A room with a view

Heading back to kitchen remodel mode.  Our old kitchen is going to become our new dining room.  What I really wanted was a back door.  There is no way to get to the backyard in the house from inside the house.  It's a pain in the rear.  My husband and I settled on a door style over the summer but didn't purchase since we were going to Disney and didn't have the extra money for it.

He finally got on it and ordered the door and guess what!  30'F today and the door was installed!  It was a tad chilly in the house this afternoon but it was so worth the sacrifice.

tarped to keep the heat in

big hole in the house... turn your head

don't mind the view of the backyard junk.  Bonus - those side windows open!

my pretty door handle

taking shape

I love it.  I love that I can look outside and SEE all of outside.  I love that I can get to the backyard without walking outside and around the house.  I love that my husband is so knowledgeable with these things and it only took him a couple of hours with a friend to get the install done and not all day long with many trips to Home Depot like that  Renovation Realities show.  I love that show, btw.  It cracks me up that people who have no construction background think that they can tear down and install a brand new kitchen in 3 days on a $1.50 budget.

Next on the list is new insulation, new sheet rock, electrical and paint.  Then our new hardwood floors.  YEEHAW!  Next Spring, a new back deck is going to be built but I won't bug him too much about that.

I will be back soon to show you what I have been working on. 

Enjoy your day!
Jen

Wow. August Already.

Where does the time go?  It's August already.  Amelia and I were talking about the month and all that's going on this morning.  This week she is attending a swim day camp.  She did a week in July for the first time and really enjoyed herself so we signed her up for another week.  Then she has a "free" week and then she's going to New Hampshire with my MIL the week of her birthday.  Then it's back to school.

Where did the Summer go???  But the GOOD thing about the summer ending and back to school... DISNEY!  43 more days, my friends.  FORTY THREE more days!  Which means 18 more days until the big reveal!  Getting soooo close!

Do you all want to see my kitchen??  Oh it is soooo pretty!  I love it.  Love it.  Love it!  Few more things need to get finished in the space before we'll call it "done for now" but we're getting there.  Window needs to be trimmed out and the exhaust hood needs to be hooked up.  Right now it vents to nowhere - actually it blows back into the house.  Defeats the purpose of an exhaust hood, doesn't it?  Chris just has to go outside and cut into the house.  Just hasn't had the time.  Next year, flooring and glass tile back splash.

Here it is!  A clean slate before I unpacked the "stuff" that goes on the counters.

 And here it is - unpacked.

 The rest of the old kitchen cabinets have been taken off the walls.  Sink base is still in the space.  The plumber was here last night, capping off the old plumbing.  We're moving along.  I actually snuck in some sewing!  But I didn't take any pictures of it yet.  LOL.  I am very scatterbrained these days.  Now that the kitchen is done, I hope I get back to normal.

Be back soon!!

Enjoy your day!
Jen :)

2 whole posts for the month

Wow.  2 whole posts.  That's it.  Tells you how much sewing I've done during the month.  Zero.  Sad.  Just no time.  But exciting things have been happening over here.  The kitchen  is really coming along.  I'll show you where we were about a week ago.  Granite templating happened last Friday and our install date is scheduled for August 3rd.  I'll show you "prettier" pictures then.

my sink area

my seeded glass cabinet for my pretty dishes

other side of sink (before the upper cabinets were installed)

stove area and breakfast bar

all the cabinets are up (ignore the water line from the fridge)

fridge in its new home

Lighting is up.  Hardware is being put on the cabinets slowly.  We got a lot of door knobs and drawer pulls to put on.  Most of my old kitchen has been moved out and things are in their homes in the new kitchen.  Stove has been moved over.  Things are still in disarray over here.  But slowly, life is getting back to normal.  Next on the list is the demo of our old kitchen.  Cabinets need to be removed and the sheet rock needs to be pulled off and new put up in its place.  The ceiling in the old kitchen and hallway needs to be scraped.  We have a smooth ceiling in the new kitchen and popcorn texture in the old.  Since it will be one continuous space, ceilings need to match.  Then priming and painting.  Not sure of what color I'm going to use in our dining area.  Maybe a medium shade of gray.  We'll see.

So.  That's what's been happening here.  No sewing but lots of kitchen focus.  I need to get back to sewing though.  I have 3 more pencil cases to make for party favors.  Amelia's birthday is in 30 days.  Which means in 30 days, I get to spill the beans for our big secret!!  56 more days until Disney!!

I'll be back soon!  I promise.  :)
Enjoy your day!

Jen

It's been a while, huh?

First off... Happy 4th!  I hope everyone is staying cool and enjoying the holiday (if you are in the States).

I noticed my last post was 3 weeks ago.  Sorry!  Life has been nutty and truly?  I haven't done anything creative.  I spent some time in my sewing room today and thought I would be in there for hours but it took all I had to go up there for the 2.5 hours I worked in there.  I'm just not feeling it.

Let me fill you in on the last 3 weeks.  The secret trip to Lake George, NY for a few days was a hit.  Amelia had no clue and was even a bit confused.  She asked if we were going to NH after Lake George.  When we told her we were sticking around LG for a few days instead, she was super happy.  We had a nice time.

Project "New Kitchen" is underway.  I'll show you some progress photos if you care to see them.  I thought it was a lost cause and now it's on fast forward.  My house is a wreck.  Boxes of kitchenware is on/in every available space.  There is a fine layer of sheet rock dust on everything too.  My husband promises to put up some plastic when they sand it down to help with that.  I have old sheets to put on my furniture too.  I'm not going to bore you with all the different angles of demo photos I took.  And if you're on FB, you've seen them already.  This is a picture, standing in my new kitchen looking into the old.  My breakfast bar is going there.

Loving all the sheet rock dust!  NOT!

all sheet rocked and first coat of compound on

just another view

Punk lost her 2 front teeth.  One came out about a week ago and the 2nd she pulled out while on vacation with the in-laws in NH.  I haven't seen her yet with the 2nd one missing.  She's still on vacation.  Talk is they will be heading home either tomorrow or Friday.  I've enjoyed my peaceful time but I'm ready for her to be home again.  I miss her.

Tooth Fairy visit again!

And some sewing.  I finished 8 of the 13 pencil cases that I need to make for Amelia's upcoming birthday party.  I like how they came out and I totally shopped in my stash.  You can't tell that I did that; made not a dent in it but that's okay.  I need to shop for the 3 boys.  Amelia wants theirs to be super heroes and race cars.

And you know what else?  I was in Walmart yesterday and they already have "Back to School" stuff out!  Really??!  Back to school??   School barely finished up here and they already want us to buy new pens and pencils for school.  Insane.

I haven't mentioned it in a while but as of today.... 76 more days until our Disney trip!!  And in 52 days, my baby is going to be turning 7 and will be getting the biggest surprise of her life!  Next month I can finally spill the beans!!

Enjoy your day!  I promise not to be away for so long again.
Jen :)