Build Up Walls

This evening we began our knee wall construction! YAY!

We have only set up the frame but will continue with drywall later this week :-)

We started by measuring and cutting the necessary boards for the frame

Then came construction of the frame!

We actually nailed the pieces together while it was lying on it's side, but I don't have pictures of that

Just needed to add the top piece and screw the whole thing into the floor (of course there was constant checks to make sure our work was level)

We also started a small side project...

Below is a picture of our oh so beautiful carpet (she said sarcastically)

The giant pieces of dirt are from the saw...we are not messy like that!

In our effort to make the house look like it is from this decade, we began pulling up the carpet

Necessary trash pile picture 

I almost think the plywood floor covered in paint is better than that carpet! 

Stay tuned for continued construction...

Remodel Finally Continues

Now that the wedding is over we can get right back into our remodeling...and we are hitting it hard!

Today we started with the living room. We have new furniture on order and flooring quotes on the way but we need to start with a little bit of demo work.

Disclaimer...the pictures were taken with my cell phone which has a scratched camera lens, so please excuse the blurriness :-)

Our home is a split foyer and when you walk in there is a railing that separates the living room from the stairwell. We decided that this needed to be changed (the carpet is changing as well).

Our plan is to build a knee wall here but first everything needs to go...

Simply unscrewing the pieces of the railing was not going to work since each hole contained three, yes THREE, screws! So we started cutting!

Next came post removal...

At this point we kicked Roxy out of the room so she didn't step on a nail (Max and Capone were removed long before this step due to their more active behavior)

And the railing is no more! Success!!!

We also removed the railing that is still showing in this picture. After this first wall is complete, we will be building a new slant wall between the stair sets. 

Back tracking to the kitchen (which is still in progress)...we did add a little decor in the room. There is still a lot more to do though. New chairs, new cabinets, new countertops, new flooring...the list goes on and on!

It was night time and I was using that scratched cell phone camera again...so that explains the blurred pictures and awkward lighting

Time Away

I have not blogged since August! Ugh! Between wedding plans and school I have had little time for anything else. That means no house projects, no craft projects, no new books, no new anything!

Our wedding is less than two weeks away on October 14th! After that, things should start to settle down a little and Joe and I will start some more projects around the house. Of course, recent news of Joe's deployment in February will have us busy with plans for that.

Keep an eye out over the next few weeks for pictures from the wedding! We will be posting those as soon as possible!

Also, on a side note...I would like to inform readers of the Walk to End Alzheimer's. Joe and I are walking in with this in Baltimore on October 29th. I am currently raising money for our team. If interested, donations can be made directly online at https://www.kintera.org/faf/search/searchTeamPart.asp?ievent=454886&lis=1&kntae454886=2F60CB286B08421887915DF607FA44A2&supId=335369845&team=4826361. 


Well, until next time...happy blogging!

Guest Room Plans

Well I have been out of town for a little bit and haven't blogged and I am going through withdraw. How silly is that!?!

Our next big project (besides the kitchen chairs) is to work on the guest room in our basement. I am still out of town so I can't post pictures of what it looks like right now, but I think you will be excited. We have an extremely blank canvas to work with. 

The room currently has a slab of concrete for flooring, exposed cinder block exterior walls, and studs showing themselves where interior walls should be. 

The plan is to put carpet down (which is actually rolled up on the concrete right now) and put drywall up.  

Then...decorate!!

So here are some of the things we will be decorating with

First a comforter from Bed Bath & Beyond. It is a Hayley Queen Comforter with fun green, purple, blue and magenta colors. 

Here are some accent pillows we will use

Green

Magenta

Purple

And more Green

 

I want to paint the walls a combination of White and the Dark Purple...not quite sure if I plan on doing an accent wall or a pattern of some sort. 

There is also this chair from Joss and Main that I love!! It is a Curves Hour Glass Chair shown below in Vintage Shitake - depending on what color walls are or what patterns we do, I will either go with this color or a Vintage Linen that they have. 

The room does not have a closet in it which is great!! I love the idea of using an armoire!! Joe and I have started looking at a few used ones online and I like what we have seen. Obviously, we will have a refinishing session! Again, the color will depend on what is on the walls, or at least in that particular part of the room.

Here are a few that we are looking at...I am just posting pictures because they are from individuals and not companies. 

When I get back home from North Carolina I will post more on the status of the guest room and we will start working on it! Can't wait!!!

Grout Schmout

Today I spread the grout over the tile. 

Do you know what that means????

The next, and final step is to seal the grout and then I am done with this project!!! 

Yes, I still have to stain the chairs but I will consider that a different project so just roll with me here

I only got pictures of the completed project because Joe was at work still so you'll just have to use your imagination on the actual process. 

 First I spread the Haystack colored grout

Then I wiped it off

Yes...that was it. Very simple and unexciting huh

I have also completed to dried flower/feather arrangements and one will go right in the center of this beautiful table. I will have pictures of that as soon as the grout is dried and sealed!

Table Tiles!

This evening we started tiling!!! YAY!! 

First, Joe removed the last bits from the old tile by chiseling away. 

Then it was time to come up with a design...

We used porcelain tile from Home Depot called Montagna Belluna. The decorative pieces and square plain pieces are 6x6, the long rectangular pieces are approximately 3x12 and the smallest pieces are approximately 2x2. 

I didn't have a design planned, so I just started placing tile to see what happened!

FINALLY! About 45 minutes to an hour later, I had our design complete! 

The most frustrating part of the whole process was after the layout was complete. I had to take all the tile off the table so that we could lay the mortar. 

Of course I had to lay them out on the floor in the right pattern so that we didn't forget the order...

Now time for the mortar...

Joe spread the mortar while I laid the tile back in place right behind him

SUCCESS!!

Here are some pictures of the finished product. OK, it's not finished. We still have to put the grout over the tile and then seal the grout but we have to wait 24-36 hours before our next step. So here are pictures of the almost finished product...

Tomorrow is another day full of more project work. Can't wait to share it with you!