Last Few Weeks

These past few weeks have been, to put it mildly, crazy for us here at the Martin household. We're scrambling to get the Telford house into at least liveable condition before we officially move there on 12/28. It won't be finished - Andrew still has some finishing work to do - but we will make it work. I have also been preoccupied with packing our entire house up for the big move. What a task! But...what a blessing in disguise to have had so many boxes already packed from our three or so "supposed" moves back in 2007 that never happened. I can't imagine the job if I didn't already have about 50 or more boxes packed in our garage! So, all in all, it will be a hectic month for us but we'll survive and we're excited for what 2009 will bring once we are all moved.

Here are the boys "helping" me pack.

And here are a few current photos from Telford; I took the boys for a short visit this morning to see what's been done all week. Ben found out that our painter was working there today so he wanted to bring his own paintbrush and wear his white cap (since our painter always wears a white cap). Here is Ben in front of the master vanity that Andrew and a friend recently installed. They had to rework the plumbing and the vanity and faucets are new so it was fun for me to see it out of the box, installed and in working order.

This bathroom previously had horrible lighting. Talk about shadows in all of the wrong places! So, Andrew installed 4 mini recessed eyeball lights. What an improvement!

Here's the master bedroom again, this time totally finished and the drop cloths have been removed from the floor so you can get a good feel for the final outcome of this room. The only thing missing is the french doors between the bedroom and the sitting area; they were painted and just need to be reinstalled.

Last but not least, here is the finished stairwell that Andrew hand-built going up to the attic. We'll be getting the whole attic area carpeted as soon as possible, now that the stairs and landing are rebuilt.

More Progress

I'm not able to get over to the house to do work very often since I usually have the kids in tow, but with our move quickly approaching I decided to get up really early this morning and head over myself to get a few things done. So I was at the house by 5:45AM this morning. Seriously. Yes, I know this sounds certifiably insane to most of you but it works out so that I can get in a good chunk of time without the kids and without cutting into Andrew's work time as well (and also without having to pay a babysitter). So I got 6 hours of work in before lunchtime!

What I did is thoroughly scrub down the kitchen and powder room cabinets, line the kitchen drawers and powder room drawers with contact paper and do some other miscellaneous tasks. Believe me, this is a dirtier and more tedious job than it sounds! We do have our babysitter coming next Sunday and now that I have everything cleaned up, I will plan to start bringing over some boxes of kitchen things and other odds and ends for the built-in cabinetry so that we can get some stuff moved prior to Moving Day on 12/28.

While there, I was able to check up on Andrew and the painters' progress these past few days. Here are some photos:

The master bedroom is just about complete. They just have to touch up the woodwork a little, paint the inside of the closet and rehang the french doors and it will be done. Here are two photos. It looks so nice newly painted with the refinished floor!


Last but not least, here is Andrew's project of the week, truly the last piece of minor construction that needs to be done: he is rebuilding the stairwell to the attic (guest room and loft). I didn't even know you could do this, but Handy Andy knows best! The problem was that there was no landing at the top of the stairs and the way the stairs were layed out was quite dangerous. It needed to be reworked at a different angle.

As you can see, Andrew and his friend Joel who helps him a few times a week have hand-built the two stringers on either side (are you impressed that I knew that word?). Then, the stairs and the risers are laid on top of the stringers, making a new staircase. We will be keeping the door off at the base of the stairs to make this guest area feel more a part of the house and less closed off. There's a door in the attic into the actual guest room so privacy shouldn't be an issue. at the base of the stairs, we'll add an extension railing to the few extra feet that the new stairwell now sticks out past the banister. Andrew should get this project done over the next day or two and after that we can get all of the areas in the house to be carpeted, including the attic, done at once.

Final Countdown

The final countdown is on until we move in to the house - just a few more weeks to go! The place will not be entirely finished by that point but it is definitely fine to live in while Andrew finishes up the rest of the work. With today's real estate market being the way that it is, we didn't have the option to be selective with our closing date when an offer came up. So, we'll make do.

The painters are at the house for the next few weeks finishing up the majority of the rooms. They have just about completed Nate's room and have painted one side of the master suite. Here are some photos of those two and I will hopefully have some more this weekend.

Master bedroom in Danville Tan.

Nate's room in Hawthorne Yellow.

We're Moving!

We are very happy to announce that we have a buyer for our current house and are just in the processof finalizing the paperwork. They want a 30-day closing so we are scheduled to close on 12/31. So that gives us a few weeks to get packed up and move our stuff over to the new house. Andrew is getting a few more gray hairs than necessary trying to finish it in the next three weeks :). It's not entirely finished but we could definitely live there comfortably at this point so we are trying to remain calm and collected as we start this phase of our journey. We will keep everyone posted on Andrew's progress these next few weeks and also on our move!

More Progress

Andrew has gotten a lot of work done at the house this week but most of it is not too noticeable aethetically. He's done a lot of electrical work, the replacing of a lot of moulding and some plumbing. The painters were on hiatus this week but will be starting up again very soon since we again have several rooms that they can tackle now that Andrew has done the finishing work in those. So, we soon should have photos of the rest of the rooms in the house after they are painted.

