Emma’s Bed

Ryan suggested I paint the girls beds a dark color.  I am wishing I had painted them white.  I told Ryan I was going to repaint and he wouldn’t let me.  I hope they look fantastic in the room, then I wont feel so bad about painting them dark.

I got Emma’s down to her room and realized these beds are wider than a twin, I don’t know if old beds were wider or what?  But the box springs just fell through. 

I had Ryan weld some plates in between the rails to hold the bed up. 

That should do the trick, I hope!

I don’t want to haul it all the way downstairs and then back up again one more time!

It’s a good thing Ryan likes to weld, and work hard, even for my crazy wild ideas!  Emma’s bed should be done.  This was the easy bed, Ashley’s is going to take some real creativity to get in working order!  YIKES!

The Girls Beds

So I finally got started on the girls room.  We sort of have wrapped up the basement re-model and the tools kept moving from place to place until I got tire of them and hauled them out to the shed.  I don’t think we will have much more progress down there until next winter.  BUT I am so happy with all that we got done.  It is a fun space to be in!

So, back to the girls rooms.  I have been loving the iron beds that are so popular right now.  They had them on Downton Abbey in the servants rooms.  I of course could find some fantastic ones online for $1,000 a piece, but I think Ryan would have cried if I spent that much on twin beds. 

So I have been searching craigslist and finally came across an old rusty antique iron bed.  I drove to get it immediately.  I asked her if she had more, and she had these two that I bought instead! 

They don’t match each other but I think the girls are happy with that, and I was happy just to find something and at a craigslist price! I am excited to paint them up and get them in their room. It is coming together nicely!

Bridged

We put up the bridge between the book shelves last night.  Now just crown molding and a little paint touch ups and we might be done with something…. 

I really like how it is turning out!  Ryan also got the trim put up on the stairs and the windows in and trimmed, now I have to paint, paint,and more paint!

And It Continues….

I have been hunting for the right book shelves since  before we started this project and have found nothing.  I did find some really nice ones on line but they cost more then the entire center by itself!  So I checked a local furniture store and they had these in the right size, and they are made right here in Burley which I was sold on!  The ONLY problem was having to paint them, paint, paint, paint!

So the entertainment center before shelves;

And after;  Well, midway after.

We still are working on a bridge for above the tv.  We will probably just use upper kitchen cabinets, like above fridge ones.  We added trim pieces to the bottom of the book shelves to beef them up a little and then I hope to put crown moldings on also.

The windows came.  Tearing the old ones out is WAY more work than installing the new ones!  The frames were concreted in to the wall!  The kittie just sat and watched it all!

Lots of sledge hammering, and my clean basement is no longer clean…

Of course we had lots of help too!

The finished window, well one of them, it is all trimmed and sanded, and of course I ran out of paint!  This job is just dragging on!  So another trip to the store before we can bed done with windows.

Hopefully we are getting super close now.  We are enjoying that new BIG tv.  Ryan is just amazed!  It is fun!

Lots of Progress

We made lots of progress today.  I think everything is coming to an end at the same time, which is good, but on the other hand nothing is finished.  Ryan did mark board and batten off the list though.  He was wanting to mark something off the list so bad, so I was glad he could!  The list is still pretty long though, lots of details.  I am loving the pantry wall, doesn’t it look so good?!

We did texture all of the newly sheet rocked places, Ryan did really well matching it up.  Everything is painted, just a few spots here and there to finish.  We did get one corner put back together.  The stage is back in place and that corner is done!  

I was thinking the big wall was done too, but we have to replace the windows (which aren’t coming for two weeks) and then trim them out.  We are anxious to have a nice place to relax with a movie at the end of the day.  The end is in sight!

Downstairs Update

I keep telling Ryan I think we bit off more than we can chew.  He just keeps working at it every night.  I think we have a large snowball effect going on.  It started out just taking down the wall, turned into entertainment center, board and batten, new doors, new windows, patched carpet, different stairs, all new paint, etc, etc.  We are in the details work now which I am horrible at.  Lots of sanding and caulking all of that board and batten.

New pantry door, which of course didn’t just slide right in.  It has to have some work done before it will fit.  I did go with board and batten on that wall also.  I have a pile left over though.  Maybe it will go in the girls new room?

We got the new windows ordered, the same guy who got us the door ordered the windows.  Odds are they aren’t going to fit either I’m afraid.

Emma does not do well with change, or messes, she is ready for it to be done!

Rett on the other hand loves the easy access to the pantry.  In and out all day long!

We did get the ceiling painted, which was a huge job.  Ryan’s two guys came and painted and I did the cutting in.  It would have taken me three days.  They had it done before noon, and it looks good, (just white ceiling.)  I’m not sure on the wall color yet, it looks a little greenish brown, I just want a nice warm light brown to match the couch.  (there is a test spot in the first picture of the wall color) The board and batten will all be white of course.  Anyway we are just chugging away.  One thing at a time Ryan keeps telling me.

