Front Room: Finishing the last 10%

Early in our renovation we tackled the front room. When we first moved in we used the area for a play space for wooden marble run towers, Hot Wheels tracks and the occasional Wii session. Time has passed- kids are getting bigger and we no longer need a play area. Plus, the Covid-19 quarantine crisis has given us the time to finish the basement so the TV and video games moved downstairs. 

Circa 2017-18

An early project for the house was adding a coat closet in the "dead" space between the front door and the hallway. 

Move in day

Framing a closet

Functional but needs some style

Final product: entry way bench & closet

Another project for this room was installing overhead lighting. This room was very dark with the only light coming from a single lamp. We tried using a torch light and it just wasn't working for us. But installing recessed lighting in a room without attic access can be a chore. Not to mention having to patch and paint the ceiling. We finally buckled down and just DID IT. And painting the ceiling was a pain, just like I thought it would be. But having light in that room is wonderful.

D also custom built doors for our sliding, overlapping barn doors. We used frosted glass to give the office (on the other side) some light but privacy to hide our messy craft/office stuff. I'm not sure that is a project he would be willing to take on again because making the doors was a challenge but they sure are lovely to look at. 

The biggest challenge with this front room was just finishing it off. It's the last 10% of the project that is the most boring- the touch up paint, finishing the floor trim, caulking the crown molding. I've been lucky with my new job to have some time at home and one week I just made the decision to finally just FINISH IT. 

I still need to decorate the walls, but I really love our finished product. 

Move in day

After Renovation (paint, recessed lights, doors, flooring, window treatments)

Move in day

After renovation

 

Beautiful New Kitchen, All DIY- FINAL reveal

Our beautiful new kitchen was entirely DIY with the exception of professionally installed granite counter tops and a professional to move our sink (because we needed to tap into the house main drain and we felt that was more than we could/should take on as novice plumbers). It took as a while as we always squeeze our house projects in around our day jobs, the kids' after school activities and fun time together as a family. I am so proud of the final result and the cost savings from providing our own labor.

We painted all the existing cabinetry (inside and out), added trim work to extend the cabinets to the ceiling, painted the walls, added trim to the island, added a tile back splash. We switched out the flooring in the whole house which is a separate post here. I also discussed our cabinet painting here and here.

And here is the final reveal....!

Granite counter: white base with gray, black and silver flecks

 

Extended the cabinetry to the ceiling 

 

Sink moved to the window. Large quartz off set bowl. 

Island overhang extended to the correct length. Trim added. New stools. 

Tile back splash. Gray and white herringbone pattern. 

Before

After

Before 

After

Before 

After

Before

After

Kitchen Upgrade Part 2

We are almost, almost, almost done with our kitchen transformation. I worked on painting the cabinets for MONTHS. It was a huge project but very personally satisfying. 

Move In Day

I worked section by section in the kitchen, emptying the cabinets, cleaning, sanding, priming and painting. This allowed our kitchen to be mostly functional for the months that it took me to finish. (I'm squeezing this in between work and helping at the kids' school, as well as participating in their after school activities). I painted inside and out..and under the hanging cabinets. I set up a shelf painting station in our front room to help with the process. 

Our version of "open shelving" while the cabinet fronts are painted

Working section by section 

My shelf painting station

In "Kitchen Upgrade Part 1" I talked about adding trim to the island and extending the cabinets all the way to the ceiling. It really gives the kitchen a nice finished look. 

Using some wood fill 

After I finished all the painting, we called in a plumber to move the kitchen sink from the corner cabinet to the area in front of the window. It is really unclear to me why they squashed it in that corner in the first place. The placement under the cabinet was awkward and made it difficult to have two people cooking in the kitchen at the same time- very strange given how large the kitchen actually is. 

Kitchen sink- Before

We went for a few months with plywood covering the hole in our counter top while saving up some money to purchase new granite counters. Even with our funky temporary set up the kitchen was starting to have a better traffic flow. 

It took a while to decide on the sink. I first thought I wanted a divided sink with a low partition in stainless steel finish. Then a large bowl...but finally decided on a light gray quartz off-set sink with a side drain. It's a huge sink and we panicked when it was delivered, but once the counter top guys got in installed, it was the perfect size. We love it. 

Kitchen sink- After

After several trips to various granite suppliers, we decided on a pattern, color and price point. It's difficult to see in the photos but we went with a white base with gray, black and silver sparkly flecks. It has light "swirling" of color in places but is fairly simple which suits us just fine.

Granite installation was very quick and easy. They laser measured and were able to schedule us quickly for installation. The installers were in and out in a half day. 

Island going in

What looks white on the wall above the counter is actually unpainted; were in the process now of adding a back splash that will go from the bottom of the cabinets to the counters. Deciding on a back splash has been the most difficult choice so far! We're nearly done...just finishing the grout this week...I can't wait to show you the finished product. But for now, here is our almost done kitchen! 

Beautiful!

Outdoor Retaining Wall

In September we had a slight deviation from the renovation plan. I was supposed to be working on the kitchen cabinet painting, but instead I spent time outside digging up the lawn. We had talked and talked about purchasing a hot tub for our back yard and I made the executive decision to start prepping the area. My thought was that I could prep the area while it was still warm, then over the winter we could shop for the hot tub. 

We have the perfect little niche on the walk out basement portion of our home where the yard slopes down and there is easy access from the back door. It's protected from the wind and is fairly obstructed when viewed from our neighbor's yard.  There is a pretty steep slope off the back and I have tried to improve the area by extending out the landscape from the deck because it is very difficult to mow on the large grade. Our plan was to expand on the existing retaining wall which would allow us to put the hot tub slightly under the deck overhang. 

Before we began digging

First we needed to remove the grass. Then we dug out the area around the existing retaining wall. Turns out a good portion of the wall was underground and we had no idea.

Next we purchased the retaining wall stones from Home Depot. We tried to match the existing stone but exposure to the elements had darkened the color slightly and the exact stone was no longer available in store. 

Expanding the wall 

Wall is finished. You can see the color difference between the old and new stone

After completing the retaining wall and tamping down the soil for the hot tub platform, we decided to add a slatted privacy wall, just to shield it a little bit more from the neighbor's back yard. I stained it the same color as the deck supports.  

 I added some landscaping on the back side of the retaining wall and mulched it a dark brown to match the deck.

 

Even though I thought we'd shop for a spa through the fall and get it installed later, we didn't have any delay between working on the hot tub "prep" and the actual purchase of the spa. Turns out that weekend the spa dealer had a tent sale and we ended up buying it right away. Actually that's the way we do a lot of things...think, think, think and plan...then boom!

 

 

Installation day

I'll add landscape around the edge of the hot tub this spring to give it a finished look 

Cozy little spot partially under the deck 

We also added a small Trex deck off the concrete patio in the same color boards as the deck above. This will keep us from having to mow/weed whip too close to the spa in summer, and keep us out of the snow with bare feet in the winter. 

Mini deck

We are using the spa all the time!!