The renovation autopsy: would we have done anything differently?

I took a long hiatus from blogging, largely because the renovation was over. We moved on to making our furnishings fit, rearranging rooms, and generally trying not to spend any more money. 

This summer marks the second anniversary with our new second floor. People sometimes ask if there's anything that we'd do differently if we had the chance. 

Without a doubt, we would still add the second story, and the front porch. The overall goals of the project were well-met, and we have no regrets about any of it. While there's nothing major we'd do differently, there are a handful of minor things we might change. 

Like what, you ask? Read on.

Order: placed!

Nearly four months after moving back in (four months!), we are finally getting around to window treatments.

But first, let me tell you, whoever conceived of paper shades was a genius. We've had them up since we moved in. They've lasted that long! Six for $20! Genius!

Still, after a while you think, well, it would be nice to lift the paper shades. Catch sight of the view. And, you know, not have them be made of paper. When even the kids start wondering when they're getting 'real' curtains, it's time to get serious. So, we bit the bullet and ordered window treatments today.

We're going with cellular shades just about everywhere. When we bought the house, the previous owner had installed plantation shutters on all of the front-facing windows save one (the kitchen). They're lovely. But a house full of such shutters was never on our wish list.

I love cellular shades mostly because when they're all the way up you can hardly see them. I tend toward unfussy windows. In the upstairs we're going with three different shades: Storm Marble for the girls (it's sort of a pinkish-white, or maybe a whitish-pink); Northern Lights Charcoal for most of the master windows, the hall window, and the master bath; and North Lights Glacier (a silvery-grey) for the master closet and water closet. On the main floor, we're going with Dirge (a grey-brown) in the kitchen, family room, guest and hall bath; and Northern Lights Navy in the office. Here's a link to the Bali site so you can check the colors for yourself.

In our dining room, and for our three large master bedroom windows, we're going with drapes. No, we haven't chosen them yet. The only windows we're leaving uncovered are the ones that look out over our back deck.

That's 30 windows getting cellular shades, five windows (representing two 'sets') getting drapes, and three windows left uncovered. My best advice: wait for a sale somewhere if you're covering this many windows.

With fall in air, now is the time to get these windows covered. I think it will add a nice, subtle touch to the rooms. They'll be here in three weeks, and I'll post pictures when they arrive!

Summer! Summer! Don't go!

Well, September is barreling down upon us. September. How did that happen?

Still, it's warm out, which means we're outside as often as the mosquitos will allow it. I tell you, that front porch was worth every penny. We sit and watch the kids play, greet neighbors passing by, read books and magazines, and just visit. Rain or shine, we love that porch of ours.

Things continue to get settled in the house. The chairs we ordered for our master sitting room arrive next week, so I'll post pictures when they come in. We've gone back and forth on getting a new headboard but to tell the truth about it, I'm a bit shopped out.

{Did you hear that? It was the mister shouting halleleujah! at the top of his lungs.}

Being shopped out, though, means we're still sporting temporary window coverings. My, how those paper shades do hold up. It also means the landscaping continues to consist of pine straw. Just pine straw.

All in good time, though. For now, we'll settle into our back-to-school routines, linger outside a bit longer even as the daylight hours grow shorter, enjoy the last few swims of the season. Summer hasn't left us yet.

Company's come to call

We've had nine visitors and one pool party in the 3-4 weeks since we've moved back home.

Guests let you stop fretting about where to place this and that, and just let you enjoy what you've got. So we've been doing exactly that. Porch sitting. Puzzle puzzling. Swimming. Visiting with one another and with friends and family. A game of Battleship here. A couple of movie nights there. Sweet, sweet summer time.

And oh, maybe here and there wondering about what to put up on the wall in the dining room. Perhaps possibly ordering a couple of chairs for the master sitting room. Most definitely still avoiding the window treatment purchase.

We're enjoying what we have and not worrying about what's still left to do. It's summer after all, and it's half way over. School's out. The sunny days (and stormy evenings) beckon. Everything else can wait.

