Gym – nicole.groudasfamily.com

Cabinet Doors and more

We had a pretty productive weekend, especially considering we also found plenty of time to relax and recoup from a busy week. Friday night Ryan started working on the cabinet doors and now has all of them made up! Here’s a picture of one set of doors, the small ones are still clamped while the glue dries and these Ryan shimmed in so you can see what they will look like.

Here’s a closeup of the door detail before the doors were finished:

The doors came out really great, the center is MDF beadboard but once it’s all painted you won’t be able to tell the difference. We ordered all the hardware for the drawers (10 drawers inside) and hinges and latches this weekend as well.

While Ryan did the cabinet doors I worked on the cabinet for the gym. I made the top out of poplar, attached it and added some trim. Then did a final sanding and primed it.

DSCN1163 — Trim detail added under the top.

Next for the cabinets, once the hardware arrives, Ryan can install the doors with the hinges (they have to be mortised). Then we need to make the drawers and install them. Once that’s all done and everything is sanded and primed, we’ll make a top, install it and start working on the bookcases that go above the cabinets. I’d like to get the bottom part finished so we can even use it before working on the bookcases.

And the gym cabinet just needs 2 coats of paint and a drawer to be made and added (probably). For now I may go without the drawer and see how usable it is without it.

DSCN1190 — And just for fun, here's a new picture of Fitzy boy!

Happy Mother’s Day

It’s been a crazy week and a half! First and foremost, my sister is now a mother! 2 months earlier than expected but she and my nephew are both doing well so Happy First Mother’s Day to my sister!

Last weekend while my sister was in the hospital my family all went down to their house to help out by finishing the nursery and of course offering support in any way we could. The nursery really came out great and by the time my dad headed home we had even put in the new rug and moved in the furniture.

2011-05-05_07-31-43_860 — The nursery 'finished' (just waiting for mommy and her baby!)

2011-05-05_07-31-54_934 — The dresser and changing table

This weekend Ryan and I found ourselves unexpectedly home so we spent some time working on the house (what else).

Saturday we got chores done and then made the face frame for the cabinet that goes in the gym and got that attached, as well as some feet.

DSCN1126 — Gym cabinet with face frame added

Ryan also finished the base for the TV room built-ins. Which made it easy to jump into continuing work on the built-ins today. While I sanded the gym cabinet, Ryan got the pieces for the boxes to the built-ins all cut and ready to go. Then we put the boxes together. We can finally get an idea for how they will look!

DSCN1124 — The right side cabinet box in place

Next on that project list is to make the face frames.

One other little project we did today was give Fitz a bath (well a hose shower).

Vacation Wrap Up

And vacation is over 🙁 However we did end the vacation with a pretty productive weekend which is always good!

Saturday I got the rest of the gym and bathroom touchups painted so they are both done except for doors. Ryan continued to lay decking and got all the way to the post on the other side of the door! Even in the cold! Sarah came up for a stitch and to meet Fitz. He slept while we stitched and chatted 🙂

Around dinner time Ryan called it quits on the deck and after dinner I put together the wall hanging for my sister’s nursery (I have to applique animals still but the top is pieced now!). So very productive.

2011-04-16_frontporch — Decking across the front door now!

Sunday was a beautiful day (very warm), so we did a nice long walk and since it was my birthday we worked on the cabinet/entertainment center I want to build for the gym! We got the box cut and put together! This picture of it is actually upside down because the top will be like a counter made of poplar. We still have to make the front face (stiles/rails) for it and then a drawer and feet. Finally it will be painted. It will hold the receiver, dvd player and have a drawer.

Cabinet for the gym entertainment pieces

After a break we decided to sand the decking and get it ready to stain, of course after sanding it, it started to rain so we covered it with a tarp again until better weather 🙂 We ended our vacation with some P&P on dvd, it was a great birthday!

Rainy Day (day 5)

Thank goodness Ryan was feeling better today! And with it being a rainy day we decided to take today as our day off. We slept in (well Fitz gets me up at 6 for a walk and breakfast but he then let us sleep in once he got that). Then we went to Millstores to look for a small entertainment center for the gym. We actually couldn’t find anything I really liked but got the idea to try building something. Should be fun.

After a nice lunch out we came home and set up the gym! There are still some touchups I want to do in the gym and the trim needs a coat of paint around the door (I wanted to wait until we got the treadmill in, just in case we dinged it up). So the gym isn’t completely done but it looks done!

We didn’t do much else today but relax (Fitz got another nice long walk the spoiled dog) 🙂

Here are some pictures of the gym all set up. I also designed out what i want for a small entertainment center and I ordered the wall mount for the tv so I’m looking forward to getting that part in there as well.

DSCN1089 — Weights and bench set up - those small weights on the sides are my new bday gift 🙂

I really like the gym mats we got, they are hard to keep looking clean since they collect dirt but they are very sturdy and will really protect our new floor! The small entertainment center I plan to build will sit in front of the treadmill.

Tomorrow the weather should improve and hopefully we can pick up more decking in the afternoon. Ryan has a leadership class in the morning and I have a dr. appt. Then in the afternoon Fitz has his Vet appt and then we’re going down to dinner with family. Fitz gets to meet Buddy tomorrow night!

