too tired to think of a title for this post...

...maybe you can think of one for me?!

so here are a bunch of progress photos (in no particular order)


KITCHEN: finished installing and grouting the backsplash tile

BATH1: Finished installing and grouting the bath surround tile

installed the fixtures: toilet and vanity

love the sink- got it at lowe's

BATH2: tile installed and grouted...door installed...toilet and vanity too!

DINING ROOM: engineered floating click-lock oak flooring is getting installed (as i write this post)

the nice people from lowe's came to the house today to move the fridge from the garage to its final resting spot!

Slate floor at entry foyer and first floor bath is installed, sealed and grouted.  just needs one more coat of sealer (3 total).  I love the aluminum transition strip that we have installed between the slate and wood.

BASEMENT: flooring was installed.  It is resilient vinyl plank flooring.

it's a little dusty!  we also installed the oak "pole wraps" over the lally columns.


and last but not least...
BASEMENT: brick veneer wall (what did she say?)  yes,  brick. veneer. wall.

It is real brick, just 3/8" thick. 

still dont know if we are just crazy for doing this!

treads, tile and trim

we picked up some pine treads for the new basement stair...and mom stained them to match the "teak" resilient flooring that we bought for the basement.

we used a minwax stain with polyurethane in a satin finish.

this is as far as i got with the slate...when i ran out of tiles!

so i started to install the mosaic backsplash

meanwhile, scott continues to install trim on the 2nd floor...

trim and tile

remember this? the metal door frame that i had to wrastle with to remove?

this is the new and improved cased door opening

baseboard and casing

baseboard and the tile is now grouted (still not painted tho)

while scott was installing trim, i was preparing to tile the entry foyer and first floor bathroom.

when using a material like slate, i like to pile up the tiles according to color so that i can pick and choose the colors as i go.

because i am tiling both the entry foyer and bathroom- and i want it all to be one continuous pattern, i first dry-set the tiles to see how they were going to lay out- i wanted to make sure that the pattern was centered on the entry foyer.

as it turns out the fit is perfect- and there is a full tile that ends at the bathtub edge.

so, because i don't want to tile myself into a corner- i marked the location of the tiles and started from the bathtub back out towards the foyer.

these tiles will look completely different once sealed...much darker and the colors will be more vibrant!

drumroll please...

brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrlllllll.................

the granite slab!!!

but wait...even better.

it's installed!

no backsplash was installed at the stove bump-out...we will be installing mosaic tile in this space.

while i tile, scott is installing millwork...

like here in the dining room...casing and chairrail is installed

bunnies and bath tile

our backyard bunnies...

:)

the second floor bath tile- installed today

i still need to miter those corner pieces...saved those for last!

all in a (satur)day's work

i still can't believe that i did this...all by myself!  of course, it isnt finished- i still need to caulk and paint the surround and grout the tile (in case you are wondering, those pilasters will also be white)

the level of difficulty of this project was pretty low- since the entire mantle and surround was purchased as a kit of parts that you simply need to attach to the wall in the correct order...easy peasy.

the tile is glass mosaic that we purchased at lowe's, and i used a couple of aluminum tile edge angles to keep a straight edge along the firebox-side vertical edge of the tile. (the same angles that i used in the bath 1 tub surround)

so here is a little trip down memory lane (because i just love before and after pix!) 

scott is installing the crown moulding everywhere...here is a photo of the crown (oh, and the fireplace just happens to be in this photo)

the crown also needs to be caulked and painted.

oh, and the bath 1 tile surround is completely tiled and ready to be grouted...

tiling update

almost finished...

just the bottom row and then on to grout!

for the edges, instead of using bullnose tile we use this aluminum edge strip that you can find at lowes or home depot. 

it makes for a nice clean edge

and here is the finished sump pump...ahhh peace of mind!

well, almost finished- we just have to fill in the concrete in the gap around the cover.