Magnificent Master

It was a big weekend for our master bedroom. First, Jerry and I tried our hand as electricians and decided to replace the fan.

Here it is before. Jealous? In addition to the intricate bronze details, fluted glass, several light bulbs that are out this thing is extremely un-level and could rouse the dead in the middle of the night, much less a light sleeper like me. Unfortunately, the upstairs of our home gets very warm since hot air rises and all that, so Jerry has not enjoyed waking up in a sweat because I shut the fan off in the middle of the night to enjoy a few hours of silence.

Here is the new fan. It is more contemporary and matches the style of our new bedroom set nicely. Also, we were equally impressed with our ability to install it without electrocuting ourselves or burning the house down. It only took one call to our "life line" (aka my father, thanks Dad!) and several consults with the Internet. Since the fan isn't hooked up to a light switch, we also installed a remote control to avoid having to pull the cords every time we want it on, off, or adjusted in any way. Jerry thinks he gets to keep the remote on his night stand... but if this sucker starts making noises in the middle of the night, he is sorely mistaken.

In other bedroom news, our bed was finally delivered. We really love it. Please excuse it's towering height, I think I might need a ladder just to get in, but since we don't have a linen closet upstairs, we had drawers installed underneath. There are two drawers on each side, and of course, photo genius that I am, I forgot to take pictures of them, but trust me, they are there and they are very useful for storing spare sheets and towels.

Here's the rest of the set, a chest for me on the left (please note that it is larger than Jerry's :)) and a media chest on the right for Jerry and all of our electronic needs. Yes, our TV is ridiculous, but for various reasons that are too boring to get into here, this is the only room that it worked in. Plus, now we have an extremely comfortable media room. My main issue with it is that it shines like the sun and tends to wake me in the middle of the night. Since Jerry is usually sleeping by then, I have to try to climb over him, find the remote control, which is at least illuminated by the solar glare going on, and turn it off, all while not waking him up. Luckily, we got a tempurpedic style mattress which makes it so he doesn't feel it when I move around in bed. Needless to say, I have a tough life.

After the dog had a few near death experiences jumping on and off the bed, we added this ottoman to the bottom as a launch pad for him. It's something we had in the condo and is in kind of rough shape, but for the time being, it's better than a dog with a broken leg, or worse. We'll replace it with something that is a little more to scale in the future.

Here he is, testing it out and scowling at me. "Mom, I'm not ready for my close up, I haven't even brushed my hair!" He is still in the process of learning to use it to get in and out of the bed. He takes advantage of it about 50% of the time, and practices his vertical jump and death defying skills for the rest.

The contractor is here installing the rest of the cabinets as I type this. If I'm up to it and can remember to charge the battery on my camera, I'll do another post tonight.

Kitchen Cabinets (!!!!!!) Part 1

The kitchen cabinets are here, hallelujah!

The lowers were all installed on Friday. I can't wait to get my oven in there.


The fridge will go over here:


Here are the drawers that will flank the oven. Think of how many pots and pans I'll be able to fit in there.


A little bit of trim thrown in so that we weren't staring at a blank peice of wood every time we entered the kitchen:


This is why we went for custom cabinets. All of the drawer and cabinet faces were cut from the same peice of wood so the grain lines up when it's closed.


Here's the drawer hardward:


Slightly different angle:


Our big decision now is should we mount them on the cabinet doors vertically:


Or horizontally:


The uppers will be installed on Monday:


And so will the bathroom vaninties:


In other house news, Jerry was VERY proud of the closet doors he installed. I agree, they look great... although anything would be an improvement over rusty, peeling, bronze framed, mirrored doors that were there previously. Those doors had to be replaced because the slow leak from the shower rotted out the track.


Also, here's a dramatic before and after...

Mailbox before (ewwww!):


Mailbox after (ahhhh!):


Once the cabinets are installed, the contractor will measure for granite and that should be installed in about a week. Then we can FINALLY have everthing we wanted, even a kitchen sink. Now we're off to install a new ceiling fan and wait for our bed to be delivered. We're too old to be sleeping on a mattress on the floor, can't wait!

Perfect Patio Furniture

Since we are now the proud owners of a lovely new grill, we decided to get some patio furniture to go with it. It's the perfect spot for us to get away from the brutal heat of this suburban summer. Who knew it would be so much hotter just a few miles west of the beach?

Also, Jerry and his buddies plan to smoke many cigars out here at night. Thank goodness it's far from the house!

We temporarily moved the adirondacks here until we find some chaise lounges.

Still waiting on those kitchen cabinets... I sure hope they get installed soon... my girlish figure depends on it. :)

Gorgeous Grill

My parents finally came through on the housewarming gift and got us this amazing new grill. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Can't wait to have our first home cooked meal in the new house.

Here it is with the fancy cover:


And Jerry taking his first peek. You can't tell from this shot, but trust me, he's impressed. He'd better be. Grilling is officially a "husbandly" duty.

Here it is opened up. This thing has all the bells and whistles. Mmmmm, I'm getting hungry just thinking about all the food Jerry's going to cook for me. :)

Finally, one of the joys of owning a pool is fishing the little animals out of it every one in a while. Look, our first rat! Don't worry animal activitists, this little guy scampered off as soon as I rescued him.

