Pretty as a picture..framing in the door frame!

Ross removed the door from this living room wall. Now the entrance to the bathroom and bedrooms will be on the other side wall in the sitting room area. I'm practicing my Vanna White!

The wall is completed and you can see the door that we'll use to access the rest of the house.

Drywall Mission...Completed!

This pictures shows the completed drywall in the living room area. The ceiling was the big project here, as it needed work after taking out the wall. Note the fine home furnishings...Shop Vac, Utility fan, sawhorse, IKEA's newest line...Home Improvement Equipment! :)

This area will be our sitting room/den area (the refrigerator is only there temporarily!!). The sliding glass doors enter into the Florida room.

View into the kitchen

We had the kitchen down to cinderblock and wood. This is where we got the idea for the new ceiling in the kitchen.
After some insulation and drywall, it looks a little different, doesn't it? :)

This view shows the completed drywall in the kitchen and exposed beams.

Kitchen Ceiling - Cathedral Style

Once we took out all of the plaster in the kitchen, we discovered that we really liked the cathedral ceiling style. We left some of the beams exposed. It really has opened up the kitchen and has made a small space look a little larger!

Delightful Drywall!

Sunday morning Ross, Chris, and friends worked hard to put in the insulation and drywall. It looks great and now the house has that "new house smell." Which, if you had visited when we first bought it, know that it is a very welcome change!!

This week, Bob will be doing all the finish work and on Sunday the process of replacing and refinishing the hardwood floors will begin. It is almost unbelievable to think about all that has been accomplished! Again, we are SO grateful to all of our friends that have helped to make this big dream a reality. We have been working with an electrician friend of Ross' to make decisions about the lights for the kitchen. We have to be creative now that we have added the cathderal ceiling. We will be putting in three pendant lights over the sink (my idea...*smile*), ceiling fan, and a good bit of track lighting.

I've posted some pictures of the most recent updates! Enjoy!

Weekend Warriors in the Kitchen!

The before picture of the kitchen... all the appliances and cabinets are resting in the basement!And after a few LONG hours of work... We found a window! The view...the inside of our siding. I think we'll keep the window that actually looks outside! *Smile*

Back Door Guests are Best!

This was our back door entrance. Note the black and white subway tile...

The after picture of the back entrance. There was a good bit of plastic black and white subway tile on the wall next to the door. Directly across from the back door is the door into our basement.

Everything but the kitchen sink...I mean ceiling!

You can see the open ceiling and beams in the kitchen. We're tempted to try vaulting the ceiling. We'll keep you posted...

This picture shows the kitchen ceiling before.

Kitchen Before and After Shots

This shot shows the removal of the plaster down to our block walls. Who knew we had a window hiding behind our walls. The window looks out into our white siding! *Sigh*

This is a quick peek into the kitchen before the removal of the plaster. As you can see, the temporary walls are down, because the beam is up!

Busy Weekend!

After a busy weekend, we have some before and after pictures to share! The beam is officially up in the kitchen and Ross spent the weekend ripping out all of the plaster in the kitchen. We are taking full advantage of the fact that the town of Bel Air will let you use a dumpster on the weekends, so all of the old plaster was able to be disposed of immediately! This week, Ross and friends will put up the beam in the great room and then we'll start the process of putting up sheet rock and drywalling in the kitchen. I say "we," but three cheers and much appreciation goes out to Ross and dear, dear friends who have so willingly committed time and energy to help us out. We love you guys and owe you BIG time! Enjoy the pictures!

Turn up the volume!

We've added some of our favorite tunes to the blog. Turn on your speakers and enjoy!

Before...and After

This picture shows the last remaining wall in the great room. Scroll down and check out our progress!

Open space

This view is from the sliding doors of the Florida room looking into the living room. Next, we're getting beams to support the weight of the house and we'll take the remainder of the wall down.

Another wall bites the dust!

Taking the wall out now provides us with an open view from the front door all the way back to the Florida room!

From little rooms...to a "GREAT" room!

This is the view from the living room looking into the dining room and kitchen.

Making Progress

We have knocked out the wall separating the living room from the third bedroom. Now we have a much larger space for our great room and we are excited about the possibilities! It looks awesome to come in the front door and see all the way back to the Florida room. The entire house looks larger and more modern. Walls are being prepped and painting will begin! We took lots of pictures this weekend, which we'll put up on the blog soon!