The Straw that Broke the Camel's Back

It's safe to say that I've failed miserably at posting daily pictures of the garage.  With Thanksgiving and some family issues, life has taken priority over blogging.  We were warned when embarking on this venture that a major renovation is a huge stress.  I would add that it is compounded several-fold when you don't click with your builder.  We got off to a bumpy start, but tried to soldier along because I REALLY wanted out of the apartment so we could begin our lives in the garage.  In hindsight (isn't hindsight great?) that was a mistake.
Over the summer I went to Home Depot and priced out the kitchen using KraftMaid cabinetry.  I had a price and the quote was saved in their system awaiting my deposit and go ahead.  I showed the estimate and picture to the builder and he said that he could build me the same kitchen at a competitive price, provided that the cabinets be painted, which I wanted anyway.  At one point we met in the main house while I was waiting for a repairman and I showed the builder the cabinets there, which I loved.  Raised panel, sharp corners, etc.  I asked again if he could do that and he said, 'yes.' In a separate meeting Scott asked again and he said he could do it.  We asked him several times over a period of weeks if he could build the kitchen at a competitive price with the squared corners to the point he probably thought we were crazy, and he always said he could.
Fast forward to when the guys actually started building the kitchen.  The labor alone has already exceeded the cost of the Home Depot quote.  They finally reached the cabinet fronts last Wednesday.  Scott decided to forgo family Thanksgiving to get some work done at the garage and supervise.  THANK GOODNESS.  In the afternoon, after hours in the car, Scott texted me this picture:

Clearly, the builder was not able to give me the squared corners he'd been promising for weeks.  Nor, apparently, was he able to go in a straight line on the bottom.  After doing this one, Scott quickly stopped the process and told the builder that this was unacceptable.  After the long weekend, the builder told us today that he would have to go off site for a week to complete the cabinet fronts we asked for.  This was unacceptable to us.  Honestly, I can't tell you how betrayed I feel knowing that he looked at me for weeks and lied to my face about 1. how much it would cost and 2. his ability to build what we wanted.  The utter lack of respect for us and our money is too much to bear.
After a culmination of mistakes and non-communication, which I will detail in another post dedicated to a review of his company, we have simply lost confidence in his ability to complete any further work, regardless of its complexity.  Luckily, we're almost fully functional, if not 'finished.' We will scramble to get the place tiled, the window installed and shelving installed in all the cabinets and then probably move into an unfinished space, which everyone warned us not to do.  At this point the idea of living in an unfinished space is far more tolerable than paying the builder even a single cent.

Progress Report: We have a shower and a kitchen!

I cannot say that we weren't warned about the stress and strife involved in a major remodel.  This project has surely delivered.  Unfortunately, Scott knows too much.  He knows the ways of building things, what products to use, asks too many questions and insists on certain materials.  He and the builder are having difficulties 'playing nice' together.  On the other hand, as a vegetarian, I question things like why I'm financing his Slim Jim habit.  There are so many decisions to be made.  All. The. Time.  My Mother's Day Out days are spent at the garage and running all over time buying things we need of the upcoming days' work.  I'm exhausted at the end of the day and rarely have energy left over for activities like making dinner.  Eating out when you're already hemorrhaging money isn't wise.  The last couple of weeks have been a struggle.
My daughter has been a true bright spot.  She's been very patient about going to the garage almost daily and, as a reward, I've made sure to try to include something fun or a special treat for her each day.  She reminds me to go outside and enjoy the beautiful fall weather while we still can.  She insists on stopping to read books or have dance parties, or tickle fights.  She is joyful and wants to be happy and each day gives me a reminder that I should strive to do the same.  Doing this project while having a toddler is difficult, but I'm so grateful for her throughout this process and the vital role she's playing in keeping me sane.
Fortunately, each time I go to the garage now I see progress.  (It was hard to get excited about seeing mud up on the drywall or watching them sand.)  For example, I have a finished shower!

It took so long to do this shower.  The rocks (which are inexplicably brown now that it's done) were uneven, making it very difficult to start the first row.  The shower niches took a long time.  (Here's where I digress:  One of our big beefs with our builder is that if there are two ways to do something, he never asks us our preference.  He bragged on the shower niches talking about how good they looked and the fact that something like that takes time and that the guy spent an entire day making the cuts right.  Personally, I would have just carried the pattern through and not framed them out, saving a lot of intricate cuts, time and money.  Sadly, I was never asked my preference.)  Now that it's grouted and sealed, I was finally able to take off my shoes and walk around on the stones for a bit.  They feel every bit as good as I imagined.
It's not just the shower that's complete.  I also have an entertainment center!

Once it's backed we'll be able to hang our television on those support beams on the back.  It's been framed out to look like one large built-in.
We also have the beginnings of a kitchen.

Let me assure you that there's nothing tiny about this kitchen.  In fact, if anything, it seems out of scale with the rest of the space.  Seeing as I cook at least 19 of the 21 weekly meals, and countless other snacks, having a large kitchen is worth it.  They will get going on the island next because they're coming to template for the granite on Monday.  
Stuff is happening, and to be honest, many of these pictures are already dated because each day there are so many changes.  I'm going to try to be better about putting up daily photos from here on out so that we can really see.
When we began this project in October the builder assured us that we would be able to move in on December 5.  Last week I pulled out my calendar and we looked at all the work that needed to be done and the realization hit that there was no way we would be able to move on time.  Then something amazing happened.  He started having his workers work longer hours and on Saturdays.  They're nice family men and I'm so sad that they're the ones having to sacrifice family time in order to meet our deadline (even having to work the Friday after Thanksgiving), but I'm so grateful that we will only have to move once and this is looking on track to be complete.  Please cross all your fingers and toes for us.

