Habitat Store Treasures

We have two habitat stores in Nashville.  I don't go there very often.  Our contractor apparently does and that turned out to be a good thing for us.  You may remember that we opened up the high ceilings in the dining room, but then we decided that those 6' doors were too squatty and we needed something to bring light in above the doors.  We contacted our architect who suggested we replace those doors with 8' patio doors with a 2' transom above.  We liked that idea, but a new door was going to cost $1250.  

Our contractor told us about some doors he saw at the Habitat Store, so after knee PT, we stopped by to check out the doors.  They were exactly what we needed!

The best part of this story is that the doors were marked down to $300! ChaChing!  

A slight accident in the truck on the way home is being repaired.  

Say goodbye to these doors!

Say goodbye to these doors too!  This is the existing front door which doesn't allow any light into a dark space. We decided early on to replace these doors with a single door with side lights. We had new doors picked out on ETOdoors.com, that we loved, but the new doors cost $2510 plus shipping.  As I was paying for the patio doors, I spotted this set of doors up front.  

Great bargain at $637.  They are going to brighten up the house considerably!  We saved enough on both sets of doors to add some curved shelving to the TV wall built-in which will eventually be on this wall.  Those curved shelves are very expensive! 

We have been trying to decide on colors.  The upper cabinets and the island will be painted.  We narrowed it down to the colors below.

We think we will are going to go with the lightest color on the bottom Benjamin Moore Palladium Blue. 

I told Mr Creative that I wanted to be able to lower the chandelier for decorating. 

He installed a winch that we can access from the attic and crank down the chandelier to change bulbs, clean and most importantly, decorate!

Where there is a will there's a way!  

Raise the Roof

The debate on what to do with the ceiling was decided today.  

What it looked like yesterday. 

What it looks like today.  Cost was the leading factor in our decision.  It will be raised from the former height where the sheetrock stops, to the new height of 12 feet in the center with sloped sides.  Not my first choice, but I am not complaining.  I am thrilled at the volume it will provide to the room.  

Now we are researching the chandelier and trying to decide were to place the table and the chandelier.  

Chris tied a 70" piece of trim over the makeshift table using a tape measure and level to extend it to the 101" of our dining table. I think moving the table to the center of room makes the most sense.  It allows room for the winch he plans to install to lower the chandelier for cleaning, bulb changes and to decorate of course!

Our pergola is covered with New Dawn roses which are in full bloom.  

How High?

After tearing down the ceiling throughout the house, we decided to raise the ceiling in the kitchen, family room, and my office. 

That left the dining room.  

This is from the dining room looking into the kitchen area.  The wall between will be removed when the beam arrives.  You can see how low the dining ceilings are at about 8'3".

 Today, they torn down the dining ceiling and baby, oh baby, I now have vault envy!

 I never thought I wanted a vaulted ceiling since it doesn't seem to really fit my French Country theme. 

 But, just look at the height!  I loved this room the way it was before because of all the light, but with the ceiling completely open it is even more amazing.

Looking from the dining room into the kitchen area now that the ceiling is down.

 From the pantry looking back into the dining room. 
I have been trying to decide what to do with this.  I have some ideas. 

Trying to make up my mind, but I am leaning toward a coffered ceiling.  

 Late last night Chris moved the temporary kitchen back into the old kitchen space so they could demo the dining room.  This is what we have to work with for the next few months.  Up those stairs is our bedroom/bath which is now my space to recover.  

Not a great photo, but it does show the circulating ice packs that I wear almost 24/7 to keep the swelling down.  Having ice circulating around your knees keeps my entire body freezing!  

To the Bare Walls

Left for the hospital Monday at 9:00 just as the construction crew showed up and started the demo. I guess it was good that I was out of the house when all this happened.

Looking into the old kitchen. 

After first round of demo.

Looking from the dining room into the kitchen

Here you can see the entire kitchen with the long bar.  On the left is the laundry area.  The blue tape marks where the new panty and island will be.  All of this is now gone.

They left the range behind, so Chris hooked it back up so we could use for a little while. 

This is looking from the dining room into the kitchen/family room area.  I have hated those sliding glass doors since we moved in.  Chris took one set down so he could move the refrigerator into the temporary kitchen.  On the right you can see part of the temporary kitchen we set up.  

What it looks like now.  They haven't finished removing all the old walls yet, but this will all be open into the kitchen.  

Looking from the front door into the formal living room and the partial wall from my office.  

Same view from the front door into what will now be the family room.  The pony walls with spindles are gone!  You can see the new wall between my office and the family room. 

My office with all the craft supplies removed.  

The new view into my office. This was actually the formal dining room but we always used it as my office since it was way too small for dining.  This will have a pocket door so I can close it off when company comes.  

Anther view into my office. Here you can better see the new dividing wall and that they raised the ceiling. 

Looking from the laundry area into the dining room. 

The view today with the bar and paneling removed.

Same view with everything removed.  The far wall will have built in bookshelves and cabinets.  

Still some demo left for tomorrow.  They are raising the ceilings only slightly in the kitchen, my office, family room and slightly higher in the dining room. Luckily, I have rehab in the AM so won't be here for the demo.  

Just few shots from the recovery process.

Forgive me if this entire post is disjointed.  I am still on pain meds!   This too shall pass.....