I can't blog fast enough: Ceiling fans, floor sanding, kitchen cabinets ...

Walt's been working hard (and the home folks haven't been slacking either), so lots of progress is being made! Somehow I just haven't made it to the computer to keep you all updated.

And I don't have a whole lot of time now, either, but here are some photos of the progress!

Kitchen cabinets are nearly all in place! Just doors, drawers and countertops to go (they aren't yet in place in the photo above.

Here's the faucet that's going to go in!

And, after much drama, we found a sink that will work. Here's a photo from the Swanstone website:

Here's the long-story-short: I designed the kitchen on IKEA's design program. When the 36-inch sink base didn't fit, I pulled it out and put in a 30-inch one -- I saw that IKEA had sinks that looked big enough that fit that base, so I didn't figure it would be too hard to find one to fit.

Well, it was -- since I was looking for a double-basin sink. IKEA had pretty much the only ones, and they were actually 1 1/2 basin size. And I didn't care for them all that much -- not a whole lot of style, and the shape didn't seem to make the best use of space. (Surprisingly, for IKEA.) So I was looking for a white cast-iron sink, since that would best showcase the kind of faucet I wanted, and when it looked like the only white cast-iron sinks that would fit had only three holes at the top, meaning I'd have to give up the spray nozzle, we looked at other options. Walt was with me at Menard's, and we were seriously considering getting a double-basin sink and cutting out some of the side of the sink base to make it work, but in the end, that didn't seem like the best option -- that would take up a lot of the time that Walt is still here, and it would make the silverware drawers narrower than they would be otherwise, and the sink would be slightly off-center. So, we ended up with the white granite sink above, which is white (the better to show off my faucet, which I'd already bought by that point), stylish, and big for a single-basin sink -- it's 9 inches deep, and the arch at the top gives a little more room for big pots. It only has one hole now, but the directions say that additional holes can be cut with a 1 1/4-inch bit. (It's not solid granite -- part quartz, I think.) The only drawback is it's a special order, so we're really hoping it gets here so Walt can help install it!

Here's three days of my life: I sanded the upstairs floors with a belt sander and a palm sander. (A larger sander would have been big to lug up the stairs, and would have involved more work with pounding down nails.) I still need to vacuum and mop it, but the dirty work is done.

This light is a real accomplishment! Dave was having trouble with a circuit, which was not working correctly, and malfunctioning in a way that no one could figure out. Dave eventually did, though -- it was a loose neutral, whatever that means. All I know is, it now means we have functioning lights and outlets in all rooms in the house!

Here's a bad photo of the bathroom floor, all rolled up and in plastic. I researched more environmentally friendly floor options for a wet space and didn't find a compelling option, so vinyl it is. At least it has the advantage of being easy to install -- no glue required.


And the IKEA floor is going in! Walt started work on that today. I was able to get out to help him for about an hour, when Erik was sleeping (Sofia was at daycare, where the kids have started going on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, but Erik is coming down with a cold, so he stayed home).

Erik went straight for the hammer when we went out to look at progress in the afternoon.

The box that the flooring came in was also a good toy.


Here's one of the lovely lights above the dining room. I'm especially pleased with these!

And the ceiling fan is in! It really makes a difference on hot days. Hopefully it will work as well in the winter and keep some of the hot air downstairs! We went with white, thinking it would be cloudlike up there, in the prairie sky above the prairie grass artwork on the walls. In my mind's eye, while in Menard's, I forgot about the black stovepipe. If I'd have thought more about that, I would have gotten a darker fan. Oh, well.

I'm in a quandary about the lighting fixture that should go in that spot above. Should it be big? Diminutive? Hanging? A similar style as the dining room lights? Feel free to give your opinions!