Too many choices!! Lowe's Round 2!

I have no idea how builders and designers make choices on what works best in different homes and rooms.. it's so difficult! Especially when you have 4 different people weighing in their opinions all at once!

We (my mom, dad, Gary, and I) went to Lowe's yesterday to make final decisions on the dishwasher, stove, microwave/hood range, and to take a look at accessories for the home. We made finals choices and sales for the appliances (which are on a 3 week back order from Korea.. crazy??), but accessories were a whole 'nother batter. Fortunately we ended up with being able to make a choice, albeit it was only one thing for sure selected.. the shower stall:

Go figure? We did however look at faucets..

Seriously how do you choose?? TOO MANY OPTIONS!! This is just one section of the EIGHT sections of fixtures they had at this Lowe's.

Canned lights for the kitchen, bathroom, and hallway. At least it's down to 2-ish? For now lol.

A potential light fixture for the downstairs half bath.

And the idea of what I would LOVE to have for my vanity/make-up area.. but it's much too large.

Round 3 of Lowe's will happen tomorrow after I've successfully *fingers crossed!* completed my Black Friday/X-mas shopping. Tomorrow we will have to make decisions on hardware for the cabinets (which we have been avoiding so far), and final light fixtures.
We have an idea of the grey we want for the wall color too, but it's just a little too light. Who know how hard it was to find the right shade of grey? Go one shade darker or lighter and it ends up being too green or too blue. Bah!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!
<3 Kathy

Selection appointments for the cabinets and granite!

A few days after we got the keys, we had the contractors begin to walk through the house. We discussed with them everything we wanted completed which including demo and remodeling of the kitchen and bathroom, replacing all the windows, removing popcorn from the ceiling, and getting new flooring. We talked to a few people, and eventually found the guys we wanted to work with. Of course though, with every individual contractor, you want to check out their work space!

So first we went to the Carpenter/Cabinet guy. His name is Enrique and he works at the Oak Mill in Ceres.

This is a picture of the front of his shop. There are a bunch of other contractor-like businesses surrounding his, so it seemed like a busy place. Below is a picture of the workshop itself in action.

 As you can see, there are bunch of different projects they are working on all at once. It's a pretty awesome workspace!

 This is an example of a desk/vanity area they were working on for another client. He was adjusting this one for his client who was 6' tall. He had me sit on the chair and measure to what height he needed to adjust the shelf (for my vanity) since I'm a whole foot shorter lol.

And of course this is a whole bunch of cabinet samples and doors they have that they use when meeting with their appointments. The wonderful thing about them is that they will also make a custom design if you want to combine elements from different designs they have (like we did). Nothing fancy of course because that goes over budget and is completely unnecessary.

Enrique was great with answering all our questions and making any last minute changes we had. He made sure that he adjusted the cabinet above the stove to fit the microwave range, and said he would have a sample of the stained door for us before we would officially sign contracts. So far we like him very much! I'll let you know my full satisfaction after the project is done :].

After met with the cabinet guy, we headed over to the Modesto to speak with our Granite guy. His name was Danni.

Once again his is their store front! Right off the freeway so it's easy to access.

 They had a HUGE selection of Granite, and even tile as well! They also had sinks for sale, which made it really conveinient for us to not have to look for elsewhere. Super cheap! Our bathroom sinks were only $40 each!

And if you look in the back of the picture you'll see they had a mock shower stall made out with tile. They had a rather large selection of back splashes as well and any tile combination you could think of for kitchens or bathrooms.

Danni worked everything out with us right away. We found a granite we loved! I would post a picture but none of the ones I took do it justice. If you look at the first picture of their showroom, it's the black one 4 in from the left on the back. He gave us a quote then and there, and even offered us a discount since we were working with Enrique, his friend and we bought 3 rooms worth of granite and vanities with him. Hooray for affordable, cheap, bulk buying :].

Overall we're very happy with the selections :]. The cabinets and granite go well with the current floor tile, and we're going with a nice light grey on the walls to pull everything together. Now all that's left is to pick out the accessories lol. Kitchen faucet, bathroom faucet, door knobs, light fixtures, etc. We (well me) have a vague idea of what we want.. final decisions will be made on Friday!

I'll post our adventure from Lowe's today sometime tomorrow. Good night world!

<3 Kathy

p.s. - Totally forgot to post this picture before, but this is Gary having the first meal in the new home! Don't you love our ghetto-fabulous stepladder table? ;]

And now the rest of the house..

So as I promised I will lead you through a lovely photo tour of the rest of my new home! Or well it will be in a few weeks when I can actually use it lol.. but that's another blog for another day!

The stair case isn't anything exciting, but as you may probably see, the previous owners/tenants ripped the original railing off the wall. Makes for a fun walk down as the stairs are fairly steep. And the photo the right may not seem like much now as it's just a view of the hallway coming up, however when the project is all finished, the view will be much different :]. We're putting in another linen cabinet there, so yay for more storage!

So which bedroom should go first? Brown or purple? I say brown, so that you can be in for a treat later!

