Tiled entryways & closet

When choosing the tile we wanted for both entryways (driveway and lake side of house) in the living room, we both knew we wanted a darker tile, and are both obsessed with longer tiles.  Luckily, we found some great dark brown tiles that were 12x24 in size and on sale!  Wahoo!  Although it is still dirty from the grout/dust/general renovation mess, we are loving how it looks.  We (especially me) are also THRILLED with the organizers in the front hall closet.  I love the bench that lifts up for extra storage, and love that it is 'hanging' so we can shove all of our shoes underneath.   I think I should get more shoes since we have so much space!! 

Mantle

Before the renovation our fireplace had a pretty unnoticeable mantle.  We decided this was another place in the house where we could use the wood from the trees.  We love the stain color that was chosen, and how it looks overall (minus the painters tape!).  Michael also did an awesome job scrubbing the fireplace rocks to get rid of some of the soot stain.  Good work team!  

The office floor

Both the office and laundry room floors have become wood floors, which we are in the process of painting.  We are painting them the same color as the trim in the house.  Luckily we were able to get some special product that will stand up to the wear and tear of everything (chairs, human traffic, etc) and that will also allow the wood to expand and contract as it naturally would.  This was definitely one of the easier projects we have done so far!  Here's some action shots :) 

So ready for summer...

I know, I know, it isn't even February, but I am already SO ready for summer.  I can't wait to be back in the house, lay on the dock, eat taco house on the patio, and enjoy the beautiful sunsets (like the one below!) from outside and not inside!  I am ready to enjoy some more beautiful flowers, like this lone lilly I discovered on our bank last summer.

Is anyone there?!

We love hearing feedback on the blog, so leave a comment now and then!  We like knowing that people other than just the 2 of us are reading this, and would love to hear some feedback on the process and decisions we make!  =)

Vacation is a good thing!

We were gone on vacation to New Orleans for a wedding for about 6 days.  While gone, Brian & Jason got SO much done.  We were thrilled when we came home and saw all of the changes--it was like we were young children on Christmas morning--soooo exciting.  We didn't talk to them much while gone, so we really had no idea what to expect when we got home as far as what they were working on while we were gone.  Rather than type a long essay, I'm going to just put up a ton of photos of the progress.  Cheers to our progress and the fact that this blog is finally UP TO DATE!!!

Closet organizers!  Can't wait to fill this up!

Other side of closet

Oh, hey laundry chute!! How convenient that our closet is directly above the laundry room! I love this!

Just a better pic of colors in the master bedroom 

A view from the top of the stairs into the living room.

Tiled master bath shower!

Hopefully this will be a good enough shower head panel for Michael.  

Living room view from the front door.

Living room from view the 'lake' side looking toward the front door/fireplace.

Kitchen with range, hood, sink, and dishwasher!!  Oh, and Michael looking good in his work shirt! :) 

Sweet range, hood, and stainless steel farmhouse sink!

Laundry room cabinets

Kitchen view from sink (that's the butcher block top they are making for our island)

Island top being made!

View coming up the stairs from the kitchen to the living room.  

Cabinets!

We have cabinets installed in the kitchen!  Wahoo!  Maywood is really starting to look like a HOME!  Painting the cabinets was a big project, and I give almost all the credit to Michael.  We painted all the cabinets for the kitchen and laundry room.  Michael worked so hard on getting them done before we went to New Orleans while I was a work.  I was able to help with the first coat on the lower cabinets, but he did all of the second coats and all of the upper cabinets.  We were so surprised by how many cabinets we actually have.  Our kitchen seems so much bigger than before!  We painted in his parent's garage.  It was a stinky process, but nothing compared to the scent of the stain we used to stain the wood for the living room ceiling.  I would say one of the worst smells  is the "gas heater" smell that is put off of the garage heater we installed.  Its been super disappointing to us that it smells so bad.  When we were in New Orleans we were reminded of the smell everyday because it has soaked int our clothes and personal items.   Nothing like a constant silent reminder of the 'to do' list everyday on vacation!  I apologize to Jim and Diana now--I hope the smell is gone by April when you come home!  Then again, you are in  FLORIDA all winter, so can I really feel that bad???  Ha!  Yes, of course I do feel bad!
Back to the cabinets!  We used an oil based paint for the lower cabinets (they weren't able to make the upper cabinet color in oil based paint) because it is so strong as far as paint goes.  We were hoping to use a smaller, fine-finish sprayer to paint the cabinets so the process would go a little quicker.  Unfortunately, we weren't able to get the oil based paint to the right consistency to use it.  It either wasn't smooth or we could see the sheen of the paint thinner through the paint.  So, we used an old fashioned roller and brush.
When choosing the colors of the cabinets we wanted to do something fun and unexpected.  We loved the idea of paying a tribute to the classic Okoboji cottage in our kitchen.  So, we decide to add some COLOR to our upper cabinets.  For those who know us really well, you know this is a BIG step out of our comfort zone--especially Michaels.  We chose the colors 'gauntlet gray' for the lowers and 'garden spot' for the uppers.  Our official opinion now that they are painted:  they look SWEET.  Well, we think they do!  It looks especially awesome with the 'way too nice for Kira & Michael' appliances we got.  All the appliances are used (classic Michael!), but everyone we know who actually cooks says they are the bomb.  I can't wait for people to come cook us some meals using them!  Because of this we drove to Omaha to get the range, Cedar Rapids (thanks Dan for picking it up!!) to get the dishwasher, and Spencer for the fridge (which we don't have just yet).  Talk about not shopping local...oops!  Ok, enough babbling, I know you are excited to see pics, and I'm sooo excited to share, so here you go!  Let us know what you think!    

Gauntlet gray and Garden Spot!

Michael's ergonomic work station!

Yay! Yay! Yay!