11th Heaven - Our Anniversary - and also Day 221

Today is Friday, June 5th, 2015. It is Kristin and my 11th wedding anniversary! It also happens to be Day 221 of Project 713 (220, 221... whatever it takes.) The "traditional" 11th anniversary gift is "Steel." So, we'll see what we get each other this year made of that material. Here's something to think about...11 years ago, the thoroughbred Smarty Jones was going for the Triple Crown of horse racing. Tomorrow, American Pharoah will make that same attempt. Good Luck! Another little tidbit from the memory banks. Former president Ronald Reagan died the night of our wedding. We got the headline in the newspaper outside our hotel door the next morning. We saw his funeral service on our honeymoon in St. John. That was the only time we watched TV the entire week.

Back to the present, though. Of course we'll get to spend a little quality time together- a couples' foot massage and then dinner for deux. This is our picture from LAST YEAR... our big 10th anniversary dinner at Ocean Prime.

This will have to do, until I have visual evidence of tonight's festivities.

After that, all Heck is going to break loose. As of about 10:30pm, the Amend family "Cuz-astrophe" arrives straight from Toledo. They left around lunchtime and are busting it down I-75 through Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and finally through God's country...Georgia. :-)

We had originally hoped that we'd be celebrating our anniversary... and the arrival of the "Cuz-astrophe" by sleeping in our newly renovated home, but alas, as with life, construction projects have their own clocks, or in this case- calendars!

We truly are really closing in on... "the Closing." Our entire focus is getting all of the little finishing touches of the house and getting our inspections completed and passed... and being able to schedule the movers to come deliver all of our STUFF! 

As I mentioned before, I'm not going to post any NEW pictures from inside the house, since we want it to be somewhat of a surprise for the final reveal, once we get our stuff moved back in and settled. So since it's been more than 7 months, here's a picture of what the house looked like BEFORE...

So think about THAT one for a while! LOL

Then we'll post some more pictures, but ultimately it will be up to YOU to come visit the Fors abode and see our new crib, in person!

Cheers!

Odds & Ends - Day 219

It's June 3rd, Day 219 of Project 713 and the various Odds & Ends tasks are moving us closer and closer to the finish line. We're to the point now where we're actually having inspections done on various systems and parts of the house. All of them pointing toward our final C.O., or Certificate of Occupancy. The following pictures were taken over four days, starting on Sunday, May 31st.

 The carpenters were hard at work installing the railing for the front porch. I stopped by in the morning so I could show their progress at the end of the day. Scroll down for the completed look!

 The crew was finally far enough to install all of the appliances in the kitchen. The shot above is obviously the new oven and stove, with our new ventilation fan.

 The picture above is a wider shot, so you can sort of see the newly installed appliances in all their shiny glory. The dishwasher is to the left of the island, then the oven in the back, and the microwave/convection oven in the upper right and the refrigerator on the far left.

 A closer look at the microwave/convection oven unit and our new fridge. Shiny!

The guys were also hard at work putting in the hardware for the hall closets. Above is the linen closet that's in the upstairs landing hallway. Plenty of space in there!

 Above is the newly expanded closet in the downstairs spare bedroom. It used to be about 1/3rd smaller when it was Grace's room.

Here's another shot of the carpenters putting in the railing spindles on the highest side of the porch.

The guys were taking a short lunch break before finishing the last part of the porch railing.

 And finally, at the end of the day, Grace shows off the finished product. Painting the railing will be next!

 Now, another big step is the carpeting in the upstairs bedrooms. Above is the floor in Grace's bedroom. How that dude managed to move that giant bunk bed and lay the carpet down is beyond me.

 The picture above is the floor in our master bedroom walk-in closet. It looks so comfy, right?

 And this picture is simply the floor of our master bedroom, along with some of the extra carpet while the guy was cleaning up.

 Thankfully, the final pallet of sod came in so the landscapers were able to finish off that last section near the driveway. It's looking more and more like a finished project. We're getting so close I can taste it!

 And the fireplace mantel is slowly but surely getting closer to completion. I think this should be finished by the end of this week. That will be the icing on the cake.
Well, at this point, I've been asked by the management not to post ANY more photos until we get our C.O. and are able to move in. Kristin likes to call it our "Final Reveal!"
So, thanks for going along for the ride everyone and we'll see you again when we move in! Possibly in the next couple of weeks!
Cheers,
Flip

The Grass is Always Greener - Day 213

Another super busy day at Project 713. It's May 28th, the 213th day of the renovation. A lot of stuff got completed, both that you can see and stuff that would be easy to miss. The landscapers got started early, with the sod being delivered before dawn and a load of topsoil being dumped around 8 a.m.

I shot the first picture on my way to the office, so the picture below is the results of a full day's work. It got rained out by a major thunderstorm around 3 p.m. The crew ran out of sod, so they'll have to finish it later.

 They got about 90% finished, so they have to fill in two open spots and then there are a couple areas along the neighbor's property line that have to be repaired because it's become damaged during construction.

If you look closely at the pictures of the house you'll also notice that the gutters and downspouts were installed and they look great. They're a perfect match to the color of the window trim and soffit braces.

You can also see the finished work in the mulch beds and boxwood shrubs planted along the front porch

And finally, the kitchen appliances were delivered and they're just sitting in the breakfast nook area until the crew can install them either tomorrow or this weekend.
Things are really starting to come together!
More pictures as I get them.
Later!

Floored - Day 212

It's now May 27th, Day 212 of Project 713. The operation has moved ahead on several fronts, both inside and out. We'll start with the hardwoods!

