The Lake House Renovation: Ceiling Fan and Lighting

We made a couple of decisions regarding ceiling fans and lighting.

We got this fan from Lowe's.  Although, we just picked it out based on the look when we saw it in the store.  Now, I'm looking at reviews online, and I'm a little worried.  Oh well, it looks good.

We also picked out these lights for over our island.  I was a little worried that they looked a little too gimmicky or something, but I really love them over our island.  They achieve the look we wanted by tying in the floor, eventually our dining room table, and they break up the white in our kitchen.  We also purchased the matching chandelier for our dining room, but it is not hanging yet.  

Most of our furniture is in our garage.  It is a crazy mess that gives me anxiety every time I look at it.  We decided the easiest thing to do will be to move in a piece each day whenever we have a chance.

Last night, we decided to move in the heaviest piece.  It's this armoire.  I bought it a few years ago from a friend.  It's so cute, but it is HEAVY.  I'm hoping we can use it as a TV stand in our bedroom.  

We bought these Super Sliders to help us move it.  These things are awesome!  We were worried the whole time about scratching our floor, because if just one piece of grit gets underneath it, it can leave a little mark.  I'm going to have to get over that.  When we brought it in, we also worried about it possibly leaving a mark if it even touched the ground.  So, we threw some socks on it.  Maybe we should leave them on there?  

We are buying some furniture pads to put under all the furniture, because the flooring is scratching easily and it is stressing me out.  Until those pads arrive, the socks stay on the legs!

Look at the mess behind me.  Ughhhhh.

I have a question...

Do you feel like this armoire could go in the same bedroom as this bed?  They both have a square/rectangular pattern that helps them tie together.

Our bed is more brown (this picture doesn't show it well), and there is some brown in the armoire.  But the armoire is definitely more of a black color.  

If it can go in the same room, what color would you make the dresser or chest of drawers?  I really don't want everything to be the same color, but I do want everything to coordinate.

The Lake House Renovation: Big Changes

Our kitchen is starting to look like a kitchen for the first time in about two and a half months.

Just a reminder of where we were in November...

Then, we had demo.  Here's where we were in the last week of December.

Things started looking better in early February.  

And here we are today...

One of my favorite parts of the new kitchen is the spice rack!

Next up is granite, lighting, appliance install.  The end of phase one is in sight!

Our faucet also arrived today!  Yay.  Check out which one we chose! (Presley was listening to Lady Gaga in the background!)

The Kraus faucet can be found here.

The Lake House Renovation: Feeling Better

I came home today to our kitchen flooring being complete.  It looks fantastic.

The lighting doesn't do it justice, and of course there is a lot of dust everywhere.  It person, I absolutely love it.

That said, we still don't want to pay that extra $1,000.  So we will continue to ask for a compromise on that.

Also, as I mentioned yesterday, the workers smoked in the house.

Michael called the manager of the place and last night, the installer called and apologized profusely. He said that the windows were open, so he didn't think it would be an issue.  But, since we aren't smokers, he understands how obvious it was.  Apology accepted.

Also, we got a little clarification regarding the amount of backer board (I think that's what it's called.) that they bought.

We feel a little bit better overall now.

Also happening today was the continued work on our fence.

Lots of changes yesterday!  It's getting closer.  Now, to pick out a little bit of furniture!  :)

The Lake House Renovation: Updates and Concerns

Here's where we are right now.

Yep.  We have a toilet sitting in the middle of Presley's bedroom.

Ha.  It's good though.  It means they are working on our flooring.

Now, the flooring.  Let's dive in shall we.

I have concerns about this company.  For one, I'm beginning to think they may be pulling one over on us.  While I like the flooring color, I'm afraid the quality is not what I was expecting.  In the store, all we saw was the sample piece.  It looked good.  In person, out of the box, the flooring looks a little flimsy.  I'm not sure what it is.  I'm just worried they switched something on us.  Part of this is likely due to the fact that I found a very bad review for the company after we had already made the purchase.  

This is what is in the box and is about to get put down.  

This is what we ordered after seeing it at the store.  

This is a picture taken in our house of the sample.  I guess it basically matches.  

In addition, we paid upfront for 85% of cost of the flooring and installation.  We do owe a balance, but they included the install in our pricing.  We get a call today saying that we have to pay an extra $1,000 due to additional prep work in our bathroom (for the tile) that they could not see when they initially came out for the measurement.

Bathroom floor before it was prepped

Bathroom floor after being prepped - Something here is costing us an extra $1,000.

Other issues include the fact that the installers smoked in our house.  Not a huge deal, but annoying and unprofessional.  The house reeked when I got home.  It was 70 degrees today.  We have a nice patio that is covered and available.  

We also believe they ordered way too much of one of the install products.  We have messaged them about these issues and they assure us everything will be fair.  Stay tuned to find out if we end up paying the extra $1,000.  

Also, they just unplugged our internet without just putting it up on the window sill.  Talk about ticking me off!

The thing that kills me is the fact that they know we have an additional 1500 square feet on our bottom floor that will need new flooring eventually too.  You would think they would go above and beyond to make sure everything is perfect.  

Anywho...

We will see how things go.  

Right now, the good news is that I'm loving the tile we picked out for the mudroom and the bathroom. 

mudroom tile

mudroom tile

With the exception of trim work, most of the painting is done.  

Repose Gray - bedrooms/bathrooms

Repose Gray - bedrooms/bathrooms

Repose Gray (carpet was obviously gone in the pic)

Edgecomb Gray looking from living room into kitchen

Edgecomb Gray - Living areas/hallways/kitchen

Edgecomb Gray - Living areas/hallways/kitchen

Here's an interesting pickle.  This is in the mudroom.  Because of where we put the wall, our window now has an issue.
One side will have room for trim, while the other won't.  So, we are trying to figure out what to do.

We also decided to install a fence after Stella got out and caused an awkward situation between Michael and a neighbor.  I am so excited.  We will be able to let her out for longer times which I hope will lead to her being less prone to urinate in the house.  We NEVER had a problem with this at our old house.  It's a major problem at the new house.  

Fence Supplies

They've got the poles in the ground.  The rain has caused progress to stop for now. 

And just for fun...some pictures of Michael as we moved the refrigerator out of the kitchen.  We figured we should move it now, since we are getting a new one and there's no floor to ruin at the moment.

Have a great night!