New bookcase and tv cabinet in process of installation....and a COMPLETELY installed ceiling!
LOTS of progress over the past week. The mess seems to have grown today….but that is part of the progress. Great strides have been made in the former office space. The random width V-groove ceiling is completely installed, and the painting is well under way. We have crown molding now in the office space, and the backboards for the fireplace are installed. For the backboards of the fireplace, we used 8″ wide V-groove and installed it horizontally. I think this is going to be a great effect once the mantle is in place. Still to do is to paint the existing brick gloss black. John McGilvray of McGilvray Woodworks is responsible for building the beautiful cabinet as well as installing our wood ceilings and mantle. He has also done a fantastic job on the custom baseboard and crown in the office.
Paul McKee with Audio Video By Design has done an amazing job of getting all the wiring installed for house sound and the new tv….and my favorite new toy, CAMERAS! We will now be able to see what is going on all over our house from anywhere in the world that we have i-phone service!
All of the windows are installed, and window trim is nearing completion. Andy from Home Choice, and all the guys from Schmid and Rhodes are really doing a great job and making sure we are happy with every single detail. I have been a little disappointed in the window ordering process from Home Choice. Schmid and Rhodes is taking care of all the errors with the window order so that I do not have to deal with the vendor…..and I am most appreciative of that, but the owner of Home Choice did not listen to our requests, and several mistakes were made that will ultimately cost him money. There were no divided lights on the functional doors in the office, so those have to be replaced. Over the front door, the window panes are a different size than the ones on the rest of the front of the house, so those two panels have to be replaced. Our new dining room window was to be fully stationary, and the panels open…..this isn’t a big deal….just there was no need to have these functional, and now we have to take an extra measure to secure them. Our screens are fantastic phantom screens that slide from the side, and completely disappear into the window frame when open…..but that was a pricey detail. We had selected specific places where we thought it would make sense to use them, but we have ended up with them on almost every window….again, an expense we weren’t counting on. None of these things really make that much of a difference, and the quality of the product is amazing….but a little communication from Home Choice would have been appreciated. Still….even as I write….no call from the owner apologizing for the mistakes. My words of advice here…..go over your window order multiple times to look for errors. Our order appeared to be written correctly, but there were changes made to what we approved that we were never informed about.
Above is our new mantle back board made from horizontal V-Groove paneling…..partially concealed behind a mountain of bookcase parts!
My FAVORITE thing in the renovation thus far is the new dining room window. Schmid and Rhodes did an AMAZING job of removing brick from the outside of the house to be able to enlarge this window. I always felt that the dining room window shortened the view of the outside. We have put a lot of effort over the past few years into making the backyard really special, and it was simply disconnected from the main floor of the house. The new TALLER window really has made a huge difference, and just pulls you toward it so the backyard becomes a real feature of the main floor.
Our new dining room window.....partially hidden behind our kitchen appliances!
After living with no floor in the kitchen and den for a month now, the antique heart pine flooring started going down today….and it looks GREAT! This is what we should have done when we moved in 8 years ago. I think it is “aging” our house beautifully. This will be the perfect touch to make us feel like we have always lived here….and that the floors are original.
The beautiful antique heart pine flooring going down in the den!
The large cabinet in the office should be complete by Monday, and next week, we should be complete with painting in the office. Counter tops get installed in the office bathroom on Wednesday, and Bill Armstrong….our wallpaper installer, will start hanging the fabric on the walls in the bathroom on Thursday, and work until finished on the grass cloth wallpaper for the office. Painting should start on the walls in the upstairs bedrooms next week. We have a move in date set at this point…..TWO WEEKS! Keep your fingers crossed that we make it. There are a lot of loose ends to tie up before then, and a whole lot of cleaning….but I think we can do it, if we continue to see progress like was made this week!
Nothing like a refrigerator in the foyer to say "Welcome Home"!
