Lovely, beautiful countertops!

We had a visit on Friday, from the Granite Fairy!  Not really, the granite guy came to install our countertops.  Initially, he was going to be here last Wednesday, but it just didn't work out, so he rescheduled for Friday.  Thank you very much to Mr. Granite Guy for actually calling us and rescheduling.
Now that we have the countertops, it doesn't matter that they were 2 days late- the kitchen is now semi-functional.
Mr. Granite Guy showed up at about 5:00 in the evening, to start prepping.  He removed the top drawer in each cabinet, and did some other prep work.  He was finished in about half an hour, and then, unfortunately for him, had to wait approximately another hour for the granite to show.
At around 6:30, the crane truck showed up with the granite.

As it turns out, granite is super heavy, so they needed the crane to get most of the pieces up from the driveway.

And, piece by piece, the granite was laid on the cabinets in the kitchen.

They saved the biggest, heaviest piece for last.  The countertop for the island is one gigantic piece, and weighs approximately 800 kg. (or 1600 lbs.)  I have to admit, I had my heart in my throat as I snapped pictures of the slab hanging in the air, and was relieved when it was plopped on our front terrace.

They lowered the granite slab onto a little wheeled device, but still to get it across the living room and into the kitchen took four guys.

Joern helped too.

I would show the pictures of the guys putting the countertop on the island, but Joern would be forever angry with me for this.  Don't worry though, the picture of the guys putting the countertop on the island will be printed in the photo book :)

Almost finished:

Okay, so I have no idea why the above picture was the last picture I took for the evening.  The Mr. Granite Guy spent about 2 hours working after the countertops were all put into place.  He had to use silicone grout around the sink and between the granite and tiles, and then, he sealed the countertops.

I love the countertops and I really can't wait to see what it all looks like when we take up the cover on the floors, which should be this weekend, because the interior doors should be here this week, and then we can finally uncover the floors.  Say goodbye to wearing shoes in the house (this is directed at Joern!)

Today, my project is to finish cleaning the kitchen.  When I do so, I will take lots of lovely, clean kitchen pictures- hooray!

FINALLY, an update!

Life has just been a ball of crazy lately, and although I am really disappointed in myself for not updating sooner, I am also pulling a billion cards, including: pregnancy, going on maternity leave, living between the house and the apartment, and the craziness of life in general.
Since my last post, there have been quite a few updates.  Most importantly, Joern and I spent our first night in the house last Friday.  We intended on it being a "sleepover," and well, it is so darn warm and cuddly in here, we have stayed every night since last Friday.  No, we haven't officially moved in, there is still a ton of stuff in our apartment, and its kind of weird, because I feel like we're cheating on the apartment, but it is so nice here!  Of course, the pregnancy hormones aren't helping, and every time we run back to the apartment to pick up something, I leave in tears, because I am sure going to miss that little place.  But, I'll leave all that for a tribute post.  For now, I'll focus on the good stuff:  the house!
I think that its easier just to go room by room, instead of doing anything chronological, so I'll start :)
Kitchen:

Dining Area:

Living Room:

The tables are actually our end tables, and serving as our temporary coffee table.  The chair is only in the corner because it was in the way.  But, I kind of like the chair in the corner when its just us.

Master Bedroom:

For the record, I normally always iron our bedding, but it just wasn't in the cards last weekend.  This week's bedding will be ironed, and I'll post a new picture.

The second picture is of the exterior blinds- love!

Master bath:

Joern painted the ceiling in the shower and installed the lights.  Then, the plumbers came and installed the rain showerheads.  We just need the shower door, but I have to say, I adore our over-the-top shower!

And yes, we need to buy something for storing our toiletries!

Erbse's room:

Tee Hee, two showers threw up in Erbse's room.  We are desperate for the furniture to arrive.  Its currently in the UK awaiting customs clearence.  Fingers crossed its here in the next week or so!

Staircase:

The lights for the stairs have been installed.

And much to my horrified surprise, and Joern's delight:

Oh my dear lord, they change colors!  I don't have any clue of who okayed these, and when, but this was NOT my decision!

Cellar, well, actually the whole house:

It seems like a slightly dumb picture, and its hard to know what you're looking for here, but the central vac is installed and useable!

The house is about 90% liveable.  It is really difficult living without countertops, working water in the kitchen, or a working stove, which made for a rather sad Thanksgiving this year.  But really, we're getting there.  We can sleep comfortably, the heat is working better than we ever expected, and we have one semi-private bathroom.  I'm looking forward to the first week of December, when we are expecting our interior doors, and next week when the rest of our exterior blinds are installed, and I can use the toilet in the powder room (hooray! no more running up to the master bath 20 times a day when I have to go to the bathroom!)

