First Snow

We had our first snow on Saturday which was a nice way to start December but the pounding record rain that followed wasn't so nice. With our new screen doors installed, we are now 99.9% finished with our house! Only piece unfinished is the painting of the downspouts to match the house color but that will wait for warmer, dryer weather.


These are just simple wood screen doors with just a screen and one of those piston type closers. Door pulls have yet to be mounted because we just haven't decided on them yet so for now, it is a very minimal yet functional screw head. There's a matching screen door for the back door as well.

Tile Backsplash

This is the week of progress!! Our tile is up in the kitchen, but the picture doesn't do it justice. It's really a pretty tile, the glaze is reminiscent of Japanese tea cups. They are Ann Sacks, from the Koi line in the Tea Leaf color. It's a tea green with brownish edges.

A close up. The toothpicks help Dugan set an even grout thickness. Tomorrow should be the grout day - we've picked a warm grey.

The REAL Kitchen Counters

Finally, the FOURTH try was the charm. This time, the countertop came intact and the two pieces matched. It was a close call though, because when it came off the delivery truck, one end of the crate was missing and the counters were exposed on end.

Tomorrow, the tile work begins...

Track Lighting, etc.

After a month long hiatus, we're back on it and finishing things up. We finally got the track fixtures ordered and I installed them this afternoon while the 2 kids napped, which is a feat in itself. We now have sufficient lighting in the kitchen!

The track is a Tech Lighting Monorail system, with "Sprocket" heads. Low voltage lighting is tricky...this system is on a 300 watt remote transformer. This means our fixtures have to remain at a total of 150-300 watts at all times otherwise we risk blowing up the transformer. We have 5 heads with 50 watt MR16's each so if one blows, we're still within that tolerance level, but it's always good to have spare bulbs on hand.

In addition to finishing up the lighting in the kitchen, our counter tops are due to arrive Monday afternoon! Dugan is ready to install them next week, as well as finish up other items for the house, so stay tuned....

The Newest Addition

Violette Amo Personett has arrived which also means the end of little household projects for project3039.
She was born on Thursday, June 28, 2007 at 2:37am weighing in at 7 lbs 13 oz and measuring a compact 18 1/2 inches long.
We are all ecstatic and very much enjoying her.

House Numbers

Finally got to throw out the cardboard house numbers and put up real ones. We got these from WestOn Letters. (Kabel font, 6" high) It took a few weeks to get them but were pretty easy to install.

More Fence

So obviously I have not had the baby or I wouldn't be posting stuff on this blog.
The fence is done now (gates are in, trellis is finished)

Unfortunatedly our raspberries that used to live in the corner there didn't make it through the construction.

That smaller section by the wall of the house is the gate to our neighbor's yard.

We just got our house letters so I'll try to install them today or tomorrow. Stay tuned..

House, Fence and No Baby Yet...

Baby #2 is still baking in the oven. In the mean time, I thought I'd post some new pictures:


Here's an updated photo of the house, with all the paint work done. Trim around windows is still incomplete but we're still waiting for the new countertop to come in before Dugan will spend a whole week here finishing up the odds and ends.

In the mean time, my neighbors have decided to redo their fence and since we share one fence with them, we agreed to do it, as well as the back portion of ours. It was a do-it-yourself bamboo fence before that taught me to stop trying to build stuff and stick to designing. This fence was actually not designed by me, but by my neighbors and I think it works really well with our house too!

This is the fence between our 2 houses. The gap there on the right will be a gate that will allow our kids access to both yards. The fence is not done yet - there sill be a trellis along the top of it along the entire length between our houses and we plan on planting some sort of vine, maybe clematis or grapes.

That shorter fence is our back fence, which leads to the back alley.

The Clock is Ticking

Doctor says the baby could come as soon as this week so the clock is ticking!! Looks like we won't be able to get 100% completion on this house before #2 comes since the fireslate is still not available yet, which also means our backsplash can't be installed. So close...yet so far away.

At least we have the baby's room set up - minimally. I think that's the extent of my efforts these days....

Derek got me some deck furniture for our anniversary so now we can finally sit outside.

The deck rail was designed to keep kids from climbing up but unfortunately it also keeps them from seeing what's going on out there so here's our make shift solution.

True Happiness

We had a great week for painting - hot and sunny - but up until today. Despite the chill, Lola found true happiness in bubbles on the sidewalk.

Exterior paint is almost done. Front door needs one more coat and they are still finishing up some trim and the barge boards.

We finally got the sink portion of the counter but as it turns out, the smaller section next to it (it's in 2 pieces) has some flaws. So...the fireslate saga continues.....

Paint Continued..

