So we have made a little more progress on the Montenegro Residence. Here are some before and after pictures of what we have been able to do. We still need to get floor boards installed as well as crown moulding. The exterior needs to get painted. We are going to do new light fixtures in the living room, dining room, kitchen, hallway, and Master Bedroom. Once that is all done, then we will tackle the Front and backyards for a major re-haul. Then we can relax...maybe. So anyway...here are some of the pictures. I will show some pictures of the place before we moved in, during the renovation as well as today.
Guest Bedroom Before
Guestroom After
Hallway Before
Hallway After
Master Bathroom Before
Notice the beautiful Maroon color here. Really makes you want to just jump
in that shower and start your day with a bang!
Master Bathroom After
Living room before. Yes, that is a popcorn cart.
After
Kitchen Before we moved in
Kitchen After
Dining Room Before we moved in...
Dining Room after we moved in and after taking down the 1/2 wall
I had no idea how many coats of red paint we would need to do our little kitchen. It's still not done, and the edges are going to take a lot longer. The brush just seems to take off more paint than it puts on. I've found that if you let it dry for a few days, the next coat looks even better.
We still have to finish the bathrooms and the dining room...and then, someday, the Man Cave! Marco worked so hard on the master bath...it's a tough paint to work with, and he spent hours trying to get it to look right. Thank you for all your hard work, sweetie!
The hard part is that we keep noticing places we want to go back and touch up...I wonder if that will ever end. But it keeps getting better! We're getting a new washing machine on Monday...our current one is not spinning.
Having a dishwasher is one of the best things about this house. Every day, I rinse off my dishes and put them directly into the dishwasher. I turn it on before we go to bed, and I when I get up to make my coffee, the dishes are clean! It's so wonderful...I can't adequately explain how much peace and happiness it fives me.
Have I mentioned the floors?? It's wonderful! Thank you Knight's Carpets (Paso Robles, CA)!! You were so good to us...I can't believe the installers travelled, stayed overnight, and finished it all in two days!!
So, this has been a great week. For the first time, we are able to have lots of "CLEAN ZONES" it finally feels like a home and we are getting more comfy by the minute. This week, we got all new floors and carpet installed through out the house. We did some painting, and even got our Flat Screen mounted in the living room. Here are some of the pictures. I will also include the video from how the house looked before we moved in so you can kinda see the transformation that is taking place. We are getting closer and closer! Again, thanks to everyone that has helped us make this place our own!!! I apologize for the picture quality as these were taken from my Blackberry.
Kitchen
Living room
Master Bedroom Carpet
Guest room Carpet
Master Bathroom Floor
Bathroom Floor
Hallway
Office
Flatscreen Mounted (nice job Mike Pizzello on the enclosure!)
We have new toilets! This is so exciting, because our master bath toilet had a problem. The disclosure form said it "squeaked." What we found out later was that it squealed, or whistled, whenever someone used a faucet, anywhere in the house. The only way to stop the squealing was to flush the toilet. It seemed like we were spending half the day running to the bathroom to flush the toilet to stop the obnoxious noise. But thanks to Mike Pizzello (an excellent handyman), we have new toilets, and the noise is gone! Mike also installed the stove and the dishwasher, and snaked the drain for the washing machine. I had a bucket hanging off the drain before that, to catch the overflow.
Marco and I have not had a dishwasher or washer and dryer the whole time we've lived together, so this was a very exciting day. We're still waiting on the floors. My mom had to push back the installation date due to a sudden rush of business in her store...she owns Knight's Carpets and Interiors in Paso Robles, CA...but that's good news for her! We're hoping for floors next week. We're getting carpet and laminate, and I can't wait! It will be so clean!
We cleaned the kitchen and I actually cooked. Well, I heated. But the stove and oven worked!
Eric Krebs, our realtor, took the electrician out there, and our AC is now fixed, along with the broken light switch. Eric has certainly gone above and beyond for us, and we truly appreciate it.
Poco a poco is an expression that I will have to used to for the next month or so. We are working hard on getting this house ready for paint this weekend, and our goal is to have the inside completely done. Its coming along, hit a couple of snags here and there, still need painting, floors, electrical, and plumbing work done so its about a month away from being able to comfortably have guests over. Its not quite the disaster that you saw in the Tom Hanks movie "The Money Pit" but I can relate to that movie a whole lot more now.
However as my mom's says "poco a poco" meaning, little by little and we will get this thing done! Here are a few more pictures of our progress although it still looks the same...there are some improvements. I would also like to thank everyone who has helped us with the renovation of our home and can't wait to have our housewarming party. Thank you all...ERIC, Kelly, GEOFF, Aunt PATTY, Sheryl, Gordon, Betty, Eileen, Libby, Andrew, Matty Mo, Klammster, Bennett, Justin H., Pizello, Maria (Mom), Mari, and Carrisa, who is a workhorse, she never stops, comes home from work and is always sanding, spackling, cleaning, flushing, every night!
If I left anyone out, my sincere apologies, you are not forgotten here's some more pics, hopefully the next set of pics will have some paint on the walls!
This week has been rough...must keep reminding ourselves that this is a good investment, and someday we will enjoy living in it. If only there was one clean room. The floors just refuse to be clean! We sweep and mop, over and over again, but the tile is just as grungy as the first time we saw it. The hardwood is covered with ceiling texture. We wear shoes and slippers constantly, and we get dressed sitting on the bed, to prevent our clothes from touching the floor. I spent last evening spackling, sanding and texturing the walls. I hope we can get everything painted this weekend, and the new floors (carpet and laminate...free from mom!) next week. Equity, here we come!
I would like to take this time to welcome you to our new blog. We will be posting pictures and videos of our progress, and any problems that arise and how we learn from them. So just to refresh your memory or to show you for the first time. Here is a slideshow of our pad before we got our keys. The pictures after that will show you some of the stuff we have done to create our canvas and build our masterpiece.
Here is the converted garage, possible man cave?
If you need any closet doors let me know, I have two of them I would love to give to you!!!
This strapping young gentleman above is our realtor and good all around best damn dudes in the world. I mean, how many realtors get down and dirty with you and practically project manages your progress while you are at work. I love this man like I love my own smell, no seriously a lot more than that actually. But seriously, if you need a good realtor, let me know and I will get you in contact with Mr. Eric Krebs. He will also be doing a blog of his own and you can follow it at: http://erickrebsrealty.blogspot.com/
