The 1878: Weeks 4 & 5

Hi Friends!  I hope everyone’s enjoying their summer!  Last week I was on vacation from work and I swore that I was going to jump headfirst into projects at the new (old) house, but sadly, that just wasn’t the case.  I have to keep reminding myself that once the pros are done with all of the major work (electrical, skim coating, plumbing, floor refinishing, etc . . .) it will leave me plenty of room,  and projects to tackle. 

So, what have we (and the pros) been up to in weeks 4 and 5?  Take a peek:

Refinished the Floors

The major change which some of you may have seen on my IG Highlights, is that we ended up getting the hardwood floors in the kitchen, dining room, and both staircases refinished.  This was done quite a bit earlier than we had planned, but our floor guy gave us a discount if we were able to fit it into his schedule.

Check out some of the before and afters:

Before-Before, real estate listing

After the linoleum flooring was removed and floors were sanded

After

I also chatted about how the floors are not perfect;  there are stains, and filled holes from old plumbing pipes, and knicks, and dents that we will gladly live with—they are a huge improvement from our dated laminate Brazilian Cherry floors of our current home.

Surprise!!  More Demo:

Before, 2nd floor loft.

Loft in its current state

 And Jyren got to work on the back hall.  

Lighting/Electrical:

I also shared on Instagram my love for my electrician.  Okay, love might be a strong word, but when contracting out jobs, its so hard to find people who are efficient, reasonably priced AND can give you exactly what you’re asking for. 

Our wonderful electrician has updated all of the wiring on the first floor.  Including new electrical boxes placed on the sink wall so that I can later install sconces.

I’ve decided to go with sconces in the kitchen because I didn’t want to disrupt the ceiling plaster by creating holes for recessed lighting.

Primed the Staircase Trim:

BEFORE

In Progress

We put our daughter to work and had her prime the staircase trim.  What a difference it makes to see that yellow-y trim turn crisp and white!

Its current state, well, before the floor was refinished.

Window Trim in the Kitchen:

The kitchen window . . . sigh . . . It’s a casement window, which to me, simply doesn’t fit the scale of the space.  I dream of a kitchen with a bank of windows positioned over the sink, however, it’s not quite a priority, and money is an object for us, lol.  

Before-Before, real estate listing

Anyway, I couldn’t bare to look at that nekkid window anymore.  I picked up some casing that matched the window casing on the opposite wall and got to work.

Its current state

Ahh . . . isn’t that better?

Pocket Door, err Bathroom Floor:

There was actually no progress here, lol.  Well, sort of.  We brought in a “carpenter” to give me a hand building the pocket door frame, because, ya know I didn’t want to screw it up, and just like a can of worms, we realized that the sub-floor in the bathroom needed to be reinforced.  

In Progress

 

My hubs demoed the bathroom floor and prepped it for new sub-flooring.  This project has been placed on hold for the time being.

Skim-Coating the 2nd Floor:

This week, the electrician worked on the second floor, which made it possible for our taper to come in and skim coat.  This will be our 9 yer old bedroom.

And that’s all folks for weeks 4 and 5.  What do you think of our progress?  Net week I’ll be thinking about paint colors and kitchen cabinets, we’re getting to some of the fun parts y’all!  

P.S. drop me some of your favorite paint colors in the comments, I’m going to need some help here!