Shower and Shelves and Tile, Oh my!

It is starting to come together!  Time seems to have been at a stand still for days at a time, but we are finally seeing progress.  I am weary and thankful that the end is in sight.  My house is covered with tarps and dust and I am SO ready to have our space back.

The biggest progress made has been:

Shower install.  You may remember that we had a monstrous Jacuzzi tub in this space.  Out with the old...

In with the new!  Waiting still for the glass doors to come in, but then that will be DONE!  In that project, the title floor was put back in.  Eventually I would like to replace the tile with wood and replace the vanity countertop, but that is a project for another time.  I will be painting the walls a light grey, hopefully next week!

 

Shelves- My awesome hubby made these shelves for above the sink area in our kitchenette.  Yes, I did at least help stain them.  And supervise the hanging.  I am getting to be a good supervisor!  Just ask him, haha!

 

Kitchen tile backsplash.  While there is no stove top down here, we do have a sink and so we wanted to protect the wall from splashes.  I love how it turned out.  It just gives it a clean, finished look.  Floors finally went in and once the trim is in place again we can roll the fridge in.  It is currently in the middle of the room!

 

Lovely, huh?!

 

Kitchen floors- This is by far my favorite thing that happened!  I LOVE these floors and cannot wait to replace all of the remaining tile in the house with them.  Maybe spring?!

 

 

This week- trim back in place and clean up.  A lot of cleanup.

Almost there and just in time!  My mom is coming to visit in a few days!  Because of COVID restrictions we haven't seen her since last Christmas and she decided no more!!  Can't wait to have her here to celebrate Salem's birthday, her birthday, and Thanksgiving with us!

Blessings,

New Renovations Have Begun

When we bought this house we new it needed some things to be done to make it fit us better. That was part of the thing that drew us to it- the fact we could do some adjustments to better meet our needs.

One such area was the downstairs.  It has two bedrooms, one of which is currently occupied by our college son, Clarke's office, which is getting more use that we ever thought possible due to Covid, and then a living room.

For some strange reason the previous owners put two utility sinks in one corner and called it good.  Funny thing- they set them in a shower base with a drain, but the drain hole was open to nothing but the carpet underneath it.  Yep, genius.

So that went out pretty early on.

Clarke and I did some prep work, but with all the months of work we had done previously, we knew we needed help on this one.

The plan is-

New flooring put in one section of the living room and counters, sink, and fridge added to make a mini kitchenette.  A table will be added to the area for eating, or puzzles, and will make for a fun space for entertaining.  The space may eventually be used as rental, or for my mom, should she decide to join us.

 

The second part of the project involves this bathroom.  It is directly beside the larger guest room.  It housed one of the largest Jacuzzi tubs I have ever seen and one of the weirdest "steam" showers I have ever taken a shower in.  The first holds way too much water, and the second makes you feel like you are showering in a cave.

 

 

Both are on their way out.  A full shower with a bench will replace the existing tub, and the shower will be replaced by a short hallway that will go into the guest room, allowing direct access to the bathroom, making it feel more like a suite.  

Things have been taped off and demo work started last week!  Hopefully in about a month the work will be done!

 

 

 

I will keep you posted on the progress as I try not to pressure the poor guys to work faster!

Blessings,

Epic Movie Night

Epic! Not because of the specific movie, mind you, but because our entertainment center came in!!!  In one piece! 

This is what we have lived with for four months. 

 

OK, for a family that has had one small TV for YEARS, and has not even have cable half our married life, this is BIG for our family!  While we do not watch TV often, this family loves its weekly family movie nights.  It is a time to rest and regroup after a busy week and we hold that time together closely. 

 

This is what we have now!

Finally!  Did I mention we first ordered the thing in MARCH?!!  Seriously, my patience has been tested. 

Mind you, the issue has not been so much about the entertainment center, though the mess ups in ordering and the continual delays have tried my patience.  The bigger thing for me is I like settled. And organized. And I have not been able to convince my organized crazed self that my living room was done with this wall NOT done!  It literally drove me bonkers daily.  Sad, but true.  

Even when we move, I try to get our main room done ASAP to allow us to have one place of rest and quiet.  A sanctuary in the middle of the madness.  

My sanctuary is now complete!  And I love it!

 

Who's up for a movie night?

Blessings,

Success!

This past week has been a good one in terms of house updates.  Slowly but surely we are making this house ours, but COVID shipping delays are still a battle we are fighting. 

Front door- still not in!

Entertainment center- not in either.

Thankfully the last cabinet for the kitchenette area we are adding downstairs came in, as did the butcher block countertops.  So funny story.  We opened the plastic protecting the butcher blocks to access the "instructions."  There, in step one, it clearly states one must stain or finish in desired way within 48 hours of opening.  Well, that wold be nice to have known BEFORE we opened them!  While that was on our list of things to do, our contractors do not begin work until the first of October so we thought we had some time.  

Seems we only had 48 hours!

So off to Lowes we went today and began staining! 

I LOVE how these turned out and am so thankful for a hubby who worked so hard on them.  

The flooring going in is a darker stain as well so I think they will look good together, while the white cabinets will help keep the area from being too dark.  Any thoughts on possible door knobs?

The other project that got done was a new dishwasher installation.  What looked like a quick project took a bit longer due to the fact that at first it did not fit under the countertop.  After a moment of panic, mine, not Clarke's (who tells the kids and I, Pleasants don't panic), we got it figured out and installed.  We being mostly Clarke.  (I was too busy panicking. shhh, don't tell!)

