More Complete!

This post will be mostly pictures because with a 2 week old, I don't seem to have lots of time to sit down and write!  Not sure why?!?!

Yesterday afternoon, Ansley and I went by the house to check on the progress.  Basically everything except the basement is move-in ready.  Mark came to meet us and we went room by room to make a final punchlist of things that still needed to be done.  Most of them are small things- missing outlet cover, paint on closet doors not the same colors, vent cover missing, etc.  We came up with about 30 of them, but they are all small.  We've emailed it over to the contractor so that they can work on these this week.

We also got some of our furniture delivered this week because poor Macy's, Sears, and Levin have been holding it for 4 months.  Most of it is not set-up, but it is AT the house!!

They still haven't given us a move in date, but we are hoping that maybe next weekend we can bring the rest of the furniture over there.  Then we will do a slow move-in.  My mom suggested putting together Ansley's nursery over there first and then I have a place to hang out with her and get the house together.

This week, we are hoping to get the air ducts cleaned, carpet down, punch list done, and cleaners in to clean!  This would be a HUGE step!

So here are some pictures of the progress:

Guest bedroom now has a bed and mattress!

Bathroom has a mirror and lights... 

And medicine cabinet.  And my brother, Daniel, hung all the blinds in the house for us last weekend!

Daniel and Phil put in closet organizers into the master closets. 

All the furniture for our master bedroom and we have a fan!

Purple bathroom is painted down in the basement! 

Mudroom floor and walls are painted. 

My office is painted, but needs carpet still!

Ansley's First Trip to the House

Well, our little Miss Ansley finally arrived last Tuesday morning at 3:27 am.  We stayed in the hospital under Thursday around noon and then took the trek back to our rental house.  We were welcomed home by Nana, G-diddy, and Uncle J (my family).  Within an hour or so, Mark's family (Grandma, Grandpa, and GG) arrived from Atlanta, so we had a full house of excited and giddy baby lovers!

That afternoon, our contractor called to let us know that on Friday they would put the last coat of polyurethane on the floors, so we could not walk on them for the entire weekend.  Since all of our parents were here for the first time since June, we wanted to make sure they could all see the progress on the house.  Therefore, we all hopped in the cars immediately to get our peek before the floors were wet.

So Miss Ansley was already out for her first adventure within 5 hours of being home from the hospital!  Guess that is what happens when your life is one big transition.  Here is how she spent her hour at the house...

She had quality time with Mommy and Uncle J on the porch!
They had finished painting inside on Thursday, so we didn't want her to get the paint fumes!

Anyway, the progress is moving along and is looking great.  For not having ANY intentions on every doing a remodel, we've learned a lot and really like the outcome of everything so far.  Just FYI- there are no light fixtures installed at the house yet, so these pictures are kinda dark.

Living room walls are painted and trim is done. 

Appliances are in!!

Our countertops are still backordered, so they have placed plywood down to at least be able to use. 

Looking into the bathroom.  Vanity and toilet are in! 

New storage closet behind the bathroom door for towels and such! 

Shower/tub done with curtain rod up! 

There are no lights in our bedroom yet, so this is the best picture I could get.
This is the side of our room that is new with the two closets. 

Ansley's nursery is complete done with paint, doors, closet fixtures,  and trim!

Guest bedroom upstairs is also done!

The countdown in on as things are coming together!  The house should be complete really close to October 1st.  Praise the Lord!

Moving Along...

This morning, Mark met the contractor at the house to go over a few final details while I was at bible study.  Later in the day, he suggested that I stop by to see the progress.  One of the things that happened today was Ansley's nursery was painted and trim complete.  Mark said if she saw her room maybe she would come out quicker (yesterday was my due date).

Here is what things are looking like now:

Kitchen is complete for now!  Crown molding is on, so waiting on counter tops and appliances.

Other side of the kitchen with dishwasher and fridge spot.

