The mother of all posts.

I finally located my camera cord and found all kinds of goods in there. I'll start off with a brief overview of the day and then get to all the photog goodies.

Today was a GREAT day at the house. Things are a rockin and a rollin. The siding is...wait for it...DONE! Done, done, done...bye, bye Tyvek. They even cleaned up the front yard today of all the materials and it's actually looking like a real home from the outside. They will spend tomorrow fine tuning things like caulking all the seams, putting the last couple gutters on, re-working the front dormers we discussed in detail yesterday, etc. Their next move will be to completely strip the garage down of all its metal goodness and start prepping it for the new roof and siding. We have until next Friday to get that puppy completely finished since the painters come the following Monday to paint it. Jon assured me this won't be a problem. Woo hoo!

The interior crew was also in full force today plugging away on the interior trim. The crown moulding is nearly complete and the base will go in tomorrow. Here are a few quick shots of the entryway:


Even the window trim is about 90% done. They'll continue forging ahead tomorrow in an effort to get the painters a head start on caulking and filling holes. Things are looking good!

Being that our air conditioner is yet to be hooked back up, last night was a steamy, muggy night at our house which made it really difficult to sleep (anyone else a fan of a freezing cold room to snuggle up in at night?) I was laying there thinking [stressing] about how that last week of the project is going to play out (week of 5/30). We need to have the counter tops installed, the appliances delivered, the electricians in to install all the outlets/switches/fixtures, the plumber in to install the sink/toilet/faucet/refrigerator/gas to stove/dishwasher, the wallpaper installer in, security system installed...not to mention final cabinet hardware, door hardware, towel bars, etc. It's not as easy as just calling everyone and saying have it done by 6/3 because things need to happen in a particular order. The plumber can't install the appliances if there's no electricity running to them, etc. So I'm trying to lay that week out in great detail in order to A) not have everyone climbing all over eachother trying to get everything done and B) to make sure one sub-contractor doesn't hold up another sub. More to come on that.

But let's talk about the fun stuff! Prior to the cabinetry being installed, I took some 'before' pictures of the particular spaces minus cabinets. So, here you have it...the before and afters. SOME of the crown is seen in these photos...but not all. Keep in mind base will run along the bottoms of all the cabinetry you see here, so that is yet to come.

Dining Room


(Still missing crown, base, drawers and hardware)

Family Room


If you remember back to previous posts, when we opened up the wall that used to separate the old dining room from the old family room, we had to scooch the vent stack over from the furnace downstairs. We were able to move it over and used cabinetry to disguise it...here are the before and afters:


Now, the cabinetry definitely isn't the most functional thing in the world, but it serves several purposes by A) balancing out the uber functional cabinetry on the opposite wall and B) has a sliver of space to the right of the chimney for DVD storage and C) what you can't tell from the photo is that there is a good 2 1/2" of space in front of the box that encloses the pipes. I have all sorts of ideas of things I could create in there: a bulletin board/message station, broom storage, a vertical filing station, etc.

Before I move on to the exterior, I thought I'd share a shot of the mudroom light fixtures I picked up from Southern Lights this week. I am LOVING them (kudos to the hubs for humoring my photo opp). There will be three of them in this little mudroom:-)


And here you have the exterior photos. Remember the front dormers still need to be reworked...so I should have the after shots of those for you tomorrow. In the meantime, every single tree in our yard is flowering making our landscape look quite posh!






My people, we are getting there. Really, this is the final push. Things are going to start transforming next week with the installation of the entire kitchen and mudroom cabinetry and the paint going up in less than 2 weeks. My photos are going to become narrower shots in order to preserve a final reveal for you. I'll keep the details coming, but will attempt to keep things interesting for you as we go:-) Tonight? A toast to minimal banging left on the exterior and more soundly napping children...and to YOU, my faithful follower. Cheers!