The little laundry room that could

Before the renovation, our washer and dryer were located in the basement. There isn't a laundry room down there; rather, it's as if a galley kitchen was planned, and at the last minute someone tucked a W/D hookup there and called it a day. Doing laundry pre-reno consisted of gathering up dirty clothes and heaving them over the stair rail. Then eventually when I couldn't postpone it any longer promptly I would head down to pick them up off of the steps and walk them back to the laundry area. Clean clothes would live down there until someone was desperate enough to need something. Except for sheets. I'm fanatical about washing those at least once a week.

I just felt you should know from whence we came. Laundry room-wise that is.

It never occured to us with the renovation we could actually have a laundry room upstairs. It wouldn't be big, our architect was careful to tell us, but certainly big enough. And she was right. Presenting, the laundry room.

The lady of the house, in the library, with a book

Love myself a little game of Clue reference!

First room up on the pictorial tour is the room formerly known as the front room, the den, the living room, the other living room, and the family room. Poor thing, she didn't know what she was supposed to be. As a result, neither did we.

When we planned the renovation, the mister and I thought about rooms we each wanted. He wanted an office. I wanted a room without a TV. Presenting, the library:

Everything in its place (yeah right)

Pictures are coming soon, I promise. We had house guests two days after we moved in, and suspended all but the most necessary unpacking (glasses? yes, we have glasses...somewhere). And it's summer, you know. Which means longer evenings out on the porch, or in the pool. We actually didn't even eat dinner last night until 8pm! Ah, summer...

Still, we have been able to make a few strides in Operation Everything in its Place. Including:

• Finding a home in our home for the fish tank. It used to be on our main level, perched on an old dresser (we no longer have). It's now in our upstairs hallway. I think they like it.
• Purchasing a new washer/dryer for our laundry room. It was just delivered yesterday. It's the least fancy (I think) of the fancy HE machines, top-loader, and it looks great. We'll see how it works.
• Hanging one picture. My birthday present is now hanging on the wall, and so far, it's the only thing hanging. We are not rushing the wall decor decisions.
• Deciding to let the landscaping go for a bit. We're hitting high temps now (hey look: here comes 100 degrees already!). We are going to have someone come out and advise us, but it's not on the top of the list. Trust me, it feels just as good deciding not to do something as it does to do something at this point!

So, things are coming along. This weekend the house should be pretty much all together, and I'll start posting more pictures. After an ice-cold glass of something or other on the front porch.

We shall call this room the library

I've always wanted a library. A room with books everywhere, and comfortable seating, and places to spread things upon (books, puzzles, newspapers, mugs of teas and plates of goodies). A room with inviting furnishings, cozy. No TV. I'm working on ours.

It's a start. It's the first layer, if you will. We need more soft things, and additional table or floor lighting. A throw or two. A puzzle started on that back table perhaps. Photographs on the wall. More books!

With the exception of the storm print, everything in this room is not new. It's lived in, and therefore not is it okay if I put this here? in its demeanor. I think I'd like a new rug, but maybe a new-to-me old rug? One with blues and greens and grays, that's soft underfoot and not Pottery Barn circa 2012. But maybe not. Maybe this doesn't-exactly-match one helps with the intimate appeal of a library. We'll live with it for a bit, and add things over time. And read. Lots and lots.

Box by box, life gets a little more settled

The only boxes and bins left are the ones with all the little stuff in them. Of course. So they take about an hour each to unpack. We definitely slowed down quite a bit today. The kitchen is mostly unpacked. Same goes for the bedrooms. Closets are approaching organized. We have one billion pictures of ourselves, and I'm not quite sure where they all used to go.

Even though everything is a mess, and I'm not sure where things currently are placed is where they'll stay, I've decided to share pictures.

Bay's room. It actually was clean this morning.

Zoe's room. She hasn't seen it yet!

Den.You can see lots of things that will eventually reside elsewhere.

For some reason I can't add a caption to the last photo. That's the front room. The no-TV room. The haven. We need a rug, and that table you can just see crowding the left corner is going to be a game table. I will probably move it 10 times before finding a spot I like.
 
