Snap, Clap and Floor!

Sunday morning 7am I roll out of bed after VERY little sleep thank you crazy overnight storms! Throw on my "read to work" gear and grab some breakfast. Then it was off to my house with my dad in tow. The mission was the kitchen floor.
The floor that was there looked fine but after my changes we needed to add a row of flooring, and after 2 months of trying to find something to match I gave up and bought all new. I can't complain because it was the 1st  problem we have had and it was a problem I made, so I just smiled as I handed the checkout lady my card...
So step one was tear out the old floor... BTW the whole floor day was something dad and I were both dreading... so we cut one piece to gain access to the floor. Because you know me I didn't want to tear it apart, you never know when I could find something to do with those floor pieces.
Dad pulled one one floor panel which leads to the next one, dad was pulling up panels as I was stacking them in the other room, suddenly he is moving so fast its hard for me to keep up the floor is just coming right up easy, the whole "demo" took like 2 minutes! It took me longer to carry it to the garage than to take it up. We just looked at each other shocked.
Old Floor

notice the hole under the cabinets...
This is what was under the old floor

Dad suggested I just leave this treasure... I disagreed HA!
So we rolled out the floating floor mat and got to work
I LOVE this floor, it snaps/slides together so quick and easy then  you just have to cut the last one to fit the spot which gives you the perfect size to start then next row. I mean DIY/HGTV would be so proud of us... so we are booking across this room, which happens to be a perfect square so no cut outs.

Then we get to the last row...
And all that celebrating came crashing down. The problem was we needed to tap the end of the floor to make it slide but the cabinets were in the way and not movable. So after a lot of wedging this and that and some stretching and reaching and one good kick...yes I said kick, the last one slide into place and we cheered!!
I LOVE the look of this floor it matches so much better and looks so pretty not one scratch on it! Then we added the toe kick and WOW, my kitchen looks GREAT!!!

About 1 day left of finish work, mostly trim around the room (we ran out I have to buy and stain more) and the kitchen will be complete and I get to clean the mountains of saw dust and move stuff into it!! I can't wait!!
Again all of this would not be possible without my dad he is really amazing I am so blessed to have a handy father who will take the time to teach me and do this for me. Its been really fun to try to learn this stuff and I try, good thing he is patient!

Crafty/decorations

My dad was once again busy working at their house so I took a little time to work on one of my crafts. I had this ugly old hanging lamp that I wanted to use in my laundry for more light but the colors did not work. So I bought some fabric and got to work.

I took off the old lamp border and beads. Then used spray adhesive. I think it looks great! I was very impressed with myself

Before

 After

Also got some Easter decorations up!

Not where I would normally put them but if I didn't get them out they were not going to make it this season!

Family Traditions

So this weekend we did our annual Butchering. How many of you just went "HUH!?" Yes that's right once a year my family/extended family gets together and makes our own summer sausage, called "Metvous" its an old German recipe where you mix pork and beef, seasonings, and liquid cure. Then you stuff it in natural casings, in this case we used cow intestines, then you smoke them in the smoke house for several days, then you let them hang until in a damp area. Let me make it clear YOU DO NOT eat the casing! You peel that off when you cut it. This summer sausage is beyond amazing! You can not find anything like this in a store. Besides the great food result you get to spend time with family. And you teach the younger kids, how things used to be done.
It was a blast!
Check them out at :
http://hermsmeat.com/ also on Facebook

Super dad!!

So my parents have been working like crazy on their place and WOW, I know I say that over and over but they have really done some amazing work and its all coming together so nice. Their kitchen just looks amazing! They did some great tile work and it really warmed the whole place, and its starting to feel very much like "home".
Because they have been working so hard my house was left untouched for the weekend. However my dad had jury duty on Monday and once he was dismissed I left work early to meet him at my place and get to work!!
Started with the laundry room... remember when it was just a laundry closet?

YUCK right! So I painted it awhile ago

Then we added a wall and made it a room not a closet

So yesterday we got a lot of finishing touches done! And its almost a complete room!

I know this is like a catch all of other stuff... like the old kitchen cabinets are now storage for the laundry, I think coupon deals will go in there...and other stuff you want to keep around but don't really have a place for.
But the counter top is really nice, will be a great folding/sorting area for clothes.
Really its a laundry room so it doesn't need to be spectacular but I need to do something with those cabinets!
I will do some sort of art thing on the wall, have to do that when I am feeling creative.
NEED YOUR HELP, what do you think I should do with the cabinets to make them fit in better?? HELP
Wondering about all brown paint job with new hardware...

So we also put in the door which I can't believe I forgot to take a photo because that door took a long time to put in. I never knew so much work went into a door!
I will have to remember to take a photo of it. But the whole room looks great and I love the turn out.

Also last night we started to add the trim in the kitchen and I have to say WOW, I think it really changes the look and just looks so nice... can't wait to get more done!
Here is a preview:

(the trim just above the light is what I am referring to)

More work to do, of course, but I can't believe we got so much done in one night!