Last Week’s Progress

I think we are making progress??  There is still so much to do, but thankfully most of it I can do, hopefully Ryan will get everything done that he needs to before farming starts to get more busy.  Dad was here and got a start on the board and batten, It is going to be so cool!

The mess is getting out of control, I don’t know how much longer we (Emma) can stand it!  I am also going to re-do Ashley’s room.  The girls want to sleep together, which I love, so we are doing a new girls room, do you see the new chevron rug rolled up on the couch!  I am excited.  It is going to be so cute!

Ryan has got the first layer of tape and mud on everything, now he needs the second layer and then texture.

I bought enough boards to do all the walls with board and batten but I cant decide if I am going to do it all now or not?  What do you think, I think this other wall with the downstairs pantry on it needs some too?  I don’t know.  It is going up pretty easy, so I may just do it all like I planned.  I cant wait to get this all finished up and have a party!  Who wants to come?!

Day 6: Base Cabinets Install

We worked Saturday night late to get the cabinets installed.  They couldn’t just be screwed into the wall of course.  The side cabinets are 4 1/2 inches shorter so Ryan had to build a base to set them on.

We cut out the carpet from underneath for obvious flooding reasons, and to make it all perfectly level.  Ryan is a perfectionist!

Ryan got the cabinets attached to the wall and to each other.  While he was doing that Rett was enjoying some more empty cupboards.

While Ryan attached the cupboards I put on the knobs.  They are a brushed bronze, I really like them, especially the pulls.  And Rett continued to peek a boo.

We got the counter tops attached and it looks great! 

We ran out of time so I still have knobs and pulls to attach, toe kick to install and the feet. 

We will put up bookshelves on each side of the center piece once I find some I like, or we may have to build some.  It is looking ready for the big screen!

Day 5: Sheetrock

Ryan had a day at home and worked and worked!  He got all of the sheetrock put up, it was a long hard day.

I think the mess keeps getting bigger I think!  Hopefully it will get wrapped up soon.

We also picked up the cabinets and just set them into place so I could see how they would look.  I am so excited, it is going to look great!

I also got a first coat of stain on the countertops.  It is coming together nicely!

Day 4

Ryan and I got the beam put up all by ourselves.  It was scary for a minute, and he could have called 4 men, but he thought we could do it alone, and we did!  It is so open and nice!

All that hammering didn’t help with the bedtime routine.

 

I want to stain the beam and leave it exposed, Ryan wants to wrap it all in sheetrock.  What would you do?

So next is sheetrock patching, flooring, entertainment center and painting/decorating, that is a long list!

Downstairs Day 3

Ryan and I got the basement electrical all wired.  It included 6 new lights, so three in the living room instead of just the one.  It is much brighter.  We didn’t put the covers on because Ryan wanted all matching light bulbs and I haven’t been to the store.  But they are up and working!      

The other three lights were in the hall, under the stairs, and in Emma’s room.  I am excited for the progress!

Downstairs Day 2

Ryan made good progress downstairs. 

He called me and told me he removed the old wall with out building a brace wall.  He said the upstairs sank down into the basement about six inches!  I said you are kidding me, he said yes.  Stinker, scared me to death!

So he REALLY got the brace wall put up FIRST so he could take down the original studs and load bearing beam, so the upstairs is firmly supported right now.  Hopefully… 

He bought a really cool scraper tool that goes on his saw.  It scraped off a ton of old carpet pad, and other rough spots on the concrete.  I think we are leaning towards staining the concrete floors since we flood every single summer.

Hopefully once we get a deck on around the entire house then I wont flood and we can have carpet again.  We still are not totally sold on the concrete though, it would be cold and a lot of work to polish up these 30 year old floors. 

Next step is to wire in the new lights and then install the new beam which will be here tomorrow.  Ryan isn’t able to work on it today.  Hopefully he will have another day soon.

Country Livn Creates…

Mr. Country Livn is currently creating a mess of our downstairs.  I am hoping we know what we are getting ourselves into!  Here are some before pictures of the basement and “the wall” 

We are hoping to get a more open and inviting room down here.  Then maybe we will actually use the space for more than toyland.

Day 1 progress;

Ryan and a couple of his guys got it taken down really quick.  They even vacuumed it afterward, pretty nice!

I am pretty sure the temperature increased 5 degrees down here.  I’m not sure if it really did but I feel like it is warmer, I hope so.  We have to reposition one light switch and put in a beam to stretch across 17 feet.  I hope the upstairs doesn’t cave in!  I’m sure Ryan knows what he is doing….  We only currently have one light down here also, so while we are into the ceiling we will install at least two more lights.  That will really help brighten it all up.