Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Beach Vacation

Here we are on Seabrook Island, SC having a wonderful, VERY HOT vacation. Sad to say, T had to stay home and work (he used up all his vacation working on the loft!). We've had a ton of fun already, visiting with my sister-in-law & nephew, her aunt and her son (3 moms, 3 boys, aged 4, 8 & 10). Crazy and Fun!


G, A & T and their sand castle

G arriving at Fort Sumter, SC on the boat




G & Uncle T fishing for sharks (or a fish sandwich for G), but all they caught was a baby shark, which they sent back to the sea

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FYI

For those of you who haven't been keeping up with our loft project, here are the basics. We bought a building in downtown Birmingham and have renovated the top floor into 2 lofts, each loft is approximately 2200 sqft. We finally moved into our loft about 2 weeks ago after 5 years of seriously hard work. We did almost all of the work ourselves (we did hire contractors for the major stuff like HVAC, plumbing & electrical). We did everything else ourselves, including demolition (the brick walls were covered in plaster, the floors covered in either tile or lead paint), interior construction, and finishes, including refinishing the orginal hardwood floors, all of the tiling (I have personally put down every single tile in this loft - and there's more to go!), and the painting. It's been an incredible journey, but as you see from the photos, it's definitely worth it, and we're finally living in our dream home!

The Kitchen!

The Kitchen!
Here is my beautiful kitchen. There are more photos in the Current Photos Slideshow.

The Kitchen!

The Kitchen!
Another view of the kitchen showing the Fridgidaire side-by-side Freezer and Refrigerator, the green room is the pantry, and the Fridgidaire double ovens on the right. The floor tile is finished now - I'll take a new pic after it's been sealed and grouted.

Master Bathtub

Master Bathtub
This is a Kohler soaker tub - there is no overflow drain inside the tub, so the water fills to the top edge and the spills over into a trough. It is pure heaven to take a bath with the water up to your chin! And G loves having an indoor swimming pool!

Master Bathroom

Master Bathroom
This is the master sink, it sits on a marble countertop with a rough front edge. The light fixture is from Ikea (gotta love Ikea) and we have plans for a future mirror and casework. And of course, that's Clyde insisting on being in front of the camera. He is SO happy to be in the loft. Finally a dwelling that allows him to live in the manner in which he deserves!

Entrance Foyer

Entrance Foyer
These are the stairs that lead from the first to the second floor. The beautiful handrails were designed by T & myself, and built by JH, our neighbor. The handrail, guardrail and uprights are all made from antique Heart Pine reclaimed from our building that has been finished in a clear lacquer (the color is gorgeous). Between the uprights is perforated metal sheeting. The stairs themselves are currently covered - the treads are reclaimed Heart Pine, the risers are stainless steel. Future plans include finishing the treads, tiling the lobby floor and painting the walls.

Loft updates:

06.15.2008 We're making progress!! While we took yesterday off for some family/Father's Day time (saw Kung Fu Panda, got G a bicycle), we got back into the loft swing of things today. T got a door hung on the guest bathroom!! Yahoo! Ahhh... privacy! M put down most of the tile on the Master Bathroom floor. Next up are the rest of the interior doors and the Master shower! Pics coming soon.

Our Building

Our Building
Please Note: We have not done ANY work on the outside of the building AT ALL! The 7 windows on the left side of the building are ours, the right side of the building belongs to the H's (our partners). We've split the building in half, we we own the left half of the downstairs and basement as well. The large window on the left of the first floor was blown out durning a hurricane a last year. The first floor windows have transom windows above that are brown in the picture - they're literally painted over - the previous owner had hung a drop ceiling below the transom windows. Future plans include scraping the paint off those, obviously, and replacing any broken windows. Our current front door is the small "wooden" door in the middle of the building. Future plans include a new front entrance including a new door and canopy.