The Saga of our Disney Dream home - It's about time!

[franandaj]

Looking forward to catching up on the house.

Yay looking forward to seeing those updates!

Speaking to the two ladies who have actually seen the place! I'm hoping to have some time this week to write up about the pictures I've taken. Two weeks from yesterday my parents arrive so the house needs to look great. Plus we took advantage of end of summer deals yesterday and I'll have a nice surprise to post next week!

 

[jedijill]

Speaking to the two ladies who have actually seen the place! I'm hoping to have some time this week to write up about the pictures I've taken. Two weeks from yesterday my parents arrive so the house needs to look great. Plus we took advantage of end of summer deals yesterday and I'll have a nice surprise to post next week!

Hey! I've seen it too.

Can't wait to see all the updates!

Jill in CO

 

[franandaj]

Hey! I've seen it too.

Can't wait to see all the updates!

Jill in CO

Yes you have. There are a couple others as well. I'm working on the update right now!

 

[franandaj]

For those not following my regular TR, since July 9 I’ve been gone (either literally out of state or just involved in an all day affair locally) for 30 of those 53 days. While we were around town and still sleeping in our own bed a home, it was a challenge to keep up with the every day tasks like feeding the cats, laundry, etc. Not to mention once we got home from all the away trips, it took a week to catch up on things. I literally did not get our suitcases unpacked and put away until a week after we got back.

Then we spent the next week unpacking mail and packages, digging out all the loot and souvenirs we had picked up along the way. Generally just cleaning up the house and making it presentable for my parent’s arrival in less than two weeks! But enough of my troubles, lets get back to business.

So on our last update, the TVs had been mounted in three rooms and the pantry was completed and stocked. The Family room TV posed quite a problem.



The wall you see there is solid concrete. The previous owner had somehow drilled a small hole in the bottom of the recessed area and then spliced together two common low grade extension cords to put a flimsy little plug behind the TV. Of course by this time I wasn’t surprised at any of this.

You can’t see them in the shot of the whole TV, but our contractor put in a real plug.



And then they drilled this hole so that the cords could come through the wall more securely. Once we get the sound bar all hooked up, we’ll address covering up the wires. This took a lot of drilling and quite a bit of effort on their part to actually get the TV mounted.



Now for those who don’t know, we went to a car club event the second week in July. The third week in July was the Disneyana Convention. The fourth week we were actually home. The last couple days of July we drove to Vegas for the Star Trek Convention. Three days after returning from there, we flew to Ohio for the Gay Games and a side trip to Auburn, Indiana to see the Car Museum. Every single one of those events generated a lot of “stuff”.

Alicia and her DH rescued us on the side of road when our classic car broke down on the way home from the car club event. They helped us unload and you know what we did with everything that had been in the car? We dumped it on the couch and coffee table which was all turned around due to the construction of our large cabinets. Do you know what we did with all of our stuff when we returned from each subsequent event? Yup, dumped it on the couch and coffee table. By the time we got back from our Midwestern trip the space around the couch and coffee table was three feet wider with bags o stuff!

Last Saturday we finished getting most of it put away and things all cleaned up. Here is the state of our living room now. The cabinets are all assembled and we have even begun to put things inside them! Eventually there will be a plexiglass display box on top of the cabinets for our larger figures.





Here’s looking back to the kitchen/family room from the edge of the living room.



And here are some close ups of the pieces that we have already placed in the cabinets. It’s not as good as in person, the glass and sunlight make pictures difficult, but it looks cool when you are actually standing in front of it.









This is looking from the living room to the front door. We have yet to put figures into these cabinets. Right now they are just warehousing boxed figures and other stuff we are trying to get out of the way until we figure out exactly what we want to put in them.



One thing I love about this house is that we are making sure that there is a place for everything. I have a pedestal where my purse goes when I come inside the house. In the old house I never had a place to put it and was constantly misplacing the darned thing! Now I always know where to find it!



This is the view from the front door. While we were gone, the packages just kept coming and piling up. By the time we got home you could not see the fronts of either of these cabinets because packages were stacked so high. Plus the walkway between them was reduced to a tiny path. I love looking at it being clutter free!



Finally the front yard. I didn’t know this when we bought the house, but the plants in this area on both sides of the walkway are annuals. We have to replace them every few months. I suppose we could put in something else, but it’s kind of nice having a changing landscape. I don’t have pictures of the pansies that used to be here, but on our trips, they became old and passed their prime. We put in these petunias and celosia last week. Kind of Disney gardening inspired, don’t you think?



I’ll try and take some pictures of what we have done to the back of the house next!

 

[jedijill]

The house is looking great! Isn't nice to be home long enough to get things put away?

Can't wait to see more!

Jill in CO

 

[dolphingirl47]

You really made a lot of progress even though you were hardly at home. I love the stained glass lamp in one of the cabinets.

Corinna

 

[Leshaface]

Hey! I've seen it too.

Can't wait to see all the updates!

Jill in CO

The house is coming along great! I remember there was lots of stuff in the living room and now it's all taking shape.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Speaking to the two ladies who have actually seen the place! I'm hoping to have some time this week to write up about the pictures I've taken. Two weeks from yesterday my parents arrive so the house needs to look great. Plus we took advantage of end of summer deals yesterday and I'll have a nice surprise to post next week!

Excellent! It'll be sparkling for when I get there.

It looks GREAT!

 

[ddstratton]

Wow! Your house is coming together beautifully! I love the display cases everywhere. Also love the kitty trees. Cat heaven!!

