how excited am i?

the pool reno is progressing and it should be filled with water this weekend

today, the tile was installed at the waterline

if everything goes well, the pebble plaster will be installed on friday, and the water will be trucked in on saturday, and we will be splashing about on sunday!

scott was working with the cable guy today to install and set up the cable, so he wasnt able to finish the installation of the siding...but he did get a few more boards up.

getting there!

i am still debating on whether or not to paint these windows and the door black or charcoal grey...too many decisions!!!

more stuff!

So, last Sunday I decided to tackle the installation of the Pantry shelves...because I really needed to unpack the food!

I installed 6 LACK shelves from Ikea.  They have a handy bracket that you fasten to the wall (this is why we installed 1/2" plywood behind the drywall...because there would be no way that we would be able to fasten these into the studs...the bracket holes werent even 16" on center)

There are three pre-drilled holes in the back of the shelf that you fit over the bracket.

I needed to cut about 1" off the length of the shelf to fit...its a good thing the ends arent exposed

 The shelves are filling up fast!

and of course I made sure to put the chocolate sauce and nutella front and center!

I also installed the cabinet pulls

even made a jig

Meanwhile...

Scott was staining the ship-lap pine siding

to be installed on the new back wall of the house.

 

since pine is soft and prone to rot, he made sure to stain the front, back and sides of each board to better protect it and seal it from the weather.  Once installed, we will give it another coat.

one day (probably next summer), we will build a deck in this location...it will match the new siding in color and material.

Flooring Update

12x24 porcelain tile: Q Stone Minimal in Night/Matte by Provenza

installed in the Dining Room & Kitchen

I still dont have a good picture of clean tile to share...

 Bamboo click-lock flooring went in in the living room:

eventually we will paint those doors and beams white.

Appliances installed:

the range needs to be leveled/lowered

Full height refrigerator...(we also have a small undercounter freezer). 

 We decided to go this route because we never have enough room in the refrigerator, and we barely use the freezer!  So, the floor looks weird because we haven't yet had time to grout it, and the windows look weird because we haven't yet had time to install the trim!  We are living in chaos!

oh well, at least on moving day...the new fridge was running and well stocked!

Pool Update

alot has happened since the last post.  for one, we moved in...thus the huge delay in updating this blog.  there is alot to post, so let's begin with the pool:

6/21/12: old plaster was removed and underground plumbing installed

6/27/12: rough grading and forms for the concrete decking

 6/28/12: concrete placed

 7/7/12: tile selection (we chose the small mosaic)

7/7/12: Equipment installation.  We are going with a salt water chlorine generator. 

 7/9/12: High pressure wash to remove loose plaster- to prepare the surface for the new plaster

 the concrete decking was acid washed to expose the aggregate

7/10/12: steps were rebuilt, water line tile substrate was prepped, scaffolding installed...in preparation for the tile installation tomorrow!

Countertops!!!

Countertops were installed today!

and the sink!

no running water yet (the plumber will stop by tomorrow)

the faucet and sink are by Vigo and I purchased them at FaucetDirect.com

see that little chrome button?  that is the garbage disposal switch... rather than use a standard wall switch, we opted for the countertop plunger switch.  one press turns on the disposal, one more shuts it off.  We got this one at Lowes, but its probably available at Home Depot too.

progress was made on the pool today...the underground plumbing pipes were installed and pressure tested!

the new skimmer was installed too!

and the plaster is still being chiselled off...soon to be re-plastered!

checking out the deep end...pretty good!

what stinks?

Oh that's just the smell of years of neglect!

The pool contractor started work today...drained the pool, removed the concrete deck and coping, and started to chip away the plaster.  disgusting!

It was the first time that we were able to see how deep the pool actually is.

The bottom of the pool was lined with a thick layer of leaves.

Nnnnnnougat!

For the countertops, we have selected...

Ceasarstone Quartz- in Nougat

I didnt think it was going to be easy to find a countertop that would work with the floor tile:

The stained oak cabinets:

the dove white cabinets:

AND, more importantly, that Scott and I BOTH liked.

But we found it!  

 So, the countertop peeps will measure and template the cabinets on Wednesday--it wont be long before we have the new countertops in place!