Cabin Fever

OK, so we were itching to keep our home improvements going... What better way to treat a bout of cabin fever than to go look at furniture! Except...

Come summertime, we planned on updating our living room furniture -- especially the sectional sofa. Everything is in decent shape, but the cotton twill slipcovers always look rumpled no matter how carefully you smooth them and they collect pet hair like crazy! I mean, we know that a dog and two cats shed hair. Everywhere. But, must it be so hard to clean up?! We think not!

Anyways, we figured we'd cure our mid-winter restlessness by starting the search for our new living room set. Little did we know that we'd find wonderful stuff at our first stop and it would be on sale! We were doomed...

So, enjoy the photos! We LOVE our new living room! ESPECIALLY the microfiber sofas -- of course they'll end up with pet hair on them, but it comes right off! The dense weave of the fibers doesn't let the hair get caught, it just sits on top waiting for a lint brush or light vacuum to come along. Worth every penny!

The delivery guys from Raymour & Flanigan were awesome -- so cheerful even though it's cold and raining buckets out today. And, the company has a 4- or 5-year protection plan (can't remember which), so that if it get stained or rips you just call them and they'll come fix it or replace it! Rock on!

[Just an aside... Since baseball was on hiatus all winter, Cath and I were essentially hooked on DIY and HGTV. There's this one show called "Find Your Style" in which the designer helps challenged folks determine their style and then decorate a problem room with it. The very first time we saw this show, we were relieved, because we don't have this problem at all! We know our style -- it's "Coastal Modern," wouldn't you agree?!]

In case you're wondering what we did with our old furniture, Cath called around to a few charities and one called us back right away -- Albany Community Action Partnership (http://www.acoi.com). They help people with immediate need -- fire loss, escaping domestic violence, etc. Their client left Florida with just a suitcase. The only way the judge would let her get her daughters out of foster care? Get a furnished apartment.

When Cath got home from work, about 5 hours or so after they called, they were at our house ready to pick up the furniture. Here's one of the countless reasons why I love my girl... She gave them the sectional, both end tables, the coffee table, an accent table, the media cabinet, two bookshelves, a TV, a complete set of dishes (the ones that matched our old kitchen), linens, towels ... anything she could think of!

What a beautiful woman!

P.S. The ottomans/coffee table come next week!

The Screeching Halt...

We were on such a roll, too! Oh well...

Our contractors are wrapping up a large project they've been doing for about 6 months up in Clifton Park, so we're on a temporary hiatus. They'll be back in April to help us finish up the downstairs bathroom, so then we can start the upstairs bathroom.

The problem is, we didn't anticipate having to get rid of the drop ceiling in here. But, there's no point in installing a permanent ceiling yet, since the upstairs bathroom is directly above here. Keeping the ceiling open for now will yield easy access to the upstairs plumbing.

Well, there is some good news, though... At least it looks like our home equity loan is in solid shape! When we started on this adventure, we plugged into the budget the cost for our summer projects (repaving the driveway, finishing the deck, etc.) so that we wouldn't inadvertently overspend early on. Everything except the labor has been accounted for in the remaining indoor work and it looks like we have enough to cover that, so we are on track!

Anyways, just to whet your appetite... I'll show you what we going to be installing in the downstairs bathroom!

Here's the tile for the shower and the floor... The blue shower tile is called Cayman Dolphin and has a snowflake or fractal kind of pattern on it, in shades of silver and green and blue. Very cool, but not too bold. And, there's a hint of gray marbling in the floor tile, but you can't really see it on the picture.

We bought a simple vanity in white (with a matching mirror) to go with that. I'm pretty sure this is the one... I snagged this photo from the Lowes Web site. The box is out in the garage, and I can't get a clear picture of it at the moment... The white wall cabinet that we currently have in the upstairs bathroom will find a new home downstairs, as well.

The fixtures will be silver, including the 8" rain-maker showerhead that I found on clearance for only $12.50 (normally $65)!!! Even though the box says "brass" finish, it's definitely silver in color -- maybe that's why it was on sale?!

Our wall color is very soft, too -- a cool blue called Lament Blue (http://valsparatlowes.com/painter.html) -- which is lovely, despite it's name...

There is a small window here but it's north-facing so there's not a lot of natural light in this bathroom. By keeping the materials light, we're hoping to balance that out. We can't wait to get going again!

Oh, and I'll even give you a peek at what we're doing upstairs. But only a little one...
Cheers!

Tah dah!!!!

Sorry we've taken so long to bring you folks up to date, but the KITCHEN IS DONE!

Let's see... Where did we leave off?? The GROUT!

Well, the guys came back and finished the tiling with all the cut pieces, so then we took over once again and applied the grout. What a messy job! Muddy at first, then dusty once it dried -- BLECH! But no point paying someone else to do such an easy task, right?!

Actually, with two of us it went very quickly. Cath got started before I got home (she gets out of work earlier than me), so she kept on troweling and I followed behind (on a delay) and sponged off the excess. The entire floor was done about an hour later! Not too shabby, eh?!

The next day, Cath sealed the grout twice so that it's water repellent to help prevent mold and mildew -- always good to avoid! Once I got home and it was dry, we put all the furniture and appliances back, and VOILA! Our new kitchen! (This picture is full size, if you click on it.) Whaddya think?! Not bad for a couple of amateurs, if I say so myself...