my new love

I have fallen in love again. This time with my new kitchen floor. I finally whined enough that Steve gave in to adding one more project to our plate this summer--a new kitchen floor. And let me tell you, this was one amazing renovation...It started when they stripped down 2 different layers of linoleum and plywood and then tore out the old hardwood floors (I was glad when the confirmed that our gut was right, they were too damaged to be saved.) That left us walking on diagonal board for the next 5days as we waited for the arrival of our tile installer. I was scared to death and had visions of my little one falling through the hole that was uncovered in the diagonal boards and her landing in the basement as I looked down from above. But luckily we made it through the next week without incident. Not that I didn't about have a nervous breakdown trying to cook in the dining room where we had temporarily set up our refrigerator (not to mention also stored our dishwasher) and keeping the kids out of the splintery mess in the kitchen only added to the tension. In the end though we are thrilled at the result! We widened the doorway between our kitchen and dining room (about a foot) and then had some grey porcelain tile laid. Both of these made a huge difference in the look and feel of our tiny kithcen. It feels much bigger and brighter and I catch myself walking by it several times a day just so I can take another look. As for our old white, dirty, grimey, gouged up, linoleum mess we just to call a floor...good riddance!

Yet another project. Right now our TV room is located in one of the bedrooms on the 2nd story, but as we finish up the basement we plan to move TV land downstairs and Alix to the TV room which is bigger than her current room. This leaves a Alix's old bedroom to become a bedroom for Anna, and we'll turn Anna's old digs into a closet-y area for us (at least until the next renovation--a bigger bathroom...don't tell Steve I'm talking about this. He has sworn me off any mention of other projects for the next 6 months ;) Of course Alix could not for a second think of having her bedroom the color of our TV room, so we set off to paint her room the color of her choice...a pale blue. This sounds like an easy enough task, but it meant moving all the furniture into the hallway, not to mention that the walls in our upstairs are tongue and groove pine that we have painted, so not only do we have to roll the walls, but we also have to brush each and every little nook between the panels. OK, it wasn't terrible, but it also wasn't as easy as most flat walls. She loves the result though and has already started to make the TV room her own in anticipation of the basement finishing soon. So now her things are in both the TV room and her own room, furniture she no longer wants is still in the hallway, and I just refuse to go up there at all b/c I don't want to lose my mind.

Other goings on...We had a great neighborhood party this Saturday. Kids galore, must have been at least 20 roaming around the street, firetrucks, bouncy house, great food, and lots of neighbors I hadn't met. Of course Steve is the social butterfly so everyone was old friends with him, but I enjoyed getting to know lots of new folks and seeing all the little kids about Anna's age that she will grow up around. It was a good day.

Tomorrow we have our basement drainage system put in (YEA!) The will come and jackhammer up the concrete along 3 of our walls, put in the system, pour new concrete, and add a sump pump. They say it's a one day job. I'm excited to have the peace of mind it will offer, and even more excited that it leads the way for our last project--the basement bathroom build! I am so ready to put up pictures, put in the flooring, and sit our our brand new sectional in front of the TV. That will truly be cause for a celebration!!

Here are some pics of all the fun:

Hallway mess as we prep for Alix's new room painting

The old paint...and the new (blue)

Our lovely dining room which was also our kitchen once the floor remodel started

Old linoleum--dirty looking (no matter what I tried to do to clean it), gouged up by the dog, utterly disgraceful in all mentionable ways

Old flooring is out and we are left with diagonal boards...a splintery, hole-y mess! (the tile you see is covering the hole where you can see right down into the basement)

New floor! Greyish blue tiles that coordinate flawlessly with our countertop and backsplash accent color



Block Party Happenings