The Color Palette

Now that all the mechanicals are done and inspected, the sheet rock is going up.  This means that choices, such as paint color, aren't far off.  When we lived in the suburbs we repainted most of the interior.  The best thing that Scott did to help the process was encourage me to get as many samples as it took to get to the right color.  And get a lot of samples, I did.  I painted them on the wall, painted some on poster board, moved them around, checked them at different times of the day, checked them against each other...  You get the idea.  When the selections were made and the painter came, I was really happy with my choices.  

I have a lot of anxiety about choosing the colors for the garage because a) we don't live there b) it's really hard to go there at different times of day to check the colors c) there's a huge window yet to be installed that will make a difference.  Many people say that it's just paint and if I get it wrong, it's not a huge deal to change later.  I get that, but I also know that it's expensive to hire a painter and if I get these wrong, I'm just going to have to live with it.  Luckily, one of the designers we used is really good at this sort of thing.  I got into contact with her and she arrived Friday afternoon to help me choose the colors which will go up next week.  Eek!

I had absolutely no preconceived notions of what I wanted.  Because it's a small space we knew we had to stay light and I did want neutral.  Our granite sample went missing, but we did have the backsplash, floor sample and the pillow sham from the bedroom to use.  That was enough.  In 90 minutes, I had the colors (and some to try against each other) for each space, nook, and cranny.  Without further ado, here's where we landed.

Sorry about the shadow, but this lets you know where we are.  Repose Gray will be the main color.  It's very light, but will work well with the others.  Eider White will be the trim color, as well as the kitchen cabinets.  It may also be the color for the storage wall, I haven't figured that out yet.  The aqua color is Aqueduct and will be used on two walls in the bathroom as accent walls.  It is lovely and peaceful and calming.  I hope that it looks as good on a wall.  I would've been open to a darker, bolder color in the bathroom, but with it being so small and so dark, we knew we needed to stay light.  

There's all my talk of light colors, so what are the purples doing there?  One of these will be our outside door color.  They're both on paper so I can take them over to the garage to decide.  I also want to paint a few of the interior doors and we have some selections, but we decided to wait until after we moved in so I could do it and forgo the labor charge.  While I was with her, I was also able to shoot a bunch of easy to answer design questions at her.  For 90 minutes and $40, I can easily say that was the best money I've spent in a long time.  

The text you never want to get from your builder

The builders are working busily.  Inspections are being passed.  Sheet rock is going up.  Then, I get this photo and message from the builder.

Stop the presses!  You mean to tell me that a) the plumber never did this b) both my husband and the builder also missed this and c) it passed inspection?  Seriously???? And, of course, this was only caught after the sheet rock went up, making it more expensive to find a spot to tap on and run the line.  Obviously, it was the plumber's responsibility, but shouldn't the builder have caught this before now? I'm trying to just let things go, but this is becoming typical of our experience.  Do something, later realize there's been a mistake, and then have to go back and redo it (for more money, of course).  Ugh.

Windows and Doors!

For some reason I thought that our contractor said that he would start with windows, doors and floors.  I got 2 out of 3 right.  Now that all the mechanicals are complete, the contractor officially began on Tuesday.  I went over this morning and snapped some pictures.  

We have a front door!

I know that I've fussed that the style of this door doesn't match the rest of the doors in the space.  However, it really matches the exterior space.  I'm pretty stoked about it.  Now I just need tips on what paint treatment I give it.  Do I go purple like the double doors that face the yard, or give it a dry paint technique like the front door of the main house or do something different?  Tips?

We also have a bedroom window.

The view into the back nether regions of our neighbor's yard isn't fantastic, but it's the best we can do.  I wanted the window to line up with the door into the bedroom, but it really cuts into where I was thinking to put a dresser.  I'll have to think about that some more now.  It's amazing how you look at a piece of paper or a drawing on your computer and think that you have things figured out, but when you see everything in reality you realize that it might not quite work.  

They also fixed the headers and got things ready for when the kitchen window eventually arrives.

The window is still going to big big and beautiful and glorious.  I can't wait.  They were cutting the hole for the bathroom window as I was there so I imagine tonight there will be a bathroom window as well.  I hope that we have now reached the point where there will be visible progress each day so that I can put in notice on the apartment when I pay next month's rent.  Fingers crossed.  

But What do you do with the Toddler?

When we first began the design process, our meetings were scheduled out in advance and we made sure that our daughter was with a babysitter for all of them.  It was simply impossible for both of us to focus on what the designers were saying and make the best decisions while simultaneously entertaining a toddler.  I will say now that there were some meetings that did not get our full attention because of the child care issue.  When this process began in January, our daughter was only 20 months old.  A lot has happened since then.
We cleared out the garage so that there's actually room to move and we're not afraid of her touching something dangerous.  She's been in the space more and is accustomed to our expectations.  She also loves going 'uppy' and allows me to wear her.  Now that there are workers in the space, she watches them and helps 'supervise'.

