Laundry Room Changes

The door in the laundry room has  been boarded up and will eventually be replaced with a window. There will be more major changes to the laundry room in the near future. For now, here are some pictures of the first stage of changes.

The door will be removed and replaced with a window. This shows the door with a blind. Don't you love the hole in the ceiling and the orange bucket.

Door has been boarded up and the bucket is gone!

View from outside where laundry room door was.

Knock! Knock!

Knock! Knock! Will someone please let me outta here???
The opening that leads from the kitchen into the hall has been boarded up. We were all afraid that one of us would get up in the middle of the night to go into the kitchen and run into the wall. So far, none of us have run into the wall but Kolle has had a hard time adjusting to this change. She would be in the kitchen and just stand at the wall and whine and whine wanting to get to the other side. She just could not understand that she couldn't get through that way. Dogs seems to be creatures of habit as much as we humans are.

Look past the messy refrigerator and you can see the opening that leads into the hallway.

The opening has been boarded up (this is a view from the hall). That's the doggie gate leaning up against the wall. Guess we no longer need it there.

Movin' on Down

Remember the theme song of the TV series "The Jeffersons"?  While the painters are working upstairs, Ricky and David are "movin on down" (as in downstairs) and have started knocking out doors & walls. The first thing they did was remove the side window in the kitchen/dining area and replaced it with a door (originally a door was there before we put in a window about 15 years ago).

Window in dining area

The window was replaced with a door.

Another shot of the new door that was installed.

The new side door from outside. A small porch with roof will be added (so I won't get wet when its raining and I'm trying to unlock the door).

More Renovation Updates

 While we had a few days off from work (due to furlough days along with holidays) and headed to Boston, our contractors only took Thanksgiving day off then were back to work.  Doug and I were anxious to get back home today to see what had been done. Doors were hung, shelving was built, baseboards, crown moldings and window moldings were put up, and cabinets were installed...

Door at top of stairs was hung

Crawl space doors were hung

Crawl space, closet and entrance doors were all hung in the upstairs bedrooms.

Crown molding was put up

As was the molding around the windows

Shelving for shoes in largest of two closets

Small rod in closet to hang long dresses

Other side of closet with shelves and rods

One of the saws that the contractors are using

New shelves in linen closet in bathroom. Uh--oh, I thnk I forgot to tell them that the wall paper was supposed to go! I hope they can paint over it.

Shelves in smaller closet. More will be added.

Cabinets in the hall area were put back in. These had to be taken out when the tile was ripped out.
 

Thanksgiving Day

This Thanksgiving we decided to do a "Non-Traditional" Thanksgiving. Kristen had to work Thursday and Friday so she couldn't be in Boston until late Friday night. Chad also couldn't make it on Thursday so we decided to cook steaks on Saturday when we could all get together. So.....Amanda, Doug, and I decided to participate in the Thanksgiving Day run/walk in Valdosta. This was a "no frills" race, meaning you did not receive a T-Shirt for participating. You did get to donate canned goods and pay a small fee of $5.00 to participate.  

Doug, Amanda, and I all started out together walking...

All the runners took off and left us in their wake. BTW, I'm in the blue shirt, A is in the pink shirt and D is behind us in the white shirt. It was quite warm and humid on Thanksgiving day.

I think Amanda was already looking for a ride and we had just started!

 

Amanda decided not to catch a ride after all. She and Doug ran together and she finished right before him.

Doug trying to catch Amanda

I was in major  pain and praying I could make it across the finish line. I attended a "boot camp" exercise class with Amanda on Wednesday and was feeling that on top of trying to run! Hey,  I got second place in my (old) age group!

TDSW

TDSW? Bet you are wondering what in the world TDSW is? Nope, it does not stand for  "The Discount Shoe Warehouse",  which is my favorite shoe store in the world (actually that is DSW). Since I couldn't think of a catchy title for this blog, I just decided to use the initials of what I'm blogging about today.

T is for Tile(s)
The tile for the shower & bathtub should be completed soon. The contractors ran into some "no so squared walls" and are having to improvise and make some corrections, which is taking longer than expected. In the meantime, I have to decide on grout color. Should I go with a darker or lighter grout? I keep thinking a darker color will hide any hints of dirt. Any suggestions are welcomed!

Shower with border and soap dish

Shower floor, wall, and border

D is for Door(s)
As I mentioned in the previous post, the doors for upstairs were delivered and have been moved from the front porch to upstairs. They have not been installed but are waiting on that special day.

Doors for rooms

Door for crawlspace. These doors have a weatherized strip on backside for added insulation.

Doors for the crawlspace will go on left and right of dormer area

S is for Sheetrock.
The sheetrock guy has completed sheetrocking and the walls are ready for paint. Anyone who chooses sheetrocking as a career is a very special (or totally insane) person. I have no idea how someone can stand to work with all the mud and dust involved! There is a constant film of white dust everywhere.

Sheetrocked walls ready for paint. What color should I pick?

W is for Window(s)
All the new windows have been installed and the insulation foam has been sprayed. Yay for no more drafts after all is complete.

Vinyl windows that will pop out for easy cleaning

Window in bathroom. 

The new windows upstairs across back of house.
Notice the pipe that runs up the back of the house? That should be removed this week if EMC shows up as planned.

Upstairs Update

The  bathroom tile is looking so good! The floor has been completed (except for the grout)  and now the tub and shower tiling are under construction. In addition to the bathroom work, the sheetrock guy has been working steadily in the bedrooms & closets and should be completed soon. New windows have been installed and the new doors along with the molding and shelving arrived today.

Charkee checking out her tub

Shower floor and part of the wall

Another shot of shower floor, bathroom floor, and shower wall