Phase 1...Done!!!

I knew this remodeling project would be hard work and displace us for a little while but it is definitely easier said then done.  The work of the tile and paint has not been bad.  We love the work and how accomplished we feel being able to work on the home that we have been blessed with.  The hard part was being displaced for so long.  We couldn't really use the kitchen, dining room, and living room for over two weeks.  The day we were finally able to bring the kitchen table back upstairs we celebrated.  The kids really have learned the value of eating a home cooked meal at the table as a family.  Anyway, the hardest part of the work for me was the finish work; sealing the grout and putting the baseboards back on.  Sealing the grout was a pain but putting the baseboards back on was a bigger pain.  The nice part was that they were all saved so I didn't have to cut new ones and try to meet angles I just had to put back what we had.  Then it was puttying the holes, sanding it, caulking the bottom with a clear silicone, caulking the top with white, touching up the white paint on the baseboards, and then touching up the blue paint on the walls.  We added some corner round pieces around the cabinets and that was a process too because those I did have to cut and I had to have a crash course in miter cuts.  I loved using the saw but I hated that it took so long to figure out how to get the corners to look just right because I was teaching myself.  I did it though and I think it turned out really nice so it was all worth it.  Here are the pictures of phase 1.  I haven't taken a picture with the furniture back in yet but I will do that soon so you can see how it looks lived in.



Working on the grout.



Everyone said that grouting was the worst part.  I must be weird then because I thought that grouting was the most fun (not sealing the grout, just putting it in and washing it off.)  I can't wait to grout the rest of the floor.



Megan had fun helping to wash all the grout off the tile.  I think though that her sponge got rinsed out lots more then it actually washed the floor.  She loved playing in the warm watter.

The corner round that I added.

The dining room all finished. 
I had to seal the door really well with the silicone because there was a leak into the house that we didn't realize was going on.  When we pulled up the old floor there was a large wet spot with mold.  We took care of the mold and now that the door is sealed tight there shouldn't be any more leaking on to the floor.

The living room before...

 

and after.

It is so nice not having that line going down the middle of the house with carpet on one side and linoleum on the other.  It just felt so limiting.  Now the space feels so open and unified.  We all love it so much.  The funny thing is that everyone who has come to see it has asked us if our table is new.  Nope...same table we've had for a long time.  I think that the open space now lets the table have the room it needed and that is why it looks different.