We love the cabinets!  We went with the biscotti color with a glaze!

Ansley's sweet purple nursery!

Doors are in and ready for hardware. 

Basement is finally mudded.  Just have to paint and carpet.

My new little "office" cove is mudded too!

Steps coming down to the basement are mudded.

New electrical box and $7000 worth of new wiring are complete!
The electricity is back on for the first time since March! 

New laundry sink in the basement as well.

Hopefully we'll have more posts like this soon where you can see lots of progress.  We are hoping and praying for October 1st right now.  However, it looks like our counter tops might be longer than that.  Depending on the baby and insurance, we don't have to move back in until November 1st.  However, we are ready to be back in our HOME!  Thanks again for all your prayers.  We have A LOT of transition coming up and would really appreciate them again.  Love you all!

The Gift That Keeps On Giving...

This stage of our remodel is so exciting.  Since there are 2-4 men working at our house each day, we never know what "newness" we will find when we stop by.  It feels like Christmas morning every time we open our front door.  On Monday night, Mark wanted me to stop by with him because he was hoping the floors would be done.  He unlocked the front door, walked in, and was looking down at the floors.  He was so excited that that were sealed and shiny.  At the same time, I walked in and looked across the room to see the green wall in the kitchen had been painted.  About the same time that he said, "These floors look great"... I said, "Wow!  They painted!"  We couldn't even focus on the same thing.

Then on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday, they started putting in the kitchen cabinets.  They are trying to get these in now before they continue to paint the rest of the house, so we can keep our counter tops templated and ordered.  For not having any idea of what we wanted or knowing how to remodel, we are continually excited at how our choices look!

New Kraft Maid cabinets in biscotti color with cocoa glaze.

Left side of the kitchen where the oven will be.

Right side of kitchen where the dishwasher and fridge will be.

Today we stopped by again on our way to our small group to see the progress.  We discovered tile in the bathroom floor and doors being hung in the bedrooms.  Again, we are very pleased with the choices!

We picked three panel doors for all of the bedrooms and basement.

Tile floor in the bathroom all set!

Design of the tile in the bathroom.

On Wednesday, we picked out paint colors for the basement, light fixtures, closet designs, and looked at the final counter top choices!  We've almost sound like we know what we are talking about now.  We've decided that the guys at Lowe's and Brookside Lumber might not run away when they see us coming because we actually understand what we are doing or looking for! 

It still looks like we have about 3 weeks of progress left, so we are not anticipating the house being done before Baby Ansley arrives.  However it does look like we should be able to be moving back in around the end of October!  We ask that you continue to pray for us through this next two months of CRAZY transition in our lives.  We are excited about the journey of becoming parents and finishing the house, but know that it could be overwhelming.  Thanks for all the love and prayers!

So Excited!!

On Wednesday, our contractor sent us an email that said "We will be staining the floors on the 2nd floor today and staining the hardwood on the 1st floor on Friday.  Please stay off the floors over the weekend.  These will take 24-48 hours to fully dry.  We will put a coat of urethane on all the floors on Monday and this will take another 24 hours to dry.  So all in all if you could please stay off of all the floors from now until Tuesday, it will be greatly appreciated."

GREAT NEWS!

I don't mind staying off the floors if I know there is a visual change at the end.  I've always known that I was a visual learner, but I REALLY like to SEE the change at our house!

So I followed the rules until today!  After work, I went by the house and was going to open the front door to see the floors.  Upon my arrival, there was more change that I was excited to see!   Our new front door has been installed.  It hasn't been painted yet, but I love the design.

New front door at 125 De Arment Parkway!

I thought the note on the door was funny too!  They OBVIOUSLY don't want us on the floors!

 So after getting in the lock box and opening the front door, I saw our new floors!  I was so excited.  I cannot begin to describe the feeling that came over me as I knew this was a step in the right direction!

Looking at the hardwoods in the living room and kitchen from the front door!

