Bathroom remodel - the progress continues

My dear friends and sympathizers of home remodeling pain, progress is being made on our bathroom project. Can I get a yahoo for a leaky shower pan? The shower in the bathroom is nearly complete, so the boys began demolishing the rest of the bathroom (except for the tube that is our current shower location until we can use the new shower) It's odd to walk into a room and see only the studs and remnants of old electric. 

View of the bathroom from the door. To the left is the location of what was once a sink.

The north side of the room around the window. 

 And, presenting, our new shower!!!

Marble surround with a glass mosaic floor tile makes me smile!

What makes me smile more is the knowledge that we will have a complete bathroom very soon. Also exciting is the arrival of our vanity for the bathroom. The furniture style vanity includes a granite top. 

I'm excited, can you tell?

Bathroom remodel - week 3

Let's not focus on the number of days that we have been involved in this project. Let's focus on this one point - 

Progress is being made on our shower enclosure. When complete we will have a gorgeous marble shower!

Bathroom Demolition Days 2 through...well, let's call it Day 6

Before one can have a new bathroom, the old must be removed. Returning to our former renovation glories, progress on our main bathroom continues!

Construction will most likely be on hold for a week, as next week is concert week.

On the plus side, we have heard from the insurance company about the water damage, so that will certainly help with our progress.

Jeff Coffin & The Mu'Tet!

We had a great time listening to fantastic jazz music hosted by the WTAMU Jazz program featuring the music of Jeff Coffin & the Mu'tet!

The night was made better by the fact that Bryan was able to do the sound for the concert.

And, he would say it was even better because it was the debut of his new digital console.

I'd say the fact that Jeff played two saxophones at once made it a fairly entertaining evening!

Demolition Day 1

Friday night the demolition of our main bathroom with the removal of the shower pan. The verdict is out on the actual age of the shower pan, but we do know a few things:

1. It was installed more than 30 years ago, likely a project in the 70s.
2. It has been leaking for quite some time.
3. Water can do some damage.

However, this is all signs of progress, and it means the long time storage of a pallet and a half of marble may soon be over. Yahoo!

The bathroom remodel begins

A long, long time ago we bought a house that we thought would have a few fixer upper projects.

Ha.

A long time ago, we bought marble because some day we might remodel our main bathroom.

A not so long time ago, someone thought that they could unclog a simple shower drain.

Unclogging a drain in our house is never simple or fast.

And now, because of a simple clog, we must remodel our entire bathroom. The adventure begins tomorrow, and on the plus side, we will no longer be storing a pallet of marble in our house.

Now, to make some important decisions before they begin the demolition tomorrow.

Christmas Cooking adventures

This year's Christmas cooking adventures were truncated by an impromptu visit to the Midwest. Sadly, my great-grandmother Henrietta passed away on Wednesday, December 19. Bryan and I had talked about the need to travel to her funeral (when the day came) for quite some time. On the plus side, the trip did mean that we could see my family close to the Christmas holiday. (Hey, maybe Grandma Hennie wanted us to be in the Midwest for Christmas!)

Ginger Crinkles (old family recipe), Spritz (a Christmas tradition!), and  Chocolate Stuff

 After returning late Sunday night from the marathon roadtrip, there was not much time for cooking in advance of the Christmas holiday. However, I did manage to cook up three batches of sweet treats including Ginger Crinkles (a Buelow family recipe), Spritz (from the Betty Crocker Cooky book - yes, that is the spelling - circa, 1950) and the yummy chocolate graham cracker concoction that the White boys are now referring to as Christmas Crack. (Yes, it is that good - and it is that simple!)

We also hosted the Christmas dinner for the family at our house. It seems that I can never cook the appropriate quantity, so we had plenty of leftovers. The menu included dinner rolls (made from scratch of course!)

 turduchen (not made from scratch - I'm not completely insane!)

Bryan's giblet gravy. Ok, I'll admit - this was a new one to me. In the midwest, lumps in gravy are a bad thing. Apparently in the south it's ok to have lumps in the gravy as long as the lumps are giblets (really?) and hardboiled egg whites. It's tasty, but it is still taking some getting used to on my part. Also on the menu were green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, and some sausage & cornbread stuffing. 

Apparently next year's recipes will need to add some Special Shit. Thanks to Steve for this unique ingredient. 

The home remodeling continues!

It's true. Just because we finished the kitchen remodel, does not mean that we have ended the quest to remodel our entire home.

