Earlier this month I posted photos of my refinished tile floors. Here are some photos of the last room to be refinished: the dining room. Click on the thumbnails below and then look for a detailed description below.
I am in a rare moment of rest at the end of a busy and complicated summer. I’ll write more about why it was “complicated” when the time is right, but I can speak on the busyness…
We traveled to Atlanta + Tiger, San Diego, Tucson, and Prescott (and hopefully back to San Diego later this week.) Somewhere in there I went to Ohio for a weekend. I am infinitely thankful that Candyce and I planned out the summer back in early May, otherwise this summer would’ve felt like our lives were spinning out of control. Our planning paid off because our summer was fun and rewarding, even when you throw in the fact that Candyce and Norah have been sick…
…after several days of worsening head and sinus pain, I took Candyce to urgent care last Thursday. The doctor told us she had sinusitis. The prayers and antibiotics have combined to help her get better each day for the past five days. Norah had two bad weeks of teething that coincided with Candyce’s sickness. That meant both of my girls were in pain and sleep deprived, which ultimately meant they had no patience for one another.
I had to stop all of my projects and just try to hold our household together. I had to cook, clean, care, and coordinate. (I don’t think that it’s cute that each of those words started with a C. It just came out that way.) Thankfully they’re both feeling better now, and most of our weekend was spent trying to get our lives back in order.
Last night at Pei Wei Candyce’s aunt Stephanie declared that she could beat Candyce’s dad in an arm wrestling match. It seemed unfair to let a challenge like this go without resolution, so I used my force of personality to get two adults to clear plates off the table to make room for the main event. Big John Stud pinned her to the table in a matter of seconds. Next match up? Big John Stud v. Johnny Jr.–tied. At this point I realized John was tired and therefore easier to conquer. I figured I’d impress Candyce and challenged the Grizzly to go knuckle to knuckle. John pinned me with both his left and right arms. He’s just that strong. We spent the 10 minute ride home challenging John to increase his fame by arm wrestling random people we know. It was an oddly satisfying end to the Sabbath.
No, seriously. Candyce is the most talented and passionate cook ever. My days start with perfect espresso and finish with delicious and creative dinner. Delightful bookends. Here are a handful of our meals that were so impressive that it only seemed fair to memorialize with photos. Click on the image and look for a description beneath the large photo…
When I bought my home three years ago, the most defining features of the great room was cheap carpet and tacky tile. One year later, my brother and father came out to Arizona to help me remodel the first floor of my home, and the first items to go was that ugly carpet and tile…
Dad removes the tacky tile that will soon be replaced by travertine.
Once the floors were stripped down to the concrete foundation, I laid most of the the tile in a 16-hour marathon that began at 6pm and ended at 10am the following day. The tile needed to get done ASAP so my brother could install the baseboards in the great room.
The good news is that my hard work paid off–my brother began the baseboards the next morning and the remodel continued on. The bad news is that the grout between the tiles “sunk” as it dried which made the tiles look uneven. I don’t know if the grout sunk because it was too thin and seeped beneath the tile, or maybe the dry Arizona air pulled the moisture out of the grout and caused it to lose volume. Regardless, the end result was a floor that looked good, but it didn’t look great. It wasn’t a priority at the time to apply more grout and make it perfect, so I left it as it was.
Now that the remodeling finished–18 months later–I’ve made my rounds and regrouted and sealed/polished the tile. Here are photos of what I did over the last couple of weekends…click on the small image and look for a detailed description on the bottom…
Now it’s time to clean the other side of the great room. It’s going to be a busy Saturday afternoon.
(I am beginning to see that the inside of my house and my website use the same color palette. That means I’m either consistent or boring.)
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