Category Remodeling

My biggest project for the spring is upgrading all of the major kitchen appliances. Almost all of the existing appliances were from 2013 when I bought the house, and so they were coming up for replacement anyway. My goal was to move into the Sub Zero / Wolf / Cove family, and so that’s what I did. I have a french door Sub Zero refrigerator ordered, along with a Wolf induction range and a Cove dishwasher. Originally I wanted to get a Wolf LP gas range, but my sales rep successfully convinced me to go with an induction range instead. It’s easier to clean, and doesn’t have the same drawbacks as electric.

I also decided to keep my existing Kitchenaid double oven and replace my Samsung microwave with a matching Kitchenaid microwave. That will leave me with a Sub Zero family refrigerator, range, and dishwasher, along with a Kitchenaid family double oven and microwave. In the future, I may upgrade the oven and microwave but given the life left in the Kitchenaid it was hard to justify throwing away an extra $10k on a new oven.

The only challenge I encountered with ordering the appliances involved the refrigerator. While the others would be available within 3-4 months, I was told that the wait time for the refrigerator would be approximately 15 months. That was hard to stomach for a $14k appliance, so I decided to explore other options. Sub Zero restricts their dealers to a 150 mile delivery radius, so I couldn’t look at larger markets like New York City or Los Angeles. I could, however, look at the northern suburbs of Chicago. I was able to find an Illinois dealer that was literally 149 miles from my house that had a delivery slot available for April!

With that in mind, I put in an order and then ordered the other appliances from my local dealer.

The very last step prior to installation was to source trim that matched my existing cabinetry. I was able to bring a piece of cabinetry left over from the last kitchen remodel and match the wood and stain at Menards, and have an order in for several pieces of trim that will cover the gap at the top of the molding when the new, much taller refrigerator is installed and the cabinets above the current refrigerator are removed:

Everything is currently slated to be delivered in April and May, so it will be exciting to see the transformed kitchen take shape!

After a short delay, the remaining finishing touches have been put on the three season room. The baseboard trim is done, as are the window and door casings. The last little bit of siding work is done, and the gutters and downspouts are in place along with the remaining fascia boards. With this final polish, the project is done, and I’m very proud of how it turned out!

In addition to the three season room itself, the grill and patio furniture are also in place.

There are a few remaining ancillary tasks to take care of (installing the hot tub and TVs, for example), but for now we’re enjoying spending time in the three season room and on the deck, as are the cats.

Now that the main construction is done, I’ve been able to reclaim the guest house garage for the truck and the Range Rover, and I’ve also been able to fully whip the lawn into shape.

Here’s to a great rest of the summer!

While the deck and three season room project isn’t completely done, it’s definitely getting close. Over the past couple of weeks, the three season room has turned into an actual building, complete with windows, doors, siding, and a (mostly) done interior.

While the interior still needs trim, window casings, and some other minor touches, having the shiplap painted and the furniture plus other decor in place makes it feel like a pretty complete room.

I’ve also got the railing done, and the deck furniture set up.

We had a party last weekend, and our guests were able to use the space and enjoy it. The cats have also really enjoyed sitting out there and looking out the windows.

In August, I’ll wrap up the project with the new hot tub, new TV’s, the remaining trim work, and the outdoor kitchen. It will be a lot of fun to see the vision I had for this project during the winter fully realized!

The theater rug and risers for the back row finally came after a couple of months of waiting, so I was able to get this project fully done. The risers make a dramatic difference in the viewing experience from the rear row of seats, and the rug brightens up the room and pairs well with the dark floors and walls.

As mentioned in a prior post, the big project I was planning for spring was demolishing the old deck and building a new, larger, composite deck, along with a three season room, an outdoor kitchen space, and an improved hot tub patio with a new hot tub and outdoor TVs. The first actual step in the construction process was to demolish the old deck, which went fairly quickly.

Next, concrete and diamond pier footings for the new deck posts went into the ground, along with the posts themselves.

In a huge, multi-person effort with the help of a skid steer, the main central beam was installed. It’s a massive piece of wood that weighs over a thousand pounds, so it was no small thing to get it into place.

After the big beam, joists went in next.

Finally, the brown aluminum railing went in.

Last March (right before the start of the pandemic), my designer had a photographer professionally shoot the rooms that had been redesigned up to that point. A month or two ago, the photographer came back to shoot the progress that had occurred since then. As before, the results were pretty spectacular!

After redoing the flooring in the theater, I wanted to redo the rest of the room as well. I removed the old shelving and ceiling mounted the projector, and also moved the electronics to the back of the room. I installed built in shelving in the alcove that used to house the old free-standing shelving, which is much more space efficient and better looking.

I then installed the theater electronics, and also added decor to the shelves.

In addition to the shelving, I added window treatments with a complementary pattern to those in the library, but with different colors that better match the theater.

Next, I added a vintage popcorn machine to play up the “theater” theme.

Last, and probably most important, I replaced the old couch with two rows of actual theater style seating. The seats recline, have adjustable headrests, along with cup holders and lighting. They make it feel like an actual theater, as opposed to just a media room.

The final step is adding an area rug and risers for the second row of seating, both of which are in progress.

The rug should be ready in early June, at which point I’ll install it and the risers to complete the remodel.

Over a month ago, most of the guest house remodel was finished, including new floors, new paint, and improved decor. The last thing to do was replacing the couches with new sleeper sofas, which completed the transformation from man cave to true guest house (even though it’s still a man cave). I was able to find comfortable and attractive couches that still function well as queen size sleeper sofas.

The completed remodel is a pretty remarkable transformation!

My big spring and summer project this year is going to be replacing the deck at the Verona house. It’s not just going to be a new deck, however; it’s going to be a deck with an outdoor kitchen, a three season room, outdoor TVs, and a new hot tub and lower level patio that is much larger than the current deck and patio.

Plans are still being finalized, but I have initial sketch and material selections picked out.

Aside from selecting and ordering materials, I’m also in the process of selection options and customizing a new Bullfrog Hot Tub, which will be a massive upgrade from the current tub. I’m working with Patio Pleasures in Madison, and next week I’m going to finalize jet, deck, and tub colors so that the order can be submitted for the tub to be completed and delivered in June or July.

Stay tuned for more news on this project! I’m planning on construction starting towards the end of April, assuming that the weather cooperates and spring continues to warm up here in Wisconsin.

The big spring project, which I described in more detail a month ago, was to finish all of the flooring throughout the main Verona house and the guest house. It became a two-part project, with the theater, basement bathroom, and guest house left for part 2. Both the guest house and theater received the same LifeProof vinyl that I’ve been using elsewhere in parts of the house, and the basement bathroom received the same tile that I used in the entryway, kitchen bathroom, and laundry room.

After the flooring went in and before painting those rooms, there was some cleanup work to do. First, a bunch of trim had to be replaced in the guest house, and the door frames needed to be redone:

Second, I hung the projector for the theater from the ceiling so that the old shelves could eventually be replaced (the theater is currently in the process of being redesigned, which will be a future project in the spring or summer):

Third, I replaced the toilet in the basement bathroom with a new Kohler unit that matches the others in the rest of the house:

Fourth, I removed a cabinet from the guest bathroom walls and repaired the drywall. While doing this, I also installed a new mirror frame, courtesy of the awesome company MirrorMate:

After this, it was time to paint. I went with paint colors that were consistent with the rest of the house, although the theater walls are darker so that they reflect less light, and the guest house has new primary wall and accent wall colors.

Once all of the art and other decor was back on the walls, everything ended up looking incredible!