Updates and a few Sneak Peeks!

Well folks, things are wrapping up here at the Clark Castle.  Our renovation to-do list has been dwindling down to just a few more things, and then we'll be ready to sell.  Our realtor is chomping at the bit to list, and apparently it's a huge seller's market right now and our neighborhood is prime real estate, so when we list on May 1st, we'll be in the height of the season.  She doesn't think it'll be on the market two weeks.

It seems like everything is working out!  And I'm ready for it all to be done, you guys!  We've got a month to finish up the following list:

1. Finish landscaping front yard.  Replace dead peace lillies (that was try numero two after the snapdragons got a fungus and died) with new shrubs.  Weed like the dickens.  Mulch until you can't mulch no more.  I finally finished this on Sunday!  Whoo hoo!  Hopefully I will not have to do more than remulch when we list.
2. Landscape back yard - I basically just want to kill the fire ants and dig up the weeds in the already-created landscaping area around the tree in the backyard.  It's going to be a challenge which is why I have dodged it repeatedly, but this weekend I bought some established yellow hibiscus and hope to plant them next weekend, along with completing #4 and/or #6.
3. Get the horrible white McLazy paint job off the powder-room cabinets - Done! Pictures upcoming.
4. Test out the Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations Wood Finishing System on the powder room cabinets, to determine if it looks good enough to do everywhere else.
5. If 4 is a yes, apply Rustoleum to the bathroom cabinets (and maybe the kitchen cabinets, depending on how easy the former is).  If 4 is a no, figure something else out.
6. Strip the paint off the banister, sand the crap out of it, and repaint it so that it doesn't look like a 9 year-old painted it.  I've been stripping this for over a week (giving time in between for it to air out).  It got so gunky that I had to buy the paint stripper wash to get all of it off so I could see what's left, but that stuff needs massive ventilation so, yeah.  Learned that the hard way.  More on that story at 10.
7. Finish the white trim upstairs. This is mostly finished, but it needs one more coat.
8. Finish painting all the doors.  ALL THE DOORS.  Or at least all the ones upstairs, because they are the only ones left since all other 85 of them have already been painted.
9. Paint the laundry room cabinets
10. Paint the downstairs closets, which we can't really do until we complete items 1 and 2 from #10
11. Paint the garage, for the same reason
12. Sell everything we don't need, move everything out, and get it on the market!

That seems like a lot, but comparatively?  Not so much.

So, just a few sneak peeks at what's coming up!

 

No Woodchucks Allowed

Because we have brand new wood floors!  Installed Friday.  And it smelled good in the house!

Pictures?  Yes.

Before - Good from Far, Far from Good

Interim

After

Not the best shot, given I couldn't get one that didn't cause a glare.  It's really a beautiful hickory with red tones.  Gorgeous!

Before

After

Interim

After

As with all things, it looks so much better in person.  Not only are the slats larger, they double-floated the ground so it's extremely even and it's engineered wood unlike the cheaper "tap-in" wood that was previously in that bowed up in many places and had started to peel.  Plus the color...OH the color!!!  Pictures do not do it justice.  But just look at how it matches the kitchen and bathroom tile!

However, I do notice that the living-room paint doesn't match the floors now.  It's just as obvious in the pictures as in person.  I'm going to do the touch-ups on the living room with the present paint as a test.  If the current paint dries evenly (where you can't tell I just touched it up), I'll probably leave it and deal with the color.  If it's a remarkable difference in color and sheen and I'd have to repaint anyway, I'll go with a warmer tone of the same shade to make it match.  So, we'll see.

There is one board that Husband is mad about.  See, he left while they were doing the wood.  Apparently, this was a mistake, because there's one lone piece of wood that's about three shades ligher.

I think in the grand scheme, it's not that noticeable.  But he is extremely observant of these types of things (he should be a plastic surgeon), so he's in a tizzy about it.  (The best part is, they left another 10+ pieces for us that are all the perfect color, so they had no reason to nail down the wrong color, but they did.)   I have told him to call the guys to fix it, but they'd have to un-nail all the pieces leading to it to replace it and then renail everything back.  It'd be a good deal of work.  I think it's probably just going to get a loveseat or rug put over it instead.  :)

In other news, Husband told me this morning that he received surprise visitors.  They came to install the carpet.  Interestingly enough, no one told us that they were coming to install the carpet, so Husband was frantically trying to remove the bed, TV, nightstands, and all the closet containers so they could put down the fresh stuff.  Oh and I was going to paint the ceilings and trim in the upstairs rooms before they did the carpet, which now I have to do on the new stuff because no one notified us.  Winning! 

I'm only marginally mad though, because I'm also really excited to see the finished product!  :)

So...what do you think?

Knock on Wood

Or in our case, the lack thereof.

We were told that the guys were coming out Wednesday (yesterday) to install the wood.  So Husband and nephew came over and they went Team Power Activate. 

Now this is what the living room looked like on Move-In-Day:

This is what it looked like Monday:

Yeah.  What happened?  Renovation happened, that's what.

When I got home, this is what it looked like:

Apparent proof that my husband is indeed part panther.

Good work, boys.  (Despite that the scent they kicked up smelled akin to a dead mildew monster hiding under the wood slats)

Of course on Wednesday, it rained here.  Heavily.  After like, 7 months (slight exaggeration) without rain.  The one day that they have to come and install an item that cannot have water on it.  Sigh.  They came anyway, but only to float the ground (badly) and leave on every light and fan in the house.  Oh, and leave the house unlocked.

Then today, they were presumably supposed to show at like, 9am.  They showed at 1:40pm.  Winning!

I don't even know if they're installing wood or just drink all our sodas.  But I'm excited to see the finished product.  Are you?