So Much Done - So Much Left To Do

Wine of the Day: Winery at Olney - Lodi Old Vines Zinfandel

Brian and I (with help from Mom, Dad and Jon) have made a lot of progress on the new house! 

- Kitchen wallpaper is GONE
- Coat closet and pantry have had shelves taken out, been painted and had shelves put back in
- Half bath was painted, new mirror and towel ring have been acquired
- Living room and dining room have been painted (with the exception of where we plan to install wainscot)
- Kitchen is painted
- Move complete

This is what we were working with:

Kitchen

Kitchen

Living Room

Bathroom pink - being converted to gray

Pink striped kitchen, pink bathroom and a light seafoamy green living and dining room.  When we bought the house we thought "this is in great condition, we only need to update a few cosmetic things".  However, we learned the hard way why contractors charge by the hour to remove wallpaper.  The whole process was very tedious and time consuming; I plan on never doing it again and would advise you not to try if you haven't already.  After a few days the kitchen looked more like this:

Then after about a week and a half it looked more like this:

 THANK YOU MOM!  She stuck right there with us tearing it down and washing to glue off the walls with us.  She even was over some days without us.  But, eventually we got to the fun part... painting.  (Yes, after tearing down wallpaper painting IS considered fun.)

I had already picked Sherwin Williams - Popular Gray for the living room and dining room but before we started in the kitchen I decided to go with a different color.  We agreed on Sherwin Williams - Ivoire; it is a light yellow neutral about the same shade as the Popular Gray.  Here is the almost finished product:

You can see in this last picture that we also went ahead and purchased a new range and microhood.  This is officially the first microwave I've owned and no, I haven't used it yet.  The new appliances really help the whole space feel updated.  We also have new blinds in all the front windows.  Then, we also had a new wood step installed in the dining room and all the carpets cleaned. 

I know that dark colors can make a space feel smaller but I was amazed at how much bigger the kitchen felt after removing the wallpaper.  It was so worth it.  Now our home is light and bright and ready to be lived in.  We have officially moved in and gotten all the cats moved in last weekend.  Everything is going great so far with the exception of Bria's one indiscretion. 

Bria somehow managed to pop a vent cover out of the floor in the master bedroom.  When I got home from work one day I discovered it on the floor next to where it was supposed to be.  Of course I immediately start panicking and calling for her.  Sure enough, she was down in the vent and I could hear a faint meow.  I was so worried she was hurt or had fallen or was stuck... thinking the worst of course, so I went running all over the house trying to find a flashlight and looking in other vents calling for her.  I finally ran into the guest bedroom at the complete other end of the house, popped off the vent cover and she crawled right out.  Then she had the nerve to act like nothing happened.  So, now we will be screwing those into the floor.  Here is little Miss Dust Bunny herself:

You can see how gray her tummy fur is.  At least we have a nice clean vent now, right?  All I can say is "thanks for the heart failure, you better not do it again".

Next up, the basement.

Cheers,
k