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.
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| 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
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. 
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. 
