Sorry for the delay...

Here are some after photos of the finished kitchen/dining room. I wish I was back there...it's COLD here!A shot from the hallway
Another shot from the hallway


My inexpensive shoe rack turned wine rack over the fridge.
Our bathroom vanity turned chic cabinet in kitchen

One of my favorite vintage signs over the sink.




Close of of glass tile accents on the island.



My $25.00 harvest table & $11.00 chair covers.

Oh yeah and my OH SO COOL vintage chandelier!


Another one of my favorite vintage signs in the sitting area of the dining room!

Renovation Day 17...

As reno day 16 came to a close, tensions were running high. Everyone is just on edge...including ME! I took a final trip to Lowes for a board they needed to complete the step into the TV room, then Jerry made us a a great cheeseburger and we all called it a day...sometime around 8:30 PM...


It's hard to believe that in just slightly over 2 weeks that you could gut an entire Kitchen, Dining, Hallway & do cosmetic reno to a tv room....all while living in it with a total of 4 people. It's a big job and we all came here to have fun...so it does kind of get to all of us that we haven't had one bit of R & R since we arrived. We all have been getting up and starting each day by 7 AM...so even sleeping in hasn't been on our list.


Our goal is to be completed by Tuesday evening and get our Hillbilly porch cleaned off once & for all! Get all the wood cut that needs to be cut and get rid of the saw horses, air compressor and all the debris off of our front porch so that maybe we could enjoy it a little more for morning coffee or evening happy hour.


Wednesday is mine & Jerry's last day for a while, as we leave Thursday morning early for NYC for a short trip....which by the way I am also excited about....


So before breakfast, before my shower...I joined the other 3 on the porch and did a clean up of all the debris, set the stuff out for the trash men yet again....and then we were off to the inside to proceed on to the kitchen peninsula tile. A quick shower, and we were off on a short trip to Lowes again to get a few tile supplies we took the time to dry fit the tile and come up with our design for the peninsula.

Stay tuned for the finished product...

Renovation Day 16...

Sadie & I headed out to Petsmart to get her some dog food...and headed to Lowes to return some items and get some brackets for a shelf project that we started a few days back...I know we bought the brackets....but we can't find them here in the house....can you believe it!

The Fedex man brought our glass tile....and we were so thrilled!

We put together our make-shift wine rack , one that we made from a Closet Shoe Rack...and it turned out great! A budget decision of only $29.00 and it holds a whopping 15 bottles! WHEW HOO!

I cleaned the yard a little, cause we were starting to look like the hillbilly's again, and we were off! The bracket shopping trip was un-successful and we were back.

Trim was getting finished up and we were on a roll until our bellies started growling!

We headed out for a lunch on the beach and to meet some of our friends and after 3 vodka & tonics later I could have cared less if we did another construction project! :-)

Cheers for now!

Renovation Day 14...

Much to my surprise...at the end of reno day 14 our floor is completed! OMG...it looks fantastic! In a total of 2 days....those guys worked their butts off and it shows! No laminate...the real deal and it is SUPER!

Ellen & I trekked out and shopped for a few more items on the list, bar stools, a couple new lamp shades, etc...etc, for the finishing touches and the end result is yet one more day closer!

Stay tuned...

Black Friday...

Renovation Day 13...while we went out on Black Friday...the guys started putting down the hardwood floor....we trecked out to get a few items on the list!

I thought this project would take 3-4 days to complete....so I will keep you posted!

Renovation Day 12...

The hardwood was brought inside the shack to acclimate to the interior temp. The kitchen lights were hung and more trim was painted, cut & hung. Trim paint and touch ups were being done all through the shack.

Little things are starting to come together. Tonight around dinner time my Mom & Dad will be here and work will stop probably for a few days...We are going to try and spend a non-traditional Thanksgiving day on the beach...so we are crossing our fingers that the weather holds out!

It is really starting to shape up....and everyone is oh so pleased about that!

The hardwood will probably take 3-4 days to complete as it is somewhat slow work...but when it is completed it will be FANTASTIC. It is a maple hardwood 3/4" (the real thing) with a medium brown stain....not to light and not to dark. It is 4" wide and I just can hardly wait until it is completed......YEAH! A lot of people down here use the laminate....but we were able to purchase the real thing in 2nd's and it was only $1.99 per sq ft....which was really cheaper than the fake stuff!

The construction is starting to wear on all 4 of us and sometimes tension gets high...but we are trying to hang in there and plug along. I am so looking forward to starting the accessorizing...we have closets full of pictures, signs, dishes, and all the fun stuff....so as we approach the final stages I am keeping that in the back of my mind.

The money hemorrhaging is slowing somewhat....so that is always a good thing!

Stay tuned!

Renovation Day 11...

Wow...look at this our first orange from our very own orange tree!

Today we started our day yet again with a trip to Lowes & Home Depot. After a quick lunch out we were back to the house to start moving on our check list of things to do.

The guys hung our shelf brackets (this they were not to happy about) the shelf brackets were the nice beefy look we were going for, but kind-of-a pain in the B-U-T-T to install! These will be our open shelving system for our everyday dishes in the kitchen.

Jerry worked on facing the front of the peninsula and enclosed the vent stack.

We are on the countdown as Mom & Dad will be here Tuesday evening around supper time...and our work days will run a little shorter then...more later!

