Earl has been waiting for the pictures to appear. So, while I couldn't sleep last night, I put this together. I'm not sure it really does the room justice, but I think you can see the transformation. Too bad we can't create smell-o-vision; you could really feel the changes then, no more cat smells!
Thursday, December 24
Wednesday, December 23
Feels like we're slowing down
We're still shopping for counter tops. Earl and I finally agree on granite we like, but the piece we like is a single and not big enough for our kitchen. The supplier is out and may be getting more sometime in January. This means we are waiting.........
I pulled the shelves out of some of the lower cabinets and put them on top of the cabinets so I at least have some workable space. Callie came over a few weeks ago and helped me unpack the majority of the kitchen. It was almost like Christmas. Having the majority of stuff in storage for the last year and a half makes everything feel new again.
Nine men from the Elder's quorum came last Saturday and helped us clean out our storage unit and put it all in the garage. It took them less than two hours! Wow, what a great help they were. Now we can say we have officially moved in, not that we know where anything is.
Dad and Earl are working on the laundry room and storage area. We're rearranging the water heater and using what was previously dead space. In the end, it will VERY nice! Dad has a pretty bad cold, so he has slowed way down. Hopefully with Earl off of work for the holiday break, he can step in and get the laundry in.
Now that we have officially started our Christmas break, I have spent time cleaning the livable spaces in the house, making them feel bigger and more finished. We'd like to get living room ceilings scrapped maybe even get that room painted by the end of the break and If I get really energetic, maybe I'll be able to park my car in the garage at the end of the holiday break.
I pulled the shelves out of some of the lower cabinets and put them on top of the cabinets so I at least have some workable space. Callie came over a few weeks ago and helped me unpack the majority of the kitchen. It was almost like Christmas. Having the majority of stuff in storage for the last year and a half makes everything feel new again.
Nine men from the Elder's quorum came last Saturday and helped us clean out our storage unit and put it all in the garage. It took them less than two hours! Wow, what a great help they were. Now we can say we have officially moved in, not that we know where anything is.
Dad and Earl are working on the laundry room and storage area. We're rearranging the water heater and using what was previously dead space. In the end, it will VERY nice! Dad has a pretty bad cold, so he has slowed way down. Hopefully with Earl off of work for the holiday break, he can step in and get the laundry in.
Now that we have officially started our Christmas break, I have spent time cleaning the livable spaces in the house, making them feel bigger and more finished. We'd like to get living room ceilings scrapped maybe even get that room painted by the end of the break and If I get really energetic, maybe I'll be able to park my car in the garage at the end of the holiday break.
Sunday, December 13
A Kitchen to die for?
After Rylee finished the floors we could have the kitchen cabinets installed.
Shopping for cabinets was a little depressing--they are so expensive. Our Midvale home has such a beautiful kitchen, we knew we couldn't afford to do that again. we were lucky to have Lane and Joe help us out there. This time around they were too busy, so we looked at Home Depot, Lowes, some other cabinet companies, then while I was looking at Restore I saw something that I quite liked. Restore is like a DI, but run by Habitat for Humanity. People and companies donate their old household items that is still in decent shape and you can pick up some basic stuff pretty cheap.
They also sell new cabinets made by a local cabinet shop at a discount. The knotty alder cabinets were nice. They looked like they would work, plus it did my giving heart good to know the profits of the sale go to a good cause. Earl decided he liked them too, so we decided to order our cabinets through them.
The man who sells them told us he also installs, and for a very reasonable cost, so we asked him to install them too. And that is were our woes began. He represented himself as a professional, working for a reputable organizations. He actually is not authorized to represent H4H. In fact, we learned later on, that when Restore decided to sell cabinets, he was told they were not to offer installation. Would have been nice to know!
This guy and his sidekick showed up in the evenings and made mistake after mistake, starting with measuring, and not verifying the original plans. From the corner cabinet being the wrong size to installing the sink base in the wrong place, it was like watching a couple of boys with their first erector set.
The first night wasn't so bad. They even brought a girlfriend who was willing to help me finish painting some trim work. By the second night, it was apparent theses clowns didn't know what they were doing. cabinets were crooked, the wrong size, and they continued to put things in the wrong places. Earl and my father started inspecting every little detail, and they were getting frustrated having someone watch over them.
They started getting testy, then combative, then they started complaining--even while I was in the room they would complain about my father and Earl. It took everything I had to not snap at them, but I wanted to get the cabinets in more than I wanted to tell them off.
By the third day, we realized they were not going to complete the job the way it should be done, and they started copping out--and didn't show up two days in a row. Earl and Dad had to go into Restore (that's when we found out about the moonlighting) and have the director come out and look at the poor job they were doing. That set off more complaining and whining about how difficult "the job" was and how they weren't getting paid enough. It was frustrating to listen to them as they worked. We eventually got to a point where we had to tell them we would finish the job and just got rid of them.
