The Past 9 Months

There have been many things happening around the house since we last posted, here are a few before and after shots:

The bow window in the front was old and not very efficient, so we replaced it with three double hung windows. Luckily the big hole in the house was closed up in one day:

Dan demolished the ugly wall in the front of the house and took down one pine tree. Now we can see out of our house! We needed a place to put all of the dirt removed from the back patio, so we landscaped around the three trees in the front, new plants and edging.

We added a patio in the backyard and did a lot of landscaping. As you can see, there was nothing there to start with, just a few lonely shrubs. It was a major task for one man, but we (o.k. Dan) did it and we enjoy it everyday.








New slate tile in the hallway, it was an awesome orange carpet from 1975!

The front door was also old and very dark with no windows, so we changed to something a little more modern:

These are the big projects happening around the house. We continue to finish painting trim, walls and finishing many other projects that just never got done. Hopefully we can finish the outside projects before the snow arrives.

Tiled Backsplash

Spent the past weekend tiling the backsplash. We decided on a polished 2"x8" Carrara Marble tiles. We liked the traditional look of marble, but with a longer tile it added a bit of modernism that we are trying to incorporate.

I will post more pictures shortly.

My Little Helper

Jack decided to help me install the sink and garbage disposal. He got a sweet new Craftsman tool bench and tools for X-mas. Now he follows me around wanting to "Fix it".

Countertops Installed

We finally had our countertops installed the week after Christmas. We decided on honed Granite - India Black Pearl to be exact.

I swallowed my DIY pride and hired professionals for this project. I found a great small installation shop, Distinctive Stone Interiors in St. Paul. They saved me some headaches in the future.

For instance, the under-mount sink came with a install kit, but the supports sat on top of the cabinets between the base cabinet and the granite. Kurt looked at it and mentioned if we ever cracked or chipped the sink we would never get it out. They had a nifty 3/4" plywood and 2 screw mounting system that allows me to remove my sink if ever needed.

I will post more pictures shortly.

Other Decisions

Thought I would share our other tough decisions:

Sink - Kohler Deerfield smart-divide white

Faucet - Moen Aberdeen - Chrome

Pulls - Restoration Hardware Bistro - Chrome

Island Lighting - Pottery Barn Rustic Glass Pendant

Counter Tops - Granite India Black Pearl - Honed (similar to the picture)

I will post installed pictures as we do them. Right now everything is riding on the counter top install scheduled for the 29th of Dec.

Kitchen Cabinets

The kitchen cabinets arrived. They are Thomasville, Cottage Door Style with a Pearl glaze.

Floor Install

After letting it acclimate for 5 days, I laid down 15# felt paper, rented a floor stapler, made sure the first row was square and went to town. My forearm was really sore after laying 700+ sq. ft. of floor.

We choose a Mahogany stain from Sherwin Williams then put on 2 thick coats of Bona Industrial strength oil-based poly - Satin finish. Look even Kristin wanted in on the stain and poly fumes.

Hardwood Floor

I thought it would be cool to find a local resource for our wood floor. We wanted something rustic, wide planked, hardwood - that was affordable. I found Great Lakes Lumber Company up in Isanti, MN. We choose a rustic (with knots) Black Ash, 5" planks, unfinished, finish sanded with a micro bevel edge. Jason delivered it to us came as 10" sticks. Ready to install.

Wall Color

The hardest part of this project has been picking a paint color. After looking at pictures, arguing, looking at the

6 different sample colors in 5 different areas of the room at 4 different times of the day, we narrowed it to 3. We finally choose Valspar Moonstone Shadow in Flat. Perfect!

Patio Door Install

Go the patio door installed. Hired help for this one because there was not door there before. Lets in a ton of light now