Taking shape

My functioning kitchen lasted from April 8th to May 8th.  Zach set up our utility sink, ovens, dishwasher, and microwave, and with my Instapot I was able to keep things pretty normal!

These got installed the 8th, and the templater came to measure for cabinets the next day.  Floform Countertops sat on their hands for a week, and then finally scheduled our installation for the 28th.  Kind of ironic that we've found help on KSL for free, even been paid by helpers, and all have been relatively professional.  The most costly service is these countertops, and the people at the Floform office were absolutely wishy-washy!

Zach wasted no time getting the rest of the flooring in.  I only helped for twenty minutes and then took the kids to Promontory point.

Meanwhile our awesome neighbors are getting their house ready to rent, and are letting us use the kitchen!  When it isn't raining (oh...my....gosh) we take our dishes over there, and sometimes use the oven.  It's so close, and there was already a path between the houses.

I love it that we don't have to use paper plates or plastic utensils!  The trip is so weird that the kids like to help, lol.  "Who wants to take the dishes to the dishwasher???"  Kael is usually the one who volunteers.


While we wait for cabinets, Zach has figured out how to build a shower for our master bathroom!

He's using Schluter Kerdi boards, which are some new waterproof material that's really strong, and easy to work with.  He loves the stuff.  I'm really impressed!

Putting it back together

We're finally past the tearing apart stage and now we're putting things back together.

Boys' first time painting with a roller.

Before tile.

We got to cut some funky floor pieces.

 And here's the finished floor.  It was a literal pain in the neck to put in... I haven't been able to bend or turn my head for the last five days. I finally went to a chiropractor and after two hours of trying to loosen up my muscles enough to do that neck pop thing, he said he'd never seen anything like it and gave up. Ha!  Well, thank goodness for Ibuprofen.

 We moved in the day after we put in the floor. The kids are supposed to be unpacking their rooms.  They know what needs to be done... it's not their first rodeo.  They aren't in a hurry to get their stuff though, when there are other cool things to distract them.

 I actually have a pretty functional kitchen!  A few tables, fridge, shelves, dishes, dishwasher, sink, dining table, toaster, microwave, oven, griddle.  We thought we'd barbecue, but... snow! Ha-- talk about January 99th.

 We're pretty sure we've gotten all the nails out of the floor.  We'll finish putting in the vinyl when the cabinets are in.  So far, I'm not really missing them.  The cabinet guy said April 29th, but I'm not holding my breath.  When he came to pick up a trim piece to measure with, he noted that we were already living in the house.  I was all ready to tell him it wasn't actually that bad, when he told me how as a child his family lived in a little house with no plumbing, no electricity, and no shingles while his dad was very sick for four years.  They lived off only what they grew in their garden. I told him I hope he'll write a memoir.  And his story worked-- I'm that much more grateful for my plumbing and electricity.  And Costco. :D

Off yer lazy bums, kids

Spring break is going to be a whole different animal for these kids this year.  It only took about thirty minutes of whining from the usual whiners (I'm huuuungry, this is too haaaard!) before we finally got into a working groove.  Zach likes to play the Guardians of the Galaxy station on Pandora while we work, so my kids sing along to a lot of 70's and early 80's songs.  Today we got all the trim and baseboards off and sanded them down.  We were going to paint some white but I'm sick of white trim, and I was worried about having some white and some dark, and this is really pretty oak... I didn't want to cover the grain.  So we're staining it all the same dark Kona brown.  It'll pretty much look black.

My mom is a sanding rockstar.  I hope I can sand like that when I'm in my 70s.  ;D

 I've already put in a few days of sanding, so I didn't care that I had the most fun job today.  Cutting the nails off. Good thing my dad didn't come, or he would have gotten it. ;D

The ceiling is now white.  Instead of slightly pinkish white.

Pick your favorite

Mia and I sanded down all this trim for re-staining.  It probably needs another go-over.

I took one of the pieces that we hope is extra and tried our the same Kona color that we had on our cabinets in Mapleton.  People noted that they hadn't been able to tell whether or not those cabinets were black or dark brown in pictures, but that it was easy to tell they were brown in person.

Which one is your favorite?

Ahhh, lighting.  It's everything.  Our next kitchen will look nothing like the Mapleton one.  We're kind of being led by the house this time, instead of pulling our favorite theories out of thin air.  We're still guessing just as much how it'll all turn out, though.  Slightly nerve-wracking.

