Once again, Mr. Perfect earns his name

One of the things I've really been looking forward to in the kitchen remodel was a new faucet for the sink. I know that sounds a bit silly, but it's true. The one we had was old, leaking, and the pull-down for the spray would as often as not come off in your hand, leaving you completely soaked from the suddenly-released force of the water no longer held in check by the filter that's on the end of the faucet. When it stayed in place, it would give you or the wall a gentle misting spray that would soon make everything very wet.

So, yesterday was a state holiday for Utah (Pioneer Day), and Mr. Perfect had the day off. I work for a company based in Minnesota, so I did not have the day off. As part of his "Hmmm...I'm home. What should I do?" thinking, he decided it was time to replace the faucet. Last fall (yes, last fall), we purchased a new faucet for the kitchen. And the box has sat in our kitchen every since...until yesterday. I was truly the Most Happy Girl when he told me at lunch that he was about half way through the process (he'd been able to get the old one off, and putting the new one one shouldn't take as long). And when I got home from work, this is what I found:

It's so lovely, I almost cried. I love my new faucet almost as much as I love Mr. Perfect.

(P.S. Pay no attention to the mess around the sink. Just concentrate on the beautiful stream of water coming from the new fixture.)

Home decor

I'm not much of a knickknack kind of decorator. I don't look at most trinkets and think "Wow, I'd love to have that in my home." I'm more of the "Hey, look at that bowl. I could put something to eat in it" kind of decorator. I don't know if it's fortunate or not, but my taste in candy bowls runs more towards the Waterford Crystal variety. Okay, who am I kidding? I love classy Waterford Crystal, and I'm only saved from having waaaay too much of it in my home by how outrageously expensive it is. Many years ago (before I became the Most Happy Girl), I went to England with some friends, and this was the main souvenir that I brought back for myself:

As you can see, it is sadly lacking in having something fun or yummy inside it right now. It has spent the past four years being a junk collection bowl in the kitchen, and was only released from prison because Little Big Sis and Painter Extraordinaire went to England and brought this back for me:

How sad is it that the new bowl gets fun treats (dark chocolate: yummm!) before the first one does? This is the picture I sent with them with instructions of "Find something similar":

I like the one they brought back better. How lucky is that? I mean, look at this detail:

The spiral cut that runs around the entire bowl is just amazingly cool.

This trip was quite the feat for Little Big Sis. She's a nervous traveler and had never been outside of the country (no one really counts Tijuana as "out of the country"). But Painter Extraordinaire served an LDS mission to Leeds, England and has always wanted to go back, and especially with LBS. Mr. Perfect and I are already planning what we want to do with them the next time they go to England (and we go with them). 

Wordless Wednesday

New master bedroom

Whew!! It's finally done, mostly. There are a few very minor things that need to be finalized, but other than a handle or two and a new light switch for the fan/light, it's done. We have officially moved into our re-done master bedroom.

And the crowd goes wild in the Salt Palace. (Okay, sorry about that. Old reference.)

And here are the pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Finished, but no furniture (just a nice rug):

And now with furniture:

We have a livable living room!

I know it's seems like a long time coming, but it's actually been a very short time when compared to how long the bathrooms took. Of course, with the living room we weren't adding crazy amounts of plumbing, moving walls, or stripping everything down to the framing. I love how open and breezy it feels. I love the new configuration for the furniture. It gives us the feeling of an entry way. The only thing that we don't have space for is a curio cabinet. We didn't really want to bring the old one back in, but we did want to replace it with a nice, new one. We'll have to save that for our next home.

Before:

During:

After:

The T.V. is in place and the little foot stool doesn't really live behind the white chair, but you get the gist of it. Tours commence on May 20.

(P.S. I can't begin to express my joy at having the piano out of the kitchen.)

The Red Door

When Mr. Perfect and I were picking out paint colors for the living room and bedroom, we hadn't really discussed what to do with the inside of the front door. The door was brown, the inside of the casing was brown, and the paint job was a little sloppy. I grew up in a world of white or wood doors, but Mr. Perfect likes doors that reflect the character of the room. He wanted the door red. I hesitated. Like I said, most of the doors in my abodes have been white or wood. He finally convinced me, and here is the result.

Mr. Perfect was so right (as usual). I love this door.

And here's a shot of the red wall.

There's still one more coat of paint for both the door and the wall, but I love how it looks with the floor and the white. And it doesn't clash with the green in the kitchen (we took a sample of it to make sure).

Huge thanks to Steve Camp, who has done all of the drywall, casing and molding, and painting. We really appreciate your skill and advice. The floor is brought to you (and us) by Todd Gee and The Hardwood Floor Company.

Wordless Wednesday

More home improvement news

The living room is now in it's middle phase of completeness. It's a grand thing. After a few months of wondering when we'd actually have time to tackle the ugly glue-scarred walls, we decided to hire someone to prep them for us. He is also putting up crown molding, door and window casings, and the base board. This meant that we also needed to have the carpet out, the windows replaced, and the floor finished. And suddenly we know what we are doing with our tax refund this year.

