Sunday, December 21, 2008

Happy Birthday To ME!

Yes, today is my birthday. My present (besides having to play two really hard songs for the choir to sing today) was vacuuming my new carpet. I have lots of photos and stories to post about, but for now you're just getting pictures of my basement. :)
Isn't that carpet beautiful?! I was dreaming of finding the color of sand and all my dreams came true (thanks, Dad, for wishing that for me). And new blinds! (Goodbye scary window wells.)

This is a shot of the guest room after the trim and doors were put in on Monday. Notice the ladder (I think I've got about 1000 years of bad luck coming my way because I've walked under that thing so many times in the last few months) and the blue tape on the window. For some tragic reason, Brian and I decided that the paint color in the guest room looked dirty after the lights were installed. I took a boneheaded trip to Sherwin Williams with Bridget and hurried and picked out a new paint color while she was pulling all the little samples out of their stalls. Bah. I started to paint the corners while Bridget was hanging out with this guy:
The difference between the two yellows was so stark that the new color looked orange and ugly and it made me cry myself to sleep and write dramatic emails to my family. It wasn't until we had two coats (the first one thanks mostly to Uncle Aaron) of paint up that I started to like it. Now that the carpet is in there, life is good again. (And it still matches the fabric from L.A. that I wanted to use in there. Hip hip hooray!)
You can't tell what the colors are from this picture at all. Why did I even put that in? Here's a close up:
See?! It's that sculpted stuff that I love. We (Bridget, Aaron and I) found this remnant (the family room is also a remnant) for C-H-E-A-P and it's exactly what I was looking for.
Brian and his brother, Kyle, finished putting in the bamboo floor (I feel so guilty, Melissa!) in the office last Saturday. That same day they cut and laid the tile floor in the bathroom. Secretly it was Travertine that was on sale at the Home Depot and each 18"x18" square weighs as much as me. Bonus! So, hard to cut and hard to lug around, but it looks good. (We still have to grout and seal, but progress is beautiful.)
There you go. I've been cleaning, doing touch-up paint, putting putty in the nail holes of the trim, painting the trim, trying to go Christmas shopping here and there and freaking out. And only getting to the computer about once a day now that Brian has his office. That's why the lack of posts from me. :)

8 comments:

Kristina P. said...

Happy birthday, Nicole! And everything looks great! Love the nicely vacuumed carpet. :)

Jess said...

Happy Birthday! Your basement looks GREAT! I really like the pictures. I also really like the flooring in the bathroom. I'll have to keep
Travertine in mind.

allyn said...

can you believe this day has finally come? the finished basement, not your birthday. i am so happy for you. i think i will call you to tell you how wonderful it all is.

Angie said...

Happy Birthday to you!

I really like the yellow in the guest room. Really like it, and the blue in the bathroom is great, too.

You do quality work.

Mom said...

Happy Birthday to you! I thought of you all day but didn't get a minute to call. Congratulations on the carpet (and the whole basement!) - our room looks lovely and I can't wait to see it. :) Good putting Aaron to work, too.

Andrea said...

Bravo Nicole! I would like an invitation to come and visit the finished product, AFTER Christmas please.

hOLLIANN said...

You are the woman! Merry Christmas! And we need your address for our Valentine's cards...

bobincary said...

Happy Birthday to Nini. We just discovered the little green slipper the hospital give us when we brought you home from the hospital on Christmas Day. It was a sweet memory.