January came and went, and we made a whole lot of progress! Matt has nearly finished the brick fireplace and hearth…and it looks AMAZING! It has added an incredible amount of detail back into our little home, and looks like it was meant to be. Now we can start tackling the next step of project: built in book shelves!
We are adding built ins next to our fireplace under two very plain windows. Book shelves will be solid wood lined with beadboard, all painted white. This will be Matt’s first real cabinet making and he is excited to try out some new tools and skills. If his track record with our prior projects are any indication this will look really awesome in the end. Working on the book shelves is the perfect lead in to the next major project: finishing the pantry and building new lower kitchen cabinets!
I am interested in taking on a little side project of my own to tackle those boring windows. (Isn’t this cool!??)
There are still quite a few things on the to-do list (and some are pretty major…like demoing the kitchen counters and backsplash and refinishing the hardwood floors!) before baby comes in July. We are focused though and chipping away at it one day at a time.
While Matt is focused on these projects I have spent my energy researching and doing the “paperwork” side of the house. Business taxes were wrapped up by the end of January, and I am (im)patiently waiting for our personal documents to arrive so we can file ours. I have been working on buying life insurance and air lift insurance (hello living on an island!). And then there is all the research on baby registry (nearly done!) and the world of cloth diapering and babywearing. I enjoy geeking out on those last two.
February is a short month so we are buckling down and getting stuff done. Wish us luck! Baby deadline is quickly approaching!
Moose & Turtle on Vashon 
Love your story…that hearth is so beautiful. Diane
thank you!