Day 62

Wyatt is working extra hard to get us ready for the big Christmas reveal. 

STAY TUNED!!!

Day 53

Smith Flooring Co. is wonderful. Robby Smith and his dad sanded and stained the kitchen floor Thursday  afternoon. Friday and Saturday, Robby put a coat of poly on the floors. The floor will be dry enough on Monday to walk on. After all the work on the kitchen is finished, Robby will come back after Christmas to put on the last coat. Robby and his dad are true craftsmen. Their motto is "the bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of a low price is forgotten".

Day 51

Today Wyatt and Patrick prepared the banquette so we are able to sit on it while we decided what to do about the upolstery and the table.  They also painted it and stored it on the porch so Robby can work on the floors. Robby will be here tomorrow afternoon or Friday to start sanding and staining the kitchen and pantry floors.

Missy surprised me today with lots of goodies--poinsettias, an orchid, an amaryllis and greenery to put together a festive centerpiece. It is gorgeous from all sides! Thank you so much, Missy.

Day 50

This morning, Wyatt and Patrick were working on the French door frame. When I came home this afternoon, I had ovens! I went to the grocery store and got carrots, broccoli, sugar snap peas, brussel sprouts and butternut squash to roast for dinner. I used the covection oven and it only took 15 minutes. The vegetables were wonderfully caramalized and delicious!

Day 49

The French doors were installed today. Also, the banquette was put together but has not been installed. More decisions have to made on the banquette---which  fabric to use and how to go about the upholstering. The table has to be custom made because of the specific size. The cabinet makers think they can make what I have in mind. I have spent many hours getting ideas from Houzz.

Day 46

Wyatt and Patrick did a lot of prep work for the new window and French doors. Also, we now have laundry on the main floor! We turned the hall closet off the kitchen into the laundry nook.

Day 45

Lots of work on the kitchen cabinets. Another coat of paint for the walls in the kitchen. Decisions about cabinet hardware. It really is starting to look like a kitchen again. But French doors have to wait until tomorrow.

No French doors yet---Bill is really excited about the installation of the doors. 

Day 44

Cabinet install started today and should be finished by tomorrow.
The banquette and island might wait until the floors are ready--stain and poly.
French doors arrived and will go in tomorrow

Sink with window above. Dishwasher space to the right.

Drawers and cabinet fronts waiting for a home.

Refrigerator space on the left, cooktop in the middle, and oven spaces toward the right.

I forgot to include the hall bathroom shower yesterday. 

Day 42

Hope everyone had a happy holiday. It was back to work today at 1102. Only final touches left in the bathrooms. Painting was done in the kitchen today in preparation for the cabinets due on Wednesday.

Hall Bathroom Old Look

Hall Bathroom New Look

Beautiful painting hanging in the hallway. Thanks again Dabney, Sarah, Carter and Marshall for the wonderful housewarming gift!

Day 37

 
The master bathroom is finished---except for a few accessories. I want to live with it for a few days to see where I want to place the remaining pieces. I am so pleased with the way it turned out!

Old Look

New Look

         

                                      Tomorrow will be the hall bathroom.

Day 36

Stay tuned----- both bathrooms should be finished tomorrow!

Remember where we started:

Hall bathroom.

Master bathroom.

Day 34

I thought I was going to have a day with no workers in the house but Tom Britt, the handyman, stained the steps-coming in from the driveway.  Therefore, to take a bath, I had to walk outside and and then go through the garage to get to the bathroom in the basement. Coming back (with wet hair) was not much fun in the cold.

The green carpet was removed and the steps have been stained.

 Hey Carter, it's your birthday!

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!! 

 From Bill, Ann, Kitty, Virginia, Isabel and Bambi who is short on words but loooong on wishes!!!!

Day 33

We will be using Virginia Mist granite for the kitchen and bathroom countertops. I wanted the soapstone look but heard it is pretty fragile. I like the durability of granite, but prefer a more matte finish. John Lee suggested "leathered" granite. I found  Virginia Mist granite online and liked the grey color with the white veining. We finally got a sample and I love it!

Virginia Mist

Worked today on trying to get at the dust from the renovation. The guys do a great job of trying to keep the dust out. They even Swiffer every afternoon, but there is always dust. 

Dining room table. 

Jeff Roudabush, my upholsterer, dropped off the dining room chairs yesterday. They are gorgeous!

Bill noticed the the fabric actually has an "H" in the pattern. Do you see it? Hint: it is aqua.

I think my $10.00 Homestead chairs turned out quite nicely. 

Day 32

Roanoke Glass delivered and installed the bathroom mirrors and the glass for the shower in the hall bath. The mirrors make the bathrooms seem much larger.

Mirror in master bath.

Mirror in hall bath.

Glass in shower in hall bath.

When Bill realized that there would be no tub in the hall bath he replied, "how uncivilized".

A sneak peek at the material for the countertops tomorrow. It is "leathered".

Day 30

Today was all about the bathrooms. I came home late this afternoon to fun surprises!

Rub-a-dub-dub three men in a...........bathroom working hard!
Tim, the electrician, Wyatt and Patrick.

Love the Benjamin Moore color, Hurricane.

The thermostat for the floor tiles. This is especially useful because the heater was taken out.
Bill loves this feature!

Day 29

As more plastering was taking place, Wyatt and Patrick were working on the marble tile frames around what will be the huge bathroom mirrors. In the hall bathroom there will be sconces within the frame of the mirror and in the master bath, the sconces will be within the mirror.

Patrick adds the final tile to frame of hall bathroom mirror.

Master bath mirror frame. 

I went to Black Dog Salvage on Memorial Avenue to look for items for the house. So many wonderful things to see!

Grayson Goldsmith works at Black Dog. She is also a local celebrity as she is featured in "Salvage Dawgs" a reality show on DIY and HGTV based on the shop.  (Sorry the pic is blurry)

Days 25-28

Bill and I went to Richmond Thursday evening. He attended a seminar on Friday and I made another trip to the fabric store. Also, there has been a lot of plastering at the house this weekend.

Bill eating his favorite sandwich, "The Farmington", at the Bellaire Market in Charlottesville en route to Richmond.

The wonderfully helpful Lucy Leake at Williams & Sherrill  in Richmond.

The plasterers showed up unexpectedly today (Sunday). Check out the stilts. Bambi wishes she had some!

Day 24

Mostly structural work was done in the kitchen today. Wyatt took out the window over the sink and replaced the header. Tomorrow he will take out the double door and other window.

Former window over kitchen sink.

Because there was not a lot of picture worthy work done today, I am going to post some extras.

I am in the basement chopping up vegetables for soup in the Crock Pot..

A pic of Kitty taken at the Biltmore last weekend.(by Matt)
Kitty just texted that she will be home for Thanksgiving . Yea!!!