Update! Update! Massive Update!

Whoa! Its been over a month since my last update. I am a terrible blogger-- what a lousy journalist! In any case, here are some pictures to update you on how our little house is going.

Phil and I are getting married in just two and a half weeks, which means we need a house to move in. We are confident that the house will be in move in shape by our wedding but some other repairs will inevitably have to be done after we new tenants move in.

Lets start with the master bedroom:

These pictures are from the beginnning of March. We had still yet to put the last piece of sheetrock up, the "cathouse" was still there, and the floor still had some sort of film on it which had been used to keep the tile down. At this point, all of the tile had been pulled up.

We got to work on the upstairs and made some progress, thanks to my dad (once again!). I came by one day and my dad said to me that, since he likes Phil, he doesn't want me to have a "doghouse" for him. He proceeded to cover the little closet/storage area that was in the upstairs bedroom (the green square you can see in the picture below). The funny story is that the man from whom we bough the house said that when he was younger he used that space as a place for his cat. I told my dad it wasn't a doghouse, it was a cathouse. Regardless, he closed it up.

You can see the patch more close up below...

My dad also put down plywood on our floors to prepare for the carpet people to come install. This gives them a flat surface to work on and it cuts the cost of having them level the floor prior to installation.

Pops also decided that he didn't like the light that was in our room so he pulled the cables and bulb down and took the light fixture out.

Now onto the kitchen:

We have installed insulation. By "we" I mean Phil and a couple of really wonderful friends who spend nights working with Phil at our house.

Phil and Dad spent a Sunday putting sheetrock up.

What a difference it makes, right?!

And our two other bedrooms:

As I have mentioned before, we have two bedrooms downstairs. For now, Phil and I have decided to keep one as a guest room and one as a TV room.

Our guest room is the smaller of the two and we painted it Behr Pensive Sky. We love that it is a subtle tint of blue (it is even lighter in person).

The TV room is now light yellow.

This is the fabric that I picked out for our shades against the light yellow.

Our living room:

The living room is now an oatmeal color. I just keep thinking back to the wallpaper that was up just a couple of months ago. I am definiely not missing the floral print.

The downstairs hallway:

I love the color chocolate brown and thought it was a perfect color for our hallway. Phil thinks its the perfect "transitional color," whatever that means.

The downstairs bathroom:

After about four hours of scrubbing, our bathroom is now looking more usable than it was before. Some industrial strength cleaning supplies (and an open window to keep me from passing out) did the job... for now. It is definitely calling for a second scrubbing before move in day.

Finally, the house with the red door:

I went to Maryland to visit family sometime in March and came back to find our house with a red door and black shutters-- just like Phil and I had planned. I really love it! It is looking more like home already.

a very much so overdue update

I have been such a slacker in keeping up with the things we've been doing at the house, and for that, I apologize.

Our little house is slowly but surely progressing along. With just two months until Phil's and my wedding, we are in a time crunch to get everything done and ready for move in day. Nonetheless, we are confident that we can do it.

Here is an update from 429 Brook Court, the little house that could:

General

Plumbing

• We passed the plumbing inspection! Hooray! This means (most importantly) that all the wonderful people who have been helping us out for the past two or so months will finally be able to come to our house and freely tend to their bodily needs as they so please. Yes, in fact, we now have a working toilet and sink in the downstairs bathroom.
  

Electric

• We passed our electric inspection on the first try! Now onto insulating the kitchen… after we pass an insulation inspection we can sheetrock, paint, put cabinets up, floors down, and install our appliances.

Painting

Finally got a picture of Dad hard at work. Isn't he just great?!




Phil while sanding the ceilings to prep them for paint.

• Our walls and ceilings are now white! My dad primed the first floor for us and it makes such difference. The white paint alone has brought so much light into the house. It feels like we're walking into a new one!
  
• After Phil's sister Jaclyn helped me clean some of the filth off of the window frames, doors, and door frames, I was able to putty and spackle them. These are currently being painted (Behr Polar Bear White) white by Phil's brother John.
  
• We picked our actual paint colors last week and bought the paint. My dad is already working on getting those on the walls.

Room-by-Room

Kitchen

The final result after Fo and Dad took the floors out of the kitchen.

• My dad and brother, Adolfo, removed the wood and laminate flooring in the kitchen. My dad then repaired the floor boards underneath and put down plywood flooring.
  