In the meantime, these two photos show two noticeable items that Andrew did this week. He put up a ceiling fan in the sunroom and also put in the French doors in the master suite.

Bathroom Updates

They say that kitchens and bathrooms are the most expensive and time-consuming to remodel. Well, we lucked out with the kitchen of this house since it merely needed some cosmetic work. The powder room was the same situation. The two upstairs bathrooms, however, were a different story. While entirely functional, both of them were dark, drab, and inconvenient. So, we opted to remodel these, the hall bathroom entirely (it's been totally gutted) and the master bathroom to a certain degree. And of course since Andrew is doing the majority of the work, neither project has been a bank-breaker either. Gotta love the added labor costs when you hire people to do things!

Both bathrooms really are coming along although it doesn't really seem that way from these photos. But Andrew has done extensive electrical work in both rooms to really brighten them up and the entire vanity area has been reconfigured in both as well. The vanities and tops are in but are not yet installed. Soon! I am really excited to post some pictures these next few weeks as the decorative accents get installed so that you can really see the progress...

Can you believe that Nate is potty-trained at 8 months old? Kidding! Here, he's testing out the new hall bathroom "potty" (as Ben calls it) that Ben helped pick out at "the Depot" yesterday with Daddy. Of course, it has not been installed yet so it's perfectly dry! :)

And just two updated photos of the master bathroom; the painting has been completed in there. We really brightened it up with this Chardonnay color compared to the dark brown that used to be in here. Andrew also did major electrical work around the vanity area so that it won't seem like you're standing in a cave when getting dressed in there. It was so dark before, with shadows being left in all the wrong places when using the mirror.

We hit the Linens 'N Things going out of business sale yesterday and got many of the accents for this room as well so it will be fun to see it all set up. We bought a cream waffle-weave shower curtain with antique bronze rings, cranberry and chocolate brown towels and will get antique bronze fixtures and accessories. The vanity is a darker wood, not quite an espresso color but on the darker side.

Ben always loves to come over to the house to explore what the "new house workers" have done since we last visited. Today he had fun with the sliding doors to a closet in the bathroom.

Another Work Day

Today I joined Andrew at the house for a full work day since Gordon and Cheri were visiting all day and watched the kids for us. What a big help! We got quite a bit done at the house today and I like being able to go there without the kids every so often so I can actually take my time checking out all of the things that have been finished during the week. Much easier without the two little men :).

Our place is really coming along! Look at all that has been done this week...

The new appliances arrived today. We also got a dishwasher that Andrew needs to install. I don't know what I will do with all of this refrigerator space since I have gotten used to maneuvering whatever food we have there into a college-sized fridge these past two months :).

And the painting and reattaching of the moulding continues. Several rooms are now complete and we love the colors we have selected. It seriously looks like a different house with a fresh coat of paint.

Here are the study and the playroom, both painted in the same green color and both to soon be carpeted.

Study (this formerly led into the hall bathroom but that doorway was filled in):

Playroom (with a closeup of the new half wall and custom moulding Andrew created at the top of the stairs:

The master bathroom has the first coat of paint on and the master suite will be painted this week so we should have photos of those soon. It's hard to really tell the color in this picture, but it is a light tan and really brightens up this bathroom that used to be dark chocolate brown. Andrew and his dad are going to pick up our vanities for the two upstairs bathrooms tomorrow so this room will really start to come together over the next few days.

The family room, painted in a dark sage green color with our newly finished floors. We highlighted the moulding on the walls with the trim color; it used to be the wall color and just blended in. This room is complete.

The sunroom is just about finished; Andrew finished the rest of the moulding today so that is all that still needs to be painted. The walls are finished and are a yellowish green color, perfect for such a sunny spot.

Finally, the utility/craft room in Segovia Red. We opted for this shade of red to get the creative juices flowing and keep it a fun room. We love it! For those of you who have been to our current house, the color reminds me a lot of the one we have in our basement. Next up for this room is to reattach the moulding, install the cabinets and counter top, then the tile floor. I cannot wait to start using this room!

And finally, how funny is this picture? I was complaining that I wasn't taking any people shots so Andrew peeked his head around the corner while I snapped pictures. He looks like a Colorform to me, almost as if I just superimposed his head onto this photo. Ha ha!

Making Progress

Tonight I was at the house with Andrew and several of the contractors who have been doing work on the place for the past week or so. These workers are highly devoted to their job and have worked at least 12 hour days practically every day they have been on the job. Talk to us if you need recommedations for painters or flooring work. Seriously. We've had such good luck so far with these guys - great work, devoted workers, reliable and nice people. It is really coming along and today was the first day we have seen several rooms free of painting paraphernalia, tools, etc.

Voila! The painting is complete in 4 rooms. Our new and improved kitchen in Mayflower Red. Is it just me or do you just want to start cooking here? :) I love red, it gives me so much energy and inspiration to be creative :).

The dining room and living room are also complete, intricate molding and all. We love the muted yellow we chose - Waterbury Cream - and the ceilings are painted in a two-tone, one color on either side of the molding.

