We have crossed the finish line...

The last two weeks have been a whirl-wind. I am still amazed that we were able to pull it off. We had some fantastic people working with us in the finishing phase: Mike Horning (Horning Tile) did a great job with all the tile work, Scott Franklin (Sheridan Woodworks) worked tirelessly to finish all the finish trim work, David Rock (Rock Painting) worked around the clock to get everything painted. It really was a "team effort". We feel blessed to have had this level of commitment to meeting the deadline.

On Saturday, June 26th, we rented a U-Haul and emptied our storage unit. I think John and I secretly hoped the storage unit would just disappear...no such luck. It took two trips with a 14 foot truck packed full, seven hours, and all four of us working relentlessly to load and unload all our storage unit items. Ultimately it was nice to have this stuff unpacked (or restored in the new house basement/attic) before the big move from the rental. I must also say here that Emma and Audrey were fantastic during this process; I am not exaggerating when I say all four of us worked seven hours straight loading & unloading that truck. John and I were so proud and impressed by their willingness to help.

On Tuesday, June 29th, we began the daunting task of moving things from the rental into the new house. This also happened to be Emma's 13th birthday, so in the middle of moving, I was also making a triple-layer chocolate cake (from scratch). I mentioned to John that I might ask Emma if we could wait on the cake until we were moved into the new house. His reply (and rightfully so) was, "But her birthday is today. And this is a BIG one." Needless to say I quickly started baking.

Living so close to the new house project has definitely had its pluses and minuses, but come moving day, the close proximity was a plus. We loaded plastic storage bins, carried them over and unloaded as we went. It certainly took a lot longer this way, but we were never faced with the overwhelming task of unpacking hundreds of boxes. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind all the boxes when our relocations have been corporate moves...someone else packs & unpacks. That was not the case this time. I think this move was our most stressful ever...and that includes our move abroad. The difference this time (besides the fact that we were doing the work) was that this house was not going to be ready for us until the last possible second - more on that later.

Probably sensing the stress level, the girls were once again super with the move!! They were each given the task of moving their own belongings to their new bedrooms. They made MANY trips back and forth, often working together to move faster. They accomplished their task and more. They did whatever we asked of them, never once whining or complaining. Emma really wanted to spend her birthday night in the new house, so we all worked to try and make that happen. Things were going well too... all the kitchen items had been moved, the beds were moved & made, our toiletries were moved etc. And then we hit the snag...the floors had received their third and final coat the night before (remember I said the last possible second), the problem was the quality was terrible!! The floors had not been vacuumed/buffed adequately and therefore the sealer had all kinds of dust/dirt in it. The floors were especially bad in the corners and around the appliances - anywhere the debris could collect. We, of course, immediately called Mark when we discovered the quality issue. He had the refinishing team come back out to assess the situation. The owner of the company came as well and it was determined they would do the job over again. I thought I may blow a gasket...this meant we would have to leave the house at 3pm and not return until the floors were dry at 11pm. We had already taken all our cooking utensils over to the new house, (fortunately, I had already finished the cake), so we grabbed what we needed to make Emma's birthday dinner (beef filets, mashed potatoes, and steamed green beans) at the rental. Did I mention I was busy staining the stair banister through all of this? Talk about too many irons in the fire. Anyway, we enjoyed our dinner, cake & ice cream on the patio of the new house. We killed some time at the rental and then, at 11pm when the floors were dry, we tiptoed to the basement (it is carpeted) and Emma opened her presents. We got to sleep in the house that night..our first night and Emma's 13th birthday...a memory we will all have for many years to come.

Wednesday, June 30th, we hired two guys from Moving Ahead Services (a company we highly recommend) to help us move the big (read heavy) items. They were great. They somehow got the the roll-top desk, the side-by-side fridge, and the treadmill to the basement - all without destroying the freshly painted walls and woodwork. Did I mention the shoe mold was being caulked and painted as we were moving in? As I said in the beginning...it was a whirlwind. Anyway, they moved several other over-sized pieces of furniture (sofas, chairs, tables etc.). They were very much aware that the house was brand new, and they took great care that it not get destroyed in the move. By mid-afternoon, most of our belongings were in the new house - minus those things we wish we could have left behind.

Thursday, July 1st the cremone bolts were installed. Until then we had no locks on the french doors. Good thing we live in Chagrin Falls. The staircase banister installation began. We had the newell posts turned just for us. They did not arrive until a few days prior, so now you understand why I was staining them at the last minute.

Friday, July, 2nd the banister installation was complete.

We are still waiting for the kitchen disposal switch to be installed. They drilled the hole in the marble today, the plumber needs to install.

The carriage door (alley side of garage) is being stained and is set to be installed on Friday.

Finally, the cement driveway will go in tomorrow.

All in all, it was probably the slowest move in history. The final stray items made their way to the new house just yesterday. Our method did allow us to get organized before we brought the next wave, so even though it took longer, I think it worked out better.

