It's a Commitment

House renovations are moving forward (as they have been), though always at a slower speed than I (we) would prefer. Things are changing, but it's difficult to document them in photos as it doesn't seem like much when viewed through a lens. It makes us feel as though the work we are doing each day isn't amounting to anything, but we do believe we are reaching a bit of a crest and within the next week (or so) we may actually be close to finishing another room! Yay!!

So, what's been happening? For the most part, we've been doing little bits that will ultimately help with the finished product. I've been painting (too much, honestly), even though it's tough to get my hands on the paint needed. Yesterday, we went and picked up some paneling for the dining room. Yesterday and today I've been busy painting the floors in the living and dining rooms. We are attempting to get the living room completed by this weekend because we have some furniture (specifically, couches) getting delivered mid-week next week and we have no place to store them in the garage as it's still full of all of our "stuff," and we are still expecting the remainder of our ordered appliances at some point - though when that point will be is anyone's guess. They have been delayed many times over now, so we aren't entirely sure whether they will ever arrive.

We did pick up another small piece for our built-in-to-be in the kitchen, so that project is moving forward, but at the moment it doesn't look like anything except a couple of stacked pieces of furniture. Eventually though, it will be something and will hopefully be useful as additional storage in the kitchen (not that it's really needed because we've never had such a big kitchen). 

One item that is very close to being completed is the tile work behind the wood stove in the living room. We have joked that every little thing seems to take a week to complete, and while we do laugh about it, it's a very real sentiment. We had to wait three days for the adhesive to dry behind the tiles before we could grout and then the grout requires another three days to harden before we can put the stove back in place. 

Then, we had to move the wood stove back to its spot (which was no small feat -- why on earth does a wood stove have to be so extraordinarily heavy - it must be at least 350-400 lbs). We always seem to find the heavy items that I can't really lift. We were able to get it back, only because of the ingenious work of mister Sam who created a system for us to kind of rock the stove back without damaging the floors or tile. 

It's a commitment, for sure! Hoping we don't get sick of it.

So, the stove now sits back in its spot (or close to where it will be), but is still missing the pipe that connects it to the vent in the roof (unfortunately, the photos I took were prior to moving the stove back to its spot, but there will be more to come as we finish up that room). We still need to change out the electrical outlet that sits in the tile and we have to trim out the sides and bottom of the tile, but the idea is there.

Close up of the intense pattern.

I realize that the choice of pattern is a bit much, but there was a reason for it. This room isn't going to have room for art on the walls for various reasons, so we wanted something that could stand in place of art. We are hoping that we won't get too tired of the pattern, which is debatable at the moment. I've been trying not to stare at it too much because it makes me a bit cross-eyed, but I have actually grown used to it and it doesn't seem as crazy as it initially did.

Onward we go! Looking forward to getting this room closer to finished so that we can move on to the next piece of the project.