A Change of Color.....

in the master bathroom!

We originally had a light blue, prior to the tile being done and the vanity in.....once those happened the color was HORRIBLE!   Very, very bad!  So we decided to go more "safe" and neutral and boy, am I glad we did!  It looks 100% times better...I think!  What do you think?

Link Before

ANNNNNNDDDDD.......

After (beautiful brown)

And for fun.......the inside of the shower (I was sitting on the bench).  The thing to the right is the handheld which still needs to be connected to a bar.

~Gianna~

Merry Christmas to us!!!!

It was coming down to the wire.....but just about everything was done in the kitchen the day before Christmas Eve!  There are still a few things that need to be finished...and we still need heat, but for the most part our kitchen is functioning and we were able to host Joe's family for Christmas Day dinner!

The appliances were all delivered and we got the stove up and running...the fridge is too, but no ice maker yet...and we still need the dishwasher set up (but we do have the one in the butler's pantry).    The painter was here pretty much all week finishing the master bedroom, bathroom and closet, the kitchen and butler's pantry and the electricians were here hanging the last of the fixtures we purchased.  All set for a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

John and Craig also worked on the new front door this week......still needs trim and windows and to be stained (same color as our side door)!

Let's see....what else..........ooooo yeah....how did I forget?!?!?  Our mattress and bedroom furniture got delivered!  

GOOD NEWS:  Mattress, box springs (split), end tables and mirror all made it up the stairs......

BAD NEWS:  our dresser did NOT!    That's OK......because we had a balcony and french doors for this, very reason!  :)  We are having a forklift (A genie lift to be exact) delivered this weekend and my Dad has come up with a plan to get the dresser up to the balcony! 

MORE BAD NEWS:  End tables don't fit where they were supposed to.    Whoever measured forgot to add the baseboard trim into the equation.  Therefor we will most likely have to remove the trim to fit the end tables where they belong! 

Here is where it all stands today.....notice the one sideways end table.  :(

And here is our dresser...in the hallway.....waiting to be taken to its permanent location.  Behind it is the shower door for the master bath....which also got delivered!  :)

~Gianna~

Floors DONE!

Thursday evening John cleaned everything up and tarped all the cabinets in the kitchen and pantry to get ready for the floors being finished.  

Joe and I got ourselves packed and Friday morning once the girls were at school we left the house for the day.  I did some Christmas shopping and Joe headed to work.  The first day of finishing the floors was done in like 3 hours!  VERY QUICKLY b/c there were 6 guys here working and as soon as they got here, they went right to work!    We opted to do a water based polyurethane, so the smell was VERY minimal.  By 3pm you could barely smell anything.  A very faint smell.  While the floors were getting finished inside, John was working on the front door outside. 

Joe and I ended up coming home to sleep that night and the girl's stayed at my parents.  So by 9pm there was no smell at all...and the floors looked AMAZING!  I am so glad we decided not to stain them and keep the natural wood color.  I am very happy with the outcome! 

Saturday morning the floor guys were back bright and early (7:50am) and Joe and I flew out of bed and got ready to head out for the day (figuring it would take the whole morning to finish the floors) to do some shopping.   When we returned 2.5 hours later they were gone and my floors looked even more beautiful than they did Friday.   

About 3 hours after they left , John said we could walk on them with socks! The girls came home and had a field day on the new floors. Now that they aren't gated into any rooms...they literally did laps around the new house. They were like caged animals who were finally let out! It makes it more fun (for them) that our house is a big loop now.

Tomorrow we are moving into our kitchen and pantry.  Everything is coming up from the basement and washed....and all of our food, dishes, pots and pans will be tucked into their new home!  I can't wait!!!!!!



~Gianna~

I'm dreaming of a white, finished kitchen......

So while we have been busy with the Christmas stuff....John has been busy getting our house ready for Christmas.  We are having Christmas Day at our house this year. with Joe's side of the family.....and I think we will be all ready (for the most part).  

This week the guys did the backsplash in the kitchen...and OMG...it's BEAUTIFUL!!!!!  I know I say, "I LOVE IT!" with every new thing that happens (and I really do).    But THIS really takes the cake!  We decided on a slight off white subway tile that has a bit of a crackle to it.   Then a glass mosaic boarder in browns, tans, clear and burgundy. 

And the best part....behind the stove!    I knew I wanted the boarder of glass tiles, and a different direction for the subway tiles (herringbone).....but I wasn't exactly sure how to do it b/c there were a few  types of herringbone.  We decided to go with this one...and I am soooo happy we did!  It looks exactly how I wanted it!

But while I designed it......John and Craig really made it happen!  (John made me say that).  ;o)
And here's how.....

I will post some more pictures tomorrow.....but it was grouted today and it looks even better!

~Gianna~

Tis' the Season....

to not keep up with the blog b/c you have 5,749 other things you have to do to get you and your family into the holiday spirit!   Decorating, holiday concerts at schools, shopping, Christmas cards......I could go on, but most of you are doing the same things!  While I have been playing elf, everything has been falling into place at our house. 

First.....the holiday stuff!    Here's what we have been up to!
Stockings......























Tree......























Letters to Santa....























Holiday Concerts....























And the smiles that bring us so much happiness everyday!