After I took this picture (and didn't step on the floor), I closed everything back up and put the key in the lock box.  Our bedroom window is in the front of the house, so I peeked in there to see the hardwoods.  As I was peeping, I could see into the bathroom and saw tile!!  No one told us they were tiling the shower!

So this is where I broke the rules... I went to the basement door and broke into my own house.  I came through the basement (which doesn't have hardwoods) and up the basement stairs.  There is about a 4 foot walkway between the basement door and the bathroom door, so my 9 month pregnant self jumped into the bathroom (without touching the stained floors).  First of all, I was very impressed at my resourceful ways!  Next, I was amazed at how good the bathroom looked.

The tile above the bathtub!

We changed the tile color and deco on Monday and I am so glad!

So to end my little adventure today, I jumped back over the hardwoods, down the basement stairs, and out the backdoor.  I texted Mark a picture of the hardwoods and bathroom.  When I got home, Mark and Daniel were both here cooking dinner.  The first thing they both said is "you stepped on the wood".  I then proceeded to tell them about my creative thinking and they were both very impressed!  I tried to explain that you can't stop me from seeing the progress of my house!

So as you can see, we are moving in the right direction.  Next week they will finish sealing the floor and painting the walls, so there will be more pictures to come!  This weekend, Mark and I have to pick out counter tops and light fixtures, but those are our last BIG decisions!  Until more visual change...

Seeing Some Progress!!!

It is amazing how excited we get over such small things.  I had planned to write this blog over the weekend, so now I have even MORE to write!  A while ago, our contractor mentioned that the house might be done around September 1st.  He also mentioned that we could move into the house and they would finish the basement once we were already in.  Well we decided "NO" to both of these!  As of now, it looks like the house will be ready closer to the middle of September and we've told insurance that we do not want to move back in until EVERYTHING is complete.  With a new baby and hopefully company, we'd rather move in one time and it be done!

So on Friday, we went by the house after work, and much to our surprise all the drywall/mudding was complete!  It looks so good to have real walls up.

Drywall in our bedroom complete! 

Drywall in the new part of our bedroom/closet area complete!

Drywall in the kitchen complete!

Drywall in the living room and eating area complete!

We were feeling really good about the progress this weekend.  We spent a few hours making decisions and were able to finalize everything for the bathroom upstairs (which is the main bathroom).  We also picked paint colors for the entire house.  

So after work today (Monday), we stopped back by the house because Mark had seen the plumber and crew at Chick-fil-A today for lunch.  Therefore, we knew they had been up there!  We have our own ways of spying on the workers!  :)  We opened the front door and saw new sub flooring, hardwoods started, and a tub in the bathroom.  We were like kids at Christmas time!

View from the front door of the new floors!

The new sub floor is closest to us in the picture with the unfinished hardwoods being put down
on the opposite side of the picture. 

New sub floor in our bedroom!

New sub floor, bathtub, and closet going into the bathroom!

Our hope is to get our contractor most of the decisions that he needs by the beginning of September, so once Baby Ansley is here, we don't have to focus as much on the house!  It is nice to see things coming along!  I am suspecting updates and pictures more frequently!!

Slow and Steady Progress...

A few people have asked why there hasn't been an update on the blog lately and mostly because there has not been a lot of visual change at the house.  Since the last week of June, they've been working on putting up drywall, sealing, and mudding.  The entire house now has sheet rock up, so it has walls!!  The mudding was being started yesterday when I stopped by, so I am really hoping to SEE some change soon.

The view from the front door.  The living room is the front room and the kitchen is behind the 1/2 wall.

A better view of the kitchen.

We also completely picked out everything for our kitchen!  It was such a hard process because there were SO MANY decisions- what brand of cabinets, what color, what design, drawers or doors, glaze, flooring, appliances, etc.  However Mark and I both REALLY like the final plan.

