New fireplaces

Unfortunately I did not have a before picture of the fireplace in the living room. So the before picture on the bottom is the fireplace in the family room. The fireplace in the living room looked very similar and also had a hearth. The picture above is the new fireplace and we had the same design done in both rooms. We also had the window added on the left of the living room fireplace. When we bought the house there was only a window on the right side. It's amazing how much balanced the room looks with matching windows. The fireplace is gas complete with a remote and will be able to heat the room in the winter. (If we ever move in!)

Changing a staircase

It's hard to imagine that these two pictures are of the same area of the house that we are remodeling. The picture below shows a wall with an arched opening hiding the stairs going up to the second floor. Unfortunately the wall also hid two hexagon windows that could add extra light into the room. Soooo we decided to demolish the old stairs and add a free standing staircase with metal railings and wood treads. The picture above shows the work in process. The current treads are temporary until the remodel is finished and the walnut treads will replace the current plywood ones and the metal will be painted black. What a difference!

Snowshoeing in Aspen

Everyone is probably wondering what happen to the house remodeling project? Well in the process of removing the flooring and carpeting we discovered that the foundation on the south end of the house had sunk three inches. Sooo after several bids which involved engineers and permitting we decided to have it lifted. This involved drilling several very deep holes around the outside of the house, inserting huge steel piers, lifting the house with hydraulics and then drilling small holes in the foundation and inserting a two part polymer which expands and stabilizes the foundation. Amazing! Unfortunately after waiting almost two months for this process to happen - we went out of town on a previously planned trip to Aspen with friends. Hence the picture of me with friends snowshoeing in Aspen. We are now back home and I will commence blogging again about the trials of house remodeling.

Getting a new gate for the courtyard

This is the new gate we installed as the entryway to the courtyard for out new house. We took our dog Glory over to check out her new yard. It is like six times the yard she has now! She was very excited to say the least. She has already learned to use the doggie door into the third garage. Now if we could just get the inside done so that we can move in!

This was the old gate going into the courtyard when we bought the house. We liked the idea of the gate for a little extra security but we weren't crazy about this gate.

Here is a picture of how the kitchen looks now.

Evolution of a house - Kitchen

Last March Steve and I put an offer on a house being offered as a short sale. Well six months later after we had given up and started looking again it closed. Don't believe what they say about the 45 day rule. The house was built in 1986. It has a wonderful floor plan and sits on a half acre of beautiful desert landscaping. We felt it just needed some updating and besides we were getting it at a really good price! Besides new counter tops and appliances Steve and I decided the kitchen needed two things. He wanted the ceiling raised. Although most of the house has nice high ceilings the kitchen for some reason was only 7' 6". I felt the hugh U shaped counter left a lot of open space in the middle of the kitchen and maybe needed an island in the middle. Working with a kitchen planner and a contractor one thing led to another and the whole kitchen is being redesigned. Along the back wall the pantry is being replaced by the microwave/ oven, the refrigerator is going where the oven is, and the range is being moved to the back wall in the middle. The pantry which is really hugh will be half the size and the access will be from the hallway. And the hugh U shaped counter is getting straightened and while we are at it why not move the sink to the middle of the new counter. You just have to saw cut concrete!