This is a shot of the entryway and the formal dining room. The floors have been stained and are waiting to be sealed.

The picture above is the front hall and entryway looking toward the rear of the house, so you can see one of the three sets of French doors on the back wall of the house. 

The shot above shows the kitchen area and the island in the center. Below is a wider shot, so you can also see the staircase. You'll also notice the empty spaces in the kitchen where the appliances will be installed... tomorrow!

Below you can see the upstairs landing and hallway. Our bedroom door is in the center of the background.

 The shot below is the staircase looking down from the second floor landing.

The next picture is Grace's bunk beds and stairs up to her loft after being painted and the railing fastened.

The picture below is our transition deck and steps from the back of the house to the patio.

The landscaping crew has been busy grading the back yard and putting grass seed and straw down. Nearly that entire area used to be an old concrete parking pad, so soon it will be nice and green!

In the front yard, the landscapers are preparing to put the sod in, but they started out by putting in some of the boxwood shrubs next to the house. They'll also be mulching those beds after the sod's installed.

The picture below may be a head-scratcher, but if you look closely, you'll notice that the power line is now connected to the house, which means that we actually have full-on electricity inside!

And that means we passed inspection and that things like the stairwell chandelier actually work now!Yippee!

This next picture isn't super exciting, but it's important because now all of our interior doors have hardware!

And finally- this next picture is NOT what it looks like. Grace was simply enjoying a seat while I finished taking my pictures around the house. Again, you'll notice the door hardware. LOL

Tomorrow will be another BIG day because the kitchen appliances are being delivered and the landscapers will be installing the Zoysia sod in the front yard. They'll be scrambling to beat the nasty thunderstorm that's scheduled to hit around lunchtime.
Pictures T.B.D.
Cheers!

Memorial Day Weekend - Day 209

It's May 24th, Day 209 of Project 713. The crews are 'On and Cracking' with various projects and as I speak, the hardwoods are being sanded and the yard is being prepped for landscaping. Pictures of those to come at a later date, but here's a peek at what's been going on the past several days.

Grace is, of course, standing in the middle of our formal dining room and that's the awesome new chandelier that certainly 'demands' attention. The new fireplace and mantel is about 80% finished and will be completed after the floors are sanded, stained and sealed. You can also see the two new doors on either side of the fireplace, which lead to our old sunroom.

In the picture above, you can see the outdoor ceiling fans for the front porch. You also get an idea of what the light fixtures attached to the house look like, as well as the chandelier in the center of the porch.

The picture above shows the full-sized mirror with beveled edges in the master bathroom. Bathrooms are tricky to photograph because they're 'relatively' small, but in this case, since I'm shooting a picture of a mirror, you get to see the reflection of the other side or the bathroom. Look closely and you'll notice the shower and the soaking tub in front of the picture windows.

The pictures above show the built-in bookshelves in the upstairs landing and hallway after they were painted. You can see in the first one that the shelves are in and will be put in on the other side. You also get a nice look at the chandelier that hangs over the stairwell opening and really helps fill the space.

The above picture is the staircase up to Grace's loft and the built-in bookshelves up in her loft after painting. The small white patches are where the painters found imperfections to fill in, sand and will paint back over.

The pictures above and below are in our walk-in closet in the master bedroom. We're having built-in shelves and garment hanging areas. We'll probably also end up with a short dresser, bench or seat in there too.

I'm not sure who will get which side, but I have a feeling the section seen above will be mine, although the right side looks more appropriate for shoes, so who knows.

The picture above isn't really that exciting, except for the fact that a doggie door is a relatively new concept for our dogs. The rental house we've been living in has a doggie door and Bella and Charlie seem to love the freedom of being able to go in and out at their convenience. Bella doesn't use it as much to go out- she loves to be 'let out' the door- but they both use the one in the rental house all the time to get back in. We'll see how they acclimate when we move back in.

I realized that I'd forgotten to take a picture of our new ceiling fan in the master bedroom. It's up in the tray ceiling and looks very cool- pardon the pun.

So that's the new power junction box on the side of the house. Since this picture was taken, there are actually a pair of air conditioner condensers in that area.
So until next time,
Cheers!

Fit & Trim - Day 199

We've reached May 14th - Day 199 of Project 713 and things have really ramped up. A second coat of exterior paint and the crew put the second floor windows back in with a fresh coat of the Iron Ore paint.

They also did the other trim work in the Ethereal White, which almost looks cream-colored when compared to the Extra White for the rest of the house.

They also were able to get to the first coat of paint on the French doors in the rear of the house.

Moving back inside, I can now show you some of the other cool fixtures like the chandelier in the upstairs hallway. You can see the painters were also busy patching up some of the nail/screw marks and blemishes on the walls with spackle, in order to sand them down and then put a second coat of paint on.

Here's a shot of the light fixture in Grace's bathroom. As you can see she has the 'Bling' look to match her sparkly wall in her shower.

The electricians also installed the cool pink light fixtures up above Grace's loft. The pink and green match Grace's sheets, comforter and pillows.

And finally, last but not least, the glass guys were in and put in the glass walls for the shower in the master bathroom. I'm not exaggerating when I say that my old bathroom which used to be directly below our new master, was only a bit bigger than that shower stall. I'm talking the ENTIRE bathroom. A shower, sink and toilet. It was like a phone booth. Nothing like a little more breathing room, eh?

They also put in the mirror over our double vanity, but I figure you know what a mirror looks like. Hard to believe, but there's still quite a bit of work left, and we still have to get the hardwood floors sanded, stained and sealed before we can get our appliances installed.
Onward!