Home Improvement Party
Well, we threw a little party over the weekend and had our friends come over and help us tear up the parquet flooring in the entryway, and we finished laying the laminate through the kitchen and hall. *happydance*
Shasta's brother Marvin, Ashleigh (ashes_renee), our friends Kim and Christina & Cesqua all came over and we got the work done in a couple of hours. So now our family room and kitchen look great... and our living room and dining room are a total mess. :P But, one area at a time, I guess...
Kim, Shasta and Ashleigh relaxing in our newly-floored family room.
Kitchen Before...
Kitchen After!
Entryway Before... (that's the same parquet that was in the kitchen)
Entryway After!
Even Petre was exhausted by the time we were done. :P
We ordered pizza, and Kim and Ashleigh hung out for a while afterward which was awesome. ♥
So, up next: paint. We bought some pretty cappuccino-colored paint and we're going to paint the family room, then install new baseboards to finish it off. After paint and baseboards, the family room will be done and ready for new furnishings, wall decorations, mounting the TV, etc.
We are also going to paint the recessed space above the kitchen where the flourescent lights were installed. We took the light fixtures down because A) flourescent light is garish in a kitchen, and B)the fixtures were both ugly and broken. So, we're going to paint the little recessed space the same cappuccino color, and install track lighting up there. We went and bought white track lights, but after pulling out the old fixtures yesterday we decided to take the white ones back and get black ones instead. They're more expensive, but they'll look nicer in the space when it's painted, and they'll coordinate with the black-and-stainless appliances we will eventually be putting in.
We took out the white dishwasher in order to do the flooring, and we're not going to bother re-installing it. It was hardwired into the kitchen, anyway. ^^;; We're just going to wait until we can afford the stainless one, and put the white one on Craigslist.
In terms of flooring, I have to pull some money together to buy more tile and mortar so we can tile the entryway. Once the tiling has been done (it's such a messy job that we're doing it first so we don't damage the new floors) we'll finish installing the laminate all the way through the dining room and living room... and then we can do painting and baseboards and the like in there, and at last our main floor will be completely livable space. ♥ I'm hoping to have all of that done before we leave for our Thanksgiving vacation...
In other, non-house-related babble, we're headed down to the Springs next Sunday for the Metaphysical Fair, which Shasta's been wanting to visit for a while. Should be really fun, plus we get to hopefully hang out with some of our Springs-located friends. ♥ Then later on this month we're going to see Jason Mraz in concert, which I'm really excited about -- I love him!
So we do have at least some kind of a life aside from the house. *grin* Though I suspect for the next year or two the house is going to be pretty much the center of our lives... :P
Shasta's brother Marvin, Ashleigh (ashes_renee), our friends Kim and Christina & Cesqua all came over and we got the work done in a couple of hours. So now our family room and kitchen look great... and our living room and dining room are a total mess. :P But, one area at a time, I guess...
Kim, Shasta and Ashleigh relaxing in our newly-floored family room.
Kitchen Before...
Kitchen After!
Entryway Before... (that's the same parquet that was in the kitchen)
Entryway After!
Even Petre was exhausted by the time we were done. :P
We ordered pizza, and Kim and Ashleigh hung out for a while afterward which was awesome. ♥
So, up next: paint. We bought some pretty cappuccino-colored paint and we're going to paint the family room, then install new baseboards to finish it off. After paint and baseboards, the family room will be done and ready for new furnishings, wall decorations, mounting the TV, etc.
We are also going to paint the recessed space above the kitchen where the flourescent lights were installed. We took the light fixtures down because A) flourescent light is garish in a kitchen, and B)the fixtures were both ugly and broken. So, we're going to paint the little recessed space the same cappuccino color, and install track lighting up there. We went and bought white track lights, but after pulling out the old fixtures yesterday we decided to take the white ones back and get black ones instead. They're more expensive, but they'll look nicer in the space when it's painted, and they'll coordinate with the black-and-stainless appliances we will eventually be putting in.
We took out the white dishwasher in order to do the flooring, and we're not going to bother re-installing it. It was hardwired into the kitchen, anyway. ^^;; We're just going to wait until we can afford the stainless one, and put the white one on Craigslist.
In terms of flooring, I have to pull some money together to buy more tile and mortar so we can tile the entryway. Once the tiling has been done (it's such a messy job that we're doing it first so we don't damage the new floors) we'll finish installing the laminate all the way through the dining room and living room... and then we can do painting and baseboards and the like in there, and at last our main floor will be completely livable space. ♥ I'm hoping to have all of that done before we leave for our Thanksgiving vacation...
In other, non-house-related babble, we're headed down to the Springs next Sunday for the Metaphysical Fair, which Shasta's been wanting to visit for a while. Should be really fun, plus we get to hopefully hang out with some of our Springs-located friends. ♥ Then later on this month we're going to see Jason Mraz in concert, which I'm really excited about -- I love him!
So we do have at least some kind of a life aside from the house. *grin* Though I suspect for the next year or two the house is going to be pretty much the center of our lives... :P