And below would be the doorway visible above leading to the first bedroom on the left..

This is the view from the hall doorway, and from first glance, you may think it looks quite alright. Honestly, I would have to agree with you! Apart from the dated carpet, windows, and blinds (that are being replaced), it does look lovely! Good size and great wall color :]. However, if you look below, you will see the view from the opposite corner.

And what do we have here? Mirrored closet doors? A sink in the bedroom? Heavens.. what the hell is this? Circa 1980, that's what it is. 

It was quite difficult to get a good picture of the vanity since there was a wall in the wall, but this the best picture I could get. I always get the feeling I'm in a hotel or something, maybe from the old west? Gotta love that medicine cabinet door, and of course the lighting above the sink! I will definitely not be missing either in December..

Now if we venture down the hallway we get the original linen cabinet and laundry alcove.

 Sorry for the poor quality photos, but it was hard to get a good angle. And as far as the laundry alcove, you really don't want to see the entirety of it because it's pretty grody. Both the linen cabinet and alcove will be getting a fresh set of paint to hopefully help with the smell and dinginess aspect. Also, that black cabinet will HAVE to go so that we can put in some nice floating, open shelves for easy access. Did I mention that the only access to the attic is above the washing machine hook-up? Fun stuff.


And now to the pride and joy, or well, the purple. The other bedroom!

 I mean, it's not that bad is it? One could learn to live with the color right? /sarcasm.

And of course the vanity in the bedroom again! At least the closet doors are much more reasonable now :].  But do you see the toilet peeking out from behind door number three? Yep. So much fun.

Last but not least is the bathroom, which I am sorry but I have almost no good pictures of. Hopefully you can use your imagination and put the pieces together. Here is my one semi-valiant attempt:

It's a interesting deep aqua blue color. I'm not a big fan but Garrison and my mom both like it.. go figure? As you can see, there are doorways going into both bedrooms so that everyone has access. This is where the bulk of our reno is happening. Or well, the biggest structural changes.

We will be closing off access to both bedrooms and putting one entry from the hallway into the bathroom. The tub will be rotated 90 degrees to be where the vanity currently is in bedroom #1. Where the bathtub is now will be the vanity, and then a final door will be added to close off the toilet area. The ceilings will be dropped to 9 feet in the bathroom only to make it easier for light installation and ventilation. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

So that's that! More details about all the renovations will be in blogs to come. I'm VERY excited to call this place my home.. although at the moment it makes me giggle! The things people did in the 70's/80's eh? Oh well!

Until next time!

<3 Kathy

p.s. - I will not miss this!

It's finally here!

After months of uneasiness, fighting, waiting, hoping, and lurking, the new home is finally ours! And now begins the real work..

We officially got the keys from the realtor's office on Monday (11/14/11) and the official work began. First things first: change the locks of course! So we called our usual guy who takes care of my dad's investment properties and had him come out right away and change all three locks: front door, garage, and back storage. We also met with our first contractor that day to do a quick walk through. And you may ask, why a contractor for a new home? Well, the home was built in 1980, and it has quite a few.. quirks. I'll post some pictures below explaining it all, but it is definately the strangest layout I have ever seen.. at least for the bedrooms upstairs. We have a LOT of changes to be made in the property over the next month, but I think it will SOO be worth it!

Before we get into the interior, let me show you the neighborhood. It's sooo homey!! Gorgeous and lived-in and most important, quiet! It almost reminds me a retreat away from the city.. like a little slice of a mountain town (maybe South Lake Tahoe?) away from reality.

 This is the view standing in the driveway to the right.

 And now to the left.

And finally the home right in front of me :].

And we can't leave out the entrance!

Or the patio!

 

To second photo is the view out of the living room. The first photo is the view to the right with my gate out to the backyard area. What you can't see is the storage area against the house. It's not too big.. probably about 30-40 square feet, but that's good for me :].

And now the interior. Let's start with the kitchen. You are fairwarned.. the tile is gross!

 
The first view is from the door walking in and turning right. The second view is from the dining room looking in. As you can see the previous owner took the stove, but left the lovely dated range and dishwasher. Thankfully the tile is beautiful on the floor.. otherwise there isn't too much going for this kitchen. I do like the cabinets, but they're pretty gnarly inside and if you look closer they are scratched up and the hinges need much love.

 And if case you wondered how the house was left when we got it.. well here is a nice slice of the mess. There was trash ALL over the house, and of course grime, grime, grime! After Gary gave the first story some much needed TLC, it looked MUCH better.


The rest of the first floor:
Here is the main entryway. We'll be removing that tile and putting the kitchen tile in this area so it matches all the way through.

This a view of the kitchen and entryway from the end of the living room.
Below you have a view of the closet right behind the stairs, and the half bath right next to the front door.

 And finally a view of the living room!

Alright well I think that's enough photo's for one day. Tomorrow I'll post pictures of the upstairs area and how wonderfully awkward it truly is. And purple!

Excitedly yours,

<3 Kathy