For some reason I have neglected posting about the basement. Let's remedy this situation immediately. The basement was a major selling point for us. It's a walk out basement, was already fitted with a (dated) bar and has a full bath. The basement is going to provide us with an excellent space to watch football (GO EAGLES!), entertain family & friends, watch movies, and much more! Originally the basement looked a little something likes this...
Forest green carpet and the TERROR-cotta tiles at the walk-out.
The original bar and more TERROR-cotta tiles!
Yellow wallpaper, ridiculous small mirror, dated vanites and of course, the terracotta...
Starting to rip up the carpeting...
Carpet is gone!
Beginning demo on the basement bathroom...
The basement became the catch-all for leftover appliances - but here you can see a fresh coat of white paint on the built-ins!
New tile in the bathroom! Lowes vanity with a granite remnant!
Vanity with wallpaper and faucet - YES - after the pain all that other wallpaper was we actually put some in the house. I don't care! I really like it :)
The bar! A local gentleman made our custom cabinetry and I think he did a fantastic job!
Countertops!
The backsplash is up! This is the view looking into the basement from the stairs...
Love it! Can't wait to see how the carpeting looks now!
They're here! They're finally here! The kitchen cabinetry and the appliances have arrived at the house. I will update soon with pictures of the countertops. At the moment they are covered with protective brown paper and scattered tools. It's all coming together and we couldn't be more excited!
Disclaimer: the gold original "hair dryer chair" lights are NOT staying!
Don't mind the cans hanging from the ceiling either.
We're adding a farmhouse sink under the bay window. Can't wait!
Kevin Reeves' wife faux painted the patio doors to compliment the new hardwoods. Love it!
Sorry, I've been on a Beyonce kick lately. Cannot get enough. Anyways, they are starting to put in the new light fixtures in the home and it's making such a huge difference! Do you remember the awkward gold sconces on the first floor hallway that were actually installed upside down? Here's a reminder...
We now have something a little more current on the wall and I think it's making such a big difference! What do you guys think?
Next up we have a picture of what the dining room originally looked like:
How about a fresh coat of paint and an updated light fixture? How do you like it?
Originally, the kitchen's gas range used a downdraft hood for exhaust. If you're not familiar with downdraft hoods the general consensus is that they don't work very well. We are installing a common overhead hood over our range. The problem we came across was creating ventilation for this hood to the exterior of the home. Unfortunately, the best solution was to take the exhaust "tubes" (for lack of a better word) upstairs and vent them to the exterior in our MASTER BEDROOM. Ugh. So here's what the "tube" originally looked like.
Hi, I'm huge and awkward.
No seriously, look how close to the ceiling it is.
Fortunately, our HVAC sub fitted the tube with an "elbow." That's the accordion piece in the photo below that's fitted on the tube. It allows the tube to lay really tight against the wall. What we're thinking of doing is having our amazing local carpenter/custom cabinetry guy build a shelving unit around the tube. It will completely hide this dumb tube (I'll get over it.) and also provide shelving for books, photos, etc. We are meeting with Andy (carpenter) tomorrow to go over some templates. Fingers crossed we come up with a great solution!
Remember that hot mess that used to be our Master Bath? Just in case, here are some reminders...
Did you forget about the mauve/pink motive that our Master Bathroom had embraced? How about that thick pile carpet that went throughout the bathroom? Have you forgotten about our awkward, raised, jetted tub? It was also adorned with pink tile...
Tub during demo..
Don't forget the pink faux painted walls!
Hello fresh start! When we were envisioning our Master Bath we wanted to go in a traditional and classic direction. We splurged on marble tile for the shower and basketweave tile on the floor. Needless to say, I think it paid off! We are in love!
Our beautiful shower!
Andrew modeling the tub area...
So grateful for a separate water closet.
So much space!
Can't wait to update you guys on the Master Bath again once the cabinetry is in! Sorry about the lack of updates lately, I have been a traveling fool. I am in town now for the next three weeks so expect lots more updates now that we are making some major progress. Who knows - we may ACTUALLY be able to move in sometime soon?
Welcome home hardwoods! We are so excited to have you for our flooring! Look at all those boxes scattered throughout the house!
They began putting the flooring down in the master bedroom! Things are really starting to finally come together. Sorry for all the exclamation points - we have just waited so long for it to happen!
After jumping through hurdles to acquire the side lot next to ours from our country club we immediately began searching for a fencing company to build us a privacy fence. Finding a local, reputable company was more difficult than we imagined. We finally settled on working with Atlas Fence. We had some issues with them but we are happy with how the final product turned out. We wanted a way to keep in Scout Dog. If you haven't had the opportunity to meet her yet (are we really friends?) she is a very athletic dog who can jump incredibly high. Since having her we have constantly worried about her getting out of our current backyard because she's been able to climb, jump or push open the fence. Now once we move to our new home she will have tons of room to run around like the crazy doggie she is. Here's part one of the fence!
One detail we really love about the home is the exposed beams in the living room. The original beams were stained a very light color. Since we are putting darker hardwoods throughout the home we wanted to change the color on the beams to match the hardwoods. Fortunately for us, our contractor's wife is a professional faux painter and has been on the DIY network. Here's a look at the before and after shots. In the photos the beams turn out a bit darker than they are in real life. The camera isn't able to capture the variation on the beams. Hope you like the beams as much as we do!
Apologies for the lack of updates the past few weeks. Truth be told not
much was happening. Apparently for the painters all of the wallpaper
was too much for them to handle removing. We also had an issue with
getting a plumber out to the house so we could pass inspection for all
the plumbing. We now have new painters working on the walls for us and
things are really progressing. Since we have passed inspection for the
plumbing tiles started going up in 3 out of the 4 bathrooms. I'll list
some before and after pics below. The new tile has already made such a
difference!
You remember the PINK master bath.
The Master Bath is no longer PINK!
Basement Bar: Before
Tile we used in Bar & Basement Bath!
New basement bar tile!
Gross basement bathroom: before
Basement Bathroom: Before
New Basement Bath tile
Basement Bath Shower Tile!
Upstairs Bath Before.
Red tile & floral wallpaper!
New upstairs bath tile
How does it look?
Up close & personal...
First floor full bath: BEFORE
New tile on first floor bath
Clean and classic white!
That's all the tile that has been completed as of now! I think the Master Bath may get it's very own post. We can't wait to see how it all comes together. Thanks for checking in!