I will post more close up, detailed pictures in the next day or so. At least this gives you an idea of where we are now.

The porch floor was painted today - explains the table and chairs at the foot of the steps. Notice the window box in the front window. The cement driveway goes in tomorrow.

Grass is coming in nicely. So happy we fought to protect the weeping cherry. It is in the perfect location. We put in a gravel patio.

Audrey's bathroom. She is still waiting for a sconce that goes over her toilet.

Audrey's bedroom. Her trundle bed (the cabinets flanking the window are part of the bed) was made by Cooper Rutledge, a family friend from my childhood. He is an extremely talented craftsman. If you live in the Cincinnati area and need custom furniture made, I highly recommend him.

Master bath - the ceiling fixture was purchased on eBay. I painted it a metallic silver and rubbed a raw umber over to give it a rich patina. I've already used the soaking tub...love it!

Master bedroom - chandelier is one of our old ones that we purchased years ago at the Raleigh Flea Market when we lived in North Carolina.

Hallway - still happy we left the brick exposed. The banister was stained by me. It is a deep brown, red mahogany color. I had never done something like this before - I am usually painting everything - but it turned out quite nicely.

Living room

Living room - the small sconces on the wall are from France.

Mud room - everyone has their own upper & lower cubbies. So excited the horse gear will have a home...

Powder room - the French sink has found a new home. This continues to be one of our most treasured souvenirs from our stay in France.

Kitchen table - this table was probably our first Target purchase (about 13 years ago) and was almost sent to the curb. A little sanding, a couple green oil glazes (yes Sue, I discovered the virtues of "Sap Green"), and some furniture wax (thank you Marie), and it is good as new - actually better.

Kitchen - this is one of our favorite rooms in the whole house. We all enjoy spending time in there. The lighting, the hand-made subway tile, the stainless appliances, the farmhouse sink, bridge faucet, the custom cabinets all make it my "dream kitchen".

Kitchen

The pendants hanging over the island came from Jim-Lawrence in the UK. We purchased them and an English colleague of John's kindly mailed them to us. It is nice having connections all over the world.

Family room TV cabinet - I painted this cabinet (in my spare time). It is a "silvermist" color with a raw umber glaze.

Family room - french doors with cremone bolts. We LOVE the detail this added. They were not the easiest to be installed, but so worth it.

Family room - still need to painted/glaze the fireplace.

Piano room - mirror still needs to be hung. Still not sure which wall...

Basement - this is probably the girls favorite room in the house. They love having this finished space - something we have never had before. Yannick and Marie - you'll notice the Nordic Track and your kitchen table & chairs have found their maison nouvelle. PS. I put a table cloth on the table!

The finish line is in sight...

And we are EXHAUSTED!!! When we originally bid this job, John and I decided a great way to save money would be to do our own interior painting. We have after all done so much painting over the years; it seemed crazy to pay the money for something we could easily do ourselves. What's a few nights here and there painting, right? Well, here we are nearing the end of the project, and I think we would both agree that was probably our single biggest error in judgement. Fortunately, Mark intervened about two months ago, and strongly suggested we hire his painter to at least spray the interior trim, windows, and stair cases. We agreed and hired David Rock - the world's best painter, which somewhat restored everyone's faith in our sanity. David is a machine. He has really taught us the value in the prep work of painting. I am not saying I will always adhere to his principles, but I do see how much easier the whole process moved.

As is often the case when you have not heard from us in a while, things are progressing faster than I can document. I will use this post to bring you up to speed as best as I can. Keep in mind some of these photos (taken Friday the 18th and Saturday the 19th) are already outdated...

With David's work complete, all that was left were ceilings and walls...at first we focused upstairs. Our goal was to finish painting before the floors were sanded/finished. For obvious reasons, it is MUCH easier to paint a room where you do not need to be concerned with protecting the floors. As is our normal procedure, I cut the room out and John rollers the walls. This, of course, after John painted all the ceilings AGAIN. I would agree that it was a good idea, especially in places where the overspray from the woodwork painting hit the ceiling, but I would have been content to just hit the high spots and move on. Not John, he wanted everything freshly painted. Now that it is finished, it was a good idea. I should mention here that we made the decision to keep everything white for now. I am going to do some faux-painting in the future, especially in the girl's rooms, but at this point, I think we need to live in the house for a while - get a sense of the lighting, how the rooms flow etc. Okay, truth be told, I could not bare to make another decision at this point.

These photos show the finished walls/ceilings and floors...

Master

Emma's room

Audrey's room

Once the upstairs was complete, it was time to focus on the first floor. With the girls at horse camp, I spent my days cutting out each room twice..why is it you can always count on needing two coats, even when you're covering white primer with white paint???

