They're done!

(except for the other list of stuff we have for them to do that they don't know about yet ...)

Our bathrooms are done.  Finished.  Completed. (Insert ridiculously smiley girl here - seriously, we can't believe that we own this stuff and get to live here.)  And I'm using the plural form of bathrooms because in our bathroom we've just been putting our toilet paper on the sink counter and our towels on door handles for a few weeks now.  We still hadn't purchased the towel rods, paper holder, medicine cabinet, etc. for either bathroom.  We purchased it all and they've been hung!  And, they did SUCH. A. WONDERFUL. JOB!  We are so very ecstatic about the work they completed that neither of us can say enough good things about it - right down to the vent covers, door hinges, door stops, and matching, straight screws in the outlet covers!  These guys are awesome at what they do!

Side note.  I somewhat feel reluctant to hang the towel rods and such myself because I didn't want to do it wrong and I felt somewhat inadequate to do it - next to their immaculate work and all.  Which, is ridiculous.  I've hung plenty of stuff in my life - towel rods, coat hooks, pictures, lights, mailboxes, plants, wreaths, and the list goes on and on.  But for some reason - totally unknown to me - when we bought this stuff, I felt like I should not be hanging it for fear of messing up our totally new, exquisite bathrooms.  Funny and stupid at the same time.  (Especially interesting because they are charging us to do all this stuff.)

So, here are pictures of the new bathrooms ... and just for comparison sake, I'm posting the original pictures of the bathrooms too.  YAY!

Drywalled.

Painted.

 And, now the original bathroom (which doesn't look as bad as it was in this picture) ...

 

 Our new bathroom ...

The original master bathroom ...

And more of the finished new master bathroom ...

Now, a list of things to come ... some of which I think that Pat & I might actually tackle!  Projects done by the actual home owners ... back to the DIY era.  I will say that when I look back at the projects we did tackle after purchasing the house, we did a pretty excellent job.  We just need to remember that and start small, because when you start thinking of all the little details of the whole project, it can get overwhelming.  And, I'm here to say that once we started hiring the work out, it just was so much easier (and it got done so much quicker) to just tack it on to their list.  It was really nice - we asked them to do it, and when we came home from work, it was done - a girl can get used to that - any home owner can get used to that!  But there's also the satisfaction and pride in doing it yourself.  Being able to say that you did that and you did it well. (Although, I'm not saying I'm going to do all of this list ... everything has a price!)

1. The trim - it all still has to be painted, along with the doors.
2. The chair rail needs to be put up in the dining room.
3. The back hallway needs to be painted (and before that the walls need to be cleaned and sanded down).
4. The back bedroom needs to be painted (desperately - it's so pink!).
5. The shutters need painted and put up.
6. We need curtains.
7. The entire kitchen needs help.  We had them remodel the ceiling, and it looks pretty, but that the only part that does.  The cabinets still have no doors, and are still the ugly color with greenish tint.  The counter tops, sinks, stove, and refrigerator need replaced.  The floors need refinished (or replaced).  And the walls all need painted.  (This is the project that just seems overwhelming... what order things need to go in based on budget and how long we want to live with it so disassembled?  If we are going to put in new counters, then should we paint now?  And if we decide on the tile back-splash, then painting is unnecessary.  And the decisions and list goes on ...)
8. Outside.  Everything. (on a side note, we get mulch for free from the city!  We have to either pay for delivery or go pick it up in a non-commercial vehicle, but how freakin' cool is that?)

And, I'm sure there is much more ... and we'll tackle it all as time goes by, but for now, that's a pretty solid list.

We have hallway lights!  And 2 of them!  Awesomeness!

We have some pictures up on the walls of our living room, making it look and feel like more of a home.  We also bought another new rug.  Now with the rest of the furniture in the LR/DR area, the previous rug we bought just didn't quite match and it really stood out.  So, I didn't buy the lovely, expensive rug I really wanted, but we were able to find a Target rug (aka, inexpensive, but looks good) that matches much better and really pulls the green out that we/I are/am accenting with!

And, finally … here in the Midwest we had some winter weather.  It was a few days filled with snow, rain, sleet, more rain, ice, wind, and more ice and snow.  It was quite the winter storm.  We actually saw a substation explode – it lit up the sky for about 30 seconds, and lots of people lost power (luckily not us!).  Here are some pictures.

First night ... with the fist round of ice crystallizing the tree, ground, bushes, and everything!

Later that night ... it was pouring and storming; this is the same tree and we thought it was a goner!

Next day ... ice is covering everything, but our tree survived!