The kitchen is getting closer to completion.

We have been using the coffee maker every day. The fridge is making ice and drinking water and has frozen items in the freezer. The microwave is on but I haven't used it yet. The knobs are due to arrive tomorrow. Bill will skin the fridge to make it look like a cabinet. He still needs to install the range hood. The island has plywood on it so we can order the granite.

The color changes with the amount of light.

We have wall color!

Wow - the paint turned out great. We can see the end of the tunnel on all the major stuff. Now it's onto the finishing things like plug and switch plates, track lights, range hood vent, install fan and hanging lights, sconces above fireplace, TV. We are going to look at granite slabs tomorrow. I will take photos of the paint in the daylight. Too dark at night.

So close

The drywall is installed. We painted the primer last Friday night. It was exhausting and neck aching work. So we have decide to hire a painter to do the actual finish painting. Try as we might there are some things we can do and some we can't. We would rather put our time and effort into cabinets, trim and finish work.

We are hosting a Molly "going away" party on Sat. Oct. 1st. She leaves for AmeriCorps on Thurs the 6th. She'll be away until August 1012. Our guests will get to see how far we've come on the remodel and eat all of Molly's favorite foods. Sean turns 25 (quarter century) on Oct. 7th. I must of had him when I was 12, right?

The Next steps

The wiring is all finished. New back porch lights installed. Spray foam insulation for the ceiling is scheduled for Wed morning. Bats of insulation delivered on Thurs for Bill and I to install ourselves over the weekend - then the drywall. We can do the walls ourselves. Changing our mind on the ceiling. No drywall - but fir bead board slats that we can install ourselves. The more we can do and not sub out the more we save. Thank god I have a husband who takes pride in DIY, researches all the materials, and can install almost everything himself. 

A lot of stuff completed this weekend.

Wow - we really worked hard this weekend (well Bill did most of it) but I am always there to demolish, clean up the messes, run to the dump, get lunch and afternoon coffee, and enlist others to help! The amazing things completed iclude:
- more wiring in the new kitchen
- plumbing hole drilled into the floor for the island sink
- drywall removed from the last remaining wall
- re-organized the basement storage areas 
- bought 2 of 3 skylights needed
- 3 skylight holes cut and boxes made in the roof
- roof and gutters cleaned (when you're on the roof you see things need tending to)
- cut fill pieces for all the exposed beams then installed all 5 of them with Sean's help
- went to dinner and then saw Cowboys and Aliens Saturday night
- sold 4 pieces of furniture on Craig's List - made $ 

- collapsed into bed around 10 on Sunday

Kitchen Cabinets

We ordered the cabinets yesterday. A big chunk o' money! We're going creamy white cabinets with a red/brown island. Bill wants soapstone for the counter. I'm still undecided. The backsplash will be the crackled blue subway tile, similar to these photos.

Furnace Install

Furnace guys are here, the furnace guys are here!!! Yea!!!


Oh - and Sean has found an apartment and can move into it this weekend. I will miss having him around (Bean, too - but don't tell anyone :)

Contractor Bids Galore

We are in the midst of collecting bids for the furnace and water heater, gas pipe lines, windows, spray foam insulation, drywall and painting of the vaulted ceiling. These are the items Bill doesn't want to do himself. He will install the windows and run the plumbing and electrical lines. I will paint all the walls and trim. It's amazing how high some bids are but I guess everyone needs to make money. With much haggling back and forth we are getting some pretty good deals. By the way - everyone has a "guy" that does something and we should give him a call. Makes your head spin. 


Our kitchen plan is completed. Need to decide on the color of subway tile for the back splash. Granite or quartz? Wood on the island or ?

We are home from a fabulous vacation in Wisconsin. We had a great 4th of July and visited 3 different areas of the state. Cedarburg, Lake Shangri-la and Menasha. The Donahue family reunion was a hit and we got to meet our newest Donahue, baby Mackenzie. All Bill's sisters are a kick and we had a great time. We got to see our good friends and family for the 4th in Cedarburg then traveled north to Menasha to my sister Kathy's house on a river. That was a wonderful time. More about the house as soon as we resume the remodel.

Rafters complete.

The rafters are now reinforced. The beams are the ones we are keeping and will be inside the ceiling. The new wood to the right shows the  angle of the raised ceiling. The old ceiling was under those huge beams. Bill has stubbed out the 3 areas for skylights and we are finishing up the lighting plan. We have the estimate for spray foam insulation between the roof and the new drywall. We will probably put up the drywall ourselves but have the expert do the mudding and sanding for the best ceiling finish. As you can imagine due to the ceiling currently being just plywood and shingles the room gets quite chilly at night.

Beams, headers, rafters all nearing completion.

So the ceiling revamping is continuing. Lots of up and down the ladder carrying large pieces of lumber on shoulders. I'm glad we decided to open up the ceiling. The room will look bigger.

Catch Up

Feb. 5, 2011 Move in day. Thanks to all my friends at school that helped clean and organize the kitchen and bathrooms.
Mar. 12-30 Wood floor delivered, installed, sanded and Swedish finished. It looks great. Thanks Berdans and Jess for letting us stay with you so we didn't die from the fumes! We then covered it up to work on the ceilings.
April 4 Sean had his gallbladder removed. He's much better now.
April 8 Molly graduated from Lewis & Clark. She has been accepted into AmeriCorps and leaves on that adventure on October 6th. Until then she is staying in Portland to work.
April 9 The asbestos removal team removed the popcorn ceilings in the entryway, living and dining rooms.
April 14 Bill installed new light fixtures in the hall and bedrooms and a pull-down staircase to access the attic from the hallway.
April 21-24 Bill and I took down the ceilings in the living and dining room - going to the cathedral look with cross beams. We shoveled cellulose insulation into 60+ garbage bags to reuse in other ceiling areas to increase our R value. They are sitting on our deck under a tarp. 4 runs to the dump. Oh - I broke my thumb saving my face from a flying piece of drywall. Splint on for 10 days.
May 27 Gas line and meter installed. Good thing because the oil tank is empty. We don't want to refill with the minimum amount ($800). That will go toward the new gas furnace. We use electric heaters to take the chill off in the mornings. It's like camping.
Memorial Day Weekend - Bill and I took down all the extra attic rafters in the living and dining room. We left ones every 4 feet that we will triple, cover with nice wood and either stain or paint, when we decide.