Snapshots

Happy Monday everyone!  I'm happily sitting next to the fireplace, sipping coffee, and feeling thrilled that I have today off work!  A three day weekend is good for the soul, indeed!  

We worked hard on our house this weekend.  We are in the process of framing the shower and putting sheet rock up.  As soon as that is complete, our tile will be installed.  We are getting so excited!  

I don't have have one project to share with you today.  Instead, I have snapshots of the past week.  Enjoy!

Our new bathroom window!  Our house has single-paned windows throughout.  Eventually, we plan on upgrading to dual-paned windows (not in the budget right now).  However, since we gutted the whole master bathroom, we decided it wouldn't be complete without a new, pretty window.  So, we officially have ONE dual-paned window in our house now!  (Obviously, the little things excite me).

Nick and Greg installing the plumbing into our shower.  We did a lot of research and ended up purchasing a Kohler thermostatic valve and faucets.  I like hot, hot showers, and Nick likes not so hot.  This will allow us to set the temperature that we each like.... without having to mess with the faucets to get that "perfect" temperature.  Pricey, but worth it in our opinion!

Shopping for bathroom fixtures and mirrors.  How about this one??  The mirror has a T.V. installed into it.  Nothing like watching Buster Posey run the bases as you brush your teeth!  We passed on this purchase.... ;)

Our shower has a ceiling, our shower has a ceiling!!!  That ceiling is cement board... heavy stuff!!  I learned that you use cement board in order to create a moisture barrier.  Cool stuff.

                                       Finished product.  Next up... the walls!

Day trip to Hayward to pick out granite for our kitchen counter tops.  So many styles to choose from!  Luckily, Nick and I were on the same page and it wasn't hard to make a decision.  

That's all folks!  We are plugging away and making progress.  Our goal is to be sleeping at our house for Christmas Eve.  Not sure that it will happen, but having a goal in mind helps us to stay sane and work towards something!

Happiest Lawn on Earth

Our property has A LOT of grass.  Did you know that watering grass is outrageously expensive?  Well, I didn't.  When we received our first water bill.... and it was $154, I flipped... mainly because we AREN'T LIVING THERE YET!  When we move in and start showering and flushing toilets our bill will be $500 a month!  

Well, we have since learned that you don't need to water your lawn as much as we were.  We probably had the happiest lawn on Earth in the month of August...  Very green, hydrated grass! 

Well, it's in the future plans to make our yard more water efficient.  However, in the meantime, we will deal with having a lot of grass.  

That being said, we decided it was time to make a very important purchase.  

Drum roll please.....

It's exciting stuff, people!  It's not just a lawn-mower.  It's a gas, self-propelled, nifty, red lawn-mower.  We haven't named it yet, but that's coming.  

I wonder who will get stuck mowing the lawn..... Nick or Ashley??  

P.S.- Thanks to the friends who let us borrow their lawn-mowers over the past four months!  You were a huge blessing to us!

Wonderful White

Our cabinets are complete!!  Can you tell that I am thrilled?!  

When we bought our house, the cabinets were a dark brown wood (original from 1971).  Since replacing the cabinets was not in the budget, we chose to paint them white and put some modern hardware on them to update the look.  Painting cabinets is not an easy, quick process (especially when your Dad is a painting contractor and likes everything to be done properly.... lucky us!)

This weekend my Dad replaced all the hinges and installed the new hardware.  Want to see?

Here is the kitchen when we first bought it.  Notice the dark, outdated cabinets.

TAA-DAAA!!!! Obviously, the floors are ripped out and there is a lot of work to do in the kitchen (new counters, perhaps?!)  However, in my opinion, the white cabinets really brighten up and instantly modernize the kitchen.  I love it!

Do you like our choice of pulls?  It's called the European pull.  Nick and I both love the sleek, modern look.  

                                        This is what the pantry looked like before....

                                And.... the final product!  So much better, right?

Our next project for the kitchen is granite counter tops.  Now that the cabinets are white and pretty.... the yellow tile/brown grout counter top is a major eyesore!!

Can We Get a Pocket Door?!

It's the little things in the house remodeling process that excite us!  This past weekend Operation: Pocket Door was completed!