That's all for now. Here's hoping for kitchen cabinets next week!

Small Successes

Not too much going on at the house this week. The cabinets are being stained and apparently it takes several days for it to dry between each coat. Here's hoping they'll be installed early next week.

The painters came back and were able to finish the pool deck. Can't wait for the grill and some patio furniture so we can start enjoying it more. (Ahem... Mom? Dad? where's that house warming present you promised? :))

Jerry got to work making the closet more funtional for us. Here is the build-in on my side, soon to be filled with purses and shoes. Hmmm... I think I'll need more build-ins!

Here's the one on his side. Since his dresser is also serving as our media cabinet, he needs more storage. What can I say, the man has lots of t-shirts.

His next project will be installing this door on the closet to replace the rusted, mirrored number that was in there when we moved in.

Finally, my aunt sent me this adorable housewarming gift. (Thanks Auntie Barbara and Uncle Craig!) Can't wait to find the perfect spot for it in our new home.

Here's hoping for lots to report next week.

Painting the Pool Deck and other Pandemonium

Today seemed like a very productive day. We got a brand new, bigger water heater. The smaller one is original to this house (a.k.a. 20 years old) and not only was it on its last legs, it wasn't really big enough for the house. We looked into tankless water heaters, but since we don't have gas, we did some research and found out that there wasn't a huge benefit to running one on electric. Instead there is a timer installed on this one that will turn it off during the night and a switch so that we can turn it off if we go out of town, so we should save energy that way.

Look, a new water heater! (Insert ooohs and ahhhs here) I know, I promised a more exciting post with the title, but figure "and other Pandemonium" gives me some artistic license. Plus, the pandemonium happened when the plumber turned on his pump to drain the original water heater and the power went off. He couldn't get it to come back on so the hunt for an electrician started. Luckily, the electrician was able to get power up and running again, but I expect we'll need a new fuse box sometime in the not too distant future. Here's hoping we can hold off on that for at least a few months!

Okay, okay, now onto the excitement that I promised...

The pool deck got painted today! Goodbye faded pink, hello "New Tile Red."

"Mommy, I want to go outside and help paint."

"Why doesn't anyone ever let me go outside??? It's the only thing I want to do in the whole world. Can someone call Animal Protection Services please?"

Finally, the pool deck got finished... almost. We ran out of paint with just this small patch left. *sigh* But the rest of the pool deck looks awesome, and you can't see it in these photos, but there is sand in this paint to give it better grip for the pool deck.

Bowden approves of the new color.

Below are some gratuitous dog shots since I tortured you with water heater stories at the beginning of this post:

"Can someone please get my ball?"

"No really, I could use some help with my ball here people!"

First dip in the pool, for both of them.

Didn't take Bowden long to find out where the most comfortable spot to cool off was. When he gets hot, he runs straight to this stair for a dip.

Then, once his energy is restored, he's back to his usual crazy self.

And I do mean crazy.



The end.

Moving Mayhem

Sorry for the delay in posting. We were moving into the new place all week and in all the shuffle, the cable to upload the camera got packed in a random unmarked box that took ages to dig up. We weren't expecting to have to move this quickly, but very luckily, the shortsale on our condo went through and we had no choice but to move into a place with no kitchen, no master bathroom, and no hot water. Luckily, the contractor was able to fix the hot water issue before we had to spend the night, so don't worry, we are all showered over here.

So, while we're still waiting on the kitchen cabinets to get installed (Friday at the earliest), here's some of the rooms that are partially set up.

The guest room was one of the first to get put together because we have to sleep there until the master bedroom set is delivered.

Not bad, right? We'll have to keep a waiting list for guests that want to visit.

Uh oh, *almost* all together. Now where the heck is that drawer?

After about 20 minutes of searching all the logical places, it finally turned up here. I guess it was silly of me to not look between the stacked chairs... The guest room is now ready, minus any art and decorative peices. Oh, and did I mention a TV? It'll be like a spa for our guests, an escape from technology and the pressure of the work world. Plus, without a kitchen, it's like camping out with running water. Anyone still want to visit?

The bird room is making progress, too. Mind you, the TV is just for show since none of the power outlets work in this room, but the birds are right at home. I forgot to take close ups, but there are six birds in there, 4 parakeets and 2 cockatiels. They don't call me "Crazy Bird Lady" for nothing. :)

Here's the progress on the living room. I'm loving the new sofas and can't wait to be able to put everything in it's proper spot, when there's a bit more room (a.k.a. kitchen cabinets and storage).

The dining room... we have two tables in here because one will move to the kitchen area once it's installed. I got this dining room set about 5 years ago and my taste is totally different now. In a few months, we'll try to sell this and replace it with something a bit more modern. The other table and leather chairs will be going to the kitchen when (if?) that's finished. There's a cover on it now so it doesn't get all scratched up since it's in the ideal location to become a catch all. But take my word on this, it looks great and will be perfect when we can set up in its proper home.

That's all for now. Jerry's working on installing the build-ins for our closet so that we can share our new slightly-smaller-than-before closet. I'll post on that next. Good night!