New house color!!

Say what?! That's right, we spent the weekend painting the EXTERIOR of the house a new color! It was a pretty last minute endeavor, but with the GORGEOUS weather we had (hello 80 degrees) we decided to go for it since Michael isn't completely swamped with appointments just yet. We tried 4 or 5 different color samples, and finally decided on the color "Zeus" with trim the color "sedate gray." We are completely done with the garage and only have trim and a second coat on a in a tiny spot on the house left. Otherwise we are done with 2 coats on the rest of the house and everything on the garage! We also have to finish painting 4 doors on the house; the door color is "black fox".
It was a big project and we had lots of visitors both days while working. The only big oops we had was when Michael almost died. He was moving the very heavy, 40 foot ladder when his foot slipped. The ladder slipped as well and landed on the power line. Luckily, after 4 bounces it didn't snap and Michael escaped getting electrocuted and dying. YIKES!
On a happier note, here are some pics of the garage pre-new paint and post-new paint! (The old color is the fleshy color in one pic. There are 3 pics of the new color.)

The island

We had Brian and Jason build an island for the kitchen, which turned out great!  When we first had them build it, our original dimensions ended up being a tad too big.  We were going to end up being pushed up against the island when opening the refrigerator doors, so we had them cut it down to be a little bit smaller.  With this, we also lost a narrow cabinet we planned to use for storage of cookie sheets and pans.  Oh well!  We were able to keep the two cabinets that will be homes for our garbage cans and recycling cans.  

We had also originally stained the wood on the base of the island the same color as the ceiling in the living room.  It looked awful in the kitchen; it was way too purple.  So, with the new island, we just painted it the same color as the lower cabinets (gauntlet grey).  It looks awesome.  We love it!  This first picture is of the completed island, and other pictures are of the first island we got rid of.  

The final island.  Looks great! 

The blue tape indicates the approximate amount of island we cut off.

The stained wood looks terrible on the bottom!  

Most recent kitchen pics

Here are some more recent pics of the kitchen...check out the hardware on the cabinets and drawers!  We are also loving the in-and-under cabinet lighting!

Guest bathroom

The guest bathroom off the kitchen didn't need much for updating-basically just some fresh paint on the floors, ceiling, and walls; also, some updating to the linen closet and addition of a tub sliding door (both to be done yet).  We decided to add a wainscoting to the walls, up to about my eye level.  Brian built it, and we painted it.  We also added new mirrors above both sinks and added a wood frame around both so they look more 'built in.'  

Remember the bathroom was a green color before?  The walls are now 'gray area,' the same color as the kitchen walls, and the wainscoting is 'useful gray,' the same as the trim throughout the house.  The tile on the floor is painted 'universal khaki'-the same as the kitchen tile floor.  Here are some pics of the process and final painting.  We have a few more things to add to the bathroom, so more pics will be added when it is completely 'done.'  

New built in mirrors above the sinks.

Wainscoting going up.

Painted wainscoting!

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 :)