5 weeks of dining room improvements

I can't believe I have been slowly plugging away at this dining room project for 5 weeks when last year it took me 2 weeks to complete a coffered ceiling and flooring install in my family room , spraining my ankles this summer has really changed how quickly I move...safety first.

 How can installing doors and knobs be the hardest part of a project like this....but it always is...turns out I was given not quite the right screws for the knobs, well that caused a lot of frustration...making a simple jig for the knobs prooved harder than it seemed resulting in the first door having the wrong holes being drilled so that mean a repair...and finding the correct screws to replace the ones that had been broken in my attempts to install the knobs resulted in a very long search for the correct screws...european hardware!!!! So I am relieved the doors are in and the knobs are on and centered...now I can move on to the floor.

 I am loving all this new storage.

Hopefully I will get to the uppers very soon because I can't wait to see how it looks. I am getting excited to get this room put back together, I think the ceiling will have to wait till after the new year...I need to focus on Christmas.

enough was enough

 My youngest and I tried for the very first time to make caramel apples.....don't they look nice? Yes they do , But I cooked the caramel too long and it became so hard it wasn't really edible...live and learn I guess. Don't over cook your caramel.

 We finally started our pumpkin carving last night , I should say they started because just my girls carved pumpkins, it is very nice to let them go and do their thing with out me micro managing them. We picked up glow in the dark teeth from the dollar store and I painted wood balls with glow in the dark paint , many many coats of the paint. We are going to hide these little pumpkins in the garden , you should just see the eyes and teeth on Halloween night. Cute idea from Sophie.

 These are so silly and cute.

 That is a big dangerous box of candy to have in this house....it's calling me...

 The work shop island worked beautifully for the pumpkin carving disaster zone.

 So after heading to the eye Dr and the allergist yesterday with Sophie our youngest I came home to find some dog pee in the dining room AGAIN!!!! it's been going on for a long time now , I supervise them , I have diapered the dogs or the offending dog but since I have two males it is a never ending problem. First it was my drapes then the dining chairs , then the drapes... I wash the drapes iron them and rehang them then it all of the sudden starts again . These dogs are sneaky. I put them in the laundry room when we are out , I have tried to break them of this habit . Cleaning with Oxi clean , vinegar stuff I got at Petsmart , nothing makes a difference. {Sophie is still allergic to Peanuts and that's, OK}

 So yesterday I decided it was time to rip up that carpet. It was always temporary carpet. After caramel apples and pumpkin carving and dinner this happened. I feel so good about .

The family room carpet was supposed to go first...well it will go soon. I now plan to clean out this room and put up one of those plastic construction zippered doors. This room will become my flooring work room, I will cut in here , store the flooring in here also. Then when the family room flooring is complete I will start the ceiling in the dining room , coffered ceiling, lots of crown moulding then a built in and then the dining room flooring , hoping for all of this to be complete before Christmas. It is time to order the pine flooring I think.

Looks like I am going to be very busy...