It's still difficult to give full attention to a conversation happening, but since we're over there so much more now for shorter periods of time, getting a babysitter isn't an option.
Another huge time consumer is all the shopping we need to do.  Recently, we had to get some doors and wanted to stop at several second-hand places to make sure we were getting the  best deal we could.  It's a lot of bucking and unbuckling the car seat and lots of looking through big racks of things.  I will say this: NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF A TAPE MEASURE.  That is one of our huge secrets.  Little Miss loves measuring things and making sure they'll fit.

She does a great job and stays with us of the most part.  I'd also like to give two thumbs up to Home Depot for the awesome kiddie shopping carts.  She sat in that thing playing happily for the better part of an hour while we (finally) put in the order for some doors.  And when you're all tuckered out from the shopping and there's one more store to see, never underestimate the power of Daddy's arms.

There are times when my Mommy guilt kicks in because our normal flow is so interrupted by contractor meetings, and shopping and swinging by places to check things out.  But then I remember that in less than two months we'll be in our space and it'll feel like the blink of an eye.  At the very least, we're giving her lots of opportunities to practice patience.

Does size really matter?

Last year when I agreed to move my family into the garage I had so many conditions.  One condition was that we would have designers help us.  We got that figured out pretty quickly.  Another condition was that I wanted bifold windows.  Having lived in New Zealand where this is relatively common, I was dreaming of one day having a kitchen like this:

There is not one thing I don't love about this kitchen, with the possible exception of the hardware, but I'm sure that we could all live together quite happily.  Unfortunately, once we started actually pricing bifold windows, the cost put them out of reach.  (In one estimate, the screen alone was $1700!) So the challenge then became mimicking this feel without the hefty price tag.  I settled on 3 casement windows with a transom over the top for extra light:

When closed they'll look similar, but open they won't be quite the statement.  Our builder recommended a french casement window as a possiblity:

When closed they look just like casement windows, but when open, they don't have the center bar and will have the feel of a bifold window.  We had two great options for alternatives, even if not quite the grandeur of the real thing.  The downside of the french casement is that it's only made in wood, which would mean much more maintenance for us long-term. It didn't knock it totally out of contention, but we wanted to see what the prices were in relation to our current 'opening' of 76"wide x 58" tall. Here's a picture to jog your memory.

It turns out that the french casement windows were only 58"x58".  I wasn't willing to lose over a foot of light and thought that sidelight windows would look stupid.
This brings me back to my initial query: does size really matter?  It turns out that when it comes to windows, it really does.  76" wide is a non-standard size and that made the windows almost $1000 more than if we went with a 72" width.  I wasn't willing to lose 18" of width for the french casement, but I am willing to lose 4" of width for the 3 casements in order to save that extra money.
This entire build has been about eeking out savings where we can while trying to save the design intent.  The only reason I found out about this potential cost savings was because I happened to have a quote from another company that was significantly cheaper than the one my builder gave me- but it was initially set with a 72" opening.  When I called and gave them the corrected measurements their estimate also shot up.  We've been doing a great job of finding savings and ways to cut where we can, we just wish that our builder would've helped us out a bit on this one.  I find that I'm walking a tight line between trying to stay out of the builder's way and not pissing him off, and getting myself involved in every detail so that I can try to save as much money as possible, seeing that Scott and I keep finding cost savings.  Fingers crossed by the end of this he still takes my calls.

Decisions, Decisions

Probably like most construction projects, everything needs to happen within a tight timeline and budget for this to work.  When we initially lost our builder the timeline part got shot to hell, but now that we've started for reals we need to get out by December 5 to avoid having to pay another month's rent (which is, of course, now the most expensive month-to-month rate).  That gives us a few months to recover before property taxes are due on both houses at the end of February- oh, and they're reassessing our city house's rate this year so we expect them to go up significantly.  In the midst of all this we need to start finishing out the bonus room at our suburban house so it will be 500 sq ft larger when we list it next Spring.  So you see, it's especially important that our budget stay in check so that we can make all this happen.  Once the suburban house gets sold (and we expect a decent profit), the family is heading for a European vacation to celebrate this phase of our plans being complete.

This is making us think about what is essential to do now and what can wait until we've been in the garage for a little bit.  One area that caught our attention as a potential budget saver is the upstairs loft area.  While not codes approved, we were thinking to put our bed up there so we would have our own 'room' of sorts.  Because the space would never pass inspection as a bedroom, the space will need to remain in stud form without the window and barrier wall to the mechanicals for the certificate of occupancy inspection.  The builder was always going to have to come in after and finish.  We decided that since we cosleep with our daughter now, we would just go ahead and do it a few more months until we're able to finish out the space.  This will save on the cost of finishing the upstairs space, as well as almost $1000 for the sliding ladder to access the space.  (Did you have any idea they were that expensive?  I didn't.)

A friend of mine also recommended waiting on the shower door and just using a shower curtain for a while.  Our shower is not a spacious one, measuring at just 56" long.  I should mention that the 56" is from stud to stud.  Once you put on the backer board and then add the tile, it will be smaller, knocking it out of contention for an off-the-shelf shower door.  We really love the frameless look and they clock in at around $1000.  Again, it's logical to wait on getting that ordered so that we can put the money elsewhere.  The answer isn't no, it's just not now.

