Week 21

Most of the work this week took place in the bathroom. The wall and floor tile is now grouted. The ceiling plaster has been applied. The pocket door is installed. We had a chance to see the brick and tile floors earlier in the week. They are covered during the time I took this photo because they are plastering the ceiling. The floor looks beautiful.

Mario, Michelle, and I had a conversation about the bathroom mirror.  We are going to have the mirror offset from the wall by half an inch to provide some depth between the mirror and the tile behind it. The only thing missing besides the electrical switches and hardware is the glass wall for the shower.

Cesar and his team applied plaster to the walls in the bedroom and office as well. The only thing left to do is paint. The colors of paint have been selected and purchased. The whole house will be one color the fireplace will be a lighter version, and the window trim will be the same color as the walls but with a gloss finish.

The appliances in the kitchen are scheduled to be delivered and installed Monday morning. The hood over the stove is being delivered as well. The hood will pop out when we need to use it and then fold back into the cabinetry in order to provide a clean look. Michelle and I spent some time talking about the orientation of the tiles that will be used in the backsplash. We are going for the up and down look. There will be 9 tiles all the way up to where the hood begins.

It turns out the hardware we ordered for the kitchen is on back order so Mario is working on a plan B until it arrives.

We have a lot of boxes lying around the house. Jack makes sure to take each one for a test drive.

The wait is worth it.

Week 20.1 Looking For Feedback

We have been considering whether or not we want to have a top installed on the cabinets in the kitchen. The name for this surface is crown molding.

At first we thought we wanted the crown molding to help shape the room and not create dead space on top. But the coving in the ceiling really looks nice and the space between the cabinet and the ceiling seems to continue the overall shape of the room.

Please look at the photos below and email us your input. We still have another week or two to decide.

Week 20

It is week 20 and we are still moving along. The bathroom walls are completely tiled now. One of the three walls has the grout installed as well. We selected a color of grout that matched the neutral tones of the tile and we love how it blends them together.

The floor of the bathroom is also installed and is waiting for grout to be applied. We have decided to use the same color grout between the rocks on the ground and the tiles. This will help to blend the two different shapes together.

The countertop for the bathroom has been installed along with the sink. I can't wait to brush my teeth.

The big news in the kitchen is the installation of the countertops. They look great! This sink and the stove top have been installed as well and it's fun to pretend what it would be like to cook inside of the house. If you look closely you will notice that the countertops and cabinets are the same through out  the house. We even had an extra piece of granite that we used for the base of the fireplace. We are ready to go and Jack is already sleeping in the house.

Week 19

Michelle and I had a busy week last week. We spent my birthday weekend selecting wall paint and picking out hardware for the cabinets.

We decided to use two different versions of the color of white called Swiss coffee. The lighter version which is 70% will be used for the fireplace. This color will help the fireplace pop out from the wall. We love the shape of the fireplace and can't wait to accentuate it.

The rest of the house will be 120% Swiss coffee. This color is slightly lighter and warmer and will bring a nice cozy feel to the house. It is definitely not yellow, Brown, or some other obvious color. The warm colors will blend well with the wood and the tile floor.

Cesar and his team have been spending most of their time tiling the bathroom walls. We selected a very small limestone tile pattern for use on three of the four walls. It takes a long time to put those tiles up one of the time. We watched Cesar mount some of the tiles and realized that while they do come together in sheets, the individual spaces between the tiles are not exact and in the end sometimes Cesar ends up moving each tile independently.

The abalone in the shower has been installed. this niche will be used to place our shampoo, soap, and razors. The bottom of the niche in the shower is just high enough for Michelle to place her foot on when she is shaving her legs.

The hardware we purchased for the cabinets is a dark bronze. We are excited about finding slim and minimalist hardware that will blend in with the wood. The hardware should be in within 2 weeks or so. The team is starting to place plaster on the bedroom we converted to a large closet. We plan on going to the Container Store this Sunday to take advantage of a 25% off sale for closet accessories. Things are looking great!

Week 18.1

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Michelle and I came home from work on Tuesday and were surprised by the work that took place during the day. Yesterday Cesar and his crew put the grout in the kitchen floor.

Today Mario's cabinet crew came in and installed cabinetry in the kitchen. The cabinets really helps to define the area. We are very excited about how the living space is starting to come together. We are in love the custom built-in cabinets.

In the bathroom, the team is starting to install the floor of the shower and we can see where the rocks will go once the final installation of the sloping floor is complete. We are looking forward to the bathroom representing our multiple camping trips down to Baja California.

Today was a very exciting day in the project. We love the craftsmanship and we are excited about moving in.

Week 18

It's been a little rainy this weekend. An upper-level cutoff low has dropped down to Southern California and brought us some cooler and wet weather. It hasn't rain much, but since we're outside we can hear the rain on the roof of the camper every time a little sprinkle passes through the neighborhood.

This morning we cooked a breakfast in our Dutch ovens. The food tasted great especially while eating it under the awning in the rain.

The house is coming along. Cesar and his team have finished putting in the floor tile for the kitchen. They are also putting a special treatment on the walls in the bathroom to handle the moisture that will exist there. The treatment is red and it smells really funny.

A lot of work is being done to finish plastering the walls in the kitchen. Plastering takes a long time, especially with all of the bullnose corners we have around the house.

The stucco on the outside of the house is complete. The next step is to apply a fog coat which will help blend the new stucco in with the old. We are hoping to be in our house sometime after Halloween.