The body of the house has been painted as well as some of the trim. Dugan still needs to do the little trim cap detail around all of the door and window trim. Painters will continue to work through Saturday.

Back of the house

Good Weather - Finally!

We looked at getting these cool Neutra House Letters, but they were a bit expensive so we settled for this. It's designer too, made with recycled (and recyclable) cardboard and a fresh black sharpie. Mailman seems to like it.

Ok, so the whole reason for this posting wasn't to show off our cool new house letters, but tinted primer. I didn't know they did that but apparently it's better to use tinted primer when you're painting a dark color. Hopefully people don't think this is the final color of the house...

Primed backside.

Fireslate Counter and Fireplace Surround

The island counter and fireplace surrounds are in! One of the counter pieces for the other kitchen counter by the sink came in broken so we are waiting for the replacement. Just got some 100% Tung Oil to apply on this Fireslate so once that's on, we should be good to go!

Fireplace surround on Kitchen side.

Living room side with Lola's art work already adorning the mantle.

We're IN

Well, we've been in the house for about 3 weeks now and so far so good! Our countertops arrived early this week and most of it has been installed. One piece came broken so we'll have to wait until next week to get a new one and to install it. My super cool Italian ceramic tile backsplash isn't so cool anymore because it's proving to be very difficult to get. Hopefully we'll have that issue resolved soon or we may be picking new tile. Other than those items, only things we have left to finish up is the exterior caulking and paint, which will have to wait pending good sunny weather! But, hot sun is just around the corner so we shouldn't have to wait much longer.

I'll be posting some countertop/fireplace surround photos soon so stay tuned....

Not done yet..

Tomorrow, March 26th is the day (hopefully) that we will officially begin to inhabit our house. It is the day that the final inspection has been scheduled and we don't forsee any issues. Dugan did warn us about cleaning up all the toy messes so that the inspector doesn't freak out about kids being in an unfinished house.

Our basement was carpeted a couple weeks ago (it's also a loop wool, not as plump as the upstairs version, in a wheat color) As you can tell, it's been played on quite a bit already.

We have some temporary window treatments up - yes, we are IKEA-fying the house already. You just can't stay away from that place. Lola has made herself home.

Finally got the downstairs bath fixture in. We're going to have the painter come back when he does the exterior paint to finally put an end to the blue sponge paint that has been on these walls since the day we moved in.

Finally got the dining room pendant in too.

Moving In

Lola has been busting out all her old toys from the boxes (it's like Christmas!)

We don't yet have our certificate of occupancy yet - waiting for the carpet install in the basement on Wed. and then we can officially live there.
(Lola's wearing a dress because she's into the dress thing...)

Bathroom Finished

This was the last of Dugan's projects in the house - our main floor bathroom. It's the only room saved from demolition. The floor tile is original and the wainscoting is existing. We replaced the awkwardly shaped vanity with a pedestal sink and also replaced the toilet. There's also a tub with shower in this bathroom.

Cabinet Pulls/Knobs

Our cabinet pulls and knobs have been installed

Here's a close up of a pull

We also got our doorknobs, to match the existing ones upstairs.

Light Bulbs

I've gotten around to putting the correct bulbs in all the light fixtures. This one goes above the kitchen sink. The previous post has a photo of the new bulbs in the pendant (hanging) fixtures over the kitchen island.

This is the ceiling fixture for all of the bedrooms as well as the basement stairwell. This is just a frosted globe bulb that you normally see in those strip fixtures in bathrooms. These fixtures are great because you don't have any light loss from any fixture coverings. I've also seen a compact fluorescent bulb in the same shape so we'll probably try it out to see how it compares.

Getting Closer...

I keep forgetting to take pictures so here's a nighttime shot of the portaboxes. Almost our entire house of stuff fit into those 4 crates...

Our appliances finally came out of the garage where they've been stored and are now installed and ready for use.

Only the refrigerator is an existing one that we're reusing, the range, dishwasher and microwave are new.


The icemaker is hooked up! We had this refrigerator for about 3-4 years and never hooked up the icemaker. We now have ice!!!

It's Go Time!

We're moving back in! The Portaboxes arrived on Friday and by Saturday afternoon, we've (ok, not me but Derek, his dad, brother and my brother) have unloaded everything thing with the exception of the refrigerator and dining room table.

Pictures to follow....

Master Deck and Front Porch

Dugan's almost done with the guardrails on the master deck. The slats consist of 1x3 cedar with 1/2" gap.

We'll probably just let it weather and grey out on its own instead of painting or staining.

Our front porch is under construction. It'll have a similar cedar slat detail except we'll have bench seating around the 2 sides instead of full guardrails.

Oh yeah, and by the way, we're moving back in this weekend!