One of the things that's tough about these decisions is that we won't be moving into a 'finished' space and I want to have everything complete, just like the designers drew.  However, it will be finished by this time next year and that's what's important.  Any other ideas for how to economize now?  Luckily, we haven't had to sacrifice any function at this point (I will literally cry if I'm told we can't build our storage wall now), but in trying to have our cake and eat it, too, we're having to be really strategic at this point.

We Passed!

I went to check on the garage today and found a shiny new approval tag for our plumbing.  Woo hoo! HVAC starts going in tomorrow.  Onward and upward!

So Many Compromises

Way back when we hired the designers they had this project broken into three phases- 1.  Schematic Design (basic floorplan and layout) 2. Design Development (Finishes, fixtures, furniture, etc.) and 3.  Construction (a few hours were set aside to consult for changes during the construction phase so the design intent would stay intact).  This was a very good way to break it down and would have worked really nicely....if we had hired a good builder on the front end.  Since we lost the builder but still tried to proceed with the design, some things got lost along the way.  Essentially, all the stuff I hate, like picking out faucets and doors, and paint colors, etc is now left to me.  The pragmatist in me understands that as long as everything is functional it really doesn't matter.  But of course, when you're putting it together and spending all this time and energy, you want it to look good at the end.  Therein lies the struggle.  

With the sobering HVAC quote and the knowledge that other large expenses lie ahead, sourcing things on the cheap has become really important.  Since the interior doors we wanted needed to be ordered, our contractor wanted that to be done soon so they'll be ready to install in time. Unfortunately, those doors aren't yet common.  Many places we called didn't have them, some weren't available yet, and we had a difficult time finding someone that really knew what they were talking about at HD.  Even though the weather is absolutely gorgeous, we spent our Saturday morning as a family looking for 2 matching doors on the cheap.  We went to the Habitat Restore.  They had millions of doors, but many 6 panels and many too large.  We went to a salvage store, but they didn't have any either.  Scott called an antique place and they had one door for $55, but we have to have 2.  Finally we wound up back at the trusty HD.  This time we lucked out with a guy who really knew what he was talking about.  He was able to get the door that we wanted (yay!) but it was going to be $250 each (boo!).  He also pointed out that if we were looking for a solid door to really block sound (which we are) that we would be much better off with a raised panel.  The raised panels in the middle allow for a thicker sound dampening.  When he told us that a 2 raised panel door was only $100 each we knew what we had to do.  So....I spent all that time researching, calling around, searching online, agonizing, and in the end it didn't matter anyway.  Frustrating.

Right now we're at the point that compromises like these are happening all the time.  I find a bathroom faucet I love for $160, but this one is ok and only $80 so we go with the cheaper one.  There was this super cool exterior lock that is sleek, can be unlocked with just a fingertip, takes a picture of anyone who comes within 6 ft of your door, can be programmed to let in plumbers and then quickly relocked, etc, but it was over $300.  We found a simpler Kwikset lock that was just a keypad for under $100 and decided to go with that since we'll have security cameras to perform some of the other features.  

We scoured the city and found that Lowe's had cheaper tile than Buy Floors Direct (even though we were told that BFD would have the best prices in town) and were able to save $500 that way.  It seems that we're scrambling to find the cheapest prices and yet I'm worried that we'll go over budget anyway.  Scott did remind me that we're getting radiant flooring that is a significant 'splurge' but I definitely think it will impact my enjoyment of the space when I'm not dealing with cold feet all winter.  

So now the 'give and take' officially begins.  Wish us luck making it through this phase with our sanity intact.

HVAC cost comparison

Two weeks ago I met a HVAC guy at the house for him to give me an estimate.  The space is small, but it is an intricate job because of the design.  We had a difficult time figuring out where everything should go.  When all was said and done we got an estimate for almost $6k.  Gulp.
Last week we met our contractor's HVAC guy.  He was an hour late for the meeting which was really unfortunate as Scott was taking a long lunch to make it happen.  When he did show up the meeting was productive and they determined what needed to happen quickly.  That evening we got an estimate for almost $11k.  Choke.  When I asked the contractor why his guy was almost double the quote we found from a recommended company he replied that he never said he had the cheapest people, but he did have the best that produced the highest quality work the most reliably.  I'm so glad that he wasn't at all offended about using the other company.  He just asked for their information so he could liase with them.  Our contractor came highly recommended and we're happy with him, but I'm so glad that Scott pursued someone else for this.  5k is a huge chunk of our budget (most of our kitchen) and we need that money for other spaces.
As of now, the plumbing inspection has been called in, the electricians are almost finished and the HVAC will go in on Thursday.  There should be no more major subs that need to be hired for this project.  The contractor will be able to fully get in the space and make his magic happen starting the 19th.  Fingers crossed.

HVAC

Things are starting to move pretty fast on the project now and it takes a lot of time to find, download, and then upload photos, so you may have to sit tight and bear with a few posts not having any photos in the interest of completion in a timely manner.