So, here's how it looks so far:

Look at that floor! Pretty darn nice. Did I mention that we're having the windows replaced? Not all of the windows in the whole house. Not yet, at least. But the living room and kitchen windows are all going to be new. *sigh* This thought makes me very happy. Is it sad, though, that I care less about being "green" than I do about being able to sit on the couch in the winter and not feel the cold draft from the windows more than the heat from the furnace? For me, it's all about the heating bill and my comfort, baby.

And we're going to have a beautiful new sliding door. Yay!!! The old one works well, but it would be silly to replace the window and not the door.

This weekend, we buy paint!

The bedroom is getting there

The moved wall has now been fully covered with sheetrock! Go us! (Actually, go Mr. Perfect. He did it.)

And I thought re-doing the kitchen was traumatic

We received a notice in the mail a couple of weeks ago that our neighborhood annual dumpster date  this year is October 16. That's only one week away. We've been talking about getting the rest of the paneling in the living room and master bedroom down for months (maybe even a couple of years), and this was just the event to get us moving on it.

On the way home from work, Most Happy Girl stopped at Walmart and bought very ugly and very cheap sheets to cover the windows. Cheap because we know they'll get ruined in the next weeks/months as we work on this room, and ugly to inspire us to do it quickly.

Once home, Most Happy Girl tackled the world's ugliest drapery.

Then she noticed something that caused her heart to cringe. The windows, including the sliding glass door, were dirty. Not just dirty, but filthy. Out came the glass cleaner and paper towels and half an hour later, the windows were a thing of beauty. Of course, it meant that she had not stayed on task, so back to moving and shifting and all of that fun stuff.

The pictures all came off the walls, the golden disasters went out to the trailer to await their fate next week, bookcase next to the stereo was cleaned out, and couch was moved away from the wall.

When Mr. Perfect arrived home from a very long day at work, he helped with dinner (a yummy, made-up-on-the-spot chicken and pasta dish not to be missed), and then together they tackled most of the paneling until this is what remained.

It's amazing how much bigger the room feels with the drapes and dark paneling gone. It's also a lot louder. I think the heavy drapery material absorbed a lot of sound. Two places still have paneling: behind the stereo and T.V. (because we need to be more serious about moving and unhooking things before we can pull this down) and behind the piano (because moving the piano is always a delicate proposition that will take more then just the two of us to accomplish).

Next up: the final wall of paneling in the master bedroom. It's going to be a happy, full dumpster, courtesy of the M Family alone.

More evidence of the end of bathroom construction

We haven't had a place to hang our wet towels for over a year. I've missed towel racks more than I care to say. But no more. True evidence that the bathroom construction is winding down. And it's a beautiful thing.

Thank you, Mr. Perfect!

Master bath                                                  Other bathroom

Almost done

We are almost done with the bathrooms! I know, I know. I've said that before. But this time, I have photographic proof. See?

We are very happy with how the mirror looks up. And we're also really happy to have the big box out of Drama Queen's bedroom.

The toilet works!

The toilet and sink are in. The sink isn't hooked up yet, but the toilet flushes! And the lights are back up. Moving along nicely nicely.

Update on home improvements!

We have a floor in the second bathroom!!! I know you are just so excited for us. Thank you. Thank you very much. We decided to use a lighter grout for this bathroom because it doesn't have a window. Enjoy the pictures:

More minor home improvements

We've made some more strides in achieving two bathrooms upstairs. We've painted the second bathroom. (And a cheer goes up from the multitudes -- Yay!). There's still a little bit of touch up in the corners, but this means that it's ready for the flooring. And after the flooring, the toilet and sink. And then someday, it too will be a real bathroom. *happy sigh

Bathroom update

Things have slowed down a bit on the bathroom remodel front, but we have added a lot more of the details to the master bathroom such as

• A mirror - it's adjustable!
• A cupboard over the toilet
• Trim around the wall cupboard
• Towel hook by the sink
• Standing toilet paper holder

Things that still need to be done include

• Finishing the edging of the built-in shelf above the wall cupboard
• Grouting the window sill and built-in-shelf
• Sealing the crown molding and trims
• Touch-up painting
• Towel rack for large towels

I love the feel of the tile on my feet. I was worried it would be really cold in the mornings during the winter, but it's not. I highly recommend tile for bathrooms. It's so easy to clean and looks amazing!

Now, if we could only find the time to finish the main bathroom...

We have a working bathroom!!!!

And it's a joyous thing. There are few touch-up details to finish, but it has all the working necessities for a bathroom, plus Italian tile, two-tone paint, and crown molding. What more could a girl wish for? Oh, how about a shower with one of those amazing rainfall shower heads with 5 (yes 5!) settings?

I have discovered...

I function much better, on an emotional level, when there are no boxes of kitchen things in the living room. To tell you how bad this feeling was, I didn't even take any pictures of the living room during this episode. Any. At all. None. Wasn't going to happen. I felt bad enough making my Visiting Teachers sit in it while visiting me.

Seriously. The kitchen is finally, official ready for a new floor (the final stage of the remodel). Once the bathrooms are finished and paid for (We love paying cash! Woot woot!), we will start shopping for kitchen flooring. That and one other big surprise are what we currently have planned for Christmas.

It's going to be a really good Christmas.