For example, a few weeks ago, I left for work and there was a double divided light window in the garage room (it will have a better name eventually - honest!)



The view of the garage room window when I left for work that day...


A few short hours later, the project was finished. :)


I'm assured that yes, it was really as easy as that. Ok, most likely not - I've seen the pile of debris that the project created and the receipts from Home Depot.


This project marked the beginning of our exterior renovations.

In the next edition of the White's "This Old House", the siding gets replaced!

We have achieved completion of the kitchen!

This is a collection of photos that only tells part of the story of the reconstruction of our kitchen.

View 1 - The Refrigerator Corner
August 2009


January 2010


March 2010


June 2011


View 2 - From the Living Room Entrance
August 2009


January 2010


June 2011


View 3 - Sink Wall
August 2009


January 2010


June 2011


View 4 - Oven Wall
August 2009


March 2010


June 2011


View 5 - Breakfast Nook
January 2010


March 2010


June 2011


View 6 - Cooktop Wall
March 2010


June 2011


The Detail Work


This is a detailed view of the cabinet trim feature. (This might be one of our favorite parts of the kitchen. We both enjoy the subtle graphic detail. Ok, to be honest, there are many favorite parts to this kitchen.)

It has taken two years, but our kitchen is finally (from a construction standpoint) where we want it to be!

To my loving husband, thank you! Thank you for working so hard to make our dream a reality. I love you!

Kitchen Update

We are making significant progress on our kitchen remodel. It's true, we might near completion in a mere TWO WEEKS! At this point, all we need to do is install door knobs, drawer pulls, and magnetic catches. Sadly, we are waiting on our online order to be delivered. (I say sadly because it would have been great if those items had arrived by Friday so that we could install them this weekend.)

Anyway, I thought this might be a great opportunity to show you some of the progress our kitchen has made since we purchased the property in August 2009.

August 2009



March 2010



May 2011



Once the cabinet hardware is installed I'll photograph the room in the angles that match our first set of photos taken in August 2009.

TWO WEEKS!!!

Yahooo!

The Cabinet Doors are being hung, the cabinet doors are being hung, the cabinet doors are being hung!

Can you tell I'm a bit excited? It's because I am! Yahoo!!!


The cabinet doors have been painted over the course of the past few days. This is the paint booth that was erected in our back yard that made it possible for the process to be complete in spite of all of the wind we have had in these parts.



Soon all we will lack are the door knobs and drawer pulls. If only I would have ordered those sooner! My bad!

Bringing home Julian

I'm not sure if you know this or not, but my husband can be a bit of a softie. Yes, this burly man has a soft spot for cats. When I first met Bryan, he had "Cat", however, Cat was not the first friend of Bryan - you should ask him about his other cat friends.

Anyway, I digress.

As you may recall, we are making some changes around here. As part of that change, we are walking every night after dinner. Each night, our walk takes us past the Bivins home on 16th. On Tuesday night, Bryan spotted a small kitten in front of the bushes on the edge of the property. It was clear that this kitten was abandoned and very young.

Bryan spent the next 20 minutes trying to extract this small ball of fur from underneath the bushes.

He finally emerged with a terrified and hungry kitten, and many scrapes and cuts on his own arms and legs.

Inspired by the location of the rescue, we decided to name the kitten, Julian. This is picture of the slightly terrified Julian upon arrival at our home.



It was clear to us that Julian had not eaten in several days. We were able to feed Julian, and yes, even needed to give Julian a sponge bath. (Let's just say this kitten has earned the nickname StinkButt!)

By Thursday evening, Julian was starting to feel a bit more comfortable around us. Julian enjoyed some playtime with us, seems to be eating and "functioning" regularly.



Now, Cat has not been at all sure about this process. Tonight we thought it was a good time to introduce the two. During the day, Julian is staying in our bedroom and Cat is free to roam the house and lawn. We don't think it would be the best idea to have the two meet on their own.

We were a little surprised by how the two reacted upon meeting this evening. Cat approached Julian slowly, and it was Julian who rapidly closed the gap. However, this is all the closer the two got before it was clear that Cat was bored with the whole adventure and moved on. In the house, Cat is avoiding the master bedroom and the idea that Julian might be residing here. In time, I think they will become good friends. (At least they better, or life around our house could become challenging!)



Yes, I think Julian has found a place in our hearts, and a place to live on Bowie Street. Now, say it with me.....Awwwwwww!