A Latte New Latte Hardwood Floors

The new laminate hardwood floors have been installed and they look gorgeous! :) The guys that installed them came early Wednesday morning and finished up just before 6pm that same day. They were very friendly and their detailed-oriented work effort really shows. Anyone looking for new flooring and wanting a recommendation, let me know and I will gladly pass on the name. Here are a few more pictures of the rest of the first floor with the all new flooring:

The kitchen looks dramatically different with the hardwood extended into the whole area and replacing the previous laminate tiles.

Sunday's Helpers

On Sunday, we decided to take on the daunting task of painting the oh so tall stairs and hallway walls. Lucky for me, Jimmy was there to help along with the lovely trio: Carrie, Loren, and my mom! Here are a few pictures from that afternoon...

Gobi Desert.

Progress is being made!

My place is finally starting to look better. They always say that things have to look worse before they look better and that's definitely true for our work. We started by taking things off the wall and painting the not so pretty primer everywhere and now that some color is up, the unit is looking great!

Saturday was a long work day for my mom, Craig, and I. We started at 10:30 that morning and didn't stop until after 6pm. Although it was a long and tiring day, so much was done and you can really see all the transformations taking shape. I couldn't have done it without their help, so I am very grateful that Craig and my mom devoted their day to helping me. :) We put on some music, made jokes about Gobi Desert, Balmy Seas, and who is the lucky one that gets to name the paints, and the next thing we knew it was already 6pm.

Adam and Jen stopped by to visit and take in the progress and later that day Betsy came by too! In the middle of all the visitors and painting being done, I had an appointment with the flooring guy to quote new flooring. 3 hours later and much negotiation, I decided on new carpet upstairs in Natural plush and laminate hardwood downstairs in a Latte Oak. (Again, loved the name.) The floors will go in Wednesday and Thursday... pictures, of course, to follow! Can't wait!

Let the Work Begin...

On Wednesday night, my mom and I begun work on my place. Kristin and her boyfriend, Alex, stopped by to lend a helping hand too. The walls were scrubbed clean, primer rolled on to the first of many walls, and all valances taken down. I was happy to see them go. :) I also was determined to see the chair molding taken down. Thinking this would be a simple prying of a few nails. Not likely, the previous owners had used massive amounts of glue to apply the chair railing and in the end, Alex ripped it off the wall taking a bit of the wall with it and leaving the old wallpaper underneath.

Before Pictures

Here are the much requested pictures of my new place (let's just call them "before" pictures) ...

living room:

dining room:

kitchen:

open floor plan:

downstairs half bathroom:

stairs to second floor:

bedroom one:

bedroom one's bathroom:

bedroom two (aka master bedroom):

master bathroom with garden tub:

walk-in closet:

hallway between the bedrooms (the laundry):

comments welcome on any suggestions for updates or color choices! :)

Closing Day

I closed yesterday!! After signing my life away and my name about 1001 times, I finally closed on my condo. :) And no, you don't feel like a famous actress signing autographs at a movie premiere... just in case you were wondering. But it was good, everything went so smoothly and at the end I was given the keys... the keys to my new chapter.

I couldn't wait. I went over to my new home almost immediately to show it off and then again later that day to start the work. Whenever I show people around the unit, I always feel the need to say, "It needs a lot of work, so use your imagination." I sure have. In the 30 days between first walking through the unit with my Realtor, Mariella, my mom and younger sister, Kristin, and up to yesterday when I finally closed, I imagined all the things I would love to do with the place. Built in 1990, the condo is not really outdated like some other places I looked at in my house search, but it could definitely use some freshing up. The unit was also rented recently and shows the wear of its previous owner. Dirty carpet, scuffs on the walls, and remaining tape from posters let you know it had been lived in and loved before me.

My first task will be to deep clean and paint the entire unit. I think just doing this will show a great improvement and make it feel clean as new. I plan to go over tonight, to start the nail hole patching and wall cleaning.... I will post "before" pictures as well for all those that are curious and to compare to as work is done!