 So I have to tell the story about this picture of Cambria Quartz sample.  When you're choosing colors and materials with Ivory, (and you are being paid about half your profession's income because you're on trial period,) your choices are very limited, ha.  I was really happy with what we were able to choose in Mapleton, but when I saw this sample in Costco, I thought "that's exactly what I would have picked if we could have chosen anything."  And I thought "maybe when we finish the basement someday..." and snapped a pic as I walked by.













The same thing happened when I saw this bathroom in a model home.  This Turkish tile was exactly what I would have chosen if we could choose anything.  I snapped a pic and thought of finishing the basement again.

















Less than a year later, we're remodeling a completely different home.  80 miles north of where we thought we'd spend the rest of our lives, inspired by archiecture 2,000 miles away in the American south, (which was inspired by France and Greece, so why not use tile originating from Turkey, lol.)  I went to the same tile store where we'd chosen our granite slab for Mapleton, remembering how many design ideas I'd loved there.  Lo and behold... there was the tile I'd admired so much.

Weeks before that I'd shown the Cambria sample pic to the Costco salesman, who recognized it immediately.  We're actually using both my dream materials in this remodel! I'm pretty excited!

Thank goodness for KSL classifieds

Pieces of our house have gone to five different families so far.

The day after we signed our papers and transferred our funds,  I posted on KSL classifieds and advertised the kitchen cabinets and granite for free to anyone who wanted them.

The second person to answer was a man who said he had all the tools necessary.  No one else had mentioned tools, so he was the one I chose.  He said his name was Eric, from Philippines. He showed up with his brother and the day after closing, had the kitchen looking like this.

We were truly blessed to have found them.  While we worked, Eric told me his family had been converted in the Philippines by missionaries from Utah.  They had moved to Florida, and then after coming to Utah to visit for general conference, decided to move here.  He wanted a pretty oak kitchen for his wife, and there was enough cabinetry for both him and his brother's houses.  He had no trouble disconnecting and re-capping the under-cabinet lighting, and was super careful to remove things so they could be re-used.  They were so polite and considerate.  That night I was letting them out to lock up, and they were very hesitant to leave me, asking if I wanted them to wait and make sure I got out okay.  It was funny-- they are two men who are strangers, and wanted to make sure I was safe leaving my own home. ;D  They were very surprised that I was so willing to help carry away little pieces and organize them in the other room to be carried out later.  When later came, Eric said "you seem very humble, yes?"  I had to laugh at that.

They changed their minds about taking the flooring, so I advertised it.  Our ad was answered by a family in Kaysville who had the exact same plank sizes and color, and was looking to extend it into another room in their house.  It turned out to be the cousin of my orthopedic surgeon who worthy Rx for physical therapy on my knees.  ;D He gave us $100 to hold onto it until he could come that weekend.

We gave the cabinet guys $100 to rent a UHaul to get the cabinets out.  They had just saved us $1000 the cabinet-maker was going to charge for a tear-out.

Saturday came and the flooring guy got this far.

A few days later he got the rest done, and hauled it away.  We were left with a lot of staples, both whole and cut, once he figured out cutting made his job easier.  unfortunately, the cut staples were way harder to get out.

I spent 8 hours sliding around on that broken office chair on my stomach with knee pads on, prying staples out of the floor with a hammer and another tool I can't remember the name of.  It helped when I figured out you had to use it sideways if you wanted leverage.  I did all the cut ones and left the loops for the kids.  My hands got super swollen and bruised because I'm a wuss.  I titled this: It won't come out, dammit.

Did I mention in our offer we asked the owners to leave their Bullfrog hot tub?  It was great incentive for the kids.  I gave them a very clear-cut offer: get every staple picked up and pried out, and you can go in the hot tub as soon as you're done.  It took them all about two hours, twenty minutes of whining that it was hard before they figured out how to do it right (it really wasn't hard,) and another hour and forty minutes of getting it done.

Meanwhile Zach was going gang-busters tearing out the bathroom.  I'd advertised it on KSL, but only got flakes.  At least five people said they were coming to take the jetted tub and the cabinets and mirrors and light fixtures, and they all flaked out.  One guy finally showed up and got the cabinets, a sink for his neighbor who needed a sink, and one of the mirrors.  I think everything else ended up in the dumpster.

Got a little help from my sis at the end!  She had just won 2nd place in a rowing competition, helped seed her friend's garden, and then came to help us.  Power!!  She got a well-deserved little soak in the hot tub, lol.

Who was family #5 that got a piece of our house, you ask??  The people that bought the ovens.
$400 for 17-year-old, perfectly functioning KitchenAid double oven!  I think they got a great deal.  I'm not telling why I didn't want to keep them.  It's just better this way, trust me.  :D