The colors that we chose for the garage may end up being the colors for our entire house, so we’d love comments!  Of course… it’s tough to judge from a single photo.  We were trying to pick colors similar to our house’s current color (grey and white), but leaning more towards green and a creamy white.  We also tried to match the design of the window trim to what’s currently on our house.

As you can see from the before and after photos below, the end result is about 1000 times better than what we started with!

Of course, if I step back a few feet and take another photo, you can see the massive amount of work that we still have to do.  Like I said, the west wall was really just our “practice” wall.  We refer to the back of the garage our “shed”.  The shed is not connected to the inside of the garage, and it was clearly an add-on structure.  Unfortunately, other than the roof (which we recently re-roofed), the entire shed needs to be rebuilt.  We will have to build supports for the roof structure, then remove the siding, and then build up the walls.   Just like the original condition of the garage, the shed is currently supported only by old, rotted siding – there are no 2×4′s in the walls.

Last night we worked all evening to cut out holes for the windows and the door, and then we put a good thick coat of primer over everything.  The windows aren’t permanently installed yet – they are just nailed in place.

To do still:  Paint siding, install trim around door and windows, paint door, windows and trim, and hang flower planters from windows.  When all is said and done, this side of the garage should look downright cute.  Then we’ll have to tackle the rest of the garage….

Kitchen update: We had to “move out” of the kitchen again to seal the counters with Waterlox.  Applying Waterlox is a minimum of a 5 day process, followed by a week of drying, and then two more weeks of “being careful.”  Actually applying the stuff is a little bit trickier than we expected; unfortunately the Waterlox beaded up on the third coat, so we’re going to have to sand thoroughly before continuing.  Optimistically, we should be able to gently use our kitchen again within two weeks.

Now, don’t imagine that applying Waterlox took the entire weekend.  Nope, we actually decided to return to an entirely different project – the garage!  Below is a photo of the west side of the garage from two days ago.  We’re essentially using this side as a practice/test area.  Whatever work we do here will have to be repeated for the entire shed section of the garage, which is in even worse condition – if you can believe it.

We began by taking off all of the old siding, which was barely attached to anything.  Then Alex framed in openings for two windows, and reinforced the door frame.  In the meantime, I worked on sanding and re-glazing the old but gorgeous windows that we picked from ReStore for only $5 each!

We went to Home Depot and picked out some decent looking pre-primed composite siding.  I chose a few paint colors to test out on large swaths of siding.  Working late into the evening, we managed to get all of the siding put up.  Tomorrow, we’re going to cut out the window and door openings and get those installed too.  Then we have to chose a final paint color, paint the siding, and then install and paint the window and door trim.  If everything goes smoothly, we should finish this week.

We didn’t take any extended time off for the holidays, but we had a very pleasant three day weekend.

Our goal for the weekend was to install crown moulding and toe moulding, finish up some face-framing around the cabinets, and get the butcherblock counters properly sealed with a product called “Waterlox.”  We originally tried to use mineral oil as the sealant for the counters, but it just didn’t provide enough protection;  any amount of sitting water  resulted in ugly raised wood grain, and pretty much anything (except paper or plastic products) resulted in stains.  So, assuming we can trust the blog-o-sphere, Waterlox appears to be a much better option.  Unfortunately, we can’t buy Waterlox in L.A. County due to laws restricting volatile organics.  So, we spent Saturday morning driving an hour to Ventura County, and then back again to buy just 3 quarts of sealant.  We haven’t actually sealed the counters yet though; we decided test the stuff on a piece of scrap butcherblock first.

We were slightly more successful in our other goals.  We managed to get 90% of the face-framing, toe moulding and crown moulding installed, giving the kitchen a much more finished look.  Take a look at the pictures below!

We also went to the Rose Parade this morning for a the first time.  Even though the parade route begins about 1 1/2 miles from our house, we decided to drive over to the far end of the route where the curbside is much less crowded.  We found parking about 3/4 of a mile away, and had a nice walk.  Ultimately though, it was just too darn hot (about 75, and a blazing sun), so we only stayed for about half an hour.  The floats are pretty cool (decorated entirely with flowers or other plant matter) but I don’t think I would make a special trip to Pasadena for it.

As you can see in the photo set below we still have a lot of moulding left to install and we spent Friday and Today working on getting that all painted and ready to install. We also got the dishwasher installed with the proper insulation and foil heat shield to protect the under side of the counters.

So, just a few more weekends of work and we will officially be moving on to other projects.  What projects?  Well, you will just have to find out next year!

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, the dining room side of the peninsula is finally coming together!  Obviously we have a lot of work to do still, but if you squint you can get an idea of what it will look like.   Don’t worry, there won’t be any ply-wood showing when it’s finished.

This is our front yard littered with a nice even layer of branches, it doesn’t look too bad until you realize the green in the pictures isn’t actually our grass but all the leaves from the tree.  We ended up with a huge pile of brush and palm fronds, which are deadly horrifying weapons by the way.  You can see them near the truck in the picture below.  They are actually pretty big, about four to six feet long and weigh a good couple pounds.  Last night I was outside cleaning up and getting everything as secure as I could and found myself almost getting speared by palm fronds rocketing out of the sky.  A strong breeze would tear the fronds off and then they would fly around 100 feet or more up in the air until the wind died, then come flying down to earth like missiles, the frondy bits acting like a tail.  It was really quite scary.

One big branch that came down in the back yard.  You can also see the poor pomegranate tree behind the hammock which had all its leaves yesterday and now is basically bare.

All very exciting stuff, but thankfully no serious damage to our property.  a whole lot of other people weren’t so lucky though.  The wind is supposed to be even worse tonight, but we are flying out of town for the weekend so will miss it.  Hopefully everything goes ok in our absence.

Front of the house.  Finished: garden beds.  Remaining:  Re-pour concrete pillars, install sprinklers and plant grass, paint exterior.

Backyard.  Finished: bamboo planters, trellises, raised garden beds.   Remaining: Sprinklers and grass, patio

Front Bedroom.   Everything is finished except the closet.

Back Bedroom.  Same as the front bedroom.  The closet still needs work.

Kitchen.  Finished: The original kitchen including walls and ceiling was removed, new electrical and new drywall installed, floors refinished, new cabinets, new counters, and new appliances and lighting fixtures installed.   Remaining:  Tile backsplash, bar-height counter, seal wood counters, install dishwasher, install molding and trim, install knobs and drawer pulls.

Back of the house.  Finished:  Door installed in place of a window.   Remaining:  Rebuild/restore laundry room, convert laundry room into 2nd bathroom, rehab garage, build deck off of the kitchen, paint exterior!

Weeelllllll, of course life can’t be that easy!  So, we searched and searched and came to the conclusion that a gas insert that would fit just didn’t exist.  So, when Alexandra’s dad came out for Thanksgiving we decided to get our act together and buy a fireplace insert so we could finally get the fireplace looking nice.   So, what did we do?  Alexandra’s dad tore out the brick, plaster and lathe and the inevitable stud that was right where the vent had to go through the wall.  Meanwhile I built a new wooden frame for the fireplace.

After putting some bracing and stuff in the walls we put a piece of drywall over the huge hole and did a bit of mudding. The frame I had built was shockingly square and level with only the addition of a few shims.

A trip under the house to hook up gas lines and a few shims later… We had a working fireplace!

Alexandra’s dad will be working on the facia of it tomorrow and after some finishing we should have a finished fireplace!