We're Really Not This Messy

When I was little, I used to hate when my mom made us clean the house for guests, "But they're our friends! They'll like us no matter how the house looks!" 

Now that I'm older, I totally get it. It's not about whether or not your friends/family will still love you, it's about pretending you don't actually wallow in your bedsheets for 2 weeks, let your cats climb on the dining room table, and have a constant competition with your garbage can to see exactly how much trash it can hold. It's about showing you know how you're supposed to be living - somewhere in between sanitary conditions and Martha-Stewart-organized, and hopefully a little closer to the latter.

Since we have exactly T-minus 8 hours until Mike's niece arrives tonight, we've been on high alert, hyper aware of how our home appears to the objective eye. I organized the chaos in the office so we could cram all our other boxes in there, basically making the office the "under the rug" area. Don't open that door.

And we got all crazy in the guest bedroom, trimming out the window, finishing most of the baseboards on the floor, and setting up the new bed.

Nail guns are one of my favorites! I also learned they are
responsible for 150,000 emergency room visits a year!

We hustled in the kitchen - Mike got the shelves up, patched, sanded and stained them, and I unpacked our dishes. He even put up the kitchen hood! Here's a shot in progress:

before staining, with the kitchen hood partially up

completed shelves and installed hood - we still need to remove
the protective plastic. The hood is actually stainless steel.

close up of the kitchen shelves

I think by the end of the day today, we'll have a kitchen sink and dishwasher, and I'm crossing my fingers....hopefully a stove! If not, at least we'll have our grill, a waffle maker, and a crock pot to feed Mike's niece with. Mike also pulled a late night countertop sealing session:

step by step, we're getting stuff done...

Our master bath vanity, pendant lights, and mirrors were installed (thanks, Mike!), and although I'm second guessing my mirror choice and we're looking for a large rectangular one now, this will suffice for the time being. I also finished painting the ceiling in the shower area and could finally properly place the shower light. It really made a difference; the shower feels super glamorous when you're in it, and I can't stop staring at my 2" hexagon tiles. 

vanity shot on the left, shower view on the right

The glass in the shower area hasn't been installed yet (or even priced out), but to be honest, the shower is so huge that the water doesn't even hit the back wall, much less the area where the glass would be. This is awesome for two reasons - no rush to get the glass, and when we finally do get the glass - it won't get too many water spots. 

I think the thing we're most excited about with our niece's visit, is not that she's got us motivated to finish up some lingering projects; it's that we have an excuse to go out and do stuff for the next few days! We made a whole list of hikes to go on, waterfalls to see, things to show her...we can't wait to get out and do something other than remodeling. Fun starts now!