Back In

So, now that we've been back in the house for several weeks, it's starting to feel like home again.  Thankfully all of the major stuff was done in plenty of time for Baby Bravo's arrival and we've had a chance to get settled in.  There are still a few minor things left on the to do list (like changing out switches, etc.), but nothing major.

I'm pretty happy with how everything turned out.  Although I would *never* volunteer to go through this again, at least now that we're back in the house, we're enjoying the new paint, flooring, and other miscellaneous details that we were able to pick out ourselves.

I wish I had some good before photos, but alas, had no idea that this remodel was coming and therefore don't have anything good to share.  (All of the before photos were taken before we owned the house, with the previous owner's furniture, back when I was in VA and Matt was looking at the house).

We darkened the green kitchen (before, it was almost a faded sage green) walls, and went ahead and had a smooth ceiling installed since all of the drywall/ceiling had to be replaced anyway.  The smooth ceiling and the addition of a backsplash were the upgrades that we shelled out for.  We chose a tile that hides dirt really well and ties the brown wood of the cabinets with the black of the granite counter tops. The cabinets are a darker brown with a black glaze to enhance the "architectural details".

Our designer helped us pick out a lot of our color and tile choices.  She also came up with this backsplash picture frame design, which I really like.  You can also see the black glaze on the cabinets along the edges of the doors.

We added the sheer full-length curtains on the windows to help out when the morning sun is blinding us during breakfast and to add some height to the windows.  I found them online at Wal-Mart and am pretty happy with how they look in the space.

Before:

After:

We chose the color in the main living area after seeing it at Wade's cousin's lake house.  We really liked the gray shade that had just a hint of blue in it in his guest room, but I wasn't sure if it would work in our living space.  However, Matt told me that he was sick of tan and almost insisted on the gray.  He chose well and I'm pretty happy with how it looks once it was all painted, especially with the white trim.  (We had a really ugly almond color for all of the trim before and now it just looks so much cleaner and brighter!)

The mantle was refinished and came out really well.  It coordinates perfectly with my dining room table and the posts even match the legs of the dining room chairs.

Before:

After:

Another change we made was to extend the tile out from the kitchen to in front of the back door.  This was to protect the floor right there from both dog nails (as they try to bolt out the back door to chase a squirrel) and from wet feet as people come inside from the pool.

Before: 

 After:

I think the gray makes the ceilings much more dramatic as it brings out the contrast with the white ceiling.  Too bad they're all popcorn ceilings!

Before:

After:

We changed out all of the hardware in the half bath to brushed nickel and got a new mirror, wall color, and tile (same as in the kitchen/laundry room).  I really like the light blue green color on the walls and the white mirror with the pedestal sink.  I *hated* the old brass fixtures and light in this room but never got around to doing anything about it before now. 
  

Dining room:

Because the flooring in the den/dining/foyer was so damaged, we got new wood laid all the way to the office/nursery and then they came in and refinished it all at once.  We went with a little bit darker stain (Early American) in a satin finish and are pretty happy with it, especially since we had to have it coordinate with the wood on the front door and wood trim on the stairs and mantle.

I had been eyeing that chandelier for months before the pipe burst!  I stalked it online and waited till it went on sale before using a gift card that I had from Pottery Barn to pay for part of it.  We still have to pull up the extra cord, but I really love that light fixture in there!

Here's what it looks like up close:

Instead of completely replacing the upstairs back bath vanity, we were able to have it refinished.  I love love love it!  It's a little Restoration Hardware-ish (to go with our dining room table and new mantle finish) and looks really good with the new gray tile and light blue green wall (same color as the downstairs bath).  Now I really want to refinish the cabinets in my own bathroom!

If you need any recommendations on subcontractors, we had really good help with this remodel and would be happy to share recommendations with anyone interested.

A couple of funny stories from when we were in the apartment...

The first is when we came in one day to check on progress on the house and found a random pair of *dirty* boxers in the middle of the half bath.

Gross.

I mean, WHO does that?  Who leaves dirty underwear in the middle of the floor, in a construction site?!

I sent an email to our general contractor addressing a few other concerns and then added, "Third, there is a random pair of dirty underwear on the floor in the half bath downstairs.  This is not ours.  I guess I don't even know what to say about that one.  It's a little comical, but thought I'd ask that people not leave their underwear in my house."

Afterward, Matt confides in me that he thinks it could be possible that the underwear came from the back of the hollowed out sink pedestal base, which had just been removed, and could have been further "party trash" leftover from the previous owner's son (we've found all sorts of stuff hidden throughout the house/yard over the years).  I relayed this to our contractor, who was relieved to hear of the possible alternate source of the boxers and forwarded an email from his crew manager saying he couldn't believe it - he'd ask his guys - but he did think he saw a pair of underwear when he removed the sink base.

So... I'm not sure which is worse - dirty "party boxers" hidden in my house for at least the last three years, or some random contractor leaving his underwear in the middle of a job site!  Hopefully they didn't actually belong to one of OUR friends... (were they yours?)

The second had to do with living in the apartment.  We had a little bit of an adjustment period getting used to all of the noises that come from having so many neighbors in such close proximity.  Soon after a new guy moved in next door, I started being woken up 2-3 nights a week.  I was just suuuure it was the new kid with the BMW e46.

Finally, one night, at 2:30 AM, I'd had enough.  I got up, got dressed, and was going to hunt down whoever was playing that music, complete in all of my makeup free, retainer-mouthed, pregnant belly glory.  I marched outside, completely ticked off and ready to chew someone a new one.

Except the sound wasn't coming from one of my neighbors.

It was loud.  I thought someone in the complex must be having a party on their balcony but the complex was completely still and dead.  The sound was coming from over the hill.  So I came back in and tried to brainstorm what bar could be close enough to have such loud music to wake me up.

I told Matt about my dilemma and he suggested it had to be the strip club over the hill and down the road a bit.  I called the Sheriff and sure enough - they'd already had a complaint about it and had someone on the way to address the noise complaint.  Of course they were pretty astounded to hear that it was so loud that it'd been waking us up - inside our apartment - all the way down the road.

The music stopped about twenty minutes later.  But at that point I was so pissed I didn't go right back to sleep anyway.

Go figure.

At least I never gave into my temptation to bang on the wall and wake up the poor kid with the BMW because I was convinced it was him keeping me up!

I'm so thankful to be back in our house.  In the county.  In the quiet.  With only the coyotes and owls to listen to.

I'm so so soooo thankful that we made it back into our own home before we have this kid (who - unless he comes in the next three hours, is going to be just like his sister - late)!  I had been terrified that we'd have him while staying in a hotel, and am really grateful for those answered prayers to have everything wrapped up in time for his arrival.