Paint and Floors, Oh My!

What a week! It feels so good to look back at our progress - the house is really starting to come together now! Three big things to highlight:

First, our current house is under contract for sale! Hooray! It took an extra week longer than we thought it would, but we feel great about the offer and are now going through the inspection process, etc. If all goes to plan, our last day in our current house will be June 15th! Since we only live a few houses away, we plan to stage the move over the coming weeks instead of one big move day.

Second, we are finished with all the base paint! All ceilings and walls (except the office and bathrooms which we will be renovating later) now have at least one coat of primer and two coats of fresh paint! It makes the house feel fresh and clean. I love the color Shelly chose as the base color, a very neutral grey that is light and will provide the perfect backdrop for artwork, furniture and decoration. I would estimate at least 60% of our week was spent painting. Shelly manned the brush and cut in all the walls and corners and I rolled my guts out on the walls, and sprayed the ceilings and shiplap. It was so fun to put the oil based paint in the sprayer and finish the tongue in groove. This paint is as thick as yogurt or sour cream and leaves a beautiful finish you just can’t get any other way. We still need to paint all of the trim work throughout the house, but that will go in once the floors are installed, along with touch-ups as we ding and dent during move-in. Still, it feels fabulous to put away the paint for a while.

Third, we began installing floors! We decided to start installing hardwoods in the master bedroom. It is amazing how fast these new engineered hardwoods go in, and we love the look. We chose a hand scraped strand woven bamboo floor that will extend throughout the entire main level, up the stairs, through the hallway and into the master bedroom. This is our first engineered hardwood floor and we chose it because 1) they are a great balance of economical and durable (the hardness rating on it is nearly 3x traditional oak flooring) and 2) they come in a variety of pre-finished colors and finishes that look great and make installation super fast.

Here is a close-up of the finish:

And here is a look at the nearly finished master bedroom:

We also decided to install the tile floor in the laundry room as we know we will need our washer+dryer hook up for move-in and want to have this room finished to avoid more back and forth than necessary. Shelly chose an awesome 1x2’ ceramic tile with a dark charcoal grey slate-like finish. We made quick work of the 6’x6’ laundry room and will finish installing and grout work next week.

Finally, I can’t post this blog on Mother’s Day weekend without a small tribute to all the amazing women in my life.

My best friend and partner for 30 years - Shelly - is such an inspiration to me. We have been through so much together and yet she continues to surprise and impress me. She is a powerhouse of creativity and works as hard as anyone I know, yet she is always so gentle and thoughtful and kind to everyone around her. She has sacrificed so much over the years for me and our family and I am so grateful to have her by my side.

I’m also blessed with amazing women as family and friends. My Mom was my best friend growing up and I miss her so much every Mother’s Day since she passed away. I look forward to seeing her again some day. I have awesome sisters, each unique and fun in their own way, including my sister Marne’ who has lived close by for the past 18 years, Jerilyn who lives in Utah and Susan in Virginia. Leanne might as well be a sister, and is certainly a good family friend for many years. These are just a few of the important women who I’ve spent many hours of personal time with over the years and who inspire and bless my life. I’m also grateful for all of the female friends and work colleagues who have been a part of my life and wish you all - Happy Mother’s Day!