Closets!

Our new favorite handyman/contractor Javier finished our closets in only a few days! Hooray!! Now I have a space for my clothes that is not the makeshift rack next to my bed.  It has been a blast getting the new closets organized.  I'm not completely finished with the organization process but here's some photos anyways of the progress and the completed product!

Finished product after the jump.

House Updates: Photos

I know it's been a while since I posted new pictures of our progress.  Major renovations have thankfully been completed.  We're still slowly furnishing all of our new rooms and enjoying the little discoveries that come with living in a new (old) home.  Here are some photos I took of the downstairs.

More photos after the jump!

Settling In

Well, we did it. After a crazy couple of months of moving and unpacking and refinishing floors and dealing with leaks and all other kinds of disasters, we have just about settled into our new home. A big thank you to our moms, Chantal and Diane, who gave us the help we needed to get it done and to Pete for coming to our rescue and helping us move at the last minute!

Our last picture in our apartment

Pete and Chantal

Many things remain to be done, but for now, we're just happy picking out new furniture and rearranging things to our hearts content.

Progress!

This weekend, we were pleasantly surprised to see major progress on the house. We are moving in next weekend so we were also quite relieved.

Tiles in the bathroom!

Walls in the living room!

Walls in the kitchen!

A fridge!

Randy and Jay stopped by too!

Holes in the Wall

So the walls in both kitchens have been opened up!  It doesn't look like much yet, but it was really exciting for me when I went over there this afternoon.

Main Kitchen

Apartment Kitchen

Exterior Paint Color...

...is up! The color is "Franklin Lakes" from Benjamin Moore's Classic collection. We're really happy with the color we chose. Hope you like it too!

Primer

A couple of photos of the front of the house with the new coat of primer!

This small swatch is what the final color will be...kind of a bluish green.

You can see it here too.

So exciting! Already a big change from this.

Backyard Bush Whacking

We spent this Sunday whacking at bushes in the jungle that is now our backyard. We made a remarkable amount of progress and we couldn't have done it without the inspiration and support of our friends Mike, Katie, and Katie =) Here are some before and after pictures (click on the pictures for a larger view).

and after...

A couple of pics of the front yard, before...

and after....

Exterior Colors

Here are a few photoshopped photos of the exterior paint color we have chosen for the exterior of the house. Originally I was thinking of more of a slate blue, but after looking at samples, we decided to go with more of a gray-green-blue combination called "Franklin Lakes" from the Benjamin Moore Exterior Color line. I really like the way the green undertones make it kind of an earthier color than just the slate blue, as the earthier colors are more typical of craftsman style houses.

I also really like the idea of doing royal blue accents for the window sashes and porch columns.

We did it!

We closed on the house on Monday! Yay!!! Here I am with Masai in our (yay!) house after we closed.

(Note the peeling paint in the background.)

Our realtor gave us our first housewarming present, a smudge stick - a bundle of sage to burn to cleanse the energy in the house. Here is Masai with the sage stick.

And now the real fun begins, we have one team heading into the house on Monday (hopefully) to start gutting the kitchens and bathroom and foundation work schedule to start on the 11th. We'll keep you posted on the progress! In the meantime, I'll be doing more online window shopping. Bedroom Idea boards are coming up next!

The Good, the Bad, and the Fugly

The Bad: One of our contractors dropped us (because of FHA financing specifics that I will not go into for the sake of not boring myself to death). Now we are scrambling to find a new one which is very stressful since our new closing date, August 11th is quickly approaching!

The Good: New Ikea Catalog!!!! I'm going to stop by on my way home from school tomorrow to see if I can pick up a paper copy!

The Fugly: My favorite blog. Even when I'm having contractor-inspired breakdowns, the Fug Girls always come through.

Exterior and Front Porch

Upstairs Bathroom

Third Bedroom