Our first guests!

First, this is what I wake up to most mornings above my bed:

Sorry mom... is it creepy that I watch you sleep?

We had a really nice time with my dad and stepmom last weekend.  I got my dad off the couch and made him install a curtain rod - he broke a screw in the wall, so I won't be having him do anything else at my house.  Maybe that was his plan all along?

Sorry, neighbors.  No more free shows.

The night before they got in we cleaned up and put together the guest room.  We built that bed about two years ago, from free plans on ana-white.com.

It's still a little empty, but we'll fill it in.  The hall bathroom is starting to shape up as well.

I'm so in love with that vanity.  Eventually, the mirror will sit on top of the chair rail, but we have to move the wires for the lights first.  And that floor?  It's not wood - it's ceramic tile that looks like wood.

While we were out running errands, our amazing carpenter was super productive.

Remember when the closets in our bedroom looked like this because the former occupants tore out the shelving system?

Well, now my closet looks like this!

Jason is AH.  MAZE.  ING.  I drew him a picture of what I wanted, and he made it happen.  I painted all the boards for him, and he cut them out and put everything together.  Actually, he made it even better - he said "Your bottom shelf was only 14" from the floor, and I figured you might have tall boots, so I hope you don't mind I made the bottom shelf 16" instead."  How thoughtful is that?!  Sorry girls, he's engaged.  

The boards for Matt's closet need one more coat of paint, and then he'll get a closet this weekend.

We also have real stairs instead of plywood!

Yeah, the cat is a creeper.

Matt did such a good job staining them, they match the floors exactly.

Lets see, what else?  Oh, the rug I ordered for the living room came in, and brings some much-needed color.

And finally, the pot filler faucet above the stove is hooked up and working wonderfully.

Hopefully we'll have a backsplash soon!

Settling in

A couple of big changes, and a couple of smaller changes.  First, our countertops were installed and our new living room furniture was delivered, all on Thursday, which made it a little hectic.

Right after delivery

With some pillows. 

The sofa is a dark charcoal gray, and the recliner is a really dark chocolate brown.  Matt says the recliner is SOO comfortable - he actually fell right asleep in it the other night!

And now... for the countertops!

ooohh pretty

the peninsula

get a little closer

I keep wanting to pet the counters, and at the same time I'm almost afraid to touch them because they're just so pretty.

And then just this morning, the plumbers came to install the dishwasher and sink faucet, so when they weren't looking I stole this pic:

I never thought I would say it, but it will be NICE to actually be able to wash dishes again!

And then a couple of smaller things.  The spindles that I spent SO MUCH TIME sanding, priming, and painting a few months ago had been taken out when the floors got stained, and Jay (our carpenter) wasn't happy with how wobbly they were when they were getting reinstalled.  So, being a VERY safety-conscious guy, he installed them better so that any future kiddos who run into them won't go plummeting to the living room below.

One of the things I love about our house are some of the little details that make it super unique.  All of our windows have little wooden decorative panels that were taken out and painted.  Matt put all of those back in this weekend.

Here's a before (note Onyx's new spot):

And after:

I love how much more interesting the windows are with the panels!

I do have one more update... but it's a surprise for my dad and stepmom.  They're coming up this weekend, and I don't want to show them everything before they get here!  I'll share it next week though.

And finally, my internet/work phone issues are all resolved (knock on wood) so hopefully this week won't be as stressful as last week.  Happy Monday!

We're Mainers now!

Well, I guess Matt has always been a Mainer... But our move is complete!  We had a BEAUTIFUL day on Saturday - sunny and 60 degrees - and everything went really smoothly.  We have such amazing friends - Rose, Mike, Michelle, and Mark all helped us pack in Andover, and Matt B, Katie, Dave, Brandi, Jacot, and Matt's mom Charlotte helped us unload in Acton.  Matt's dad Neil was awesome and drove the truck for us.

We've been slowly unpacking, as well as doing some of the finishing touches like hanging the doors that had gotten painted and putting on hinges and doorknobs.

Here's a couple of photos from Saturday night, right after we unloaded the truck.