They are the reason we are doing this addition and they are the ones who keep the smiles on our faces each and every day....
















~Gianna~

Master Bathroom and more!

John and Craig have been busy with the master bathroom this week....among other things.
They did all the tile and then the vanity came today also!  I LOVE IT!!!   It's coming along beautifully and really all that's left is the plumbing....well we need some sort of mirror and light fixture also.  But I am so happy with how everything looks! 

We have decided to change the wall color....but I am sleeping on it, b/c I can't decide!  I am thinking a tan or the same blue we have in our bedroom.   All I know is that the blue that we have in there doesn't look very good AT ALL now that it's tiled and the vanity is in!   The painters are coming tomorrow to paint both bathrooms so I really have to decide....SOON!

Also the wainscoting is finished in the first floor bathroom and it looks FABULOUS!  It is going to be painted tomorrow also......and I know it will look amazing!

The vanity is in!   It's NOT black....the lighting is so bad in here right now that it looks black.  It's a very dark brown! 

Soooo...again all that needs to be done is plumbing...and a mirror and light fixture! 

But everything is coming along and it's going pretty quickly now!

Tomorrow we have final paint in the bathrooms...while John and Craig finish up some last minute inside stuff......stairs going to the basement, some final trim, interior door knob/pulls and more!

Monday we should have the plumber here installing all the sink plumbing, toilets and hopefully baseboard heat. 

And as we quickly approach Christmas we are having the floors finished on the 17th and 18th.....followed by our bedroom furniture delivered the 20th AND our stove, fridge and dishwasher....then on the 21st we have our mattress coming......and I am getting more and more excited!!!!!

~Gianna~

Green Apples and Red Cherries.....

Is what I think about when I look in the girl's NEW playroom!!!!!

I found a picture a few months ago of a playroom I loved....it was the inspiration of our new playroom!

I really loved the colors and just thought it was so cute and looked like so much fun! 
Sooooo.........with a clean slate...and bare walls...

We have turned it into a fun place for my girls to play!  (The wall color is brighter in person, but not as bright as the pictures above thanks to the trim color we picked.)

Carpet is from Home Depot -- Pebble Beach by Mohawk.  I really like it b/c it has specks of color in it!
Paint Color is Dancing Green by Sherwin Williams and trim is China White by Sherwin Williams.
Storage shelves are from Target (which were on sale this weekend-- SCORE!) and so are the red and green bins!
Wall Art is by eeBoo.  We have the "All Around the Land" ones!  They are soooo cute!   We hung them with very small nails, and it was fairly painless!

Still looking for curtains, other wall decor and a chalkboard!    But it's all ready for Santa to come and bring us more toys!!!!   

I am very happy with how the room turned out......and

~Gianna~

Tile! Tile! Tile!

Today was the first bathroom tile day!  They spent the whole day on the first floor bathroom tile!
This morning we decided to go with a "brick road" pattern on the shower walls....and after seeing it I think it's perfect! 
Just to remind everyone...we went with a rectangle ceramic tile in a very slight off white.  Originally we were going to do the whole bathroom in tile...all the walls, the whole way around, partially up.  But after talking about the cost, we decided to go with tile in just the shower...and then do wainscoting on the other walls.

Within the white tile there will be a strip of green glass mosaics as a boarder.  Brand is SICIS.

And on the floor is a chocolate brown ceramic tile in a 12x12.   It's by LAFAENZA.

And here is the almost finished tile!  The only thing we need is the grout and the green glass mosaics. 
I am really happy with how it turned out and can't wait to see it finished and all the plumbing fixtures in it!

Tomorrow is the master bathroom!

We also finished grouting and sealing the mudroom slate floor and again I am so happy with how it turned out.   The color we went with was "Beach Sand" and we used THIS sealer on it!  After it was installed, we waited 2 days, then with a roller Joe applied it.  We did 2 coats over the weekend.  On Monday, Craig grouted, then last night Joe put the final coat on it.  Now it's ready to be used! 

Everything is coming together!!!!!!
~Gianna~

Crown Molding is BEAUTIFUL!

John and Craig did all the crown molding yesterday and today and it looks amazing!  We went with a 3 piece molding unbeknownst to us......and it looks so nice!  I say "unbeknownst" b/c we really didn't have a clue.  When we met with Ron at GPS we had agreed we wanted some kind of crown molding, but it was never specified that we were getting a 3 piece molding.  What's the difference?  Well it's much more labor intensive and takes a lot longer to install, which makes it more expensive in the end.   Had we known that, we probably would've opted for a 2 piece, but since we already bought it and it was here to be installed...we went with it!  It is really nice though! 

So that was installed as well as the light valence above the sink.  It looks really nice!

We also got our faucet installed in the butler's pantry...so I have a working sink on the first floor!  I was very happy about that!  No more washing dishes in the bathroom!  And the dishwasher was set up!  We just have to wait for the electricians to come and hook up the electrical part of that!

And John finished the built-in in the hallway!    It looks GORGEOUS!  We couldn't be happier!  It needs to be painted, but that will come later!  The screens on the bottom are covering the AC stuff.  And I LOVE how the built-in has the arch that looks almost the same as the light valence and the arch in the book case in my island in the kitchen!  LOVE!  LOVE!  LOVE IT!!!!

~Gianna~