Last week Scott set up a meeting for me to attend with the HVAC guy.  It makes sense for me to be to take the meetings because I can go when little one is at Mother's Day Out and then Scott doesn't have to miss any work.  The downside is that I'm pretty much an idiot when it comes to technical things.  However, I was the good wifey and let the HVAC guy in.  We had a long discussion about what was going to go where and spent a lot of time brainstorming how the supply could get to the opposite side of the garage, how we were going to run ducts to the bedroom and where the lovely return grate was going to go.  Essentially, he wanted to run the ducts straight across the middle of the space to get the supply to the external wall, where it would best circulate air.  He then wanted to T out to get them to the corners.  I told him there was no world in which I could think of a way to make that look good.  We talked about how to run it across the wall of built-ins and hide it over there.  We talked about the possibility of a mini-split system that would require no ducts at all.  We talked about a lot of things and when we got the estimate, it was large.  Why are we scheduling with HVAC guys when we have a builder, you may be asking yourself.  That is an excellent question and one that I asked, too.  Scott wants to be sure that we're getting the most reasonable prices we can get.  I saw the builder last week at the garage and asked him about the HVAC.  He set up an appointment today with his guys.

When Scott debriefed me on last week's appointment and I said things like, 'I had no idea what size unit we needed,' or 'I think that the water heater has to go in a certain place because there's something about condensation,' or 'I think there's going to be a big soffit in our bedroom that may impact how we place furniture.' Scott decided that he needed to be present for the next meeting.  The meeting last week let me/us know enough to get us started thinking about some things- namely, we may have to actually tear up the drywall on the ceiling, which we were trying to avoid.  During the meeting today Scott talked his technical talk with the guys while I toddler-wrangled.  At a few points in injected my thoughts like, 'I can't imagine a world in which it would look good to have T shaped ductwork running across my ceiling.'  It was decided that we would for sure be ripping up the drywall once the electricians (who happened to be there) chimed in that they would also need to rip some out to get the zoning right for the existing lights.  Decisions were made quickly, we were able to get back to our day, and the estimate will arrive tonight.  Here's hoping that it's a bit lower.

One thing that we've constantly had to do during this project is redefine our expectations with respect to pricing.  Living in a hot market with construction everywhere we turn is creating the perfect storm for getting quality work at decent prices- we're learning we can get one or the other.  Either way, we think we know what we need to do and Scott ordered all the radiant heating stuff today which should be in by the end of the week.  Hopefully the contractor can get going on that early next week and things will really start moving for us.

Surprise! Building is Underway!

(Note:  I began this post over the weekend.  It's a few days behind...oops)

Last Monday I touched base with our contractor to confirm that we were a go to start next week.  He confirmed this and surprised me a bit when he said that rather than starting with floors and door he wanted to start with electrical.  He had to touch base with his electrician but wanted to schedule a meeting for Wednesday at 8.  Now, next week is our fall break at school and I have an appointment at 7:15 nearby, so I thought it would be ideal that Scott would have our daughter and we could rendezvous at the garage and have a meeting when I was finished.  Then, Wednesday of this week (Sept 30) I get a call at 8:08 asking if Scott and I were going to be there.  I admitted that I got the week mixed up, informed him that Scott wouldn't be coming (which was a shame because he knows way more about the specifics of what needs to happen), and immediately changed into my clothes to fight the rush hour traffic to get there late.  I didn't even give my daughter time to get dressed- luckily she doesn't mind going out in public in her pajamas one bit.  When we got there I gave it the good old college try talking to these electricians about what needed to be done and what should go where.

When the meeting was supposed to be this coming week we thought we had the weekend to get over there and mark out where we wanted all our plugs and switches to go.  I felt like I was having to think about and cover everything on the fly.  Luckily, they were really nice and took pity on me and told me that they had several days worth of demo and basic wiring that they could get started on without knowing exactly where each thing needs to be placed at this point.  

One thing that became crystal clear during this discussion was how valuable it would've been to have a builder involved at the very beginning.  The electricians had way better knowledge of the codes and knew things such as an outlet has to be positioned within 18" of the sink.  I planned to have the beautiful windows go straight to the counter, but it may turn out that I need a backsplash to accommodate this now.  I also was completely unaware of the structural elements of the garage and how the wiring and piping would need room around windows and doors.  We tried to have a builder and it didn't work out, so now it's requiring us to be flexible about things.  I'm sure in the end it'll work out.  

This past weekend we were able to get over to label all the lights and plugs in the space. Monday morning we met with the electricians to talk about the plans and answer any questions or discuss any issues that may arise.  Today (Tuesday) we were at the garage and ran into the electricians again.  There was some more clarification of issues.  I think that we're definitely on the right track and hope that they'll be able to finish up by the end of the week.

