Week 7 . . .

Well I was so excited about painting the cabinets, I went to the house on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evening to get started. I applied an oil-based primer to all the surfaces. I am very surprised Lydia and I didn't both have headaches by the end of the evening from the oil-based primer. Lydia said it smelled like a box of Sharpies! Fall is officially here, Lydia was getting a little skittish because it sounded like someone was throwing rocks at the roof of the house. It was kind of spooky the first time I heard it but it was only pecans and/or acorns falling from the trees.

Royce stopped by and gave me the deed papers that have been filed with the county. Just think in less than 8 years it will be our house. That sounds so much better than 30 years! Hopefully by then the outside will look just as the inside!

Kevin has been hard at work in the master bedroom and David's room doing the drywall work. He did have a minor oops! He sealed up the attic entry in David's closet so now there is no access to get the electricity hooked back up in the kid's rooms or the bathroom. He is on vacation this next week so he is in overdrive to get everything done. We have to do the floors next weekend so we can start moving things in.

I ordered plantation blinds for all the rooms this past week except for the living and dining room. Those windows will be replaced soon after we move in so I didn't want to invest in nice blinds that wouldn't fit later.

The plumber came this week and installed the new hot water heater! He also informed us that the pipes for the gas may need to be replaced. We are going to have to go electric with the dryer. Kevin is having to work on the drain for the utility closet this week so the plumber can get the water lines set up in the utility closet.

The new tankless hot water heater! Installed on the side of the house to meet code vs being mounted on the back porch between the bathroom and Lydia's windows. I really didn't want it there, thank you Mr. Plumber!

Master Bedroom . . .

Nothing much appears to have happened in this room this week but it has! 

This is Kevin working on the 2nd round of mud in the master bedroom. He sanded both this room and David's room earlier in the week. David is hanging out visiting and ready to do whatever  needs to be done.

Lydia's Bedroom . . .

Look...the hot water heater is gone!! But it has been replaced by a huge hole in the floor. Lydia said when it rained this week it smelled like mud in her room. She loves to go sit in the corner by the window and write her stories and take pictures.

The hole has to stay until the plumber returns and runs the water pipes to the new location of the washer and dryer. It won't be long though. Let's hope within the next week or so. Juanita convinced Lydia her closet needed to go on the wall the right of the door instead of where the hot weater was. Lydia broke the news to Kevin and he is all for whatever she wants.

David's room . . .

Nothing really exciting happened in David's room this last week. Kevin got all the sanding done and now it is waiting for the 2nd coat of mud. Below is a picture of his closet. Not to bad for a rookie. Kevin has done a terrific job!

Next week Kevin will be cutting another hole into the floor of David's room to make way for the drain from the utility closet.

Kitchen . . .

Lydia and I were at house alone on Tuesday through Thursday. Lydia wasn't feeling well so I just let her sit. It took about 3 hours to prime all the cabinets, doors and drawers. I am not a fan of white cabinets but just seeing the primer in these pictures make the kitchen seem so much cleaner. I hope the mint color looks just as clean! Royce said at one time the backdoor was yellow like the walls and the walls were a turqoise color. Interesting. I said previously that I enjoy bright colors especially those found in Mexican food restaurants but I don't think turquoise is one of them. I am not a huge fan of blue though, that's probably why that combination doesn't work for me. 



Doors all primed!



Drawers all primed!





Cabinets around stove have been primed. It was here that I remembered that the shelves were removable.



Doors Kevin & I took centers out of to be replaced with chicken wire.
We have to do some more work on them so the primer & painting will have to wait.



Cabinets around sink all primed!
The top cabinets will also have doors with chicken wire.



These are cabinets that will house a lot of Fiesta dishes.
The doors will have chicken wire.

I guess you could say all the above pictures are before and the next set is after.

The bottom is green like the next picture, the flash or lack of flash washed it out.

I got all the boxes painted this week. The doors and drawers are still in the living room. I already have two coats of paint on those. The kitchen was set back a day because Kevin was sanding and I didn't want it to settle on wet paint. I will be putting the 2nd coat on the boxes this next week. While that is drying, I will have a drill in hand hanging cheap mini blinds in the living room and dining room. I will also be attaching hardware to doors and drawers. I received the hardware today and can't wait for my stars to get added!

When David first saw the yellow and green next to each other he said it reminded him of daycare. Although it wasn't meant in a bad way, I went into panic mode. Bless Jen because we sent texts back and forth for over an hour discussing color combinations. By the time I was done visiting with her, I decided the boxes would be white and the doors/drawers would be green. As you can see that thought didn't even last 24 hours. Juanita came by and said the colors looked fine to her, like a an old country house!

Linda came by the next day and agreed that the colors were fine so that was enough convincing for me! She and I also decided that the paneling should come off the pantry door. It is a small solid wood door and I hope all it needs is a coat of paint!

Dining Room . . .

We ate our first dinner together in the dining room on Monday, October 15th. Kevin, David and Lydia thought I was silly but it was special to me! I also wanted to add the picture below of our new a/c - heating window unit that we will be putting in the dining room window once the new windows are put in.

Utility Closet . . .

I have already said a bit about this when discussing David and Lydia's rooms but there has been a little progress!

This is the hallway from kitchen to Lydia's room. On the left you can see where Kevin took off the paneling to begin cutting in the doorway to the closet. Below are snippets of wallpaper he came across in the process. To the left of Lydia's door is the 2nd entry to David's room. Kevin decided to leave this open to help with moving in.

What's Ahead . . .

Since Kevin has a week of vacation and needs to get as much knocked out as he can, he wanted a list of what still needs to be done. Here goes, what needs to be done before we move in . . . 

1. Finish electrical in living room, dining room, master bedroom, utility closet and get the electricity back on in the kid's rooms and bathroom.
2. Finish painting the kitchen
3. Construct Lydia's closet
4. Install blinds when they get here
5. Install the a/c - heater
6. Get Internet hooked up
7. Get Directv hooked up
8. Install the back fence for Howdy and Maddie
9. Stain hardwood in living, dining and master bedroom
10. Install flooring in David and Lydia's room
11. Finish drywall, texture and paint master bedroom, David's room and new hallway
12. Install attic entry

What can wait until after we have moved . . .

1. Finish closet interiors for all new closets 
2. Install washer/dryer
3. Living and dining room windows
4. Knobs on interior doors
5. Paint and hang interior doors
6. Finish tearing out front porch
7. Install chair rail, crown molding and floor baseboards
8. New roof
9. New driveway
10. Paint outside of house
11. Clean out garage

Seems like we have done so much but it is only the tip of the iceberg!!!!

All donations will be accepted whether monetary

or physical labor! Sorry, it will not be tax deductible!