 

 Before-

After-

 

We knew we wanted to change out the upstairs appliances at some point, but thought it would be a later project.  When it was decided that our white fridge was going downstairs, we knew we might as well replace everything at once.  At once being a relative term, seeing as how while all the appliances were ordered at the same time, only the dishwasher and sink have come it.  The three other pieces are scheduled for delivery in November.

Yes, November.  Don't even get me started.  It's a good thing the appliances we have work perfectly well or we would be up a creek!

Hopefully the sink will get put in this week, but until then we are taking today to rest a bit.  We hear cooler weather is right around the corner- you can find me on the back deck waiting for it!

Blessings,

No More Raccoon Garage

Yes, we had the garage painted black shortly after we moved in, but had not changed out the windows in them, so my kids told me they looked like raccoons.  Or pandas, depending on which child you ask.  I had all intentions of changing them out, but, as with all other things, shipping and installers were delayed. 

Finally, they came, and the difference is amazing.  I love them!

Now if that front door will ever come in. 

Other projects done-

Curtains for our dining room and our upstairs guest room.  Both were not high priority, but having that sewing project off my to-do list feels good. (OK, they still need to be hemmed, but it's close!)

I also finally got this quilt layered and quilted so I am ready for winter snuggling!  There will be a winter this year, right?! 

In preparation for two projects on our lower level, Clarke and I were able to take out this silly sink contraption the previous owners had put up for art projects I believe.  What you don't see is that when we bought it, it also had a woven grass rug around it.  Just having the thing pulled out makes me feel better.

This week I will be painting the back wall and column.  In a few weeks a kitchenette area will be added!  I am busy looking for a high table and four chairs to put where the card table currently is.  For now, Colby and I am using it for our puzzle space, but I am looking forward to having it set up for guests to use and movie night popcorn to be made.

The second project involves a bath room reno.  More on that to come!

As these initial projects start to wind down we are beginning to dream about our next projects.  Well, me mostly sharing my dreams with Clarke.  We will see where that takes us!

For someone who was a bit disappointed in having to let go of the building a house dream, I am enjoying making this place our own with updates here and there.  Feeling blessed that the Lord has allowed us to live His dream for our family- one we would have never imagined!

Blessings,

What Week Is It?

Seriously!  I am having a hard time keeping up.  I know we homeschooled for nine weeks under the Stay-at-home order.  Or was it a recommendation?  Who would know.

Then we moved and did about 7-8 weeks of renovations.  Or was it 9?  Who would know!?

We are still waiting for our front door, glass inserts for our garage doors, glass shower doors for our master bedroom, and the entertainment center.  A few of those things have been ordered and re ordered several times.  We have been waiting for...who would know?

And now Arizona is back tracking and implementing new closures due to the rise of Covid cases.  Really?

I am not even sure I want to know what week it is anymore.  As a matter of fact maybe we should skip straight to August and hope for better times! ;)

On a lighter note- not much to report.  We did manage to get handles put on all of our bathroom cabinets, and are still waiting, see above, on more than several things.  We have also had a few estimates done and are waiting for those to come in.  I will have to fill you in with those projects soon!

In the meantime, this month I am going to begin to plan for the start up of homeschooling to begin mid- August!  For the first time in MANY years, I will have one student!  I can hardly believe it.  Colby will be in 8th grade and I am actually really excited about this year's curriculum.  It will be an adjustment to have just him at home, but we are both eager for a change.  I am looking for a few fun things for the two of us to do together during off hours.  In additional to the puzzles!  :)  All. The. Puzzles!

So be looking for a homeschool update soon!  After I find my planner and get started!

Hugs to you all, prayers being lifted!  Stay safe and keep your eyes on God!

Blessings,

House Reno- Is it REALLY Week 6?

Almost three weeks in the house but yes, we are REALLY on week six of renovations.  It was a slower week in some ways which is good because, ya'll, I am tired.  Like bone weary tired.  Which is why this post is just getting written this morning.  I crashed last night.

Yesterday was the first day we did no work on a house project.  None.  Nada.  It was glorious.  One of our daughters spent some time with us last week and we took the time to just be.  Online church, a hike, and ice cream- a perfect way to relax! 

Things are actually winding down on the house projects (on phase one!).  We are still waiting for our master shower door to come in as well as a front door, and I still need to hang pictures.  I have been reading a book called The Cozy Minimalist Home, and processing ideas before tackling that project.  Living with white space is actually very freeing.  Her motto "lass stuff, bigger impact" speaks my language, while still making a home feel warm and cozy,  This week I hope to try to settle in a bit to a new schedule.  Colby has a few summer school subjects we are doing together and I want to try to start lesson planning for his "next year."  I suspect we will try to get started on that in August.

The biggest news of the week- Colby turns 13 on Thursday!  I can't hardly believe we will have our last teen in the house!  With Salem working and taking college classes, it is just Colby and me a lot.  Well, dad too since he all of the classes he is teaching are currently online.  It is odd to have just one of our four around most days, but I think he is enjoying getting all of the attention! ;)

Any way...

What did we get done this week?

Replaced outside lights

Before and After

Before and After

Planting a few things to make me happy when I sit outside!

Putting together Ikea bookshelves for Clarke's office.  This was a three day project!  Seven shelving units in all.  While, I love the finished project, do not ask me how I feel about Ikea for a while, please!

Our helper this week!

A few spaces still to work on and pictures to be hung, but you get the idea.

Emptied the last boxes of books- for the office and homeschooling ones!  NO MORE BOXES!  It is a glorious feeling!

It is not lost on us that it has been a hard week for this country.  While words cannot fix anything, we pray continually, knowing that only the Lord can heal hearts, take away racism, and save our country and our souls. 

Take time to love your family, be kind to others and know that we love you!

Blessings,