Week 13...

Look at this beautiful wood floor!!!

And look at these tiled floors!!

And all of the final electrical stuff in basement is finished - electrical outlets, switches and new light fixtures!!

The remaining light fixtures for upstairs (yahooo... something cleared out of the garage)!

OK... just one more look at that beautiful wood floor (hickory with rosewood stain if anyone besides me really cares!)

Week 12

We have reached yet another point where I think to myself "It's a good thing I'm not in charge!"  If I was the one making the decisions, I'd be slapping the last few things together to just finish it so I could move in... it looks so close to being done!  

The painting is all done (and you can see the wood for the new hardwood floor):

Upstairs bathroom (looks so much better than my attempts!)

The basement bathroom - yes it's blue... I really wanted a blue bathroom!!

The bump-out in the upstairs master bedroom:

The great room

Kitchen

One of the basement bedrooms

The family room downstairs

Yahoo!!  The siding is almost done - just a little more trim...

 Smoke detectors ready to go (no more 9 volt batteries running out of juice in the wee hours of the morning!!)

 And light switches!!

A few people wanted to see the trim in closer detail - crown molding on the main floor:

Baseboard (with a swatch of the carpet that's going into the basement):

Trim above the windows and doors:

And trim under window sills:

And Salsa-girl checking things out (they wanted to eliminate these little windows in the bedrooms, but I told them they couldn't - it's how I check on Salsa during the summer when it's way hot... she lives under the deck!)

Week 11

Have you ever seen the movie "The Money Pit"?  A couple gets this huge mansion for a song and at first they think they can do the repairs and updating themselves... hilarity ensues... eventually they hire a contractor (more hilarity ensues) and every time they ask him when the house will be done the answer is always "Two weeks!",  "Two weeks!", "Two weeks!"  So on Friday when my contractor told me "Six weeks" I was relieved that it wasn't two weeks, but a little while later it dawned on me - six weeks??!!  Arggghhh.....  I am grateful beyond words for my friend Lisa who doesn't seem to mind that she has a leech on her hands, but I miss my space and my stuff and ...  It's all good - right?  Right now I have a hard time believing that this beautiful place is really my home and eventually I'll get to move back into it!  This week's work accomplished includes the last two windows in the kitchen bay, spackling and priming.

The last windows:

 The upstairs bathroom (they even textured the ceiling!!  It took them two minutes... it took me two years to not do it!!)

Master bedroom and closet (yes, I am obsessed with this closet - not sure why... it's not like I have enough clothes to fill it, but I'll figure out something I have no doubt!)

Great room viewed from the very back:

And from the very front:

View into the kitchen:

 One of the downstairs bedrooms:

Downstairs bathroom:

And apparently I didn't take a picture of the family room downstairs, but there were a lot of doors standing in the middle of the room...  Painting begins Monday, new wood for the main floor hopefully arrives early this next week so it can acclimate for 5 to 7 days (!) during which time hopefully the tub surround in the basement gets installed and the carpet and tile in the basement get laid, cabinets are scheduled to be installed on the 21st... oh so close!!

Neighborhood 4th of July Celebration

One of my favorite things about my neighborhood is our neighborhood 4th of July celebration.  There are block parties and BBQs the evening before and kids and adults alike decorate bikes, scooters, etc and then on the 4th (or the 3rd this year!!) there is a pancake breakfast, a parade, and a street carnival.  And since the SugarHouse Fireworks were saved this year, I once again get to walk out the front door and enjoy the fireworks with my neighbors from someone's front yard!  The breakfast and parade this morning reminded me of what I picture the 1950s might have been like - just a huge community of neighbors and friends celebrating the birth of our country and remembering those who served and those who are currently serving.  I got to enjoy the parade again this year after a couple of years of snow cone duty at the street carnival after the parade.  I love it...  so some pictures from the Highland Park 4th of July celebration!!