Home improvement updates...

We have made a lot of progress since the last update (the main reason I haven't been keeping up with the blog). There is still a lot to do, but we are basically done with contractors--which is nice to not be dependent on others (or paying them) but it also puts a lot of pressure on us.

So, the highly anticipated, and waaaay to long in the making, NEW KITCHEN! As you can see, it's still not done, there is a lot of trim work to be done (like the back of the island) and the fridge will have a cabinet above it with panels around it--but most importantly, IT WORKS!! We love the lighting and having working sink and dishwasher. The fridge doesn't fit with the new look, but unless someone has a nice black fridge to donate to us (or the money for one) it will have to do for now. This next picture is of the laundry room. We got the area mostly done where the machines sit on the blue platform so that we could do laundry again--no more laundromat! The board that is upright in the middle of the room lays down over the stairs hole and allows a person to walk on it. It's very functional and uses a space that was almost useless before. It's a small space for the laundry room, but it's so much nicer than what was in that room! And we didn't have to make a new room for the laundry (which used to be in the garage that we tore down).

This is the new family room with the half bath in the corner and the door to the outside next to it. I am so excited to get this room done and functional! It'll take a bit, but we'll do it and it will be beautiful! The big machines in the middle are now in the laundry room so we have space to work in now.

The same room, but from a different angle. I love the huge window that looks out on to our new backyard. We use to have a backyard that was a whole 13 feet wide--not even wide enough to really fit the swing set and be able to walk around it. Now we've more than tripled that space and made a decently sized backyard (that alone could make the whole cost worthwhile for resale--no one wants a large family sized house without a backyard).

This is the new view of the back of our house from our backyard! You can see the new roof on the back of the house on the right and on the new garage on the left. We used the exact same company that did the two story section of the house and the front of the one story section last year--unfortunately in that year the company (GAF) joined with another and became GAFELK and changed their shingles. See if you can tell...

The old roof had SIX layers of old roofing that they had to remove: the metal that was on top, then asphalt shingles, then rolled roofing, wood shingles, asphalt again, and then wood shingles again. The roofers said that it was among the most layers they've ever removed. (During the tear off, the pile of roofing went up to the height of the window!

This next picture is of the new garage and new driveway/sidewalk. The siding will wait until next year when we do the whole house, but we should be getting the door in the next week or two. The garage ended up being more hassle than planned, including have to go before the historic district committee to be approved--but we finally got it built and we love it!

Anyway, if I get around to it, I'll post some "before" pictures, so you can see how much nicer it is now. We are so excited! Anyone that wants to come see it in person is welcome, now that we have a nice room to welcome people in! Hurray!