Our first house guests arrive (gulp) tomorrow. Stay tuned for a post I wrote in my head last night entitled, 'Things the mister doesn't want to hear right after we move in.'

PS- if the apocalypse comes, you'll want to find me if you're in need of batteries or brown rice. We may be able to keep a small village going based on current supplies.

Welcome home

It's a mess. There is no cable or Internet. Food supplies are low. We haven't even checked to see if we have hot water. But we're home. Pictures to come tomorrow. The girls' rooms are pretty much finished. Most of the furniture is in the right room (if not in the right place). All of our beds are made up. We are off to a good start!

T-minus 36 hours

Sure, we'll be ready when the movers come on Saturday morning.


We've done some prep over at the house. In the basement we had all the stuff originally in the attic. So, back up it went. I'm proud of us, as we pared it down only to seasonal stuff (e.g., Christmas decor, etc.) and one bed. At least that's what they tell me; I'm certainly not going up there to check on it.

And though you'd be hard-pressed to tell, we've actually started moving a few things in already. Mostly clothes, kitchen items, some books, etc. We're a bit anxious! Tomorrow night we'll need to finalize furniture placement in each room. Success will be having the furniture on the right floor. So long as we (read: the mister and his friends) don't have to move anything up or down ourselves after the movers leave, it's all good. Wish us luck!

So, we had our final inspection today...

WE GOT OUR CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY!
WE GOT OUR CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY!

Twenty-four days ahead of schedule. Ahead of schedule, y'all. If you stalk renovation forums you know this is the exception, not the rule. We are beside ourselves with *giddiness*.

We had our pre-move-in walk-through tonight. It's all minor stuff, including:

• Paint touch-ups, both inside and out
• Our closet shelves need those tiny white caps on the edges that face the wall
• Front walkway step needs re-trimming (or whatever the correct term is for 'fix the edging of the concrete')
• A small chunk of our old sidewalk needs removing
• The front gutter needs relocating
• A hallway light that finally shipped (back order) needs installation

All of this (she types hopefully) will be done by Friday, when the professional house cleaners arrive (part of the service) (which of course we pay for). And so guess what Saturday is?

MOVING DAY! 

Stay tuned for moving day and settling in pics, and many before-and-afters!

When inspectors don't show

The HVAC inspector was supposed to come by today, but didn't. Our builder turned the A/C on in the house in anticipation of his arrival, and by our reckoning, things appear to be in order (read: it was cool). Still, apparently the city won't take our word for it, so hopefully the inspector shows up tomorrow to sign the certificate. Then we can get the CO inspection.

Wednesday is our final walk-through, and Friday the cleaners come to prepare the house for us to move in. We're proceeding as if the inspections will all clear this week, and I am already thinking about sleeping back in our house by the end of this weekend.

In other news, when lil bit and I got home, we trotted over to see how this would look in her and her sister's bathrooms. She was a good sport, tolerating my deliberations about the best place to mount them (though not nearly as impressed as I might've hoped with my 'anyone can do a towel bar' monologue).

Even though things are nearly done and there isn't much day-to-day change, we still check the house out every day (bonus of living right next door). When the mister got home tonight, the conversation went something like this:

Mister: 'Let's go see the house.'
Lil bit: 'Dad, we already went. They haven't done anything new.'
Mister: 'Well, I still want to go see it. Come with me.'
Lil bit: 'Oh wait! Actually, there is something new. Mom got some hookers.'

Perhaps our builder should mention that to the inspectors...it might ensure they show up. :)

Snail's pace toward the finish line

It feels like we're running through deep, sticky, heavy mud these last few feet toward the finish line. All that's left:

- HVAC inspection
- Electrical panel inspection (now that power is restored to the house)
- Final CO inspection
- Bathroom and laundry room hardware installation
- Front door hardware installation
- Final decision on the concrete porch (to stain or not to stain...yes, we are back to that)
- Front gutter relocation
- Final walk-through for the punch list (nicked paint, etc.)

