Finally Finished!

Well, the renovation from hell has finally finished!!! I thought this was going to be such a quick and easy project. The last two things I wanted to do in the house were the pool bath and the entry. You can see the results of the pool bath here.

Today, I'm finally ready to show the entry. I can't believe that this project started on October 1st and it took until December 12th to be completed! I'm used to the fact that things will go wrong, unexpected things will crop up and the project always costs more than you think it's going to! Well, the entry was no different. The hold-up here was two-fold.

1. Steve---our favorite "go to" guy is getting to the point that this type of work might be too physical for him. I get that when you are 60-ish, working on your knees, tiling a floor can be too much. There ended up being many days that he was unable to work due to back and neck pain. I did ask why he didn't wear knee pads---at least. He said they cut off his circulation. Anyway, it took him a really long time.

2. Christy was "off" on her measurement for the wallpaper. This is the first time in all of these years that she's made a mistake. Now it doesn't seem like that should be such a big deal---order another roll, right? Well, the problem was we had to pay the wallpaper guys twice---as they have a minimum to come out. I was just very grateful that they were able to work us in.

I was not happy that I lost---what I like to refer to as the "wow" factor. You know, when you get to see something completed all at once. Instead, it was a little here and a little there. It's just not as much fun that way.

So, here goes:
Before--I don't have very good pictures because I forgot to take some:

 The faux painting below the chair rail is about 20 years old. I was really tired of it.

This was the best I could do for a picture of the marble tile on the floor. It still looked nice and Butch questioned why I wanted it replaced. I just wanted to freshen things up. Apparently this tile is still in style because when we went shopping to find new tile, this is still available. I think it's probably pretty classic. I didn't hate it, but again, I was just tired of it.

After:

 This is an after of the floor without the new wallpaper.

 The faux painting actually looked okay with the new floor. I had half a notion to forget about the wallpaper when Christy's guys couldn't come out.

 Instead, I found a father/son team who were willing to work me in to their busy schedule.

 The son, Corey did the job. He was meticulous and cleaned up perfectly. Just in the knick of time too! He did it on this last Thursday.  Friday night (last night) we had our friends over for happy hour prior to going to dinner.

 The floor is really shiny---I love shiny floors.

I took these pictures at night so they aren't the best. But, you get the idea.

I'm very happy with the end result, but it took way too long. At least it's done. In addition to the remodeling, I bought a new rug, chair and lamp for the family room.

Before:

 The old chair and lamp.

After:

I was really excited to get this new lamp. It has a little light that is supposed to be for reading, but it turns out to be angled exactly right for my needlepoint!

 I also got a new rug for the living room.

I'm happy that everything is finally done. Sometimes you just need a change.

Now, it's on to the garage. Butch is procrastinating about it. I told him I'd get it done!! He says "no" because he knows I'll get rid of all his junk!!! Just about everything in the garage would fall under my two year rule---"if it hasn't been used in two years, get rid of it." In the case of the garage, I could make that a 20 year rule and still everything would GO!!!

I can't wait!