God is still continuing to work out the details for us in mighty ways that are really hard to ignore!  A few different people had suggested KraftMaid cabinets for us to look at, so we were out shopping one day and saw a display for KraftMaid.  As we walked up to look at the cabinets, the sales person jumped all over us telling us what great cabinets they were.  He proceeded to tell us about a sale they were having where you received a free upgraded finish, a free sink base, and free cushion close cabinets.  We took note of it and went home to do some research.  After talking to 2 contractors and looking up prices, we discovered that this was going to save us around $2000 in the kitchen.  They were all nice luxuries that we'd love to have, but were not necessities.  I am not sure if we would have spent the money on these upgrades or not, but God orchestrated all the details that we needed to get the plan for the kitchen finalized and in the contractor's hands in 36 hours so we could take advantage of these great options!

About two weeks ago, before we headed to the beach, we spent 4 hours at Lowes making decisions for the contractor.  These decisions included baseboards, casing, ceiling color and texture, hardwood stain color, bathroom tile, interior doors, and front door.  In the next week, we were asked to please have paint colors and light fixtures picked, so that will be next.

Please continue to pray for the timeline of this house!  Our contractor keeps mentioning September 1st, but we were originally told October.  Baby Ansley is due September 13th, so all of these changes will probably occur around the same time.  We'd love to be back in our house by the time Ansley is here, but we are prepared to not be.  We just know it will make the transition of our family a little more crazy!  At my baby shower, I asked people to pray that the house is done early or that Ansley is late.  All the moms laughed and said I would change my mind about Ansley being late! :)  The hardest thing about not being in our permanent home right now is not being able to create and nest in a nursery.  It is hard to look at all this cute baby stuff as it sits in boxes, bags,  and piles.  We know God's timing is perfect, but ask for your prayer for peace and wisdom.

Hope all of you are doing well and enjoying this summer heat!

Moving Forward...

The progress on the house is moving along so quickly now that the tear down phase is done.  After all of the electric work was done, we had to wait on the Electrical Inspection.  All of it passed with flying colors!  Next was the Building Inspection to make sure the frames were good.  Passed that part too!  

Now we are onto the rebuilding.

When we stopped by today, we were so excited to see the progress.  First of all, we have almost all new windows.  They've taken the yucky wood coverings off that have been up since the fire.  It now looks like a house again instead of a crime scene.  The windows let in so much wonderful light.  They still have to do the casing around the windows, but what a great site when we pulled up!

Then when we went inside we were shocked to see all of the insulation was complete!  And they were starting on the drywall.  The next steps will go so quickly!

Kitchen

Living Room

Ansley's Nursery

Guest Bedroom

  We also had decided on a few cosmetic changes to the house that we are starting to see take place.  The biggest change that we made was to take out the wall between our bedroom and the office (source room of the fire) and to make them one large room with one large closet.  Before hand, I used the closet in our bedroom and Mark used the closet in the office.  Part of that decision was a fear issue- I didn't want to make that room into another office or put the baby's nursery there.  We decided that if it wasn't a room by itself it wouldn't seem like the source room.  We are not trying to ignore the fact that the fire started there, but trying to move forward.  So the contractor had to add a large beam that runs along the main support of the house since the original wall would not be there anymore!

New beam in the master bedroom.  The opening will lead into a reading corner and new big closet!

Lastly, since we no longer needed a door to get into the office, we decided to extend the bathroom out a foot or two.  This bathroom is the original to the house and the main one for us and guests.  It is hard to tell in this picture, but a few feet makes ALL the difference!

Bathroom- the non-white wood is the extension part!  We are thrilled with this!

Brand new floor and pipes because the bathroom was SO destroyed!

So as we move forward with decisions, we are remembering that God is good ALL the time!  We are trusting Him for guidance with each step- big and small.  Tomorrow we are off to pick out tile, a bathtub, and vanity!  God and I are having and will continue to have lots of conversations in the Lowe's aisles!