We 'like' house projects...right?

I'm finally adding some pics of what has kept Luke and I busy this past year (besides school and work). We have re-done much of our home and have learned a lot about house projects in the process! Here are some before, during , and after pics. We are still in the process of finishing some trim, completing some cupboards to match existing ones, and we still have the new white six pannel doors waiting to be put up to finish the main floor.

Here is our home at first:

The first project was putting rock in the front of the house under the bushes.
Yes, there was even concrete to tear out.
The house was in need of a good coat of paint.
Kinsey came to investigate how we were doing often.
We had fun picking out new lights, house numbers, and doorbell buttons. The first blue trim color was a bit bright...
So I re-painted with a darker blue I liked better.
Then winter came.
And shoveling projects came. Yes we have a few shovels.

There really is a fence under the snow.

Many feet of snow was shoveled off the roof.

I believe it was greater than -40 degrees wind chill this evening.

There were also times we diddn't get mail due to the snow.

Hello mail man.

Kinsey made a huge snow fort this day. Oh the excitement of snow!

Now we enjoy summer fires in the back yard. Thanks Matt & Karisa for the sweet fire pit.

Then we replaced the mailbox after a hit and run pizza delivery! We actually had it in the garage anyway so it just made us put it up ;)

Kinsey turned 11 this Spring too! She is an awesome sister!
Yes, on to more house beginnings: Here is the Kitchen at first.

There was a stove and fridge that matched this hood/vent.

I'm not sure how, but I picked another too bright color...

So once again I got to practice some more painting with a much more toned down green (thanks Alissa & Tony for trying this color first!) I would rather paint walls than ceilings anyday so it wasn't that bad to re-do.

Then we started thinking of replacing the floor and realized we ought to put in the dishwasher first...

So... Luke got to tear out a row of drawers and a cupboard to make space.

In the mean time I worked on painting trim, and started priming some of the cupboards.

Then primed some more, and had the plumber come in and get ready for installing the dishwasher and replaced the kitchen faucet.

And learned that projects sometimes cause chaos.

Luke planned to tear out this cupboard to build a larger one and make a new one for above the fridge as well.

Stage one of the new cupboard.

I figured I better finish painting the existing cupboards and get the new hardware put on. I decided I liked the little shelves so painted them too and put them back up.

Stage two of the new cupboards. The doors are ready to paint and be put up but I haven't gotten to that yet. There will also be built in cupboards under the microwave and one next to the dishwasher for the garbage :) The pieces are all cut and ready to be put together.

So here is the kitchen so far.

And here is the Dining room before we started:

First thing in all rooms was to paint the ceiling and replace the light fixtures. Then came curtains, which was a much larger feat than I had expected. This became a work station during other projects occuring simultaneously!

Picking paint colors and seeing the room after is fun. Luke suprised me with a new dining room set for our Anniversary!

Personally, I love these colors.

My mom finished this outfit I found that Luke's Grandmother had started. She used it for a birthday party for a coworker where everyone dressed up in the oldies. She had a fun time also using it for Kinsey's school Halloween party as part of a dress up game for the kids.

So here is the dining room now just waiting the new closet door.

Making spaghetti with Kinsey is always fun.

Now on to the Living room starting out:

Making curtains...

Luke leveled the floor in the front entryway.

And tore out all the carpet and pad to discover various tile in each room.

We are finally enjoying a calm living room that can stay clean of projects now!

The anitque hutch was a gift from my great aunt. I love it.

The crock with flowers in it is a Redwing pottery stamped 1915 which is the year my Grandpa was born. I got this from him a few years back after taking a pottery class they asked me if I would like to have it. It is very special to me. It came from my grandpa's family. My Grandpa just turned 94 in July! He is an amazing man.

This cedar chest was my great grandma's, then my grandma's, then my mom's, and now I get to enjoy it. It too is pretty special to me. My grandma just turned 89 in July and still bakes the best bread and buns and well, any food!

Here is the hallway before :

Stage two: Stage three:

Almost done, just waiting to put up white doors that are waiting in the bedroom downstairs.

And our bedroom starting out:

This was my favorite room to paint.

Then before we had new carpet put in we realized we should make the closet door larger like we had planned, but realized needed to be done before new flooring once again :)

Just waiting for a top coat of white and trim.

curtains also in the process.

Now on to the 'green room'; this is the only pic I have of the wall before it was painted. It doesn't show how green it actually looked though!

Ah, yes and we must not forget Lukes new found talent of electrical work. He replaced every outlet and cover. Just a few shocks and figuring out how the breaker box should actually be labeled!

And it stayed green when the carpet was taken out!

Until the new carpet was installed.

Luke's parents gave us this super nice piano. It sounds beautiful, just not if I play it! When we have kids, we'll make sure they take lessons.

Bathroom anyone? This was an interesting room to re-do...

Taking out the carpet seemed simple and logical...

Getting ready for a new toilet...

Okay, so maybe since the carpet was under the vanity and the tile looked like it should be taken out we should remove the vanity for now and tear the tile out next...

While we're at it why not replace some of the actual floor too...

Lets not forget the tile was glued down with some crazy stuff and the floor needs to be completely level before putting linoleum on...

Then why not put on a new subfloor/plyfloor...

Then we can put on the linoleum...
Then finish painting...

Leave our handprints behind the mirror...

And, oh wait...how was the pipe not leaking before this?...

Yes, the pipe does has a hole in it!

Luke and his dad got to cut a hole in my closet...

And fix it! Thanks Dave for all the plumbing help! Even Kinsey learned during this process. She now knows what a p-trap is under the sink!

I really like our bathroom now! Much appreciation for the simple things in life!

We kept the vanity Luke's Uncle made. We just replaced the top, sink, faucet, and handles. Oh the small things too...like cutting a hole in it to have the toilet paper right by you so you don't have to reach behind you to maybe reach it :)! Yes the simple function of where toilet paper is located. What joy. Now on to the laminate flooring project:

First, remove the carpet...

Then the pad, and... oh, yeah, I almost forgot about tack strip and staples!

Then get a look at the nice tile before covering it with plyfloor...

Thanks Matt for letting us borrow your air compressor so many times!

Then the sound deadening underlament...

Then finally the laminent!

So I decided to be a little anal during this process...let me explain a bit...so there are patterns in each box and you don't want them to all end up next to each other or you'd see the same thing and not a nice random look. You can't just do the 4 box method like they say...because you might end up with the same 4 patterns still or end up with the same pattern in a differnet row that ends up right next to the same pattern piece...Anyhow so as Luke put each piece in I picked out which piece I wanted next :) It was a good time and worked out nicely ;)
And that's all we have for house projects for now. Believe it or not this is actually abbreviated. There are are so many little things like patch work etc. and it is amazing the time things take. We have decided that when we have to move that it would be nice to just build new!