In the end what should have been a two day job, turned into almost two weeks! Two cabinets had to be remade, two had to be altered by my dad, and the over the refrigerator cabinet had to be removed and reinstalled-- because I just can't reach over the refrigerator six inches~!
In the midst of all this turmoil, we moved our bed in on Thanksgiving night and spent our first night in the house.
Shopping for cabinets was a little depressing--they are so expensive. Our Midvale home has such a beautiful kitchen, we knew we couldn't afford to do that again. we were lucky to have Lane and Joe help us out there. This time around they were too busy, so we looked at Home Depot, Lowes, some other cabinet companies, then while I was looking at Restore I saw something that I quite liked. Restore is like a DI, but run by Habitat for Humanity. People and companies donate their old household items that is still in decent shape and you can pick up some basic stuff pretty cheap.
They also sell new cabinets made by a local cabinet shop at a discount. The knotty alder cabinets were nice. They looked like they would work, plus it did my giving heart good to know the profits of the sale go to a good cause. Earl decided he liked them too, so we decided to order our cabinets through them.
The man who sells them told us he also installs, and for a very reasonable cost, so we asked him to install them too. And that is were our woes began. He represented himself as a professional, working for a reputable organizations. He actually is not authorized to represent H4H. In fact, we learned later on, that when Restore decided to sell cabinets, he was told they were not to offer installation. Would have been nice to know!
This guy and his sidekick showed up in the evenings and made mistake after mistake, starting with measuring, and not verifying the original plans. From the corner cabinet being the wrong size to installing the sink base in the wrong place, it was like watching a couple of boys with their first erector set.
The first night wasn't so bad. They even brought a girlfriend who was willing to help me finish painting some trim work. By the second night, it was apparent theses clowns didn't know what they were doing. cabinets were crooked, the wrong size, and they continued to put things in the wrong places. Earl and my father started inspecting every little detail, and they were getting frustrated having someone watch over them.
They started getting testy, then combative, then they started complaining--even while I was in the room they would complain about my father and Earl. It took everything I had to not snap at them, but I wanted to get the cabinets in more than I wanted to tell them off.
By the third day, we realized they were not going to complete the job the way it should be done, and they started copping out--and didn't show up two days in a row. Earl and Dad had to go into Restore (that's when we found out about the moonlighting) and have the director come out and look at the poor job they were doing. That set off more complaining and whining about how difficult "the job" was and how they weren't getting paid enough. It was frustrating to listen to them as they worked. We eventually got to a point where we had to tell them we would finish the job and just got rid of them.
In the end what should have been a two day job, turned into almost two weeks! Two cabinets had to be remade, two had to be altered by my dad, and the over the refrigerator cabinet had to be removed and reinstalled-- because I just can't reach over the refrigerator six inches~!
In the midst of all this turmoil, we moved our bed in on Thanksgiving night and spent our first night in the house.
Too busy
Every few days Earl says to me, "gee, it sure would be nice to see more pictures on your blog." My answer to this is--I'm too busy working on the house, moving in, and just trying to keep myself sane to upload pictures, let alone write.
But this cold Sunday morning, I thought it was time to write. Curled up in a blanket, on the couch, watching it snow. Notice I said "on the couch!" That means we've come far enough to have some furniture in the house......yipee!
After Dad and Earl moved the walls in the hallway and we painted the two bedrooms upstairs, we had someone come in and finish off the wood flooring. We wanted to have wood in the dining room as well as the kitchen, so on a recommendation from a guy at work we had a young kid come in and dove tail wood into the existing and finish off the dining room and hall.
He did this the weekend we went to Callie's wedding...congratulations Cal. We came home from Idaho on Sunday, Nov. 21st, to find the floors done--and they are beautiful. It was the first time we felt like we were making real progress and could move in soon.
But this cold Sunday morning, I thought it was time to write. Curled up in a blanket, on the couch, watching it snow. Notice I said "on the couch!" That means we've come far enough to have some furniture in the house......yipee!
After Dad and Earl moved the walls in the hallway and we painted the two bedrooms upstairs, we had someone come in and finish off the wood flooring. We wanted to have wood in the dining room as well as the kitchen, so on a recommendation from a guy at work we had a young kid come in and dove tail wood into the existing and finish off the dining room and hall.
He did this the weekend we went to Callie's wedding...congratulations Cal. We came home from Idaho on Sunday, Nov. 21st, to find the floors done--and they are beautiful. It was the first time we felt like we were making real progress and could move in soon.
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