To Island or Not to Island?

Our contractors brought in the island today and we've discovered that it's too big for the space.

We have several options: (1) we could cut it down and make it smaller OR (2) we could add cabinets to the right of our pantry and a small countertop.

Option 1 would provide more space than the current size but it's still less walking space than Option 2. It's the least expensive way to go.

Option 2 would eliminate the island entirely and would provide a lot more open space for entertaining but then it would eliminate the island entirely. That's just so hard for me to give up because I loved the idea of an island. But if it's not enhancing the space, I can see why getting rid of it would be a good option. Another positive is that the new cabinet addition would have glass upper cabinets and we could put our wine glasses on display which would look really nice and would really complete the kitchen.

So, we've asked our contractor to provide an estimate for each option and we'll make the decision from there. We're leaning towards number 2 because it opens up the space more so we'll see!

Knobs and Handles

The search for knobs and handles brought us to three different stores - Lowe's, Home Depot, and Ace Hardware.

We immediately fell in love with these twisted knobs but later decided that they weren't very practical and that going with ones that are more basic is the better way to go.

Our contractor suggested that we get handles for the drawers and knobs for the doors. He said that although more people are starting to use knobs on both doors and drawers, he thinks having both knobs and handles are better.

So we started at Home Depot and were disappointed at their selection. At first glance you would think they have all the styles in the world but many of the knobs and handles don't match and/or they're ridiculously expensive. $5 might seem cheap at first but when you have upwards of 50 doors and drawers, it adds up. 

Our next stop was Lowe's, which had a better selection. We selected a few possibilities but didn't like how they looked when we brought them home and held them up to the cabinets. 

We ended up at Ace Hardware which had the biggest selection that ranged in styles and price. We discovered that you get the best deal when you get the bulk sets so we ended up choosing the bulk set of knobs (we needed 35) and the matching handles. Below are the ones we chose:

They are simple yet have a little bit of flare to them. 

Covering Up

None of the windows in our house are currently covered up with blinds or window treatments so we're on the hunt for the best priced ones. Who knew there were so many different choices!

We're leaning towards faux-wood blinds because they're well priced and look nice. 

These will work for the majority of the windows in our house because they have that inset where you can hang them BUT the front windows in the formal living room and our bedroom are older and don't have that inset. We're trying to decide if we want to just attach the blinds above the windows and have them hang down or just have curtains/drapes OR both. Thoughts?? 

I kind of think attaching the blinds above the windows would look silly because I've never seen it done before but who knows. 

We don't want the rooms to get too dark so if we just did curtains we might do a double rod and have a lighter white curtain hanging on the inside and then a thicker colored drape that we can close at night.

Eventually, we're planning on replacing the front windows because they are older. In the meantime though, we still want our house to look good.

I'll post pictures later of what the windows looks like so you can see what we're dealing with. 

The search for a finish line

The house is well on its way to being finished. Hopefully everything will be done in a few more weeks (knock on wood). Brand new wood that is, the flooring guys will be starting tomorrow and will be working through the weekend to get the floor fixed and sanded smooth like a babies bottom.

We tried to pick out some knobs and handles today but we were unsuccessful. Who knew there were so many options to choose from.

Since no one wants to come garden we have put that on the back burner for a little while (but mostly because its all wet outside and I don't feel like getting muddy ha).

On the Road Again

So we're on our way down to Orange County for Christmas!! This is our 6th Christmas together as a couple, 3rd celebrated with our families together, and 1st as husband and wife! It's so wonderful to have both families together celebrating.

Before starting on our road trip down to Southern California, we popped by our house to see the progress of the cabinets. It's hard to describe the feeling we had when walking into our kitchen but I can say we instantly had huge smiles. Seeing how it's been transformed into our dream home in just a few weeks is indescribable. Everything is coming together beautifully; it's truly a dream come true!

Below is a picture of the kitchen cabinets being put in by our hardworking cabinet men. They are speedy workers!

If we don't make another post before Christmas, Merry Christmas!!!

Another one bites the dust

Another day has gone by and the house is looking great. The kitchen has been walled up and the living room is full of cabinets... That's how it's supposed to be right? Oh wait the cabinets go in the kitchen she says. The cabinet guys are going to start tomorrow at 5 am... Just kidding, probably more like 7-8am. We don't want to piss off the neighbors, but in all seriousness that's when they wanted to start. The hunt for bedroom furniture has been concluded today. We found some reasonably priced furniture, it doesn't hurt that it's easy on the eyes if you catch my drift ;). We are going to order it tomorrow. Then we will only have small things to complete woot woot. Sign-ups for next months gardening are now available, just leave your name and availability at the bottom in the comments. I know we will have plenty of volunteers...right? Anybody?

Great End to the Week

Today was a GREAT day at the Teuben home!!

