The drywall took FOR-EV-ER. Donnie and I had originally planned to hire that out. He got a quote and didn't like it. He told me we would do it ourselves. Donnie hung all of the sheet rock and I helped here and there with the ceiling pieces. Seeing all of the work that lay before us, he said we would get another quote. It was higher than the first one. So.. I learned to tape and mud and sand. Dang...the sanding. I honestly don't know how those sheet rockers do it. It's a LOT of work!
Pro Tip: sheet rock dust acts like dry shampoo. Just knock off the excess and rub in the rest. Voila!
Once the walls were all finished we painted the ceilings with Behr Polar Bear White and the walls Behr Simply White. There isn't another color on the walls at the moment. It's such a small space that I thought a darker color would make it feel smaller.
After the ceiling and walls were all painted we started to get excited. It actually looks like a house now! We hung a couple of light fixtures in the dining and kitchen areas.
Last week Donnie put the backsplash around the fireplace and trimmed it out. We still need to finish the grout.
Remember me telling you our house used to be a monkey kennel? Yeah, so the main part of the house had two drains in the concrete which required us to level it up before we could lay floor. We mixed concrete ourselves to fill in the majority of it then topped it off with self level. This ended up being quite the project and Donnie said if he had it to do over he would have someone pour concrete.
We went to Lowe's and picked out our flooring. I really love the extra long and wide vinyl we chose. We went with the waterproof Smartcore Ultra XL in Sherwood Oak. We are 9 boxes away from finishing!
This weekend we went to the storage building to bring home our kitchen table. It felt like a huge step. I hadn't seen our furniture in over a year! As I looked around I realized all of the pieces we have won't fit into our new home. But enough of that kind of thinking. We were just excited to have our kitchen table! It's big for the space. But we love it so much and can't imagine parting with it.
(sorry I don't have a better picture)
Donnie and I have always enjoyed hosting friends and family. This was our only hang up with down sizing. We want people to feel welcome and comfortable in our home. We want to make room for guests. It may not seem like a big step to you, but bringing our kitchen table in meant the next chapter for us.
We were able to invite some friends and family over to play cards. It was such a blessing! Doing life with others is a treasure. The season of Covid has created chasms in our relationships. If it isn't Covid it's politics and people's opinions/rights. I've seen more division in the last year than I can ever remember. I'm so thankful for the page to be turning for us as we begin to do life with others again. We need each other.
And yes, the Yoga Trapeze is back too! It's that red and orange thing hanging from the ceiling. It's used for stretching and releasing the spine (inversion). There used to be a wooden beam standing in the middle of the living area. Donnie removed it and put up a steel beam for load bearing. Last week he and Luke painted it black and added some round hooks for me. :)
I've learned many lessons through the journey of building our home but I think the greatest one is probably coming to terms with things out of my control. Time tables that never go according to plan. I can't tell you how many times people ask us "so when are you moving in?" And the answer is always the same. I tell them what the next step is. There would be no point in setting an expected date of finish. I mean how do you even determine when it's finished? Seems like there will always be things to do. I look around and see the outside needing siding, the yard needs to be cleaned up, the trim put up, oh and not to mention we will need a kitchen! But I'm taking things one step at a time. Instead of getting overwhelmed and rushing ahead I've learned to enjoy the process as it comes. It wasn't an easy lesson. Flash back to all the nights of tears cried at our camper table feeling like we had bitten off more than we could chew. But in this season I can accept things as they come. And that has been a blessing.
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