Renovation Day 10...

When I said plumbing could be slow....I mean slow. How about over a 24 hour period going to Lowes, 9 times for fittings that didn't even cost $12.00! When you do it yourself...you do save on labor...but not time, sometimes there isn't a time savings.

We painted more trim boards and the day ended with the upper cabinets being hung along with the exhaust range hood. The dishwasher installed and working and the kitchen sink & garbage disposal working.

We cleaned out the cabinets and started unpacking our boxes of food and pots and pans into our new cabinets.

We cleaned up the front porch and took some more items to the dumpsters to get our yard cleaned out....we were starting to look like the Beverly Hillbilly's!

We don't have our kitchen completed yet...but I do think we have enough space in the kitchen for the coffee pot to actually set on the counter tonight and we can actually fill it with water out of the kitchen sink....ahhhhh progress!

Renovation Day 8...

Day 7 seemed to just go on & on & on & on....and before the night ended the guys had the counter tops glued and installed and the plywood place on the peninsula for us to get the tile on....and the kitchen sink installed.




Did I mention plumbing could be slow work.....

We keep joking that our front yard looks like the Beverly Hillbilly's have arrived...and after a few Rum Punches the other night....we entertained ourselves with a few photo-ops to prove our point....Hey Obama is not the only one who can do photo-ops....we just think ours has a little more CLASS! Thanks trash men for all of your help!

Renovation Day 7...

Day 7 began a little slower. I think everyone is starting the drag a little. We are all longing for the beach....but we know there is a deadline to meet so that we can all go and have some fun...so we are going to keep plugging along.

Today was garbage pick up so the workers so kindly took yet another pile of debris and boxes from the cabinets and hauled it away. The neighbors are not quite sure what kind of people they have residing next door....but when it all comes to a close I know they will be glad, as much as we will!

When I I did my last show up in Brimfield I purchased a great vintage chandelier this past September and we decided to use it in the shack over the dining table. Ellen and I took it outback and spent about an hour trying to clean it up a bit...here is a sneak peek at what it is going to look like.They guys ran some more of the plumbing & electric to the dishwasher and now they are installing a pony wall on the back side of the bank of cabinets to serve as our bar/peninsula/counter top eating area. Since the Chic Shore Shack is tiny, it will be nice to set a few stools there and have a few extra places for people to eat or drink!
Here is Sadie trying to help install the dishwasher.

Today we tried to tidy the place up but it is really futile and a total waste of time...but we did manage to find a few more ol' grandma items that we could give away to the neighborhood's volunteer fire department garage sale so little by little all of the old touches are going BYE BYE!

I unpacked a few more boxes and put a few more things away in the bedrooms...but it's still a wreck around here~n a nice kind of way I guess! Then worked my way into the cabana room...and since I had some extra paint left over I decided to start painting again....what am I a glutton for punishment??? Well to tell you the truth, I am somewhat at a stand still waiting for the guys sometimes and what the heck...I might as well paint something!

Day 7 seemed to just go on & on & on & on....and before the night ended the guys had the counter tops glued and installed and the plywood place on the peninsula for us to get the tile on.

Some more of our friends arrived and they checked into their beach bungalow on the island (Anna Maria Island, FL) and I was wishing I was there for just a moment....no cares, no house repairs, just carefree beach rental life....but then I remembered...WAIT next year we will have fewer projects to do and more time for the beach and we will be in our OWN shack...and then I just kept on painting with a smile on my face!

My Mom & Dad just live about 1 1/2 hrs from here but I have not seen them yet....I have talked to them several times since we have arrived, but we are working swiftly to try to get our kitchen completed so that they can arrive next week and spend some time with us around Thanksgiving.

As I am typing this the guys are cutting the hole in the counter top for the kitchen sink. We have power to the dishwasher. I have 1/2 of the cabana room painted and re-arranged and we are rolling like mad people.

Stay Tuned!

Renovation Day 6...

We see the trim work coming to an end. YEAH!

Can you say CAULK & SPACKLING??? We should have probably bought stock in those companies! Oh...and probably the paint companies too!

I just can not express enough how much I truly love the look and feel really good about the choices of the products that I have chosen.

Today we took a trip out to finish our tile search for some accent glass tile to finish the top of the peninsula in the kitchen. Unfortunately, all the in stock colors in Lowes or Home Depot were just not right! We went to a local tile shop and ordered a mix mosaic glass and stone sheet that have all the right sea tones that we were hoping for. Sadly, they did not stock this item so we had to order. We splurged a little on this accent tile as the 12x12 sheets were $18.99 per sheet, but we got a bargain on the field tile so I think it will all work out! The order will not be here until next week Tuesday or Wednesday....so our plans for being completed for Thanksgiving may be fading!

The guys are finishing the hallway trim and the back hall door trim as I am typing and I am watching the sunlight stream in the cabana room where Sadie & I looked at fabric & paint samples.

We are hoping that we can soon start unloading the kitchen cabinets out of the Sprinter and have them set into place before sundown. But much to my surprise before 2 PM the cabinets were being unloaded before our eyes.

The next step for the day was to begin working on plumbing of the new dishwasher (which the shack never had before) and the plumbing for the kitchen sink. Then back to the hard install of the cabinetry. At this point we still have a lot of day left, but one thing is for sure....plumbing work can be slow.