New Floors . . .

The finishing of the drywall prompted the beginning of the next "big" interior house project . . . NEW FLOORS. In this case, we again opted for professional installation since we purchased a vinyl product that comes in 12 ft wide rolls. Last week we received word that the installation had gone well and that we could move back in at anytime. Gary was quickly ready to move all of our mattresses and couches over to the cabin. With a loan of Dad's trailer and a little help in loading . . . we left for Whidbey looking like the Beverly Hill Billys. Luckily everything made it to the cabin with no adventures on the way.

We picked out a warm maple pattern to accent our wood ceiling and opted for the "new" vinyl, which gives us durability and water resistance in one fell swoop. The results . . . lovely, lovely, lovely!!

Girls bedroom all decked out!


Our bedroom with a view of the blue door

Bathroom - most changed in the house with floors

Kitchen - wood floors adding that extra something!!

Living Room - ahh ahh ahh!!

The girls eating nook - improved!

The floors have added a whole new finished dimension to the cabin. I just love not worrying about water splatters and so far the floor seems to hide sand/dirt rather well. Its all coming together.

Now we just have lots of little projects ahead -- baseboard trim, window trim, bedroom headboards, moving in the dining room table, finishing up the kitchen and lighting!! Oh what exciting things to look forward to. I promise in future post, once we get everything situated, to do a really bang up before and after of each room.

Drywall Complete . . .

The inside of the cabin has finally taken one step further towards completion . . . after ripping out every bedroom wall and insulating, our drywall guy "Vinny" stepped in and made them look like real bedrooms. He even painted them for us, which saves us a ton of time and is well worth the money!! Here is the before picture . . .

Now the rooms look like "real bedrooms"!! I had no idea how much the wood was draining the "brightness" out of the rooms until everything was painted (Benjamin Moore - Linen White). There is also a sneak peak of our interior doors - I went BOLD. My favorite change is the master bedroom closet alcove. Before, I thought of it as the "yucky tunnel to dirtdome", now its my favorite space that I am happy to store stuff in.

My loves, the blue doors

Look at the beauty of drywall!!!

The closets - so worth the extra $$

"The Alcove"

Other than some angst over the outlets being pushed in and one bowed piece by a window, it was a good job. Gary was really excited about putting in the new outlet covers - now the house will not electricute anyone! The only concern we now have is . . . what to do with the drywall we purchased. Its currently taking up precious garage space.

The Walls are Off . . .

Its amazing how true the old adage "you first have to make a mess before you can really clean up" can be. Now that the outside of the house has been torn apart and rebuilt, its time to do the same for the inside of the cabin. The next 2 big projects are flooring and drywalling the bedrooms.

At first, we thought of just leaving the fake wood paneling intact, but after hearing what we thought were carpenter ants and the need to re-wire the baseboard heaters to a wall controller, it became necessary to remove it all. We found a lot of good things in that demo job . . . (1) no evidence of active carpenter ants, (2) Insulation on the outside walls, and (3) hidden storage above the closets in both rooms. We also discovered that the water leak/rot along the shower area was smaller than expected and should be easy to get to via the bathroom side. The next task is to obtain sheet rock up for the walls and investigating how to "mud and tape".

Outside wall with insulation

Gary staring at the water pipes and inside wall

Hidden storage space above closet

While Gary was doing most of the demo work, I was working on some smaller projects . . . i.e. painting the interior doors. I was able to finish the garage-to-house door, although I think I will have spots I need to retouch. I'm realizing I leave lots of little areas undone and will need to have a "details" paint party in the future. On a more fun note, I painted the bedroom/bathroom doors an amazing ocean-like aqua called "Drizzle" by Benjamin Moore. If anyone likes the color, please please take the rest of my paint, I have almost a full gallon left.


Gary also found a great black Friday deal on an over-the -range microwave and installed it on Sunday. To celebrate we had Trader Joe mini-quiches for lunch. Unfortunately, the outlet he aimed for is out of power for "unknown" reasons. I personally want the cord to run through only 1 cabinet and so am canvasing votes for a new outlet above the cabinetry. Don't you all think it would be cleaner and nicer to have a fat, microwave cord hidden above? If you answer yes, please tell Gary!!!


We are just praying for a clear day next weekend so we can haul the drywall and the under-layment for the floor to the cabin. If anyone wants to help, please let us know . . . Gary's a little worried that I'm his only helper (hey I'm strong, well maybe not that strong)!