Sorry for the delay...

Delays have been story of our house for the last month.  One delay after another--getting further and further behind our original schedule.  I'll admit that our original schedule may have been a bit optimistic, but we've learned to just go with the flow and complete things as quickly as possible. 

Lets get you updated!  When we last left off, we had just installed a load bearing beam to support our second floor joists and to create a more open floor plan.  We had also set up a temporary kitchen in the basement so that we wouldn't have to eat every meal out. 

A LOT has happened since.  Four weeks ago (about the time of my last blog post), I started my spring semester at GMU, which has taken up the majority of my time and has left Carter to work on the house all by his lonesome.  This event brought the renovation to a screeching halt.  We lost a little motivation and got caught up with other aspects of our lives.  Two weeks went by with virtually no work done.  After the load bearing beam was installed, we finished framing the first floor and needed to move on to the MEPs--for those of you who are unfamiliar with that term: Mechanical (HVAC), Electrical, and Plumbing.

There wasn't too much HVAC to do.  With a relocated powder room and two new bathrooms, Carter just needed to install new exhaust fans and new supply ducts. The supply ducts bring the warm or cold air into the bathrooms, depending on the thermostat setting. The exhaust fans suck the steam from showers and unwanted smells out of the bathroom and out the roof. These two items were rather simple and taken care of very quickly.  Next came the plumbing.

This is where the we really lost focus.  Three weeks into the renovation and we hit a wall. Plumbing sat undone for about two weeks as we turned our focus to other life events.  We had lost track of the renovation schedule and the delays set in.  Finally, we snapped back to reality and took a look around at the chaos of our home, and realized work needed to be done. Carter removed the old plumbing and installed all new over the next three weeks or so.  Drilling holes to run the pipes, then actually running and gluing all the pipes was a pretty long and tedious process for Carter.  In the process of plumbing, we also bought and installed a new tub in the guest bath.

Guest bath tub and new plumbing
(toilet the other side is in the new master bath)

Running new wire and installing new electrical boxes for switches, plugs, and lights was a fairly quick job and completed the MEPs.

Kitchen rough-in

Kitchen half wall (bar top) and view into living/dining area -
powder room is behind the wall to the right

New powder room

Kitchen and new coat closet framed in

We've spent many Friday nights at Home Depot, browsing finishes and purchasing job essentials.  After choosing cabinets from a granite supplier Carter has worked with through Clark, we moved forward with choosing paint colors with the dream of actually getting to that point in the near future!  We chose Behr Bavarian Cream (featured in the office of this project) for the kitchen and hall and Athenian Green for the walls above the wainscoting living/dining area.  

Cabinet door sample with paint swatches -
it's a little difficult to see, but Bavarian Cream on the bottom of the light swatch
and Athenian Green is on the top of the green swatch 

We're looking forward to getting drywall in, painting, and installing cabinets!  We're hopeful that the kitchen will be in working order in a month.  Carter is already making a list of the foods he'd like to eat when we're able to cook again!