We are excited to have a door that separates our bedroom and bathroom!  You can read about the first half of the project (beer cans and all) HERE.

Day two of the project included framing the door area, shaving down the door to size, and installing the door.  

Check it out!

 Success!!

The space to the left of the door will be made into a complete wall eventually.  We also installed a a stainless steel pocket door handle.  

One door down... one step closer to moving into our home!

Vanity Fair

There are so many components that go into remodeling the house.  Naturally, my favorite part is the shopping and picking out the pretty pieces!  Lucky for me, my husband trusts me and gives me lots of freedom in this area; we have pretty similar taste which makes life easy!  

Our bathroom desperately needed a new vanity.  The old vanity, although in good condition, was outdated and not our style.  We have been searching store and after store for "the one" without much luck.  Our "must-haves" were a double sink, adequate drawer/cupboard space, a modern look, and a marble or granite counter top.

We finally found our perfect vanity.  We both love it and can't wait until it is delivered on our door step in a couple weeks (all 800 pounds of it... wow!)

We found it at none other than trusty, old, COSTCO.  I am thrilled that we found it at Costco for several reasons.  

1.) They have an excellent return policy.

2.) They deliver for FREE (even an 800 pound item).

3.) We can charge it to our American Express and receive a 3% kickback in February (yes please!)

4.) I like Costco in general and am happy to support their corporation.

                      Here is the vanity that was in the original bathroom:

 

Original Vanity

           

              Vanity no more..... (our backyard currently looks a little white trashy!)

                                            This is where the new vanity will be!



                                                                      

 

Here she is!!!  The beautiful new vanity!  Can't wait until it's delivered!

Shower Progress

It was another weekend of productive housework at the Klaus house!  I have to start off by giving a huge shout-out to my incredible husband.  This man works 9-10 hours days Monday-Friday and then puts in a solid eight hours on Saturday and Sunday on our house.  What a stud.  I couldn't be more thankful for him and all his hard work and drive. 

This weekend, Nick spent a lot of time working on our master bathroom.  The master bathroom has been by far the biggest project in the whole house.  We decided to gut the entire bathroom and start over.  The whole bathroom was out of date and needed a major facelift. 

The biggest job in the bathroom was the shower.  So far, here is what we have done:

We tore our the existing shower and cut into the hallway heater closet in order to expand the shower.  This enabled us to gain a total of 12 inches in length and 8 inches in depth.  We also tore out the false ceiling which makes a huge difference!  The ceiling of the shower is now the same height as the rest of the bathroom.  We had a contractor come in last week and "frame" the shower with wood.  Next step is waterproof sheet rock.... and then TILE!  

 Shower before: See the false wall above the shower?  We tore it out!  The taller the better!

 Shower before: Notice how small the shower is.  Our new shower goes 8 inches deeper and is 12 inches longer. 

 Current shower: You can see the wall we took out between the shower and heater closet.  This photo was taken from our hallway on the other side of the heater closet! 

Current shower: It is hard to tell, but this is the shower framed with wood.  All we need to do now is plumb the new faucets, install the sheet rock, and have our tile guy come out and work his magic!

One day at a time!  We are slowly, but surely getting there.  We are getting excited!

Cardboard and Sharpies

All you need is love.....

It's a slow going process... remodeling a 1971 home (not just a little remodel, a full-out, big one), while working full time jobs, trying to balance it all!

Sometimes, you just need a little reminder that you'll get there and that it will all be worth it.

That's what amazing husbands are for.

Earlier tonight, Nick asked me to meet him at the house after work to go over some plans for our electrical outlets and switches.  I went, we discussed, we decided, and got ready to leave.  

On the way out, he lead me through the living room, and much to my surprise was the sweetest little gift.  

Our torn-up, no-where-near ready fireplace had a "roaring" Sharpie fire.  Hanging above our fireplace was one of my favorite pictures from our wedding.  

And just like that... I remembered, it's our home.  Undone, dusty, torn-up, not ready... but it's still OUR home.  

Can't wait to move in with my sweetheart.  We are going to create so many lovely, fun memories in the years to come.  

Tonight was my reminder that we have already started creating those memories together!