So Close, and Yet Actually Kind of Close!

Thanks to the help of many of our family members (actually, every single one of our immediate family members has shown up to help so far except Dorrie... but she's coming soon!), we are now "nearing" the end of our crazy home renovation project. As of last weekend we started to sleep at the house instead of the apartment, and on Sunday with the help of Aunt Amy and Other Uncle Peter (AKA Peter Joseph), and their Honda Element, we got everything out of the apartment into the house except some cleaning supplies. Of course, just because we're sleeping here doesn't make it a home. We still have lots of settling, i.e. unpacking, to do. Plus the kitchen needs a floor.

This past weekend we reached another milestone. In our last house, we pretty much painted all the walls, but over a three year period. (And I use "we" loosely - Nicole's the painter of the family.) This house has probably twice as much wall space, and as of Saturday we (using "we" a little more tightly this time) had painted every single one! * This also includes painting all the trim in every room. Again, this milestone was reached with the help of others, primarily Nicole's dad and also Aunt Amy, who are the artists of our family's two branches. Finally no more lavender wall in the sun room, which is coincidentally where I'm sitting as I type.

So what's in store for the Brown fam? Well, the top thing between us and a normal house is the in-process tiling project, which I have made recent progress on. The laundry room is now tiled, so after I seal the floor and put up some trim it will be ready for a washer/dryer. Those are set to arrive on Monday June 16. I also laid the tile on Saturday in the main level bathroom, marking the fourth room I've laid tile in. The goal is to get that room grouted, sealed, trimmed, and toilet installed to avoid making Nicole's pregnant body go up and down stairs to bathrooms any longer than necessary. Next the kitchen will get tile cut and laid, but it won't be exactly straight forward as I have some decorative tricks up my sleeve. But that needs to be done before we can have our dishwasher and fridge delivered, which is tentatively scheduled for June 30. At that point, we will be in the clear. I will need to tile the "mud room" (back hall) after the kitchen, but that isn't holding anything up.

Again, much thanks to everyone who has helped out. We would be nowhere near where we are today without your periodic visits to save our butts. And I know everyone wants pictures, don't worry, we've taken lots but haven't had a chance to upload. I'm still within the year that I promised before, so keep checking back at least semi-annually.

* Except the basement bathroom, which is the only room we are "leaving for later"