The Builder's Advice/ 3 Doors In

When he first came to the garage the builder told me that we were looking at a 6-7 week project.  He did warn me that his timing estimate would rest on one thing: my ability to make decisions.  The way this pacing works is that we will always be thinking 5 days out.  Example: next week the kitchen will go in; what type of cabinet fronts, hardware, etc do I want.  I appreciate this and will abide by this, except I think I may have already messed it up.
Having priced windows at different places all summer, I knew there was a lag time.  Our builder recommended a place and once our start date was confirmed, I made the appointment to order the windows.  That part wasn't so bad.  After having thought through it with so many other places, I pretty much knew exactly what I wanted (double hung for the bedroom, slider for the bathroom, casement for the kitchen and cheapest for the loft).  We played with the sizing to get to standard (i.e. cheap) sizes wherever possible and determined that it would be way cheaper for me to use the frosting film in the bathroom rather than buy the window with frosted glass.  I took the estimate to historic to get it approved and was able to put in the order.  There was a four week wait for delivery-which should happen this week- putting them in right on time for day 1.
The builder also wanted to install the exterior door on day one.  One of the people at the window shop told me that there was only a one week wait for the doors, so I thought I had plenty of time.  This was a good thing because I've been really struggling with the doors.  It's a really old picture, but our existing doors have a raised panel on the bottom, like this:

At the time the garage was built we knew that we wanted the glass on top and I never gave any thought to the doors- the contractor just picked them out and that's what we got.  I liked it that way.  Wanting to be consistent, I just assumed that the rest of our doors (2 interior and 1 exterior) would also have this raised panel look.

Except I really didn't love that look and was really hesitant about ordering doors in that style.  Between kitchen cabinets with raised panels, doors and the storage wall with door design tbd, it just made me nervous that it would be a whole lot of raised panel in a little space.  I couldn't order it.  I checked out people's doors wherever I went and decided that I still liked the shape, but wanted a flat panel instead, like this:

It seemed cleaner to me and a good compromise between traditional and modern, which is what we're going for.  And yet, I still don't love this design for an exterior door.  I really hemmed and hawed and finally decided that we would get a 4 panel door with the transom on top, just like our front door (except steel instead of wood).

Even with building approaching I still hadn't ordered the doors, which wound up being a really good thing because we realized that the space is too little to accommodate an exterior door, transom and the necessary header.  Back to the drawing board and building is due to commence on Monday.  Oops.
I frantically looked through catalogues and the lead time on ordering doors was 4-6 weeks, not 1 week like I was initially told. I talked with the builder and the plan is to install a dummy door until ours arrives.  We decided that we wanted to mimic the transom in the window and decided on this door.

Last night we thought we'd take a chance on Home Depot and see what they could do.  We wanted this door, but in steel.  It was about $540 and would take 2-3 weeks.  That was more than we wanted to spend.  When we looked at their in stock doors we found this one.

It's a fiberglass door and while it doesn't exactly set my heart on fire, I can't find one that does so we're going to go with a good door for a great price ($240) on this one.  Because it's in stock, we'll actually be ready for construction next week! We'll also save money on not having to install a dummy door.  
Because this door will be facing the alley and because our neighborhood has some safety issues, I'm already thinking of ways to cover the glass.  Currently a window film like this is in the lead.

The window faces East and I think it'd be beautiful to come out to these marks on my floor in the mornings.
While I wasn't able to make a quick decision on this, and while I'm not thrilled that I'm about to have 3 different door designs in a really small space, I'm happy with each individual decision and have peace (just don't ever judge me if you come to visit).  I'm even more happy that we'll be able to proceed with the doors.
Unfortunately, the other thing that our builder wanted to start with was floors.  Months ago we had a plan drawn up for radiant flooring with a detailed list of what we would need.  This was when we were going to have engineered wood flooring.  Apparently the switch to tile floor had consequences.  The existing radiant plan called for plywood over the top and Scott doesn't feel that it will be stable enough to support tile.  After many late nights up researching on his part, he decided to switch to electric mats instead of tubing.  This will be easier, but apparently you can't just buy a big mat and cut it down to size.  So, this week he had to take very detailed measurements to send off to a new company so the floor can be manufactured to size.  Luckily, it can be done quickly but it still won't arrive until the end of the week at the earliest.  In the meantime, we scored some cork underlayment which will act as an insulator for a steal at Home Depot.  Unfortunately, HD doesn't carry the adhesive and all the local distributors say they don't carry it in stock.  It'll be the middle of the week before we can get that and have it ready to go.
Since we seemed to have botched up the beginning of the build so badly (kind of) I'm really looking forward to a timeline of what needs to be purchased when, mostly so I know the order in which I need to freak out shop for the different design elements. I'm also looking forward to turning over some of these shopping duties.  Remember when I said our old builder just took what we wanted and ran with it?  Yeah, I miss those days.

State of the Yard, Vol. 1

I think the last time you saw the yard it looked like this.

We were digging it up to make a trench for the plumbing.  In the middle you can sneak a peek at the pad that was poured for the storage shed.  Since we maintained control of the garage when we rented the house, the tenants were looking forward to some outdoor covered storage.  As far as we're concerned this project just wouldn't work if we didn't have outdoor storage.  The building also serves as year round privacy for both sides and allows both sides to have dogs that don't have to mingle (necessarily).  The shed got built pretty quickly and covered with some sort of black waterproof paper (technical, I know), and it stopped there for a while.  We know that we didn't want it to be the same hardyboard as the house and garage.  Because we're in a historical area, the commission had some additional restrictions about materials, alignment, etc.  We couldn't source the wood we wanted for our favorite design.

We scoured Pinterest and paid attention when we went out for inspiration.  Finally, I gave up and left it all to Scott.  Truth be told, he's got a really good eye and is better at this stuff than I am.  We tend to have similar taste so I knew that he'd come up with something that looked good and was in budget.  He declared himself ready to begin so I took our daughter out of town to visit family for a weekend.  When we came back he had the tenant side of the shed mostly complete.

