could do it"... haha..

Of course there are always little "snags" in the plan like the trip to the ER because your wife stepped on a nail that was hidden just under the bed at 9:30pm and her foot swelled up like a puffer fish by 3:30am.. which leaves you no other option than to get that tetnus shot and a nice dose of antibiotics when all you wanted was to have the sheet tucked in at the bottom of the bed before you went to sleep...

All things considered things are going along smoothly.. and no-one has lost a foot yet!

More to follow as this weekend will mean completion of the brown bags as well as prepping the "laundry closet" to receive the stack washer dryer... yes.. you heard right... one day soon I will not have to go to the garage (which is detached from the house) to do the washing..
I long for the day...