The Lake House Renovation: Fresh Kitchen with Not So Fresh Fruit

I've been playing a little coy with the latest on our kitchen.  Last weekend, we cooked in it for the first time since we started this project, but it still wasn't quite finished.

I was going to wait to share pics until everything was done, but we had such dramatic changes this weekend, that I had to share.  

Here's what it looked like Saturday morning.  

The island is Presley's favorite new play spot.  

Window looking onto the street. 

We had a small issue with our bracket for our tv, so we are waiting for liquid nail to harden before putting it on the fireplace. 

Then, Saturday, around 2:00, the magical fairies from Great American Home Store made a beautiful delivery.  

No dogs on the new furniture, so Aaron and Julia picked up this doggie bed from Costco for us.  

Finally!  We have furniture.  I am so happy with it.  It looks amazing and is so functional.  We are still missing a couple of chairs.  

Also, we finally have a vent hood.  I cannot tell you the headache this thing was.  I really wanted one that just blended into the background, meaning, I wanted to hide it in a cabinet.  We had so much trouble finding one that would work.  To the rescue, Aaron found us the perfect model.  Which, once again, I hope you are following his Facebook page.  He has helped us solve so many problems.  

In addition to helping us find the vent hood, Aaron also helped us install it!
Follow his Facebook page! 

It looks great, and I love how it makes the backsplash look!

Woohoo!

There are still a few things left to do in the kitchen.  Michael's dad is helping us get our outlets finished up.  

Here's a few more pictures from this weekend...

Breaking in the card table!

Couldn't let the weekend pass without a boat ride.

My love for this guy is unhealthy.  If you get one, make sure you get an iRobot Roomba brand.
Yes, they are more expensive than off brands, but they are so worth it.  We had an off brand and it was crap.
This little guy works.

So, all of our dishes have been sitting in our storage area.  We were so frantic the day we moved all of our dishes out of the kitchen for demo, that apparently we missed a bowl of fruit.  This is what fruit looks like after 4 months.  Yep, that's a banana!  YUCK!

The Lake House Renovation: We have countertops!

This weekend, while standing over the Mississippi River, which divides the two great states of Tennessee and Arkansas, Michael and I made a decision that had deeply divided us.  Selection of granite.

Nelson, the owner of Stone City, called us about five minutes after this picture was taken to see if we wanted to stick with Colonial White for our granite.  

In fact, we had to bring in the big guns and get help from our Facebook family to make the choice.

We finally had to settle and decided to choose...

Colonial White!

I couldn't be happier with it.

Happy Tuesday!

The Lake House Renovation: Emptying the Garage

We had an incredibly productive day.  A great day.  

For the first time in three months, our home has a dining room table.

The table, mirror, and our chairs have been sitting in our garage since the end of November.

I remember the day we moved in how depressed I was that it was going to be sitting in the garage.  The long wait we would have while renovating seemed so daunting.  Now that we are almost done, the excitement for the future and the memories we will make in this house feels like a breath of fresh air.   

The table and mirror were so incredibly difficult to move, but we did it...and I don't think we scratched the floor.  We really couldn't have done it without the Super Sliders.  

Here's what's left...

We still have to purchase some furniture for our living room, bedroom, and Presley's, as our old stuff just won't work.  Most of it is being used downstairs right now anyway.  We are going from a two bedroom house to a four bedroom 2 living area house, so we are going to have to buy more.  

We need some sort of TV to go over our mantle.

The appliances need to be installed.

Granite goes on this week.  

Vanity for guest bathroom needs to be purchased and installed.  

My back is sore.  My eyes are heavy.  My heart is full.  

My partner in crime working with me to move our BAM.  You can guess what the initials mean.  

Ahh.  Finally, we have a dining room.  Light fixture will be changed soon.  

Here's another look at how it will look next to the kitchen.  

Our appliances are set up in the living room now.

Super Sliders saved the day again.  

We also moved this cabinet in.  Not sure if this will be the permanent placement. 

Presley has literally worn this all weekend.  She's been so entertaining and beautiful and perfect.
She could be the sweet little girl in a movie who acts as the comedic pause in a stressful movie.