He actually took cedar fencing and cut it to different widths.  He didn't consult with me on the design before starting but I absolutely adore it and think it'll also look great as it weathers.  In the end he admitted the design was based off Mitchell's Delicatessen (for locals).  We ate lunch there one day and both admired a similar thing done there.  (Truth be told, I love so many of the design elements at Mitchell's.  I'd love to know who their designer was.) Leave it to him to remember that and reproduce the look on such a grand scale.  See that W shadow on the shed?  I think it's because this shed is #winning. 

He also made the forms, poured the concrete pavers, and laid sod.

The cinder blocks are where the outdoor fireplace will go.  He also built a step off the deck for easier access and the wood fence for privacy from the street.  Puppy helps him on the weekends and acts as a model in pictures.

Here's the view from the deck.  We transplanted some of our trees from the back, but will have to fill in one our two more.  The fireplace will have a tall backing and then there will be privacy from the walkway.  Their yard is looking great and is almost done.  

Meanwhile, our side of the yard still looks like this.

I have hopes that once construction begins and the weather cools, he'll return to working on our side of the yard so I won't have to look out at a black wall from my huge windows come December.

State of the Garage, Vol. 3

Building is about to commence in one week!  There's kind of nervous excitement around here.  Imagine me like a pinball bouncing off all the walls and ceiling exclaiming that there will only be two more months of apartment living before I can get settled into our 'forever' home.  Scott is more reserved, staying up late to research if the option we chose for the radiant heating really is the right one, etc.  There's lots of second guessing, planning and decisions being made so that, hopefully, everything will run smoothly once we have people on the clock.
I haven't posted many pictures of the garage interior lately because I haven't felt like there was much to see.  Since the builder told me he'd be starting with windows, the exterior door and floors on day 1, finally clearing out the space became a high priority.  I'm so grateful Fall is finally kicking into gear because it's made for much more pleasant working conditions for Scott.  Yesterday he was able to really clear out the garage so it's makeover ready.
Here are the pictures he took to show me the progress.

This is the view from the double doors towards what will be our storage wall/living room.  The wood on the floor was left over from the farming and needs to be loaded in the truck and returned.  Hopefully he'll be able to get that done next week.  When I see a picture from this angle it reminds me just how small the space is.  Sometimes I get a little panic attack about the size of the space, but then I just remind myself to breathe and how nice it'll be when Scott can do whatever he likes with his time.  You can also see where our alley-side door will be in that left corner.  It'll be so convenient once that door is installed.

Here's the view looking into the bedroom while standing in the kitchen.  You can see that the upstairs also got framed.  Because of the way the ladder was positioned to access it, I never actually stepped foot up there.  I admit that the ceilings are higher than I thought they'd be, but still low enough that I think that we'll have to ditch our box spring under the mattress.  The stuff we've bought for the project thus far is being stored up there.

On the left will be our entertainment center, then the bathroom, then the laundry room.  I never did figure out the bathroom to really make it feel comfortable for me, but it'll offer much more storage than our current bathroom and I'm excited about that.  The bags of concrete will be used to fill in the trenches the plumber is working in.  The plumber should be done today so hopefully Scott can get that filled in before the builder starts.

You can tell that this picture was taken before the big garage cleanout, but I just wanted to brag on my window.  See that HUGE rectangle?  Those will be my casement windows that open out into my yard.  Sadly, I had to ditch my bi-fold windows for budget considerations, but they would've been just perfect. Since (combined with the doors) this will be the only natural light source in the main space, it was go big or go home.  The header is actually in the wrong place.  The top of the window will line up with the top of the transom, but we are going to install a transom above these windows that I will someday get filled in with stained glass.  Note:This is why it's important for both partners to really engage with the design process.  If you skip details or zone out in meetings, you wind up putting the header in the wrong spot and it costs more money later to move.
What a huge cry from where we started in February!

Bathroom Moodboard

With building set to commence soon, I've been thinking a lot about all the different elements of each room and how they'll work together.  This is not my strong suit and it brings me a lot of stress.  Usually once I live in a space for a while I have a better sense of what I want and can better visualize when I'm just changing one thing at a time.  Unfortunately, I don't have that luxury with this build.  One area I've found particularly stressful is the bathroom.  Fortunately, I think I'm almost done putting everything together.

White headboard ceiling with recessed lighting

Recessed medicine chest

Walnut floor tiles

Ikea vanity- not that faucet, though

Large white subway tile in shower

Frameless shower doors

White river stone shower floor (lighter grout)

Initial hooks for towels

toilet paper storage

Missing: 

bathroom faucet- Finding a one hole faucet that I like and is reasonably priced is hard!

light- Initially I wanted sconces, but we're putting the vanity right up to the shower doors and since the medicine cabinet is large, there won't really be room for sconces on the sides.  That puts me at a bar light and the designers initially said two lights may be enough for such a small space.  I have yet to find any at Lowe's or Home Depot that I like.  

Toilet- Scott has a Toto toilet he likes that we'll be ordering.  It's just a basic toilet so I didn't bother posting a picture up top.  

Towel bar/ Toilet Paper hanger/etc- This is what totally stresses me out and what would best be left for the end.

Anything else we're missing?