And finally, our powder room. Wow, this is a dull picture, isn't it? Ha ha! Well, I couldn't get at a better angle but it really does look fresh and new with the paint on the walls.

Our floors are also in the process of getting refinished. Here are some photos, there will still be more polyurathane put on tomorrow and the hall section will be further darkened to match the rest of the hardwood in the hallway upstairs. What a difference the hardwood makes in all of these areas, though!

The family room. This matches the rest of the downstairs hardwood in other rooms and looks great. I was told by one contractor who I had in for a consultation that the wood could not be refinished and we'd have to replace the floor instead. Uh, wrong answer...apparently :). It gave the crew a bit of a tough time getting the exisiting paint off of the floor but cleaned up nicely in the end.

The master bedroom area, which was formerly painted a depressed cream color. Again, cleaned up beautifully and will look so nice once the room gets painted. This is the final color, just a few more coats of poly will be added.

Finally, the back hallway, which was formerly painted a dull brown. This area will be darkened further before the final poly is put on.

The painters will continue to make their way through the house as Andrew and the contractors finish up in certain areas. Several rooms are on the radar to be painted over the next week so we should have more photos again shortly.

Construction is Finished!

The construction is officially complete at the house and the "fun stuff" started this week, such as the painting, and on Monday the floor-refinishing will begin. Both of those have been contracted out but Andrew has certainly been keeping busy with other tasks himself. Note his "McDreamy" facial hair - no time to shave lately he's been so busy! Next on his schedule is the finishing work - tiling, installing the bathroom vanities, and other decorative tasks like that.

Today we had several showings on our current house (pray that it sells soon!) so I had to get the boys out of the house for a little while. We went to the new place and met Andrew for lunch. Here are the boys in their work clothes. Ben even brought his tools with him!

The painters were busy working away, even on a Saturday, and it is really coming along. What a difference a fresh coat of paint makes! So far it looks AMAZING! I was going to take more photos but since the rooms have just been primed the photos wouldn't have given you a good idea of the final colors. They'll be finishing up this phase by Wednesday so I will definitely take some photos after that. The painting is really a fairly significant job since many room require skim coating of the plaster, there is so much molding and every single room needed to be re-painted. We are very excited to see the final product over the next few weeks, once the entire house is complete.

Here are some photos of the various rooms that required construction, now that they have been drywalled and spackled.

Here's Ben in the sunroom eating lunch. This room required new drywall on the walls and ceiling. Andrew will be tiling the floor.

The master suite area featuring the new closet Andrew installed and the new doorway (soon to be french doors) between the dressing area and the bedroom. These floors will be refinished next week. They did a sample for us and the wood underneath this godawful paint is beautiful.

The attic area, which will be our guest area. There is a bedroom and a loft. Below is the loft area with the new closet Andrew put in and the half wall at the top of the stairs (there used to be nothing there, just a dangerous drop!).

And here is the new closet on the bedroom side of the attic.

Nate's future room (with wallpaper still to be removed before it is painted). It used to connect to Ben's room (how stressful would that be for me??) but Andrew decided to keep the exisiting doorframe and make a double-width closet instead since there was no closet in this room. The french doors will be replaced with standard doors.

And Ben's future room. The entrance into the hall bathroom was sealed off and two single closets were installed because (you guessed it!) there were no closets in this room either.

The hall bathroom has been totally gutted and will be completely remodeled. It's now all drywalled and ready to be painted and outfitted. Talk about shady wiring and construction that had to be redone! Andrew definitely had his work cut out for him in demolitioning and re-wiring this room. We'll be adding a tile floor, a double basin vanity, a cabinet linen storage unit and have sealed off two of the doors going into it from other rooms so that the only entrance is from the hallway now.

Here's the future study, which has been sealed off from the hall bathroom.

And the future playroom with the new half wall railing at the top of the (steep!) stairwell. Prior to this, there was a very rickety old railing made out of a few pieces of plywood. Not very aesthetic or safe! This area is attached to the study (shown in photo above) and both rooms will be carpeted to make them feel a little homier.

Finally, here are two photos of the "old kitchen" which we will use as a laundry/utility/craft room. It had old 1970s cabinets that were ripped out, a strange ceiling that was also removed and a laundry area that needed to be outfitted for doors. So much of the room was drywalled and the rest will need to be skimcoated since the plaster on that part has some inconsistencies.

Here's the site of the former kitchen area - counter, sink, stove, etc. Totally re-drywalled, as was the ceiling. We will be putting in a full wall of new cabinets (upper and lower) and a utility sink. This is where I get to store my and the kids' craft stuff :). The floor in this room will also be tiled.

And here are the preexisting washer/dryer hookups; we just opted to frame it out some more so that we could put doors in front of them.

Stay tuned for more photos later this week. You'll be able to see lots of progress once the painting begins to wrap up room-by-room and the floors are done. The wood floors in various rooms (family room, master area and part of the upstairs hallway) will be refinished this week and Andrew will begin tiling the other rooms (sunroom, laundry, kitchen, hall bathroom) very soon.