Some pictures at last...

We've been busy, busy, busy.  Painting, cleaning and cleaning and cleaning, moving in, trying to stay out of the workers' way, and now getting the many finishing touches done.  It's been a terribly long and short summer.  Long because it's been so much work and we're tired.  Short because we haven't really taken a break to enjoy it being summer.  And now summer is almost over.  This is certainly a summer that will stand out in our minds.  It's been overwhelming - busy, stressful, exciting and rewarding but exhausting.

Was it all worth it?  Yes, for sure.  We're enjoying having space to move without banging into someone, we're enjoying our bright, airy dining room, our large kitchen designed for many hands working together, our wide front hallway, and once we get the mudroom set up, I know we'll enjoy having that, too.

Would we do it again?  Let's just say that I hope we won't, ever.

Here are some 'before' pictures of the kitchen...

Good riddance to that, I say!

Hello, new kitchen...

It isn't quite finished.  The gap you see between the ceiling and crown mould (due to an uneven ceiling height) has to be filled, the pantry closet doors will be painted to match the kitchen cabinets, and my new (to me) stove is waiting for a new power cord (its previous owner had it hardwired), and once we have put a sealer on the backsplash tile, we'll get the outlet covers on.

Here's a picture that shows a truer colour of the backsplash tile...

Our very sunshiny dining room...

The widened front hall...

The laundry room.  Just a laundry room.  That's what makes it special.  It is not an entry way, so there will be no boots and shoes to trip over and no dirt on the floor to drop the laundry on.  :)

So there you have it.  I didn't take a picture of the bathroom.  As yet it only has the absolute necessities in it so it's not really picture-worthy.  I haven't taken a picture of the mudroom, either, since it is empty while we finish painting it and consider the best way to set up coat hooks and boot/shoe shelves, and places for mittens and scarves, bike helmets and maybe even a bench to sit on while putting on boots.

Once the main floor is finished, we'll be working on the new part of the basement.  We need to paint and will be putting in some laminate flooring.  And after that, we'll be getting some siding on the outside, hopefully before winter.  And after that... Ha!  The work never ends. :)  But hopefully somewhere in there we'll take a day or two off and do something fun with the kids.