It's been awhile since we posted anything new on the blog.

We figured we’d do this quick post to let you know the project is moving along and is going very well.    We would have posted earlier but we've been really busy.

As a teaser, we’ve posted a cropped down picture of the new kitchen cabinets, counter-top, microwave, and stove.    There is quite story there, but we'll save it for another post.

The reason we don’t just show you the whole house is because, though it's mostly done, it is unfinished.

We are at the stage where we are painting and installing the baseboards and trim.   It is a huge task and until it is done the house looks unfinished.

We figured that if we show you our progress so far it will be anti-climatic when we show you the finished project.

However we will tell you this much.    It came out really well and we are excited about eventually sharing it with you.

As you can see, the old kitchen is gone!

John Mueller, our remodeler extraordinaire, has completed the demolition of the kitchen and hallway.   The electrician has been getting the electrical work in order and everything is being prepped for the cabinet installation.

We'll keep you informed of developments as they happen.

Our kitchen tear-out is beginning this week! (Don’t worry; it was not the original 1955 kitchen.)

Gone will be:

   * An impossible-to-keep-clean kitchen sink

   * A glued-down cutting board with a giant crack

   * A drawer which can’t be opened unless the dishwasher is opened

   * No counter space between the cooktop and the frig

   * Double ovens which routinely set off the nearby smoke alarm

Stay tuned to see our new retro kitchen!

Here is a quick update of the installation of the new shower in the remodeled master bath.

John Mueller, our remodeling contractor and an artist, has been working away on the project.

The picture on to the left shows the new tile that is now completely laid.    The grout still needs to be applied, which John will do next.

That's it for for now.

We’ll keep you informed as things develop.

The walls and ceiling of the new master bedroom and bath have three coats of fresh paint.  What a lot of work!

We are deeply grateful to Deb Allstott, from Home Matters in La Grande, for helping us select our colors.   She was a sanity saver.

Our final choices were Benjamin Moore "Palace White" for the ceiling in both the master bedroom and bath, Benjamin Moore "Somerville Red" for the master bedroom walls, and Miller Paint "Caper Tree" for the master bathroom as well as the original bath.

We love the results, and would highly recommend Deb for help with color selection.

Home Matters – Deb Allstott
1115 Adams Ave
La Grande, OR 97850
541-624-2333

Finally!    The remodel of the master bedroom and bath has begun.

As you can see from the pictures to the left, the future master bath has been stripped to the studs.

The top picture is taken from the bedroom into the new bath.    The next picture is from the new bath into the bedroom.

We are on our way!

Our contractor is John Mueller, who is better known as a local La Grande artist.    You can see his work and learn more about him at his web site.

He does his art work out of Way Point Studio.    Fortunately for us, his day job is working as a general contractor doing home remodeling and construction.

We went through a lot of contractors before we found one who appreciated our vision of what we wanted the house to become.    We are very fortunate to have found John.

The bottom picture to the left is huge wasp's nest John found when he pulled down the ceiling.

Fortunately it was an old, mostly abandoned nest, and the remaining wasps were sluggish from the cold weather, so it wasn't terribly nasty.

As you can see, the nest is huge.    It entirely filled in between two rafters.    It was most impressive.

We added sealing off the holes to the outside where the wasps got in to our to-do list.    We've had enough of those critters.

So that's where things stand with our mid-century home remodel project.

Stay tuned for further details.

As we mentioned in our previous post about our master bedroom/bathroom remodel, we are having two new windows installed.

One is for the new master bath and will go where there has never been a window.   The other will replace the vinyl window in the original bathroom.    Both windows face west and are adjacent to each other in the back of our house.

Since the original bathroom has a vinyl replacement window, we have no idea what the original bathroom window was like.    This left us with no template for our new windows.

We had to get creative and design new windows based on the appearance of the original windows we still have.

The top picture on the left is of our original kitchen window.    One of the things we love about our house is the rather unusual windows which combine a casement window with a fixed sash.    We wanted to replicate that look throughout the house.

After a lot of thought, we decided to design our own windows based upon the style of the original windows.

We did a rough drawing of a casement window with a small fixed pane designed to fit in the rough opening of the original bathroom.

We then worked with Versatile Sash to turn our drawing into finished windows, one of which you see at the bottom left.

Though there are some minor differences due to changing technologies, the windows are remarkably similar.    We are quite pleased.

As you can see, Gary has already primed the windows and they are ready to be installed.

Once the ice melts that is making it nearly impossible to do anything, we are going to have both of the windows installed.

We are almost ready to begin remodeling the master bedroom area of our home.

The top picture on the left is the current bedroom, and the picture below it is of another bedroom that was converted to a bathroom/utility room by previous owners.

We had considered turning the utilitarian bath back into a bedroom, but it was impractical.      After all, with all the plumbing and electrical already installed it would be crazy to yank it all out.

We decided instead to join the rooms in a master bedroom/bath suite.

Where the closet is in the bedroom (top picture) will be a passage way into the master bath.     Closets will be on either side of the hallway leading from the bedroom to the bath.

On the wall you see in the picture, there will be a stackable washer and dryer next to a built in vanity.    The existing window will be removed and replaced by a long narrow fixed pane window higher up.  

  
On the other side of the room are the existing toilet and shower.  We’ll leave them where they are but partition the toilet with a pocket door. We will also upgrade from a plastic shower stall to a tiled one.

The back wall will have a custom-made new window from Versatile Sash that will go where the blue tape is.   Although it is a different shape from the existing windows in our home, we designed it to mimic them in style.

We are excited to be working with a couple of very talented people in La Grande.   Our contractor is John Mueller who is really an artist but does contracting to pay the bills.

We became overwhelmed with the decision making around paint colors, flooring, countertops, and tile and turned to Deb Allstott and her business Home Matters for help with making these choices.

Stay tuned as we begin this project early in 2009!.