Phase 1 underway

Can I just brag for a minute? I have the handiest husband ever. He can fix, build, or replace anything even if he's never done it before. He just figures it out. I'm in awe of his man skills.

First up, he installed crown moulding (something he'd never done before) in the three bedrooms other than the master, which is part of Phase 2. He also skimmed this entire bedroom with plaster since it was the only room that was textured (weird), which to him was unacceptable because "it's so 80s."

Doesn't it look professional?! The moulding will be painted white, btw.

Then, he closed up a doorway from the kitchen into the hallway, because when we do the kitchen in a year (God willing), we plan to use that spot for more counter space. So we did it now so the hall can be completed.

This is our little entryway.

See that door on the left? That's our coat closet! I haven't had a coat closet since I've moved out of my parents' house. In every place I've lived, the front door just opened up into the middle of the living room. I'm so excited. No one wears coats in Southern California, but if they did, we'd be ready for them.

Mark already replaced the coat closet door (and all of the bedroom doors) from regular white hollow doors to that beautiful wood. Tomorrow I will start staining them all darker, to match the floors that we're staining when all the plaster work is finished. We also ordered a new wood front door, but it won't be arriving for 6 weeks.

And, I don't have a "before" picture, but he replaced a hideous gold light fixture that cleared the front door by less than a centimeter with a recessed light.

This is what every room looks like right now...

Filled with tools and sawdust and mess. It's chaos.

See those paint swatches to the left of the ladder? We've decided on the darkest one for the living room. It's Babbling Brook from Olympic, cause I just gotta do the no VOC thing, and I love it!

So much more to do before we can actually move in, but we're moving right along. Hopefully two more weeks!