Kitchen, Day 3 FINALLY! And a host of other updates!

My last post was from Tuesday, although a large part was updates from last Friday, the last day our carpenter was at the house installing the kitchen.  Well, he made his triumphant return today!   And surprisingly, it was a very busy day at our house, because not only was our kitchen hard at work, but the electricians, and plumbers also made an appearence!  The house was buzzing all day, and that means, by the end of the day today, the house had progressed amazingly!

I should start with a brief photo update from Wednesday:

Powder room, sink and faucet installed.

Master bath, tub faucet installed!

Master bath- our toilet has arrived, but don't worry,

this isn't how Germans install toilets.

Our bathroom countertops arrived!

  

Tile guy FINALLY finished tiling the foyer!

And, Joern prepped Erbse's bathroom for painting!

Of course, today was super cool and exciting as well.  All of a sudden, the house is starting to appear much more finished.  What a fantastic day!  I think its best to do a room-by-room update. *Warning:  today was extremely exciting, which means that I will be using too many exclamation marks!  (This would make Elaine from Seinfeld very happy!)

Pantry:

                                                                        Utility sink

Powder Room:

Toilet with tank!

Running water- hooray!

Back entry area:

Light swtiches, and controls for individual recessed lights.

Kitchen:

The refrigerator is now connected- hello ice and water!

We have a little footrest now built into the island.

One of two 110-V outlets in the kitchen!  So, so exciting!

Pot filler!



Prep sink and garbage pail!

Erbse's room:



Electrical outlets!

Master bedroom:

Light switch, outlets, and controls for the exterior blinds

Master bath:

Wahoo!  Vanity countertop, sinks, faucets, and toilet- all installed!

Erbse's bath:

Vanity, countertop, faucet, and "1920's" toilet.

All in all, it was a huge day.  The kitchen is almost completely finished, we just need the granite guy to come out and measure.  The bathrooms are on their way to completion.  If we had interior doors or curtains, I could even use our toilets!  It looks like max. 2 weeks until we are living in our house!

















Kitchen Day 2, Day 1 plumbing features, and most excitingly, Joern's projects!

Well, I had hoped that by today, the kitchen would be complete.  Sadly, the carpenter who has been installing the kitchen has been out sick for the past two days.  Fortunately, I never posted last Friday's kitchen pictures, so at least there is quite a bit to show off in my post today :)
The carpenter worked on the kitchen all day Friday.  He was even there when my friends, Iris and Julia, came by for a visit.  By the end of the day, he had he island installed, our breakfast wall completed, and the wall with the sink pretty much completed.

The cookies are snickerdoodles I made for my friends.

Another view of the island.

The little electrical motor for the door where the garbage cans will go.  Its motorized, 

so you can tap the door with your knee and it opens!

The main sink wall.

Our "breakfast prep center"

This wall was originally supposed to be covered in a colored glass.

Honestly, we  like it much better this way.

As far as I know, the carpenter should need one more day, but I don't want to hold out my hopes for that happening.  I hope he gets better soon though, because I want my kitchen!

Today was pretty exciting though.  Since I was busy all day at my birth prep class, and being an emotional mess, I didn't really put a lot of thought into the house until we went there at 7:30 tonight.  When we pulled up, I noticed a bunch of Villeroy and Boch boxes sitting outside of my in-law's house.  This could only mean one thing- the plumbing fixtures arrived!  Such excitement!

The toilet waiting to be installed in Erbse's bathroom.

The toilet half-installed in the powder room.

The pedestal for the sink waiting in the pantry.

Our bathtub faucet.  If you look really closely at the handles, 

you'll see that its really Italian- C for hot and F for cold! 

It totally fits us Italy lovers!

For our central vaccuum, goes underneath the kitchen cabinet!

And now, I'm going out of order, but I really saved the best for last!  Joern has been busy, busy, busy!  Here are some of his projects:

The mirror in the powder room is installed.

Erbse's medicine cabinet.

Our bed is assembled, and just waiting for the mattress!

Of course, I could not let you go though without the evolution of the beadboard! Joern has been working hard on installing the beadboard in Erbse's bathroom.  For Joern's first beadboard installation, its looking pretty good!

                                          He did such a good job with the trim around the window!

                                        Today, 8 November, preparing to paint the beadboard.

Well, there you have it.  Joern did paint the first coat tonight, but it was really foggy in the bathroom after painting, because Joern used a sprayer.  He has a few spots to sand down, and will apply a second coat tomorrow.  I can't wait to see this bathroom when its done!