Living Room

standing in the living room, looking at the dining room and kitchen

other half of the living room

a corner of the loft

bedroom - kinda looks like home :)

We didn't see Onyx at all for the first 24 hours - and we finally had to swiffer him out from behind the washing machine to make sure he ate something.  Then at about 4am Monday morning he decided to yell at us because everything was so new and he didn't like it.

Yesterday and today we had some of the contractors in and out to do little things that couldn't get done in time before we moved.

Things like installing the vanities and medicine cabinets in the master bathroom...

 ...and hanging the pendants over the peninsula in the kitchen.

Tuesday was my first day of working remotely, and it definitely had its challenges.  Like, nothing I tested out before moving to make sure it would work actually worked correctly.  The IT guys at my office helped with some workarounds for now, and today was MUCH better.  It's definitely a big change to not have any coworkers around (even Onyx is still downstairs somewhere hiding/sleeping again), but I'm sure I'll get used to it.  Poor Matt has been sick since Friday, but he's still working so hard to get everything done with the house.  He's really doing so much, and I'm so lucky to have him.

Next up - countertops and living room furniture on Thursday!

SO close!

So much got done this weekend!  Everything is finally starting to really pull together.

Matt and I drove up on Friday night because the appliances were scheduled to be delivered on Saturday morning.  How were we able to spend 2 nights up in Acton, when we've only spent 1 night at a time before?  We have a shower - and that includes hot water!

Here's a preview of how the oil-rubbed bronze hardware is going to look on the doors:

Our carpenter has been super busy.  He started putting all the baseboard trim back on, and is finishing up putting the kitchen together (I'll get to that more in a bit).

Here's my office:

It's so exciting!  It really looks so much more finished now.  Saturday we got the appliances.

Yes, there's still a LOT of snow up in Maine.

The previous owners tiled over the dryer vent for some reason, so only the washer is installed at the moment.  They dryer is hanging out in the hallway.

The fridge is all hooked up - water and everything!

I have to keep mopping up the drool.

Here is where we were on Saturday afternoon.

The countertops can't be installed until we got the sink set in the base, so we had Jay (the carpenter) make the opening a little bit bigger.

perfect!

Here's how that will look with the faucet.

And now a sneak peek at the pot filler faucet that will go in above the stove!

Pasta, here we come!

Sunday I left Acton early to run to Ikea to pick up a shelving until for the master bathroom - and I got the next few pictures texted to me from Matt.

Now the glass-door cabinet is up on the wall, with cubbies underneath... and the panels and baseboard are in place.

Everything is my favorite part, but I think my FAVORITE favorite part is the little feet at the end of the peninsula...

...and underneath the sink!

Up this week: countertops, backsplash, finishing the master bath, final coat of poly on the floors... and then MOVING ON SATURDAY!!!  We're both so incredibly excited!

Slowly, slowly

HUGE news - the hot water heater is in!  We have just a little bbq-sized propane tank hooked up for the moment, but the big tank will be installed this week.  Hooray for showers!

Next, the french door from the master bedroom out to the (future) deck got replaced.

Old door:

New door:

so pretty

And the light on the ceiling fan in the living room finally works!  The light was wired, and the wire ran down the wall and stopped next to the switch box, but wasn't actually connected to any switches.  So the electrician did his thing and now we have a fan AND a light!

The tile guy set the tiles in the master bath last week.  I set up the vanities temporarily to make sure everything was looking the way we wanted it to.

Now for some grout!  That will be happening this week, and he'll also lay and grout the hall bath.

This week is going to be busy up at the house.  Aside from the tile guy and the painter working away, the kitchen sink should be delivered and installed, and then the countertop template can be finished, and the marble can be installed.  The floors are getting their final coats of poly, and then they'll be done.  Oh, and the appliances are coming on Saturday too!  We'll be busy busy this weekend.

PS isn't Onyx adorable?  He likes to make nests in the blankets.

Not really an update

So this isn't really an update. The tile guy was laying the tiles in both bathroom floors, so late last week Matt pulled out the toilet and vanity in the hall bath that we had been using when we stayed there. So since we didn't have a bathroom for the weekend, we couldn't go up.

But the good news is that next week there will be lots of pictures! And we ordered the appliances!