Maybe Friday we can put some of the decking down!

April Vacation Day 2 and 3

Sunday was Family day! Mark and Maribeth got here early (I was still out at home depot and the grocery store). And when I got home, work on the porch had already started! The weather was great, so Mark and Ryan started working on getting the porch more leveled out and supporting it all the way across the front.

I got the dog runner set up and as i was doing that and Maribeth was raking, Becca and the girls showed up! The rest of the day centered around the girls! We played with the dog, we ate some lunch, then we went to the Carnival! There was a one week Carnival at Hollman Stadium, no entrance fee, just tickets to purchase and rides to ride. Emily rode every ride she was big enough for and she was worn out after such a long day!

We ended the evening by going out to dinner, then watching some Mary Poppins before bedtime (sleepover!) Morning brought cinnamon buns and then a walk to the park before the girls headed home. The guys got back to work on the porch.

The rest of Monday has been Ryan and Mark continuing to work on the porch (see tons of pictures below) and I finished all the outlets in the gym. The gym is basically done, although I found a few spots I want to touch up now 🙂

And now for the pictures…

And the porch project, no idea what the order is but I have plenty of pictures 🙂

DSCN1067 — Removing the carpenter ant eaten wood

DSCN1075 — And the other side is straight!

Maribeth and I got the backyard and side yard all raked up and after all that work, I ended my day by cooking a late lunch and then baking an apple pie for Maribeth’s bday.

I didn’t have my regular crust mix so I tried out a new recipe for the crust, the first half tasted a bit sweet so I cut back on the sugar for the second half. Hopefully it’s a nice flaky crust.

And now I’m finally putting my feet up for the day and the guys are still hammering out on the front porch 🙂

April Vacation Day 1

It’s that time again – stay-cation time that is. And we kicked the weekend/week off strong.

I got the final coat on the gym walls! The gym is so close now!

While I was painting Ryan was getting the tv ready to mount on the wall. We had to install the outlet as well as a cable and ethernet drop up by the tv (antenna and internet stream directly to the tv). Then we hung the tv which took about 5 tries and some extra wood blocking to move it away from the wall and level it.

DSCN1058 — Tv hanging - and Fitz sitting like a good boy

I think we’re going to end up lowering it later on, it’s a bit high, we actually centered it above where the cabinets will be but we decided it will just have to be un-centered so it’s more watchable. It works for now and it’s gotten ryan motivated to start the built-ins this week!

DSCN1059 — Starting the base to the built-ins

I’m going to go install the outlets in the gym and get that room looking finished, then we’ll put down the gym floor mats and move the treadmill in! I’d like to do some yard work today, i think it’s going to rain a bit this week and the yard really needs to be cleaned up. I spent this morning doing a quick vacuum/cleanup of the house since we have family coming and not everyone enjoys Fitz hair everywhere 🙂

Painting

Yesterday I got a coat of paint on the trim, today I sanded that coat lightly then painted the walls.

DSCN1054 — Door trim and walls with one coat of paint

I’ll get the second coat on the trim tonight probably and the final coat on the walls tomorrow night if I can. We bought the gym floor mats we wanted today, 3 4×6′ mats. We’ll probably end up with a 4th, maybe 3’x6′ once we see how much of the floor these cover. The gym is almost done!

Mr. Fitz tired me right out today, after painting I could tell he was tired of laying around while I painted (he followed me around continuously while I cleaned today). So we went for a nice long walk which is a lot of work on my end since he’s not trained at all, he pulls and he tries to mark EVERYTHING. I’m going to look up some training classes now 🙂

Last weekend

While I was down in NYC last weekend, Ryan was home and he made some great progress on the gym. He added the shoe molding to the baseboard since the floors were done, did the final coat of paint on the baseboard and primed the trim around the door!

Just the door trim to paint and the final coats on the walls. And of course the door 🙂 That’s still being stripped.

Deliveries

Today was full of deliveries. Ryan was very excited that his new 58″ plasma TV arrived safely and he’ll have it to watch basketball all weekend while I’m away.

I was excited that our fan for the gym arrived. We got a 52″ fan. The only downside was that it came with a control module and a remote instead of using a regular control. We had planned on using the Maestro control we purchased which included a fan module. So after pulling out the fan and taking a look I decided to try unhooking the wireless control module they had and replacing it with ours.

A couple hours later and it worked! I was very surprised this worked, I was sure I’d be plugging it all back in as best I could (I did jot some notes down). So the fan is in and the fancy switch we like works!

DSCN1034 — Maestro Fan/Light dimmer switch - and it works!

Considering I didn’t get home from work until 8pm and didn’t start fussing with the fan till 9, it’s not too bad that it’s midnight and I”m just now getting back to fixing our internet (router was reset) and heading to bed. All in a days work. Off to NYC this weekend with my cousin Hannah to see Wicked! First up a stop to see my sister – and there will be pictures!!!

Gym floor … finished!

That’s the third and final coat, all done! And boy does my back hurt now (and my head from the fumes!). I think next time i’ll wear a mask. But for now it’s off to bed, I’m exhausted!