Hopefully, for the certificate of occupancy, we can get by with the 'landscaping' we have (ie, pine straw...and more pine straw). With the power restored to the house, guess what's gone from the middle of our yard?

Beds optional

The carpet is in! Although we have wood floors everywhere else, we like carpeting underfoot in the bedrooms and closets. Soft carpet, that is. Call us old-fashioned. :) Like everything in a renovation, you can spend a fortune on carpeting. One of the mister's favorites was $100 square foot*. Yowza. What we really wanted was something soft that would wear well with the kids. And we found it!

*not even close to our budget

Mirror mirror on the wall...

Well look what showed up today:

Now, we talked about getting larger mirrors in all the bathrooms, and having the sconces put on the mirror itself. It would have made for a bigger mirror (of course), and in the girls' bathrooms would've allowed for centering the sconces up with the vanity. But, we don't really like that sconce-on-the-mirror look. We also could've gone with an over-the-mirror light. But, they tend to cast shadows. So we went with what you see. Although the mirror is a bit off-center, it's actually fine with us.  And if I didn't point it out, or you weren't studying these pictures, you might not even notice it. :)

Master shower door

I wanted to go back in tonight to get some better pictures of the shower, but guess what? They re-refinished the floors today! So, no walking inside for a few days. This picture will have to do:

Originally we planned to have a swinging door. And then that tub entered our lives. We're really happy with this door, though! The shower floor has been retiled, and looks great too. Once the mirrors and vanity hardware are installed, the bathrooms will be complete!

Final (maybe?) checklist

• Final floor coat Saturday
• Carpeting Tuesday
• Power restored directly back to the house (rather than temporary line in our front yard) Tuesday(ish)
• HVAC inspection Tuesday(ish)
• Mirrors, last closet shelf, towel hooks installed Wednesday
• Protective floor covers in main floor bedrooms removed, furniture untarped Wednesday
• Front door hardware installed Wednesday
• Final main floor hallway light installed (when it arrives from being backordered)
• Bath vanity and laundry cabinet hardware installed Wednesday
• Final front step poured Wednesday
• All systems warranties/paperwork delivered to us Thursday
• Master shower floor resealed (it was retiled Wednesday)
• Porch concrete stain maybe sometime next week (or after we're in)
• Final building inspection to get our certificate of occupancy!

It's like the finale fireworks on the Fourth of July around here - things are moving faster and faster! We are preparing to commence to begin to get ready to pack things up. I tell myself it will be easier to use boxes to move things, even though I don't want to have a bunch of boxes laying around for weeks. Then I tell myself we can pack a few boxes, move them, unpack them into exactly the right places (no, 'just put it there for now'), bring back the empty boxes, and do it again. Doesn't that sound nice and orderly, and like none of us have jobs or anything else to do, so that we can devote the three straight weeks it would probably take to do it that way? We'll get back in, we'll have boxes and stuff laying around, and we'll be so happy happy happy to be back home, I expect we won't care too much. Well, right away that is. :)

We have door knobs!

Came home today to see they've been busy installing the many door knobs! All of the knobs on the second story are black, even though our door hinges are oil-rubbed bronze. Something I learned: ORB (as the oil-rubbed bronze is referred to by those tired of typing it out every time) can look different across manufacturers. While our hinges are ORB, they are a very dark finish. Which we love. The ORB version of these knobs, though, were lighter than I wanted, and they had a sort of 'distressed' finish around the edges. The black looks AMAZING!

On the main level the knobs are a mix of nickel and pewter (bedrooms and dining room, and kitchen cabinets), and ORB (back door and front door). We ordered all of the new pieces from handlesets.com. Want to see?

Two inspections down, two to go

We passed plumbing and electrical inspections today! Coming up next is HVAC, and then the final building inspection to get our certificate of occupancy. Today the mister ordered power to be reconnected to the house. Once it's up, the HVAC inspection can happen.

In other news, the stair rail was installed today:

We measure for the mirrors tomorrow. The final hardwood floor coating goes on Monday, and carpeting is installed Tuesday. More pictures now available in Interiors!