 

[Linda67]

Really enjoyed the update, the house is really coming together now
Everything in its place and a place for everything !

 

[kmedina]

It really is coming along very nicely. I know how busy you've been. I was hoping to see you last time when you were here, but I knew you were busy when I did not get any more texts. Hopefully, you had a great time. I thought about calling you to see you sometime after the race on Saturday. I was so sore though that I spent most of the time in the hotel room. We spent less than 7 hours in the parks across Saturday and Sunday. The rest was either eating, race time or back at the hotel.

 

[ACDSNY]

You're making progress!

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

The house is looking great! What a lovely garden. I know that you have had many issues with wires and the previous owner having some strange ideas about what defines a good quality finish...but buying a house that isn't new gives you a mature garden and look how pretty and lush it looks! Love the Mickey by the door.

Will the sound bar cover the wires or will your contractors have to use their pixie dust?

Love what you have done with the display cabinets. Cute items adoring Pirate Minnie

Black and white cat can't resist photo being taken lol. Too cute.

So only the topiary to add then to the front lawn? Real size Pooh and Tigger greet us as we arrive. Now that would be cool.

 

[franandaj]

The house is looking great! Isn't nice to be home long enough to get things put away?

Can't wait to see more!

Jill in CO

I am definitely enjoying getting settled and waking up in our comfy sleep number bed. I just wish the cats liked Fran’s side which is firmer. I get stuck with all the fur babies sleeping on my soft side and trying to push me off!

You really made a lot of progress even though you were hardly at home. I love the stained glass lamp in one of the cabinets.

Corinna

Thanks! Since taking these pictures, we found a Belle lamp, and a Disneyland lamp with a castle as the base and fireworks on the glass shade.

The house is coming along great! I remember there was lots of stuff in the living room and now it's all taking shape.

And you should have seen it after three more trips!

Excellent! It'll be sparkling for when I get there.

It looks GREAT!

I sure hope so! :

Wow! Your house is coming together beautifully! I love the display cases everywhere. Also love the kitty trees. Cat heaven!!

New update, even more display cases added!

Really enjoyed the update, the house is really coming together now
Everything in its place and a place for everything !

It really is. Just the other day, I went looking for sunscreen and it was right where it was supposed to be!

It really is coming along very nicely. I know how busy you've been. I was hoping to see you last time when you were here, but I knew you were busy when I did not get any more texts. Hopefully, you had a great time. I thought about calling you to see you sometime after the race on Saturday. I was so sore though that I spent most of the time in the hotel room. We spent less than 7 hours in the parks across Saturday and Sunday. The rest was either eating, race time or back at the hotel.

I didn’t know you did the race! We were out there on Sunday to see another friend who ran Sunday’s race!

You're making progress!

The house is looking great! What a lovely garden. I know that you have had many issues with wires and the previous owner having some strange ideas about what defines a good quality finish...but buying a house that isn't new gives you a mature garden and look how pretty and lush it looks! Love the Mickey by the door.

Will the sound bar cover the wires or will your contractors have to use their pixie dust?

Love what you have done with the display cabinets. Cute items adoring Pirate Minnie

Black and white cat can't resist photo being taken lol. Too cute.

So only the topiary to add then to the front lawn? Real size Pooh and Tigger greet us as we arrive. Now that would be cool.

Oh no, she didn’t have issues with quality finishes, it was what was under those finishes that we had the issues with!

Hopefully the sound bar will cover most of the wires and if not, we’ll come up with something.

We’re getting more and more items out every day. PIO will be able to give you all an update when she sees it. I tend to be a little partial, having put everything up myself!

That’s Tesla. Not that he likes to be photographed, that’s just his spot, he’s usually there every afternoon.

No topiaries on the front lawn. The HOA might object and we don’t want to give them anything to hassle us with, especially since we still want to build the HM room.

 

[franandaj]

So we’ve been at it again. My parents arrived two days ago and we barely got the house presentable for their arrival, but at least we weren’t embarrassed by the house. So here is the part that I know you have all been waiting for, the KVC Suite.







Close up of the pictures on the wall.







The bathroom









So for those of you with a confirmed reservation for the KVC Suite, you now know what to expect.

We have also done a tiny bit of remodeling in our bathroom. We got this cool new (to us) sink and had to have special granite (well quartz actually since granite doesn’t come in the color I wanted) counter top cut to accommodate the sink. We got all new plumbing and a faucet too.





We replaced the door lock with this spiffy digital key code door lock.



We moved the plants all over the back yard.



We got a new patio table (half off on Labor Day! Summer closeout!)



The cabinet is filling up…



And we got a new cabinet to fill up!



That’s the news for now, we are enjoying my parents company and I got some of my wine put away today. Things are coming together!

 

[Pinkocto]

Lots and lots of progress!!!

Love the Mickey and Minnie sink, that is sooo cute!

The new cabinet looks beautiful, I'm sure it's difficult to choose what to put in.

Have fun at dinner!

 

[Luvchefmic]

It's coming along really nicely enjoy your family time !

 

[kimmar067]

.....love, love, LOVE the H2O Disney products in the bathroom! But tell me - why did you opt for the push-button door lock? No Mickey Bands???!!?!?

 

[kimmar067]

Finally the front yard...Kind of Disney gardening inspired, don’t you think?

....one thing's for sure - your home certainly has curb appeal!

 

[Pamlur]

I had that pedestal sink in the guest bath of my previous house.