Downstairs Bathroom

The important thing here is you can shower, bathe, go potty, and use the sink now. If the pictures were better you could enjoy the marble piece in the shower that is the soap area; it has a fish design in the tile. Bathrooms are good, very good when they come w/a shower AND a floor heated!

The Kitchen

The kitchen as we know it now actually has some things on the wall. This time w/nails, later you'll see the removable hooks but Arne finally caved and allowed me to start putting holes into the wall:) The material is bought for the cushions so sitting will be easier on the hard bench and of course what would an Arne home be without some stain glass. We're hoping each of the boys will do one section of the cabinet fronts so Arne, Ben and Daniel will share the fun w/Daniel's crab stain glass (alas still waiting to be leaded but done) will shine above the sink. The bar stool chairs are ordered and will be here in 6 - 8 weeks. And Arne still needs to build the kitchen table from the oak slab his brother cut from the Sweetbriar trees. But what a difference a sink, stove and dishwasher make!!!

WELCOME, STEP INSIDE.......

WELCOME, to the entry way for the beach house! It's not totally done but with all the tools and saws out of the way I thought I'd update the view now. We recently hired a finish carpenter (actually he's a Swede and a professional Irish musician but for our purposes "finish"). So all the baseboards and window sills are done. He also designed and finished the backs of the banquets or what I call kitchen bench seats:) There have been some testy moments as we try to add those personalized touches to Arne's work space and make it a mutually agreed upon design....HAH! Some you win some you don't. My next project is to put together the before and after shots for a really special appreciation of all Arne's hard work. So stay tuned, and if you're reading this thanks for checking in after the loooonnnnggggg dry spell!

The Month of September

We are still working hard for anyone who continues to read our blog. Arne is hardly ever home as he is at the beach at least 4 days a week. I tried to add some pictures but the change is subtle although the work is hard. Arne is doing everything while Colleen does the phoofy stuff like the pirate's room. Note to anyone, we'll need some little kids to come appreciate the room. You can take the teacher out of the preschool room but not the preschool room out of the teacher! It may have artwork for little pirates but Daniel's friend hasn't seemed to mind, a bed is a bed when it's time to sleep. The hard wood floor is starting to go down as the hand rail must go in soon. Then the bathroom should be done although we had a slight miscalculation as the faucets didn't fit with the glass bowls and had to be reordered. It was worth it and check out the pic, it shows how beautiful the accents are in the master bath. Things have to happen soon, it's time to refinance the home equity and wouldn't you know the bank demands occupancy before they will refinance. Hmmm. We do have one working toilet, two working bathtubs and a barbeque. Doesn't that count for livability????? More soon...............

Lights, puddles and action

Well from the 4th of July till the 24th of August we've been busy busy busy! Arne hasn't been home for almost two weeks except to breeze in and take care of business he can't do over the phone or computer. He has carefully selected each piece of slate to lay around the tub and in the shower. At first Colleen was helping but pretty soon one tile just starts to look like another. Daniel learned how to use the wet saw and the floor tiles went far more quickly with the two of themtag teaming the approach. If you check the picture of the floor tile infront of the shower pan there's a hidden picture. Okay, maybe not to most, especially the boys who think Colleen is crazy again but it seems to her there's a puddle shape in the tiles when you step in and out of the shower! Say you see, please?! Last week we got all the light fixtures and plugs in. Took quite awhile to get all the covers on and the bulbs in but now when you walk into a room there's a light switch that actually turns on the lights!! The upstairs fans need a little tweaking as working 8 ft off the ground takes some courage that doesn't come all at once. This week, the 27th, the plumber comes to put in all the plumbing for the master bathroom. Amazon shower head, jacuzzi tub, toilet and sinks. Don't plan on checking it out for a while though as Colleen is spending the weekend soaking in the jacuzzi tub!!Next is the downstairs bathroom and then on to the hardwood floors and kitchen. It's picking up speed now, especially with Arne's old college friend coming for a visit from Germany. We certainly appreciate his timely visit and interest in visiting the Oregon Coast as it's add some motivation to the tiresome tiling!! More pictures when there's more to show!

We made it for the 4th!

Whew, Arne has been working hard to get it done and we were almost there. The cabinets came on Monday, carpet on Tuesday and most of the doors w/trim are in. We will be spending the night on Friday and Saturday although there's only one toilet, one bed, and maybe running water in the spa tub downstairs. Other than that, we eat out, and have to figure out what to talk about.....no TV. Trisha drove the Aunts down for the day to admire the new work. Aunt Fran and Aunt Isa seemed to enjoy the tour, lunch and beautiful day. We discovered we weren't the first visitors however when we looked out at the ocean and realized three male deer's were staring back at us from the neighbor's lawn. How special is that? At least till I get the garden in and then they will change from adorable to obnoxious! If anyone reading this wants to check out the work to date we're hosting an open house on the 4th at 12 - 4 w/ hamburgers and hot dogs about 2ish. On the barby of course as the appliances aren't in yet. What a joy this project has been, what an unbelievable blessing in our lives. Can't wait to share w/everyone or anyone interested! Of course we're not quite there yet, still need electricity, plumbing, tile, granite counters, hard wood floors, decor, etc etc. But it's beautiful, we can sleep there and it's home! YIPEE

Looking Good in the Neighborhood!

Well it took a lot of work from a great team but the sheet rock and mud are up, the color scheme decided and most of the paint is on the walls!! Whew! Thanks to Marcel, (who knew a professional chef could swing a paintbrush as well as a knife) the tippy top of the walls were done. Over the weekend sister Trisha once again donned her work clothes and rather than load dumpsters, rolled and rolled and rolled. As you'll see the downstairs is a sandy beige through out the entry, kitchen, living room and hallway. Daniel's room, as painted mostly by him, is the dark blue/grey. Dark, go figure! The upstairs reflects the sense of being in the trees by being greenish but w/a blue tint as the master bedroom and bath will be the touch of Hawaii Colleen loves so much. All the color's match the woodwork, fabric samples and such thanks to neighbor Trish. What an eye for color, the more we painted the more we liked our choices! This week the cabinets are due to be delivered and installed, the doors and woodwork are schedules for the 23rd and the carpets for upstairs and the downstairs bedrooms are scheduled for the 26th. Arne's trying hard to make it livable by the fourth of July. Check out the slide show; Mud and Paint Fun, and look for the surprise photo slipped in. Actually number 19 should be really special for some people like Joe:)

Long Time Waiting for the Update!

Well, it's been a long time since there has been something to update and then wham, it all happens at once. After a long cold winter that made it difficult to get to the beach let alone work in a house w/no heat we had a trip to Atlanta, GA for the World Championship Robotics Tournament. No missing that when you are in charge of the crate and unpacking the robot. When life settled down again it was time to get serious about passing inspections. We finally did May 17th on the structural, other such as electric, gas, water etc were long done. Arne did some gentle prodding to get through some unusally phrased concerns of the inspectors but we are done! This weekend, Memorial Weekend the insulation goes in. Of course Lincoln City requires it to be inspected but no one is available Monday since it's a holiday. Hopefully Tues will be the inspection, w/sheet rock starting Wednesday. Wednesday also should bring the gas meter allowing the furnace man to come Thursday and get us heat. The cabinets were ordered the 15th so 4 weeks from now we need to be ready for the installers. All in all it still looks good to have an open house July 4th. Everybody keep your finger's crossed. More pictures soon...........