A rainbow after a storm



The house has really started to come together in the last week, but it hasn't all been smooth sailing! The pictures below show how things are progressing nicely, but I cannot show all of the progress without taking the time to share the challenges too. When I started this blog, I did it so we would look back and remember the good, bad and ugly parts of the process and always cherish the beautiful outcome. And, this week was certainly a combination of struggle and joy.

 

It all started with the floors...When we started this project, one of the things we discovered was that there were original hardwood floors in about 70% of the house that had been covered with carpet since the house was built. So, we decided to save the floors and had a floor contractor that was going to come in and patch the floors where needed and install new, identically matching hardwoods in the rest of the house.  Initially the plan was for the floor guy (there seems to be a "guy" for everything, by the way) to get started on Thursday afternoon, and then it was Friday and then he couldn't get a crew there and no one could work over the weekend. So, now we were delayed again several days. As an aside- one thing we have learned is that when we are delayed on a Thursday it actually has a bigger impact on the timeline since you lose Friday and the weekend.. so if you are going to have a delay (or I guess I should say "when you have a delay") just hope it is early in the week! So, on Monday we were expected to hear that the floor guy was there working first thing, but instead we learned that not only was he not working, but he couldn't find the wood to match our existing floors. And to complicate matters, we also learned that the cabinet company had only one day available to install our cabinets.. Wednesday. So, the floors HAD to be in by Wednesday.. just two days away. So, we made a tough decision to tear out all of the existing hardwoods and start from scratch. This decision wasn't easy, because there is something very wasteful about tearing out perfectly good materials, but in the end it was necessary. It kept us moving and right now, that's more important.

 

The floors look gorgeous though- we chose a slightly more updated take on the traditional 2 1/4 that were in the house and went with 3 1/4 and it really does look beautiful. In the end, I think we will be very happy with the new floors and they were able to get them done in time for the cabinets!

 

New floors in the family room

Floors in the dining room (and the pretty double crown molding!)

 

The cabinets were truly a labor of love for James and myself as we spent hours pouring over magazines and Pinterest to come up with a kitchen cabinet design that we loved. Even after we received the first initial cabinet drawing we spent hours revising them to make sure everything was exactly as we wanted. I think the outcome is going to be both beautiful and useful-- exactly our goal!

 



View of kitchen from breakfast area. The hood over the range really turned out great!

Cabinetry in the bar.
Had to have the bottom shelf adjusted to 14" clearance for liquor bottles.. it's the little details that make it all work!

 

Cabinets in the Butler's Pantry

Laundry room cabinets

Our trim guys (Craig and Rick) started this week and we really have enjoyed working with them so far. They will be tackling all of the trim, shelving and closets- really putting some nice touches on everything and pulling everything together. The next week(ish) also brings exterior and interior paint, new column on the front porch, counter tops and tile work (just to name a few). While we have come a long way, it is still completely overwhelming to think about the list of items still to be accomplished. It will be a sprint to the finish, but the goal is 6 weeks until we move in! Say a prayer for all of us!