We stopped by to see our cabinets that were delivered yesterday and we're in love!!! Oh my, they look so amazing and are exactly what we wanted. We can't wait to see them put in! They will probably start doing that Wednesday or Thursday of next week so we're itching to see the final results.

We should have taken pictures of the closet but completely forgot to. It's all painted and ready for doors to be put on and it looks magical. SO much more space for clothing and storage!

Slowly Moving Along

Not much has happened with the house over the past few days. Something always seems to come up that slows down the project even more so we're dealing with those hiccups at the moment.

I think the cabinets are being delivered today since today will be one of the only dry days for a while. We don't anticipate that they'll get put in for another week or so though.

The termite people are coming over next week to spray so it will be nice to check that box off before we move in! woo hoo!

We also bought our light fixtures for the bedrooms, office, and for above the kitchen table. We absolutely love them and can't wait to see them all set up in the house!

What's up next for the house? We're still searching for a bed set and kitchen table and once that's done, we'll feel a lot better about the furniture shopping. Those are really the only remaining pieces of furniture that we'd like to have lined up and ready to go when we move in.

First Furniture!

Yesterday, we bought our first pieces of furniture! We drove around on Saturday looking at different furniture stores and seeing what prices were and stumbled upon this store in Dublin that has great prices. After sleeping on it, we came back yesterday to look at the furniture one more time and bought a couch, love seat, coffee table, and side table for the entertainment room. They are special ordered so they won't come for a few weeks but we are so excited!! We both forgot to take pictures of the furniture so it will just have to be a surprise when it gets here.

It's looking like we won't be moving in until the first or second week of January. Because of the slight delay from the termite discovery, the construction had to wait for that to be inspected but we should be back on track starting today. We don't want to rush on moving in anyway since it will have lots of scents from having the floor refinished and the house sprayed for termites.

Remodel continued

The remodel continues on. The closet has been drywalled and the kitchen has a set of shiny new wires. Unfortunately termites were found in the kitchen but they were small colony and are going to be terminated. Our appliances have been delivered and are waiting to be installed. Can't wait for my fancy new fridge (ummm beer). The piles of leaves that were taking up residence in our front yard have packed their bags and moved. Hopefully the cabinets will be in by the end of next week ( fingers crossed and hoping for the best).

Remodel Day 1: Demo

So the fun has begun at Gardella Drive. We left the keys here last night in hopes that the remodel fairies would visit. THEY DID! The once outdated mint green kitchen has been torn out (still some green residue on the walls though). The closet in the master bedroom also has a 'small hole' in it, we decided to knock that all out so we ( cough cough Emily cough) would have more closet space. It will be converted into a slightly larger master closet and slightly smaller guest one. But now looking at it I'm wanting to turn it into a master suite ;). Wishful thinking. I have loose measured the rooms so we can start picking out furniture this week and see what will fit. So all in all every thing is starting out great at the new abode. We will keep the posts coming throughout the process. Eventually we will put up some photographs too.

Keys & Demolition

We got the keys last night!!!!! Ahh it was sooo exciting, we just can't wait to actually move in.

We met up with our realtor Lloyd who gave us the keys and did one last walkthrough. He's going to have the seller's realtor get someone to blow off all the leaves on our front yard (you can see some in the bottom of the photo). We have a gimongous tree in the front yard that has shed about 2-3 inches of leaves. Pretty tree but lots of cleanup. :) So that's nice of him.

Today the demolition starts on the kitchen!!! We made a copy of the keys last night for our contractor so I think he's in there right now ripping things apart. Woo hoo!

LOAN FUNDED!!!!!

Just got the call from our Realtor - our loan has been funded and it will be recorded this afternoon. We're picking up the keys tonight!!!! AHHH soooooooooo excited!!!

Time to celebrate!

Not Homeowners Yet

We didn't close today. We'll just have to continue to be patient. Ugh.

Signed the Loan Docs!

We signed our loan documents tonight!!

CJ is in North Carolina so he had a Notary Public come to his hotel at 8PM to sign everything and I had come to my parent's house at 6PM to sign all the documents. It took at least a half hour to go over everything.

I wanted to document this momentous occasion so I asked CJ to take a picture of him signing since we couldn't do it together. This is the photo he sent me, he's such a goof. I obviously wanted to see a picture of more than just his hand!

Annndddd here's me signing!

As far as next steps, we might have to wait for the lender to receive the hard copies of CJ's signatures (which is a bit ridiculous, what year is it? 1800?) and then it will be funded. We could either close on Friday or Monday. With their track history, it will be Monday but we'll see, maybe they'll be speedy!

Washer & Dryer Delivered

Our washer and dryer were delivered today!! We ended up getting the blue ones. We liked that color too so we're happy with them.

We can't wait to have a house to unpack them and start using them!!