Anyway, with edging complete, John began rollering. One purchase we made that really helped (per David) was an 18 inch roller. Boy, you can cover a lot of area with that thing! Of course fully-loaded with paint, the roller weights more than I do. John worked Monday and Tuesday evenings last week rollering each room (kitchen, pantry, mudroom, staircase). Even though the mudroom was tiled, and was therefore not vital to the floor sanding, we had to have someplace to put all the painted doors. They are removed so the floors can be sanded. Floor sanding was slated to begin on Thursday the 17th, so that left one more night to finish the living room, dining room, and family room. John came home from work a couple hours early, painted for a bit, and then had to attend a work function at the Indians Game. He went to the game, returned about 9:30pm and started painting again. I worked in the basement, caulking all the wood work for David to spray. I had to call it a night around 2am. John, however, finished at 4am! Now those of you who know John well, know that he usually gets up for work at this time. I am happy to report he actually went to bed until about 7:30 am and then he went to work.

I know you're reading this thinking we are nuts, but we said we would have the walls painted before the floor finishing began and we did. If only everyone did what they said they were going to do...the floor finishers never showed on Thursday. I thought John would lose it, but he did not. I was, in fact, more upset than he. Perhaps he was too tired...

Kitchen - a little dark, but I wanted you to see the atrium. Have I mentioned how much we LOVE this atrium??

Family room

You can see the fireplace mantle is on sight. It is in the early stages of installation. I will get better pictures as it progresses.

Kitchen

Notice the subway tile backsplash has been installed. We're still waiting for grout. Also the range hood has been partially installed. The chimney goes on after the mechanicals are finished.

More updates...

Basement trim being painted. John and I worked out a deal with David for the basement. We would do all the necessary prep work (ie, sanding, caulking, sanding etc.), and he would spray everything for us. It was indeed a good deal, but, as I have mentioned before, we do not do "prep" well. I keep telling myself, "it's the basement".

Basement bathroom - to be finished at a MUCH later date...or by the next owners...

Master bath - tiling is complete, except the front of the tub deck. We are waiting for the faucet to be installed. The all-glass, frameless shower door will be installed this week as well.

Dog bath in the laundry room/mudroom.

Sadly, it looks like it will be fall before the pooch arrives...we are prepared though. The tumbled marble tile was used on the floor as well.

Master bedroom and bath...

Marble shower

The shower and tub are connected. There will be a frameless glass divider and door.

Bedrooms painted...

Emma and Audrey's bedrooms have been painted - trim & walls. We're now waiting for the floors to be finished.

Kitchen...

We are LOVING the new atrium! It really brightens the whole back of the house. Even though it faces the north, the amount of light it lets in is amazing. It will be interesting to see how it impacts the lack of sun blues we all experience in the dead of winter. We're planning to make this our eating area.

Updates...

Most exterior areas have received at least one coat of paint. The gutters have also been installed.

The custom-made wood screen doors have been hung. They will be primed/painted this week. The stone steps have also been installed. The material we used is old street curbs...love the old, natural look. The yard is scheduled to be leveled and seeded this week. We're planning a gravel patio off the french doors.

We're waiting for the custom-made wood carriage door. Love this arch detail. It plays so well with the curve of the roof. Most importantly, John has already driven his MINI into the space - fit perfectly!

The atrium thus far. We're thrilled with all the trim and wood applique details. Mike did a fabulous job pulling it all together. It has been primed - hoping to be painted this week. The entire atrium area (windows, siding, and trim) will be painted an evergreen color.

As if we don't have enough on our plate...

We started work on the cottage or "chalet" as it is called by our dear friends the Le Couedics. We decided it made sense to at least go ahead with the demo/framing portion of the job while we have a dumpster on site. The cottage has been completely gutted and is awaiting the concrete vapor barrier. This is scheduled to be poured tomorrow - Thursday, May 27th.

Anyone local will recall this cottage (or potting shed has it was formally known) was quite the source of controversy. The previous owners had plans to enlarge the structure, add a second story and a garage. Their plan was to rent it out. I guess you can imagine the neighborhood's reaction. No one wanted the historical structure destroyed and certainly not to become a rental. The building was the first garage in Chagrin Falls and was built around 1923. Sometime during WWII, a water line and electrical service were added and the building became an efficiency apartment. We actually receive an 89 cent electric bill for the structure.

The building code in Chagrin Falls states that you cannot have two dwellings on one piece of property, and since we consolidated all of our lots into one big lot, our cottage can never be used as a "dwelling". A dwelling, in case you are wondering, is defined by a bathroom, bedroom and kitchen under one roof. You may have any two of the three but not all three.

Our plan is to restore the cottage as a family studio with a bathroom. We have no intent to use this as a "living" structure (not possible under the village ordinances). Most importantly, we do not want anyone living in our backyard.

Given the cottage is a separate structure from the house, we had to take out a second building permit. The building inspector would like work completed about the same time as the house...so I end where I began...as if we do not have enough on our plate!