Category Archives: Front Room/ Dining Area
Windows Install Part 2
I think I mentioned that today is the BEGINNING of our entire house window and door install. We have been waiting almost three months for these babies to get placed in our house. Needless to say, as my work day progressed I was more and more nervous to drive home and see what progress had been made.
As I pulled into the driveway, I immediately saw a difference.
All the windows minus the front window next to the door had been replaced.
Because of the cost associated with completely removing the frames from our concrete block construction, our windows are actually retrofitted. This means that the installers removed as much of the original window frame as the could from the opening and then installed the new window on top of the original frame. Basically all the windows are a little smaller to fit and the framing is a little larger.
You can see the extra “frame” on this window compared to the older one.
If we had the resource to remove all the frames, I would have done it. No question, but given our choices I don’t think the larger frame is too bad. Certainly something I can work with!
Our giant panes of glass along the interior patio were also replaced with two paned glass. This was one of the jobs that I did not want to do myself! It was an easy decision to leave the removing and disposal of the glass to the professionals.
The interior framing of all the windows will happen next week when the doors are installed.
Tomorrow the guys will finish the front picture window. This should be our most dramatic change. Stay tuned!!
Windows Install Part 1
I am so happy to announce that our windows are being installed today. (Can I have a big woo hoo!!!) The wait has been excruciating long, but now I can finally see what all this patience has earned me. (Double paned windows, baby!!)
The crew arrived right before 8AM with a trailer packed tightly with all our new windows. I saw a few glimpses before I headed to work, but I will have to wait through the work day before I see the transformation. We have been told that the window install will take two days so this is only the very beginning of the process.
Windows and Doors
I have been keeping a secret. For a couple months, Nate and I have been researching, visiting showrooms and weighing options. On what you ask? Well, after a very long deliberation, we purchased all new windows and doors for our house. Its a major investment and our first major reno on the house.
I was adamant to follow the proper homeowner protocol of getting three different vendor quotes, checking out the companies and really weight all our options before deciding.
We signed the contract back in May and now we are waiting. The vendor has told us it will take 2-3 days for the install. I can’t wait. Its going to be such a major boost to our house!!
Stay tuned – we should be scheduling the install in the next week or so.
Beach-a-riff-ic
Yep. That’s our front room.
Beach-a-riff-ic.
Beachy.
Beach-a-boom-boom.
Something like that.
We started with a room (20′ 5″ x13′ 4″) that expands into a long dining area (11′ 5″ x 33′).
We had creepy wallpaper and old carpet to deal with, but once they were gone we had a blank slate.
I knew that we would move the white linen couch and chair into the front room so I decided to go super organic and beachy through the space.
IKEA became my #1 contributor with a new coffee table and rug.
Accessories ranged from thrift store finds, travel goodies and etsy finds.
Closing out 2009
The last few weeks have been a blur for Nate and I. We scurried to finish up our big projects before the holidays and then celebrated with friends and family in our lovely house.
Below are a few photo highlights. I hope to post reveals of the front and great rooms this week!
Happy New Year!!
Painting our Great Room.
Installing countless IKEA pieces.
Updating all the old electrical plugs and switches.
Installing curtains in the dining room.
Installed New Door Knobs and Locks
Spray Painting the Wood Stove
A very satisfying weekend
The Thanksgiving holiday weekend turned out to be a great time to work on the house. (I know, I know… that’s really not a big surprise to anyone.)
I arrived home late afternoon on Wednesday to find the house almost completely green.
I also found my uncle Terry sporting our chopped celery color all over himself from using the paint sprayer. He is such a good sport to help us out. I don’t think we could have done half the paint job without him.
On Turkey Day, Nate felt horrible and slept most of the day before we went to Thanksgiving dinner at his brother’s home.
I continued to paint the back porch per Terry’s instructions.
I also tested the adhesive remover on the kitchen floor. It worked great and I am very excited to work on the rest of floor.
Black Friday was cold, windy and rainy so we couldn’t work on the exterior. Nate and I went and bought more paint, trim and a new porch light.
Then Nate raked and mowed the front yard while I filled and then sanded the trim around the windows and front door. After I cleaned up all the sanding debris, I painted the first coat of trim.
Saturday was my family’s Thanksgiving celebration so we didn’t work on the house BUT early Sunday morning Terry came over to get the rest of the house sprayed while I continued to work on the back porch.
My parents stopped by later in the afternoon and helped me install the front porch light. (I’ll write more about that later.)
Overall, I feel like we accomplished a lot and I am still very hopefully to get our to-do list all checked off before Christmas.
This week I plan on finishing the trim in the front room and around the windows plus taking off the first layer of glue in the kitchen.
December DIY List
So Nate and I will be hosting Christmas and New Years at our place this year. I am really excited. I love this time of year and can’t wait to get our first Christmas tree and decorate the house up!
To be ready for all the holiday cheer – we have a long list of to-dos to take care of. I just put together a calendar to keep us on track.
Here’s our December DIY List
Finish our Front Room.
This includes any final paint touch ups, installing new electrical plugs and light switches and getting the fireplace ready to use.
Buy a Couch.
Nate and I have just started looking at a section for the great room. We have decided we want a section with a chaise lounge, but have not made a final decision yet. This needs to happen early December so that we can try and get it delivered before the holidays!
Prep and Paint Great Room.
We have not finalized the color of the great room – but we think it will be a purple. We plan on waiting until we purchase our couch.
Before we paint, we have to move the wood stove is going to be moved into the shed and take down the lovely pull-up bar.
Scrape the Kitchen Floor.
We left glue all over the kitchen floor when we pulled up the 1950′s lienlium. Our quick fix was an area rug , but area rugs really don’t belong in a kitchen so its time to tackle the cover up. I plan on doing this gradually during the week nights.
Decorate for the holidays.
I’d like to get all the previously mentioned projects completed by December 15th, so I can then have ten glorious days to enjoy, deck the halls and prep for my family’s most important holiday – Christmas.
I am hoping this time line will not be too hard to keep. Knowing that there will be fun after all this work will make it easier.
Fingers crossed it all works out!!