Functional Beauty

Long before we ever thought about moving our family into a garage, I spied this key hanger on a rare trip to The Container Store.  

At $20 for the small one, I left it there, but I couldn't forget about it until one day I caved and bought it for our mudroom renovation in our suburban house.  I loved it, but I wanted it installed horizontally to work with the space, which Scott refused, so it sat unopened in a box.  When we made the decision to downsize to the garage and decided to hire a designer, I pulled out the tree and joked that I wanted to hand them this as their inspiration piece for the space.  It's fresh, functional and inspired by nature- everything I want for the space.  

Needless to say, that didn't happen, but the tree now hangs vertically in our apartment and every time I hang my keys I'm grateful I ponied up the money for something that truly brings me joy.  This key hanger reminds me that functional things can also have artistic value.  When scouring the web for clever storage ideas for the tiny garage, I came across this cloud as a way to store toilet paper.

I'm in total lurve all over again.  At $125 it's pretty dang expensive, but it would allow us to continue buying our tp at Costco and have it on the wall instead of taking up valuable space in a cabinet or cupboard. I checked the measurements and it will fit by the hair of its chiny-chin-chin.  The key tree taught me that if there's something that you truly find beautiful and it's functional, it's worth paying big bucks for it.  Since I'm not banking on a generous benefactor to pick this up, it may be something that doesn't get purchased until after we're in the space for a while (renovations are expensive, yo!), but I'm really looking forward to it hanging over the toilet and am planning the bathroom with that piece in mind.

Are there any other cute, functional things we should consider?  Pinterest and home sites are full of great ideas, but I haven't been on there lately.  Occasionally, people on the Konmari pages find cute things and post pictures of them, but I haven't tagged any of the ideas so would be appreciative for any leads.

What are we doing to prepare? Konmari

Things are pretty quiet on the garage front.  There's still a few more weeks until the builder begins and we're in a quiet lull.  Some have asked me what we've been doing to prepare between when we lost the builder in March and now.  I already mentioned some of the work that Scott has been working on at the garage itself, but I've been steadily working on getting things ready at home.  One of my friends read The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo and shared it with our group of friends.  It took our entire group by storm.  Before we knew it, we were all buying the book and KonMari-ing our houses.
If you haven't read the book it's a system to declutter your house and permanently keep it clean (she claims she's never had a client relapse).  She lays out categories for every item in your house and recommends you work through each category in a specific order, starting with clothes.  You gather everything in each category in one place (so if you books in different rooms in your house you have to gather them together before you can begin that category), hold each item and ask yourself, 'Does this spark joy?' If the answer is yes, you keep it, if the answer is no, you thank it for its service and get rid of it.  I debated skipping over clothes since I got rid of 8 bags before moving to the apartment, but thought that I'd do it anyway.  Here are all the clothes I own on the bed.

Since I had so few, I was able to go through them quickly.  I was surprised that I had another 1.5 garbage bags to donate once I was finished with the process.  I wound up with a summer uniform of sorts, there's one style of shirt I have in several colors and a few pairs of khaki shorts.  There are a few other things I kept, but definitely not the amount of choice I'm used to.  However, now when I put open my drawers or look at the closet, I'm so happy to wear anything that I own.  It's made my life so much easier.  Kondo recommends only doing your own things, but since my daughter is only 2, I did hers as well.  I left Scott's things be, but he has been going through and slowly weeding out things that he doesn't want or that don't fit quite right anymore.  Here's a picture of the closet that all three of us share.

My stuff is on the top left and you may notice that it's my year-round selection.  If I went further and did a capsule wardrobe it'd be pretty empty, indeed.  Scott's stuff takes up more room, but he also needs to maintain a professional wardrobe.  We will each have a closet about three feet wide at the garage.  This closet is 4.5 feet wide, so I think that we'll be sitting really pretty when it comes to clothes.
I've gone through several other categories for Konmari, but I don't consider myself a graduate because there's still a lot of clutter in the apartment.  Unfortunately, there isn't much built-in storage here so there aren't a lot of places to put everything away.  Add to that the knowledge that much of our stuff is still packed away in a storage unit awaiting the big move, and I've lost steam.  I've gotten rid of a lot of stuff, simplified where we keep others, but the great, clutter-free reveal will have to wait a few more months.
While the author makes the important distinction that this method is about keeping only what you love and not just getting rid of stuff, it does jive really well with minimalism.  It was a nice framework to help make those tough decisions now that we're getting towards the end of our stuff.
There are some Facebook groups dedicated to this.
Konmari Adventures: This group has a lot of great before and after photos and is very active.  Any questions you may post will get answered quickly.  If you're on there for any length of time, you'll see the same questions come up over and over again, and there is some drama :(.
Joyce Parker Lives Here: Inspired by an inside joke (a husband thought she was saying Joyce Parker approved instead of saying it was a joy sparker), this group is light hearted and doesn't take itself too seriously.  There are also great before and after shots on this page and I find myself going here more now.
KonMinimalists: These two definitely work together, but it's not a very active page.

I believe I've gone through every nook and cranny in this apartment (removing everything for a category before beginning was a great help) and only kept what we truly need and will use.
Is there another way we could be getting ready to move?  I'd love to start tacking the storage unit during Mother's Day Out time, but right now our key is MIA.  Hopefully it'll show up soon.