Homework with the Thompsons

What a difference it made to remove the kitchen island. I'm telling you, the entire space feels twice the size. And, we lucked out finding hardwood running completely underneath! We will save some money there because our flooring guy won't have to weave in new boards. At first I expected to replace the built in island with a furniture island, but now I'm not so sure. Another kitchen update: today we ordered new kitchen appliances! We were able to take advantage of Memorial Day sales once again and save some serious budget funds here too! We ended up going with a Whirlpool line, complicated by the fact that we have to replace a double wall oven that is only 24" wide. I think we're going to be very happy with our choices, and to come in under budget.  Albert Lee Appliances in Bellevue is going to deliver, haul away and install for us, which is a relief. Wallpaper removal update:  The living room was really challenging. We decided to add paneling under the...

Today we met my parents at church, left the kids with them for lunch, then drove to the Sherwin-Williams in Mukilteo to start picking out paint for bedrooms and ceilings, and the dining room and living room downstairs. Claire wanted a lavender paint for her bedroom, and we picked Enchant which will match her bedspread nicely. Levi's room will be in "Lite French Gray" because he has some teal furniture that will bring color into the room.  At 2 pm my parents brought the kids up to the house, and we also welcomed Pepper and Clint, who we contracted to do demo in the powder room, cap off electrical that we no longer needed on the floor, and to remove the kitchen island. I'm so relieved that we brought them in, because I did not want to risk a DIY mishap with plumbing or electrical on our first day of projects...and they worked hard and fast to remove the items we needed out before the floors could be refinished.   1/2 bathroom downstairs gutted . What...

We just closed on our new home in Mukilteo, WA! Our house search extended from Shoreline, WA, to Bothell, and north to Mukilteo, where we finally stumbled upon this 1994 colonial.  It's a five bedroom, 2.5 bathroom, 2,766 SQ ft house with a three car garage. Title office family selfie at closing. The listing agent's description included many references to "revitalization", "opportunity", and "polishing this gem", which you can read to mean that this is an almost 25 yr old home that had not received any updates, and which would require renovation before occupancy. We decided to dive in with the proceeds of our Maple Valley home sale this month, and now we are barrelling our way theoughthe list of projects we'd like to complete before we move in on June 29th. Days to entry: 34 Here's a video tour of the downstairs and upstairs: ROOF: The roof is in really run down condition, and it is sche...