This week in photos

The big thing this week was that the cabinet guy came back (finally) and the island is now the right size as well as the handles I picked out are now on, or at least 3/4 of them are on. That was a long story short after a LOT of headache surrounding these cabinets, which I'll skip over in the spirit of dwelling on the positive.

The handles were a big debate b/c I wanted them really wide on the lower cabinets, but less obtrusive on the uppers. I had to measure each cabinet and then pick out the stock size handle I thought was best - and ended up ordering like 15 different sizes throughout the kitchen and bar. I did well on all but one cabinet. Since the one black sheep is already drilled, I may have to live with it. We'll see.

Full island now in

Wine area with its new handles (wine fridge goes to the left, another one will eventually replace the lattice on the right)

And ~ the front door hardware went on! Loving loving how it looks. The door will be stained dark, and the 2 pieces of wood currently flanking it will be frosted glass.

Front door making big steps

 In other inside news:

One toilet went in (guest bath)!

and the tub and shower trim went in (master)

This means we have one toilet, and one bathtub. By the end of the week we'll also have one set of sinks and one shower, and although most of these "ones" are in different rooms, that's how we'll be using them for the first few weeks. "Good enough!!"

The light rope went up in the tray ceiling  in 3 steps:

1) turn it on so it warms up and softens it so it can be straightened out

2) Mike and I both up on the ladders, one on each corner, stretching it across and tucking it in

3) And then there was light...(and hardwood floor refinishing would make it better!)

Twenty-something sets of hinges were purchased from Home Depot, thanks to the gift cards I got from work. (Thanks BOLTgroup!)

And the fabulous doorknobs were purchased from Emtek thru Blackhawk :) We decided to splurge. No furniture, beautiful doorknobs. Makes perfect sense don't you think?

We called Cadieu tree company to drop off some mulch (best price ever...free!) to build up our beds. We'll invest in better mulch to top these off with.

Mike, my Dad and I spent time this weekend wheeling it up front

Where we created the bed shapes with it

After seeing the mulch go in, we discussed the whole landscape plan. I had visions of a west coast style landscape with tons of grasses and succulents, but reality (Dad) pointed out that our house is in the shade almost all the time, so the succculents won't work. We discussed putting a taller tree at each "corner" of the front of the house and decided on Italian Cypress – ironically my Dad saw some Grower's outlet that same afternoon and decided that would be our Christmas present. So he showed up Sunday with a few in his truck, ready to dig.

Mike unloading the trees

First two cypress go in

Front – where we are now

Lots on tap for this week as it's our last week before hardwood refinishing...More to come...