And...it's been a long week.

Today marks a week since we took possession. The first couple of days, I felt like we were running through projects at lightening speed. I was thinking - MAN, I got this! The last few days, though, I'm feeling like I run all day long and never really get anything done. So frustrating.

Last weekend the kids, my cousin and I spent most of Friday and Saturday painting the upstairs. We did a bad ass job (if I do say so myself), super thorough. We used the 'tape on the ceiling' method to do our cut in, and it worked perfectly.

 

The kids picked obnoxiously bright colors for their rooms. Behr Parakeet and BM China Blue. These are in progress pictures. I still haven't taken 'done' pictures.

I'm thinking of adding some stripes or something to calm this down, lol. This is significantly better than the Shamrock green she was insisting on.

BM China Blue. Bright, but lovely.

In the master bedroom, I settled on BM Revere Pewter. According to my paint store (Vista) it is by far the most popular color. I couldn't decide on a color, so I went with tried and true.  This is probably a good time, too, to mention that I'm ridiculously glad I went with a paint store over a big box store. It's nice to work with the same guys each time I go in, who talk through any issues I'm having and help me brainstorm a color or process. They also have been great about color matching, making changes until it's 100% the right shade (plus they have a handy translation book for BM, SW, DE, and more popular big-box shades).

 After MUCH deliberation, I went with a lighter mix (a little more than 1/2 tinted) BM Pewter for the loft, too. This will (supposedly) be the color in the (kind of dark and dreary) stairway, as well as the whole first floor. I'm regretting not doing a nice soft blue, but I only want to paint the stairway (two stories, 9 ft ceilings) once, so I wanted to pick something I could live with long-term. 

I picked up our floors Sunday. We're using Harmonics Vineyard Cherry (Costco) laminate planks. I know laminate isn't for everyone, but we're fans. Super affordable, crazy durable, incredibly easy to install, and we find it much more comfortable than the wood-look tile (I'm a tile hater). 

 

It's called Vineyard Cherry...but I don't find it to be particularly cherry. It's the floor I have laid out here...

 

Husband raised the freakishly slow vanities for me. This was SIGNIFICANTLY easier than I thought it was going to be. In looking through pictures of other homes that have been for sale in the neighborhood (and you know I've looked at ALL of the them, lol) I haven't seen anyone that has raised the freakishly low vanities (30"). It was seriously a one hour project. This is the kid's bath. Our bath I had husband raise up the bottom as well as the top, and that took much longer. I like it, I'm glad we went that route, but considering the amount of extra work, I'd have been happy only raising the top, too.

The vanity will get a piece of trim to hide the new seam, and we'll be painting the vanity (probably after we lay floors, since I can't decide on a wall color).

 

Not pictured...husband ran the wiring for ceiling lights (ceiling fan or something) in the kid's rooms. The loft and master were already wired. 

Our next big project...figuring out what we're doing with the powder room. The powder room  layout is really strange. The toilet and sink aren't on the same wall, and the toilet is practically in the doorway. It's WEIRD. Also, there is a coat closet that was repurposed as a pantry (we definitely don't need coat closets in CA, lol), but the powder room is between the kitchen and the pantry. It feels very 'bathroom in the kitchen'. To solve the weird bathroom layout as well as the weird bathroom in the kitchen situation, I'm moving the toilet into the closet (taking the powder room from a square room to an L shaped room), and hoping to absorb the newly freed powder room space into the kitchen. 

The kitchen is behind this tented area (doing some mold remediation in there). Husband is on the ladder in the bathroom (sink behind him, toilet on that wall with the paint samples), the closet that will become the toilet alcove in the powder room is to the right of the bathroom. 

Husband demoing the wall between the powder room and the closet.

This will become the toilet alcove.

Weird toilet placement.

Our next projects:

Cabinets: Get the cabinets ordered. I got a quote for custom cabinets ($10,050 installed, including quartz) and a quote from an IKEA installer ($4200 for installation...on an 11x11 kitchen...no thanks! lol). The IKEA sale starts today. 20% off if you spend over $4500. Appliances, countertops, and accessories count toward that 20%, so I'm on my way there this morning. Our total, with tax, should be $5500 for Adel White and Nougat quartz. We'll self-install. Jenny at IKEA Burbank knows her stuff. I had to make some changes from my original plan, but I'm satisfied and understand why I had to lose some of my ideas.

Pull up the hardwood and tile: This little bit of floor demo was the product of several hours of work...we've decided to hire this project out, lol. Renting a demo hammer and bit was going to be about $80. I didn't even get to the point of pricing a dumpster. This was hard work, and for $450 we are happy to watch someone else do it. They'll do about 600 sq ft which should take a full day. We're waiting for the mold containment area to come down, and then we'll move forward with the demo.  (and yes, the ceiling is bright yellow....).

Blinds and Window Trim: I seriously LOVE what they did here. I love the look of shutters, but I don't love the usability of them. People keep trying to convince me that they're as versatile as blinds, but I just don't see how they could be. If you want the window completely open, you've got big shutter panels in the middle of your room. This is the best of both worlds. The built in feel of shutters, the flexibility (and, frankly, cost) of big-box-store blinds. Yup, I super realize that we won't be able to remove the blinds without removing the trim, but I've never once wanted to remove one of my blinds, so this is pretty much a non-issue as far as I'm concerned. Also, if I were doing shutters, I'd have to remove trim/etc if I felt compelled to have access to the naked window...so, again, non-issue. 

Those are the biggies that are currently on my mind. We'll also be laying floors, re-doing the fireplace surround, and all sorts of projects that need to wait for floors to be demo'd and kitchens to be installed and that kind of thing.

My husband woke up this morning and said he's going back to work, where he doesn't have to work so hard and his 'boss' isn't as demanding :)