One More Day and 507 Construction Is Done

Seems like most of the finish work is done and we will be ready for cleaning next Tuesday and carpet next Wednesday and move in on Thursday. I am so excited and it looks so amazing.

Friday the 13th - The Photos

March 8, 2009 Progress Photos

No time for jet lag here. Just busy working on the house. So far this weekend I have:

• gone to Home Depot to purchase curtain rods, research carpet and plants, and buy gardening supplies
• gone to Petco for cat litter and cat food
• gone to Trader Joes and Whole Foods for groceries; went to Rite Aid
• gone to Sloat Nursery for a ton of plants for the side yard
• went back to Home Depot to purchase a toilet (had to be rescued by Todd and Ken because Ken's truck wouldn't start)
• went to check out a competitor rent house down the street
• went to the AT&T store with Sheila and Tristan to get a real mobile phone since I ran through $20 of prepaid dollars in two days
• went to Rite Aid again
• Showed Sheila and Tristan around the house
• admired Denise's weeding in her yard

I am so tired. But here are some progress photos of the upper house yard and Ken's tile job in the master bath. I am going to eat some dinner and go to bed early. I have three interviews tomorrow.

Check out the patio

The patio just keeps getting better and better. I can't believe it. Todd put the railing up in one day.

Move Day

Well, I am sure life has now gone from the absurd to the ridiculous. I got the job offer from Ogilvy and they want me to start Nov. 12. That sounds far enough away, right - but every time I look at the calendar, I can feeling it press my lungs together. 

We are moving into our newly remodeled house in Mill Valley today. I think Dave will have three weeks and I will have six weeks to enjoy it before we have to go to Australia. But most of the work on the inside is complete and the exterior is coming together, so it is a good thing (albeit a bit crazy).

Let's see - my sister is coming on Friday for our engagement party which is on Saturday. She has to turn around and leave on Sunday. Denise is moving into the beige house on Saturday. So in other words, I need to probably stop blogging and finish packing and get moving.

It's a Dirty, Dirty Job

Oh man. I am so dirty. I spent the day cleaning out the garage at Lower Beige House, which had been used to saw and sand, adjacent to the new bonus room addition and so on. Very dirty. I think all the dirt is on me now. So I am tired, but the garage is clean and we can start the storage process. I need about 6 million Rubbermaid storage bins. 

I think we are planning on moving to Upper House on Thursday instead of Monday. Dave worked until 3a to finish painting the original bathroom here at Lower Beige House. Todd worked today to finish varnishing the half wall tops and cleaning up his tools. Mercedes will be here tomorrow to clean Upper House. 

I know we are making progress, but for everything we do, I think I add 3 items to my to-do list. Now I am off to make a guest list for our engagement party. Dave went to check out the party ensuing next door in the 2am Club Parking Lot. 

Moving Out, Moving Up

I just have to give a big shout out to my fellow AARF ladies Alyson Hyder and Marisa Gallagher for being promoted to VP today. Yippie ladies. I am happy to see some more female influence on the management team. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Dave took the day off to get the renovation stuff completed. Monday is the big move to the Upper House. Denise will be stopping by tomorrow to get the download on property management duties. And Mercedes will come on Sunday to clean the Upper House before we move in. I am excited - even though we will only be there a short while, it is amazing to see the transformation.

Making Progress

Dave extended the time between when he leaves Genentech and when he starts at CSL, so we have an extra week. We have been making a ton of progress and we are set to move into the upper house on Monday, Sept 22.

The upper house is down to finishing touches. It is really coming to life. I can't wait until the patio is finished. I am just going to hang out there until I leave for Australia.

Trying to Get Done

We have so many crews working and getting things done:

• Todd - Wrapping up details to the interior of the upper house
• Rocky and Milson - Building new patio and stairs at the upper house; adding new wall for balance
• Barry - Building new bath at the lower beige house, and building out the bonus room downstairs

We also had the floors refinished - they are so shiny and new. They were able to remove a lot of the water stains. 

Kitchen Wall Color

I want to create a small bit of impact in the kitchen with color on the back wall, along with the right accessories. Take a look at my first round color choices and let me know which one is your favorite.

Option 4: Loden Green

Option 3: Blackberry

Option 2: Granite Peak

Option 1: Roycroft Adobe

T Minus 3 Weeks to Move In

We have more progress to report. The dining and living rooms are coming along. We ordered the lights for both rooms. The living room wall sconces came in. They didn't work out, so we will put the $20 Home Depot lights back up. The new scones strangely had the light bulbs sticking visibly out of the top of the light. Made even more apparent when you are in the dining room which is several feet higher than the living room.

The kitchen is coming along. We selected granite for the countertops and are awaiting installation. The laundry room door (re-purposed from the living room) is fabulous. Todd stained the interior of the door which was white to match the wood of the door. So nice. 

And Rocky put in a sidewalk from the street to the laundry room entrance. The previous flagstone path was at a sharp incline and rickety and slippery. This new sidewalk has traction control and a gutter for water. Fabulous. 

It All Comes Together

Todd installed some more kitchen cabinets and started bringing in the appliances. It is so freaking cool to see the appliances come out of the garage where they have been hiding for months and finally find their place in the kitchen. We ordered all new Bosch appliances online at US Appliance. We got a great deal on them - got everything for the cost of a 30 inch Wolf range - plus they threw in a super nice Bosch dishwasher for free with the order.

The living room and dining room are starting to come together and integrate very nicely. I am so glad we knocked down walls, replaced plaster with drywall and added the beams in the dining room and kitchen to integrate with the living room. In the living room - since the width is narrow - we built in recessed areas for the television components and speakers. We will mount the 42" flat screen on that wall you see here so we can have big entertainment bang in a small space.

It All Comes Together (The Photos)

Back to the Back Wall

We have been going around in circles about the back wall in the kitchen. I will post photos later so you can see what I mean. But, it has definitely been a design challenge. Each person who sees it has a great idea, so now we have all these ideas and no clue as to which one is best. We are going to install the rest of the kitchen cabinets and then determine what the heck to do.

Meanwhile, Scott has been drywalling like a mad-man. Todd has been installing sheetrock and working on the header beam in the kitchen. Rocky has built a new concrete patio for the beige house, trimmed down the stair railings and cleaned out the the beige house garage.

On Sunday, our tenants at the blue house moved in. It is weird to see someone live in "our house". Dave took photos after Mercedes cleaned everything and I will post those as well. The end result was quite beautiful. 

We are hoping to move into the upper house at the end of August. Fingers crossed. Dave and Todd will be backpacking next week. At that time, I think Scott is doing to drywall the ceiling in the living room - that will brighten it up and make it match the beam structure in the other common areas.

Stairways and Walls

More progress is underway. Rocky is adding a new stone pathway to the side yard and shoring up the stairs to the house at the upper house. It is looking really nice. Dave has a plan for the side yard that includes a tiered vegetable garden area, deck with hot tub and a flat yard space. I can't wait - it sounds so nice, especially the hot tub part. 

Meanwhile, Todd has been inside working on the sheetrock and half-walls in the kitchen and dining room. Things are slowly coming together.

The Upper House Gets Closer

Really, I think we are feeling the drain of renovation projects this week. We have been having to make a lot of decisions about walls and trim - it is exhausting. Todd is hanging the new sheetrock in the kitchen and dining room so Scott can drywall next week. Meanwhile, Rocky is working on the stairs and pathways outside. Everything is coming along.

We are all headed to Mendocino this weekend for Dave's birthday celebration. I am super excited. We are staying at the B&B where they filmed Murder, She Wrote.