Eat, Drink and Remodel

A lot has been going on lately in the home of Virginia. A few fights (Rob and the barefoot floor sander), a few tears (me when I thought the sun porch floor was ruined), and a lot of Jim/Rob bonding time. I get a really strong feeling Virginia's loving it all. I catch myself standing in certain rooms of the house just smiling away at the changes we've made. I also seem to be high fiving my dad and Rob whenever I see them. Just letting them know I appreciate their work.

I haven't posted anything lately, but I have some good reasons why:

1. This time of year is really busy for me at work.
2. My laptop died.
3. I've been deciding whether or not to cut my hair.

Just your usual stuff.

So anyway, I'll be back with a blogging vengeance this week. Get pumped.

Rob's pumped about it (and the new lights):

My dad's pumped about it (and the fact he's almost done putting together all those cabinets):


We're all pretty pumped about it.

Here's a shot of how great the kitchen is looking. More to come!

Bare It

Just one more shot of the floor guy in his realm. Because it really cracks me up.


I'm not going to lie, though. I'd take his legs.

Wood Workin' It

What seems like forever ago, we pulled all the carpet off the already there wood floor. All of upstairs, the main floor and two sets of stairs have wood floor from the 60s. It actually looks pretty good, but it doesn't match the color of the kitchen wood floor (which was an update Virginia did years ago). We decided to sand them down and stain them all walnut. Great, right?

I was all for hiring out. Rob and my dad were all for hiring themselves. I walked by my dad's office on more than one occasion with a YouTube video pulled up on how to sand a wood floor yourself. Oh, dad.

They ended up renting a couple of sanders from Home Depot and went to town.

This is me filling all the holes with some paste stuff. Just doing my part.

This is how the wood floor turned out after sanded and stained by Rob. 'Grim' is what the professional called it who we had come look at it. I know, I know- listen to me next time, guys. Just kidding, they actually did a great job sanding and this pic isn't really fair since the floor is dirty. The Home Depot sanders just don't have the oomph needed to do the job, though.

Lesson learned I guess. Don't let some old guy at Home Depot (or a YouTube video) talk you into it.

So we've hired out the sanding, and then we'll just stain it ourselves. Here's our guy doing his thing.

Is anyone else creeped out he's sanding the floors barefoot?? My dad thought maybe he liked to feel the floor. I think it's because he wears these kind of shoes:

A guy wearing Birkenstock style shoes? Please. Going barefoot is his way of life.

Cuckoo

I'm cuckoo for this in my kitchen.

Holy Cabinet

We picked up our cabinets from Ikea last night. Has anyone ever had to do that?? Those Swedes mean business. Before you leave, you have to go through EACH box/item, find the SKU on your checklist and then cross it off. We had four huge carts to go through. Whew.

Gina was nice enough to come over and help me with the process. She is a-mazing at doing crap like that. Thorough little bird. For some creepy reason, I kind of enjoyed doing it. Just me and big sis doing a little team work.




So I guess I'll see everyone over at my place this weekend to have a cabinet assembling party? BYODC.

Also, we spotted this guy running through our new neighborhood in church clothes the other day.


I'm sure it's only a matter of time till we're hanging.

Inside Out

I'm really excited about the furniture we're putting in the house. Rob's really excited for me to stop buying it. Dream on.

Here are a few pics of some beauties that will make their home in Virginia.

Two of these for the living room.

The lamp, not the couch. Although, that's pretty close to what my couch looks like except in ivory.

Two of these painted red and put side by side for the coffee table!

Large area rug for the living room. (The ivory one)

With this guy layered on top of it! Maxine thinks Jodee has lost. her. mind.

To put above the fireplace.


A few of these for the entry way and sun porch.

Isn't Virginia looking SO 2009??

Island Fever

Matt, the cabinet guy from Ikea came the other day to give Virginia's kitchen a new layout. In the process, he crushed my hopes and dreams of using this island. He "claims" it's too big and would run into the wall creating a walking hazard. Whatevs, Matt.

He did give Ginny a nice new look though, even without the island. We're going with the Lindingo cabinets in white. I'm pretty pumped about them.


Here's a few pics Matt sent me of the new layout. Not what I had originally envisioned, but I think it's going to look pretty great.





We're making a few minor changes, like adding glass doors on the cabinets above the dishwasher. Jodee told me she was watching Baby Mama, and they used all glass in their kitchen and it looked incred. Besides, it's like I've always said, "If it's good enough for Tina Fey, it's good enough for me." That, and my kitchen is pretty small so why not open it up?

I'm still up in the night on what to do for counter tops. Laminate? Solid surface? Granite? The cabinets are ringing in a tad higher than we hoped, so I'm not sure I want to pull out the big guns. I've toyed around with doing butcher block (WAY cheap), but Matt said they're a lot of upkeep. I mean, I'm pretty busy...especially with fall tv starting.


Any suggestions? Anyone know a guy? Help Virginia out.