The calm before the floor

We haven't posted about the house in a while.  I don't know...maybe harvesting pecans, cooking pecans, and all of the go go go that goes on during November and December got us like...

When they were transitioning to one nap a day, lunch was a struggle.  And don't mind Audrey being RELENTLESS about her triangle.  She gets jealous when we video the babies.

Just when you think you've got things under control, add two ALMOST TWO-year olds with strong yet illogical opinions and a dramatic and entertaining four year old to the mix, and we've basically just been bobbing around in red and white life preservers the past two months.  Our minimum of just getting by may be border-lining on a DFCS call, so I'll just stop there. 

We are no different than anyone else.  We all have lots going on.  It just seems like the past two or three months have been a little more than the usual.  Don't get me wrong, we've loved our time with family and the chaos and fun of our little ones is energizing.  Calm is just not exactly our lives at the moment.  So, the title of this blog may seem contradicting.  I was really just trying to figure out how to set things up that our floor would be installed soon, as in THIS WEEK ("Let them praise His name with dance." Ps 149:3 - Picture me jumping and dancing when we got that call we've been waiting on for three months!) and needed a catchy saying so you would click.  But really, the calm I'm talking about is that all of the things that Brett has been working on have been less dramatic than busting out walls and ripping down ceilings.  We're on to the more tedious projects of which you don't feel compelled to make a youtube video complete with fade effects and background music. This is a long blog, but breathe easy, it's mainly just pictures.  I'm so proud of all Brett's projects, it's like I'm rolling out my wallet sized photo album for you... starting with.... 

1) FIREPLACE... CHECK

Originally there was a mantle painted white covering the fireplace.  You can see more of the before photos here.  

We demolished the old and cracked floor of the fireplace and Brett chipped away some of the old mortar to show the brick.

Inspiration #1 - our's won't have the brick that goes all the way up, but the actual fireplace will look similar. 

Inspiration #2 - We are planning to leave the inside dark and worn in like you see here.

We had Stacy Beasley and crew rebuild the hearth with old brick from the house.  We just need to clean up around the edges and add trim where the brick meats the wall.  Oh and we're making a mantle out of an old beam in the house.  

2) WINDOWS - CHECK!

Brett installing the first window!  We've said many times during this project that we're thankful our house is small.  Only 14 to replace.  Regardless, it was still hard work.  You see the dark gap to the left of the window.  We (we, meaning Uncle Dick) had to replace that trim around each window.  

Uncle Dick measured and cut EVERY. PIECE.  Bless him!  And as a perfectionist, he may seek counseling after all of the imperfect angles and gaps he had to deal with! 

But he made them work and everything looks amazing!

3) PAINTING - (sort of) check!

Meet our expert painter. She gets distracted by hearing herself talk and misses a few spots.  But we'll keep her.  Brett started out painting the babies' room and our bedroom.  But then the aforementioned storm came and he was gone for over two weeks.  So I made the executive decision to hire Timmy Aldrich as Audrey's assistant.  He has the patience of a saint and he gets up really early.  You'll see a few more shots of the all white walls (SW 7005 - Pure White) and his handiwork later on...

4) SANDING - CHECK!

We went back and forth many times on what to do with this wall that we exposed underneath the sheetrock in the old dining room.  Paint white...leave as is...sand to the natural wood.  We are going to make this a mudroom of sorts with shelving and hooks.

Brett got the nerve one day to sand part of it.  It took him about an hour to do the 1.5 boards here.  

So, for now we will leave the majority of this wall as is and the sanded, natural section will become shelving.  

It will look sort of like this, just flipped the other way and without the cubbies on the bottom so that the blue wood shows through.

Rough sketch here.

5) LIGHTS

The first picture was the light our designer recommended for the foyer.  I scored a very similar light in the second photo for about a quarter of the price!  

Nice!  We are leaving the ceiling natural for now.  Planning to stain it the same as the pine floors and beams.  If we don't like it after a while, nothing a coat of white paint can't fix.  speaking of, notice the crisp white walls everywhere.

6) One More Project...

In the photo below, we were planning to put the refrigerator next to the wall to the right and then re-install a tall pantry cabinet in front of the door.   But then, Brett made the mistake of letting me see the door open one day.  And we both decided we needed to scrap that idea and install a double window to take in more of the view.  Who needs a pantry anyway? The canned tomatoes will just have to go in the window sill.  No sweat.  Another call to Swainsboro Supply for windows and Marc Allen to come help us patch it all up and we'll be in business.  While we are at it, might as well. (We've said that too many times on this project so far!)

We'll still put the refrigerator to the right beside the wall.  

We will eventually add lower cabinets beneath the window like this, but for now, we'll just put a piece of furniture under the windows for extra storage. 

7) Storm clean up and yard pets.

Don't know how the old antenna didn't miss the window.

The right side of this old pecan tree blew down last year in another storm.  Thankfully, Michael took care of the other half for us.

The hardwood floors are being restored as we speak!!!  So hopefully, we'll have a post about the floors in the next week or so.  So long til next time!