March | 2015

What a messy month this has been. Sickness has come and gone … and come and gone. Snow and ice have come and gone … and come and gone, again. Oh, to see the sun shine!!

I am relieved (ecstatic!) to say the painting is done. Everything has at least one coat of color, most walls have 2 coats, and some portions of the ceiling have 3 or 4. We learned a hard lesson about ceiling paint and color matching at Lowe’s: Do not buy their “ceiling flat paint”. It’s base is a white/gray, and will not give you the color you want (even if the guy at the counter says it will). Just buy the normal interior flat paint. It’s actually easier to work with and will give you just the color you are hoping for.

This mistake was heartbreaking at the time, having to re-do what we already thought was “done”. Also, do not leave 10 gallons of paint in the back of your van for days and days when it’s snowing and icing outside. Paint freezes and then it’s ruined. Another hard lesson.

With painting behind us, Brad made short work of the window trim and knocked it out in 2 days. It’s perfect. We are working toward getting conditional power before putting down the hardwood floors. The mechanical and electrical guys are coming back out to hook up/cap off things, and the plumber is setting the first of the sewer pipes.

Brad’s folks have tackled the tile floors head on this month, and it looks SO good. I knew tile was labor intensive, and the cost of hiring someone to tile was expensive. I now understand why. Beyond the hard work of lifting and cutting backer boards, mixing and toting mud, lifting and cutting tiles … you’ve got to be smart about what you are doing. 1/8th’s of inches matter and having a good start sets you up for a good job overall. We are so thankful they are willing (and happy) to work hard for us. Next, will be the full shower in our master bath, and the walls around the tub in the kid’s bath.

My list of things to decide is getting much shorter. I ventured down to IKEA recently, without the children (oh, the quiet!), and found most of our lighting fixtures. The Habitat restore had several more ($4 for a vanity light? yes, please!). The rest are coming from Lowe’s and Amazon. A bit of spray paint for a few of them and lighting fixtures will be done! I’m still looking for a couple of vanities, tile for the master shower, and I need to choose carpet for the bedrooms – but I think that’s about it for my “design-decision” list.

Did I write about the fireplace hearth yet? The masons came back out a few weeks ago and bricked the hearth and sides of the fireplace. It’s just what we were hoping for. Brad will trim out with wood above the brick to the ceiling to finish it off. The children are usually camped out at the fireplace with a movie while we work, so I’ll try to get a picture of the hearth next time we’re out there.

We have hired someone to caulk/paint the exterior of the house and the plan is for him to start whenever good weather returns. Brad is glad to have it off his to-do list and I am beyond thrilled he won’t be at the top of a 22′ ladder. I have gotten used to the house being primer gray, so much so, that it almost feels like a new idea that it will change to creamy white soon. I can’t wait to see it.

Here are a few pictures taken this weekend, after Brad finished the window trim. My next job will be to caulk and paint the trim, while Brad gets everything ready to lay the hardwood floors.