For the Nursery

We're getting close to blast off, T-minus 4 days and counting. Today we paid for ramona's nightlight. I had it custom made for her by fruitflypie. She makes some amazing ceramics by hand. When I saw her light, I knew immediately that it was perfect for Ramona's room. I messaged her and asked her if she could make it in yellow, our nursery accent color. She obliged and we think that the result was amazing!

UPDATE: It looks like she is selling it in her store now. So if you would like one, order it at: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=31813854

Floors being stained

Sunday we moved in with my parents to prepare for the floors being stained yesterday. We can't walk on them for the 3 days, so we'll be back in the house on Friday. It's cutting it close!

Remodel Wrap Up Days 14-18

Lot's of stuff has been happening around the house this week. We took out the trash compactor in the kitchen, but had little ideas about what to put there. Putting a door there would have been too expensive because the only way they can match our does is by creating a custom bit. We could have put an ice maker in there, but we didn't feel like we'd use it. So what we came up with is shelving it and putting baskets. I think it turned out really well and will look amazing once the cabinets are painted:

Then thurs we had 2 giant developments: The kitchen appliances got dropped off


And we got the granite installed! Here is a sample from the wet bar

The rest of the kitchen will be pictured soon. The funny thing is, when we pulled the backsplash off of the wall, we found this amazing wallpaper:
Pretty sweet eh??

Remodel Wrap Up Day 4-13

We have been super busy with the house and on top of dealing with all of the issues that arise when you are expecting a newborn, that both of us haven't been able to blog. Good news, the project has pressed on.

The wood floors have been completely installed, we are now have (had) to wait for 10 days until they settle and can be scraped and stained. We are currently on day 5, so only 5 more days to go. This past weekend, we pulled out the countertops, sink, cooktop and old trash compactor.

We ordered the appliances Friday and they should be in Wednesday. The countertops are going in Thursday.

Here are the pics from last wednesday, when they were in the midst of installing the wood and had finished grouting the tile.

Remodel Wrap Up Day 3

Today was not as eventful as yesterday, but it was necessary.

They finished the float today and finished putting down all of the tile in the kitchen. They also put the hardie board around the fireplace.

Tomorrow they will put the tile in the entry and dining room. Tile the fireplace and hopefully grout the tile.

The wood is going in on Monday! That is what we are super excited about.

Pondering Appliances

We did a lot of research on appliances during the planning stages for this reno project. Our main need was a 27" double oven that was preferably a microwave/convection combo and would fit in the spot of our current oven. From there, we wanted an induction cooktop, a counter depth fridge, and a dishwasher with a cutlery rack.

We looked at a lot of brands and here were our findings:

Electrolux - We love electrolux. The design of all of their products seems well thought out. Amber especially loves their oven. Unfortunately, the double oven doesn't fit in our spot and we decided to keepy looking.
Jenn Air - These seem to be good appliances, but nothing spectacular. I think we would have been happy with jenn air, but they were roughly the same price as appliances that we thought had a lot more features. They did have a double oven that would work, so we were getting closer in our search.

Bosch - Bosch seemed like a lot of appliance for the money. They are basically the same thing as thermadors, which is a really expensive brand, but don't have the best reliability ratings. Bosch did not have an oven that would work, so that pretty much eliminated them.
Miele - We loved miele, just like everyone else does. Unfotrunately, it was extremely cost prohibitive. We mainly wanted just one of their signature dishwashers, but in the end we decided that we could live with a different brand as long as it had a separate cutlery rack like the miele.
What we went with:
We went with kitchenaid because it matched everything we wanted to a T. Here is a list of the appliances we are ordering:

Refrigerator KSCS25FVMS


Oven KEMS378SSS


Dishwasher KUDE60FVSS
Cooktop KICU508SBL

Remodel Wrap Up Day 2

They started on the float today, and got most of it done.

They also began to lay the tile in the kitchen.

And that's pretty much it. We're currently already running about a day behind schedule and $300 over budget. So....we've got that going for us.

Pondering Side Tables

Now that we have the perfect glider for our nursery, the search is on for the perfect side table. My first inclination was to go with the trumpet table like Nicole over at MakingitLovely did.

I liked it, but there was still something that was not quite perfect about it. Next, I was loving the the Tray Side Table from west elm.


I still love it, but it might be a little more than I want to spend.

After that I looked for a vintage saarinen tulip table, but it was hard to find one that was in good condition that was reasonably priced.

Then during a stop at the HomeGoods in Mansfield, we stumbled on a drum table that kind of intrigued me (the one on the left).


At only $49.99, the price is right and I think it looks pretty great. I'm not sure how functional it is though. There's not a whole lot of space on the top to place items and it's bowed. Other tables like the tray table could fit a lot more stuff on top, but is more expensive.

Here is a photoshopped pic of the drum table next to the monte glider:

Remodel Wrap Up Day 1

Today was the day when we finally got this jalopy moving.

The work day was only about 6-7hrs long for our crew, but they managed to get the marble out of the entry and formal dining room. They also pulled the flooring out of the kitchen to reveal some sexy linoleum. Hooray!

We still have carpet throughout, but hopefully It will be out tomorrow.

Too tired to take pictures, maybe I will tomorrow.

UPDATE: Here are the pics. I forgot to mention that when we pulled up the marble, we realized we would have to float the tile. You'll see the drop off in the dining room.

Empty Again

Well the flooring is being demoed tomorrow, so Nick and I have moved everything off the floors (except the iron table base and the washer and dryer) tonight. It is hilarious to see where we stashed out stuff. The bed is in the middle of the game room surrounded by our dresser and other various pieces throughout the house. We'll have to post pictures of the mad stash.

Hopefully the demo will be finished tomorrow. The tile will be down on Thursday. The wood down on Friday, so it can begin the week to 10 day settling period. If we can get the floors done and the trim finished, we can start/finish the nursery. I swear if one more person tells me I'm nesting I think I'll scream. It's not nesting when you are doing an extensive remodel! We won't be able to be in the house after they stain the floors, so it would be impossible to bring a newborn home to that mess. Let's home she stays in utero until at least her due date! 

I'm extremely excited that this project is finally underway. I know everything will work out even if it doesn't work on my timeline. It's such a feeling of relief to know it is getting done. This house is about to take major steps into becoming what we've desired it to be.

Granite in the kitchen

This weekend we bought the granite for our kitchen remodel. We went with stonemark granite from Home Depot. The choice seemed simple because their granite has a different finish and doesn't have to be sealed every year. It has a 15 year warranty against staining.

We were originally going to go with silestone, but were having a hard time finding a color we liked. The stonemark seemed like a good compromise. We went with ubatuba, which is a pretty common color, but we think it will look good with the white cabinets.

We're still deciding what we're going to do about faucets, but I think we have narrowed it down to these two:

- Moen Lindley

- Delta Leland

For the wet bar, I would really like something like this:

Pegasus Newbury