Dowell Family Home Improvements : Everything is Done

Every thing around here is in place and done. The outside will come over time I'll be making adjustments for weeks to come but this is the first day that I can just sit back and finally enjoy our new place. 1/22/2012

The Fence

I had a fence installed around the entire back yard. I'll put up better pictures when the weather is better. The grass seed I put down is starting to take off. All this rain we have had has turned out to be good for something.

Shot of the double gate

Shot of one side of the fence from the outside

Shot of the fenced in back yard. Notice the grass is starting to grow

Shot of the other side of the back yard. The grass is coming up really good

I had the septic entrance and gas tank enclosed in a small fence area. I'll be putting down matt and filling the area with lava rocks so I'll never have to weed eat around all that stuff.

The kids Rooms

The girls room is pretty basic. Two beds, I mounted and installed a 32" HDTV/Blu-ray. I'm sure in the weeks to come I'll be mounting things and putting up posters and other junk. Jaliels room is also basic. A bed and I mounted a 32" HDTV and Xbox 360.

One side of the room

Other side of the room with the HDTV/Blu-ray I installed

Shot of the girls closet

Shot of Jaliels room with the HDTV & Xbox360 I installed

Shot of Jaliels closet

Upstairs Loft/Game Room

We made the loft a game room with lots of fun stuff for us and the kids. I decorated the loft walls with metal super hero posters and some of my favorite framed comic books. I also put my vintage life size 1982 E.T. (I've had it all these years lol). Instead of a sofa I put in a 8' bean bag chair. I put a 58" Plasma HDTV, with 5.1 Surround Sound, a Xbox 360, PS3, and a Wii. On the other side of the loft I put in a desktop PC. All the gadgets are either hard wired for internet of have access to WiFi. We had 2.5" Black out blinds put in over the front window and we had carpet put on both plant shelves.

Shot of the steps

Shot of the top of the steps

Shot of the carpeted plant shelves

Shot of the 2.5" black out blinds

Shot of the entertainment center

Shot of the other side of the game portion of the loft with the 8' bean bag sofa

Shot of the kids PC on the other side of the loft

Shot of the upstairs hall way

Shot of the upstairs bathroom

In-Law-Suite

The In-Law-Suite is around 400 sq ft and is set up to be like a studio apartment. The room has a full kitchen with upper / lower cabinets, dish washer, electric stove, full size refrigerator and a Delta Touch to activate faucet. The room has a 5' wide 8' long walk-in closet (I'll be installing a Closet Maid rack system), and a full bath room with a monster size shower 4.5' wide and 3' deep.

Full Kitchen

One side of the room

Other side of the room

Shot of the closet

Shot of the bathroom

Daycare Rooms

Chell is still putting up all of her teaching pictures and toys. I installed a 19" LCD HDTV and Blu-Ray player on a swivel mount 7' up on the wall, and I installed a baby changing station, a tall gate to keep the daycare kids off of the steps. I also installed a push button door lock on the entrance door. Both rooms are used for Michelles Daycare( Little Footsteps Childcare ).

Shot of the of the main daycare room with the changing station and storage rack I installed

Shot of the other side of the main daycare room with the TV / Ble-Ray I installed

Shot of the daycare bath room

Shot of the daycare storage closet

Shot of the entrance hallway with the tall gate I installed on the steps

Shot of the entrance door.

Shot of the push button lock I installed

Shot of the 2nd daycare room

Shot of the other side of the 2nd daycare room

The Laundry Room

The laundry room is pretty simple washer/dryer, deep sink, and I installed a large/long cabinet over the washer/dryer.

Shot of the laundry room

The Master Bedroom

The master bedroom has a queen size bed (that I had to put together *damn I hated putting it together*, two night stands, a mini refrigerator, an elliptical machine, small kettle weights and I mounted a 32" LCD HDTV and Blu-Ray on the wall. In the bath room I built and mounted a small shelf and put a Squeeze Box Internet radio in the bathroom. I took out the shelves put in by the builder in the closet and installed a Closet Maid rack system for all our clothes and junk. I also installed a medicine cabinet in the bathroom.

One side of the room

Other side of the room

Our little exercise corner

Shot of the sink area

Shot of the shelf I made with the Squeeze Box WiFi enabled Radio

Shot of the walk-in closet rack system I installed

Shot of the other side of the closet

Shot of the coat rack I installed on the other side of the closet

Shot of the shower and the double towel rack I installed up high so we can reach our towels from in the shower.

Shot of the garden tub

Shot of the medicine cabinet I installed

The Living Room

The living room is the hub of my wired and WiFi hub. I custom built my PC a few years ago with a i7 CPU 940 processor 3 hard drives, loads of DDR3 RAM displayed on a 22" monitor with a network Laser Printer / Scanner / Fax machine. I use my set up to link all the gadgets we have to music, movies, and the internet. I have most of the rooms in the house wired for internet, and the I set up a wireless N network the with two routers that blanket the entire property. I installed a 7.1 in wall/ceiling surround sound system with a 42" 3D LED TV and of course 3D Blu-Ray. We had 2.5" black out blinds installed so we don't get glare when we watch TV during the day.

One side of the living room

The other side of the living room

Shot of the entertainment center

Shot of the Black out Blinds

The Kitchen

we put in plenty of cabinet space (upper & lower). We put in 2 refrigerators (1 for daycare & 1 for the family). We went with a gas stove. We put in a Delta touch to operate faucet. I installed a under the counter TV/DVD/RADIO player. We have two eating ledges one is 5' long and the other is 6.5' long. The counter tops look like stone but they are not, they are just laminate, and the floor is just vinyl. The kitchen is pretty spacious and is working out great.