Jenny and I live in a house in Euless. We really like the house and plan to stay here until Brenden and Jonathan are grown. The house was built in 1983. While it’s still in good shape, we decided to update/upgrade many of its features. This page is our house diary. Start at the bottom for the initial look and work up.

June 2010

My latest home improvement project was replacing the shower trim kit in the master bath’s shower. The trim kit includes the temp/volume control, the round plate behind it, and assorted pieces inside. I’d already done the showerhead and shower arm, so this upgrade completes our shower for now. Eventually, we’d like to add a shower door, but that’s a low-priority project.

1983 Brass

2010 Stainless Steel

March 2010

Front Door
Ugly, boring color to bold red. Bonus: cute toddler in window.

Master Showerhead
Old, clogged, white plastic head to modern brushed nickel head

Old:

New:

Boys’ Bathroom Showerhead
Old, brass head to modern brushed nickel head

Guest Bath Light
Nice light fixture (just not our style) to brushed nickel (thanks to the Matthews for finding this fixture for cheap at the Habitat store)

Dining Room Light

SUPER BRIGHT light fixture (think operating room lighting) to soothing, less bright fixture in…you guessed it, brushed nickel

Old:

New:

January 2010

Right after Jonathan was born, I painted the boys’ plain tan bathroom a bright blue. We first used the color in the kitchen but quickly decided it was a little too bold. I think it works nicely for their bathroom, though.

Before:

After:

June 2009

Here are pics of the faucet project. First, the old master bath faucets:

Now, the new faucets:

May 2009

The kitchen is now complete!

As of April 26, we are moved in, and our kitchen remodel is almost complete. Nearly all the doors are on along with several of the drawers. We’re waiting on the remaining pieces to come in.

On April 23, we started installing the cabinet doors. Jim did the complicated stuff such as the veneers and drawer hardware while I did the simpler things like building the drawer boxes, hanging the doors, and installing the pulls. I got to use a nail gun for the first time. I like nail guns.

Top ones are done, bottom ones coming later. Also, we still haven’t installed the microwave. It’s on the floor near the breakfast table.

Here is a closeup of the cabinets.

Jenny’s dad started working on the cabinet boxes around April 11, transforming them from oak color into white. We also decided that the original blue was TOO blue, so we went back to Sherwin Williams and got a lighter blue-gray color that we like much better so far.

The new sink, faucet, and garbage disposal were installed April 10 by a Lowe’s subcontractor called Dr. Plumber, who did a great job.

We initially chose a bold blue for the kitchen. It looked nice in sample size, so we started painting. Here is the last known photo of the old sink.

Here is our status as of April 6, when the Miracle Method guy started refinishing the countertops:

On April 4 we pulled off all the cabinet doors and plugged the hole where the built-in cutting board was.

Initial Kitchen