Seriously, who gets bronchitis in July??

Long time no see! For the past two and a half weeks I've been miserably coughing, choking, hacking up mucus, and generally wishing I was dead. After finally breaking down and visiting the doctor I found out I have bronchitis. I'm still trying to shake it and it doesn't seem to be going anywhere quite yet. Anyway, while laying on my couch spitting yellow phlegm into a bucket I neglected to update this blog. I think I get a pass, no?

July was crazy hot. Like, most days in the high 80s/low 90s and really humid. So naturally work around the house slowed a bit. We did get to enjoy barbeques in the backyard and dining on the front porch. We got a new lock for the garage so we could store all the yard tools that have been clogging up the back patio. Lucy's been loving the backyard.



During the hottest days the porch stayed nice and cool, so we put the backyard patio table up there for a little while so we could enjoy the breeze and get some relief from the heat.




Deeeelish!

It hasn't been all fun, games, and phlegm around here though. As I showed you earlier, we primed over the hideous wood paneling in the mud room on a whim a couple of weeks ago. Branden has been itching to finish the room off, so we picked out a paint color and he got to work on it while I coughed and wheezed and cheered him on from the kitchen.



What would I do without him? :)

After paint was done, the next thing to tackle was the horrible linoleum floor. It was in rough shape and peeling up at the corners. We also knew we'd be trashing it, so we didn't mind getting paint and primer all over it.


After the 1,382,039th trip to Home Depot, we decided on some easy vinyl tiles. Since we weren't sure what condition the sub floor was in (though after we ripped up the linoleum the sub floor ended up looking fine), we decided to get tiles that adhere to each other--not the peel and stick tiles that adhere to the sub floor itself. The floating floor was a good choice, and the tiles were pretty easy to get together. Cutting them was the toughest part.



We're almost done tiling the floor--we came up just three tiles short!--and it has already made an enormous difference in this room! It used to be dark, dingy, and dirty. Now it's light and airy and adding usable square footage to our house. Once the floor is done and the trim is painted, I'll be sure to post a full reveal with before and after photos.

A plumber is coming in Monday to give us an estimate on what it will cost to redirect the existing washing machine hook-up to the mud room. The dryer hook-up is already in the mud room, but the washer is in the basement. Weird, I know. So if we can get a washer and dryer out here, it will be a lovely and usable laundry room! Let's hope it doesn't cost a bagillion dollars!