• We purchased some of our major appliances at the Morris Habitat for Humanity Restore. Habitat Restores are a sort of building materials outlet. Donated and surplus materials are sold for prices lower than those that can be found at regular retail stores. The proceeds from these stores help the local Habitat for Humanity efforts. According to their website, some Restores fund the building of as many as ten local houses per year. Things donated to Habitat are usually given by supply stores, contractors, and individuals in support of the organization. Needless to say, our stove/oven and dishwasher were a bargain! We are fortunate to have a refrigerator that was left by the previous owner, purchased in 2005.
  
  
  
  

Our cabinets which are obviously serving as really great storage space and coat hangers.

My favorite cabinets are the top glass ones.

• We purchased kitchen cabinets from Craigslist. There are many more than we have a need for which means that we can pick and choose which ones we'd like to incorporate into our kitchen layout and have enough left over for a basement workshop or laundry room. Amazingly, Phil was able to lay them out in a way that will allow us to avoid purchasing any extra "special ones." These too, were a bargain. After getting an estimate for nearly $5000 from Home Depot for cabinets, we were happy to pay $800 to the woman who was selling them on Craigslist. She had never even installed them in her own kitchen and had them sitting in her basement.

Downstairs Bathroom

• Like I said, this is our working bathroom now. It has a toilet and a beautiful small pedestal sink installed and ready to be used. The final touches that we still need to work on are the crown molding and painting the ceiling. And, definitely a very good scrubbing. Clorox anyone?

Bedroom #1

• This is our current storage room. In there you can find anything from a toilet to a book on soap making. It is currently primed but will soon be painted… if we ever pick a color! This room also needs a new window which is yet to be ordered.

Bedroom #2

• This bedroom is almost (!!) done. I was there today and my dad has painted it a Behr "Pensive Sky" color. It is such a subtle light moss green and I just couldn't stop smiling when I walked in. I love it, and the white trim just added to the beauty (thanks, Dad & John!!)

Upstairs Bathroom

Please make note of the flooring and ignore the dust.

• Our friend Phil Markets put in the plywood floor in the upstairs bathroom and the shower frame. The previous shower frame had rotted and definitely needed to be replaced. It is such a treat not to look up in our kitchen and see the (lack thereof) bathroom.
  
• Another thing we purchased at the restore was a Kohler pedestal sink for $55. Phil and I are not often cognizant of the brands on anything we buy, but this time I noticed the Kohler writing on it and, when I looked it up, I found out it retails for around$300! Talk about a good deal.

Upstairs Hallway & Master Bedroom

Christian



Damian

• These two areas have been primed thanks to Phil and Fran Rutz. Oh, and of course, I cannot forget to thank Christian and Damian Juth (our nephews) for their fine workmanship while priming our upstairs hallway. Let's just say that we are thankful that the carpet is coming out after they got their hands on paint rolls and brushes.
  
• The carpet has been ripped out of the bedroom. Yay!
  
• White primer paint has made a world of difference upstairs also.

There are still lots of things to do in our little Cape Cod but everything is being done with love and care. We are happy to have taken this project on. None of the headaches that it has caused have ever amounted to the joy that we feel to own a house that we can make a home together. We so look forward to having the people we love over for a bite and a laugh. The day will come. Sooner than later.

We also can't forget to express our millions of thanks to our great friends and family. Without you guys, this project would not be possible at all. Thank you thank you thank you!

More projects: The bathrooms

Bathroom #1

We love the fact that we have TWO full bathrooms... but with two full bathrooms, comes a lot of work. The first floor bathroom is being partially re done. This is the process so far. Notice the DISGUSTING toilet... among other disgusting things you may see.

Before...

Currently...

I especially love the pedestal sink, but the not-so-yellow toilet comes in at a close second. Phil got these on Craigslist for $50!... a great buy that saved us a lot of money. We have really looked around for some of the things we need. Toilets and sinks, for example, would have cost us $200-$300... This set also comes with a porcelain mirror.

Bathroom #2Our second bathroom isn't much of a bathroom right now. Its more like boards and pipes. With the help of a lot of our (guy) friends -- Fran Gallic, Paul Scarfone, Frank Guido, Mike Temple, Phil Margetts, our brother-in-law Eugene-- we gutted the bathroom and now it will be entirely redone. It will eventually have a stand-up shower, off-white toilet and an off-white vanity sink.