While we were remodeling tonight we had a very nice wall cloud pass over us and Garett and I did a little storm watching outside for short while.  We video'd some lowerings about 5 minutes before we watched them pass over our heads.  This storm was head directly to us. This cloud passed over our heads about 10 minutes after this picture (of course we were inside at the time).  I love chasing these things and since I am remodeling I can't take the time to do it, so I guess it came to me! And I got a great shot of lightning.

 

This is the buffet. It will be finished using four 25.5 x 25.5 granite tiles. The tiles don't match as much as we wanted so I will be taking them back and finding 4 that work better together.  Also notice the dust particles in the air, it is from the countertop installation.  

 

Here is another look at our new sink and countertop!  The faucet has a spout, water control, sprayer and soap dispenser. It is finished in brushed nickel.

 

Here is a peak at our new kitchen.  It will be what we are calling "modern country kitchen".  Edi doesn't know it yet, but I met with a farmer yesterday and we are gonna have some roosters running around the kitchen too.  JK (Just Kidding).  Our kitchen is at a point where we can see how beautiful it is going to be in a few weeks.  Other than being extremely tired all is going well.  Our re-ordered tile should be in the last part of this week.  Keep you posted...

 

Countertops are installed! The sink is also installed! The holes are drilled for the faucet, but I have not installed it.  I will wait until we are done with most of the kitchen.  This was a fun process watching and helping the installation.  I learned alot about the granite installation process.

 

Thanks for the help from Edi's mom and Edi's primer'ing the cabinets are starting to look really good.  Also I installed the dishwasher and tested it for leaks.  No leaks were found, so I can check that off my list.

 

Thanks to my wife's help I got the vent hood installed and now we can finish the texture on the wall.  The countertops are to be ready this week, so the kitchen is really coming together.

 

Edi started the texture of the walls, all the ceiling has been completed and is ready for some paint.  So once she gets all the remaining areas finished we can paint.  It is coming together.

 

Our tile shipment came in on Friday, only to find out that it is the wrong tile.  It has to much green in it and not enough browns.  So we took it back and they re-ordered the tile.  It will be in next Friday.  So maybe next week I can tile the hallway and bathroom.

 

I ordered our new air conditioner today.  It is a Goodman 15 SEER, 3.5 ton unit with a 95% effiency rated variable speed gas heater. I am installing it in the attic horizontally so I had it shipped with a horizontal A-coil.  It should be here middle of next week.  That means I may be installing it next weekend.  Yippee yummy attic dust here i come!

 

Edi is primer'ing all the wood in the hallway and the kids are being her supervisor.  She got all the cabinet doors and drawers primed and also the guest bathroom.  Prime away girl!

 

I cut out the area for the new stove and did some carpentry work and created a new cabinet that will sit next to the stove.  It took quite a bit of time.  I also prepared for the electric outlet move to the lower area (in blue).  This will allow the stove to slide all the way to the wall.  I also started measurement for the new coutertop.

 

This is a closeup of the ceiling texture. I am gonna love this place once it is all done.

 

The texture is done in the guest ceiling and it looks really good.  Here is a view from the door.

 

This is what it looks like once it has been put in place.  Let it dry, sand it, apply another coat of mud if necessary and sand until smooth.

 

I cut out the same size square in sheetrock, but I did not cut it all the way through the sheetrock.  Keep the top layer of sheetrock paper about 2-3 inches.  It is a little bit of work to get it to look like this but it peels off with some effort.  Next step is to place mud around the square hole in the ceiling.  Then put the square in the square hole with the paper around it. The mud will act as a glue to keep it in place. Use a trowel to smooth out the mud so it does not clump up.

 

Edi wanted the dining room light moved, so I disconnected the electrical box from inside the attic and it left a circular hole in the ceiling.  I cut it so it was a square and now will show you something very cool I learned from Reico (our texture guy).

 

I started to replace the sheetrock in the bathroom toilet area and got to tired to work anymore tonight, so I am posting this picture and I am heading to bed.  More to come tomorrow.

 

Edi prepared the cabinet doors with their first coat of primer.  It is going to look so different than we what we started with and I am loving it.

 

That gap in the wall is hard to find now. It still needs some more work, but it sure looks alot different than when we started.

 

The left over wall gap between the kitchen and living room is about to disappear, I got it ready for tape and texture.  Also we finished the scraping of the ceilings.  That was very difficult and took a long time, also my neck was tight as tight can be, from looking up over my head working on the ceiling, but I woke up today and my neck was back to normal. 

 

This is the tile we are using in the guest bathroom and the hallway.  I found it kinda funny that it resembled our floors in the guest bathroom after all the demo we have done.  It will look awesome once it is installed; the white tub, white cabinets (yep I said white, we have made a modification... the cabinets were going to be black.. not anymore), white vanity, white trim and neutral wall will look great together.

 

This is how you remove ceiling popcorn that has been painted.  Water it down, wait about 10 minutes, scrape it, water it down again, scrape again. Repeat until you are finished. Also notice the mess it makes on the floor!

 

We were working late into the night trying to get the ceiling in the kitchen scraped for Reico (our new texture guy). Robert found out he was not able to complete and left us with some more work to do ourselves.  We have a new texture and he is working on the ceilings. 

 

This is the kitchen so far. The island has been removed and the cabinets over the stovetop.  It will look similar to this once it has been completed only in white.