The tile has all been laid. Countertop to ceiling. And in some places floor to ceiling. We stayed up until 3 o'clock this morning to finish. Worth it? Absolutely!

Drew trimmed out the window. And it looks fabulous. We did a little bit wider window sill so I can put a flower vase or something up in the window.

Drew started working on the trim for the "beam". It's actually our vent. But we decided to trim it out to so we could add more headroom and add a little more detail to the room. Because the 1X1 glass floor to ceiling tile wasn't enough I guess. We still need to add the shaker panel trim to the beam and the wainscot boards to the post.

We also took out the awful tube lighting, and added recessed lighting. We will miss the gentle hum of the lights, but the ceiling seems much taller with the tube lights gone.

And the pooches are bored out of their minds! Poor dogs!

But how cute are they? Answer... Very!

Kitchen Update!

It's all coming together! And I am beyond thrilled with how it's turning out!

The glass mosaic tile turned out to be a lot easier then I had anticipated. I have seen some botched mosaic tile jobs and I thought it was crazy complicated. But with Drew laying the tile an me following behind with spacers just to fix the crooked tiles. The lines are looking incredible. So straight I am thinking about using white grout instead of beige. Hmm...

Our countertops are in and I love them. I love how much countertop space we have! Hooray!

I can't wait to grout the tile, and caulk the countertop to get crisp lines everywhere.

The middle two cabinets were our only hanging storage space. So Drew built the boxes for two more cupboards and we'll (he'll) build the doors. We are thinking about doing glass doors. And he's building cabinets for above the fridge! STORAGE!!

By taking apart the cupboards and rearranging them we were able to add another 15 inch cupboard and room for a dishwasher.

Then we took this newel post and cut it in half and made these awesome legs for our apron front sink. Love them.

Those aren't the doors that will be under the sink. Drew's going to build doors for there as well. Busy boy! And that is the status of our kitchen!

Proceed With Caution...

I have learned an important lesson this week. My words are powerful... A simple thought took my kitchen from this...

But with the concrete re-poured, and appliances about to be moved in, and everything about to be put back together. And then, not realizing how seriously a passing comment would be, about the placement of the sink and the stupid utility box... My kitchen turned into this...

Completely gutted! What was I thinking! Drew is still trying to convince me how much better it will be now. I think he lies!

And the rest of my house looks like this. Ahhh! I am promised it will be back together Saturday... My sanity depends on that statement!

Ps. Check out some of the treasures we have unearthed during the remodel! True Harry Homeowner Craftsmenship! Can you see this totally unnecessary U-turn in the plumbing? On the right hand side of the piped the could connect together immediately. Instead the jut out to the left back up the wall, down and around again. Awesome!

Sorry this is a horrible picture, but I had to take a picture before it was hauled to the dump. This 2X4 was holding up the dryer vent in the living room. And as you can see a foot of it was charred from the heat of the dryer! Just waiting to ignite and burn tue house down. Yikes!

Kitchen "Progress"...

Drew has taken on some big side projects, our house has been put on pause. This weekend the plumbing all got wrapped up.

Here's where we were, when last we met...

And here is today... Sometimes I have to remind myself that we have actually taken steps forward, and not backward. You can see from above where my confusion comes from. We have slowly been gathering the finish details for the kitchen and bath. For the kitchen we found another amazing deal on an apron front stainless steel sink.

I cannot wait to get it installed.

Then this weekend we found these gorgeous glass mosaic tiles for $2 a sq/ft. at Home Depot!

They look gorgeous next to our paint swatches! The trick is again to find a grout that doesn't make the glass tile lose it's luster. Sometimes you see glass tile that is so pretty, but as soon as the grout is added the tile looks dull. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Now onto the search for a faucet.

I love these industrial pull faucets. I always have. They are very "loud" faucets. They demand a lot of your attention when looking at a room. And I don't know if I want that to be the focus. But with our sink we bought that is thirty inches wide, and nine inches deep it would be perfect to reach all the corners of the sink and spray off dishes etc. A sprayer is a must for me. We don't have one on our sink right now, and it makes dishwashing take twice as long. Which leads me to the next faucet I love, but just don't think is very practical.

I think wall mount sinks are gorgeous, but the sprayer that they have is a major eye sore. The hose just hangs in the sink. And I don't think I can get over that.

So here is my "in-betweener" Pretty like the wall mount, but has a sprayer. I just worry about the satin nickel next to the stainless steel. Hmm... Decisions.

Birthday Present!

I finally cashed in my birthday gifts. The vacuum I bought when we got married, finally called it quits about 4 months ago. In all fairness to the sweet Eureka with a PowerClaw, it never signed up to cleaning up after 2 Great Danes. It never stood a chance. I have been trying to keep our house clean with a shop vac. Every time you turn it on, it shot out dust and debry through the muffler. It was a vicious circle of dirt. So I pooled together my birthday cash, and hunted on ksl.com. Where the Universe decided to pitch in on my birthday gift.

Of a brand new, still sealed in a box, complete with Dyson's 5 YEAR PARTS AND LABOR WARRANTY, DC25 Ball Animal vacuum!

Are you kidding me?!! A couple recieved it as a gift for their wedding. But decided to sell it at a quarter of the price because they wanted the little bit of cash instead. And said they would buy it again in a few years! FOOLS!

I love love love it! This model is designed specifically to pick up pet hair! And believe me, it is everything they advertise it will be! Thank you to my grandma, mom and mother in law! You have saved me from avoiding our home teachers! Haha just kidding, (sort of, not really!)

Gates

Drew was hired to build these gates for Lindsey and Scott, from greenapplephotography.blogspot.com.

Lindsey found beautiful gates, and Drew and Dave got to work mimicking them.

Piece by piece. It blows my mind every time I see him work, that he can take raw pieces of wood and turn them into something. Maybe I'm just easily amused!

And here is Drew's finished product. This blog is dedicated to Kami, who forced me to blog tonight, out of pure sisterly pressure. Now Kami, go check out the pretty pictures at greenapplephotography.blogspot.com, worth your time!

Because I Can't Wait Any Longer!

Drew has had a major project in the works. And I can't wait any longer to blog about it.

What started off as a hand drawn sketch by Drew, turned into a computer rendering by his uncle Tom. Turned into sheets of wood in our garage, turned into this.

Still a few finishing touches are left, like hanging the middle cabinet, and adjusting the shelves for the left hand side.

Other then that, it is incredible. He even hand stained it all to match existing trim in the house. Made all the sliding, adjustable shelves and drawers.

Built all of the cabinets and routed the trim.

Dave was a huge help, all along the way and installed the lighting that really finishes off the entertainment center.

Well done guys! Beautiful!