Condo now available available for rental

Our renovation is complete, you can see all the final pictures at http://www.aspentraditions.com/. Our website also offers ideas for your Breckenridge vacation and a calendar of availability. our best rates are always available directly from us.

You can also visit us on Airbnb at https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/687282 or VRBO  at http://www.vrbo.com/370991

Before and After

Thought it was about time to post some before and after pictures. As we spend this gorgeous September weekend at our condo we are realizing just how dramatic the transformation has been.

Kitchen:

I still need to create a before and after of the bathrooms, will post that soon.

Nearly Complete!

We had a great weekend tying up many small things and the condo is nearly done!

The guest room now features a queen over queen long bunk bed, not only does it look great, but our kids love it, they think it is fun and very comfortable. We also were able to get great fluffy comforters and some decorative pillows for them. A great find was vintage ski print that matches the decorative pillows.We also added a homemedics alarm clock with ipod dock that doubles as a white noise machine.

We added a new comforter and artwork to the master bedroom, along with an iHome alarm clock. We also replaced the missing blind, which had to be custom made.

The bathrooms received new shower curtains, soap dishes and toothbrush holders along with some decor. All that is left are some soft and fluffy towels. 

In the family area we added a 5.1 surround sound system and a Wii gaming system. We also placed artwork, decorative lighting, vases and other decor. Our little guys favorite thing is the addition of a high chair. One of our favorites is a custom made canvas of the town of Breckenridge that is mounted on a piece of local beetle kill pine - I could stare at "Little Town of Breckenridge" for hours...

In the kitchen, we continued to stock the kitchen with a few remaining items including some dishes for the little kids, tupperware, whisk and our new coffee mugs finally arrived. My husband also added some empty growlers to the kitchen for anyone who likes to stop by the brewery for local freshly brewed beer. We even filled them up at Breckenridge Brewery this weekend - they had some great limited edition choices.

 We are very happy with how the slate tile in the kitchen, hall and dining room turned out - it was a lot of work to install, but the end result is beautiful. It ties in nicely with the slate backsplash which also includes metallic glass accents. The barstools continue to be a favorite for our kids, they want to pick their favorite animal.

On the balcony we added a small electric grill, along with  two wrought iron chairs and a small tile table to enjoy morning coffee or an evening glass of wine.

We are still awaiting a couple of prints, a few decor items and tongs for roasting hot dogs in the fireplace. We also ordered some Wii games.

Progress continues - furniture

In the bathroom(s) we were able to get the new granite vanity tops installed, along with brushed stainless faucets and granite tile back splash. We also added new towel bars,towel ring, toilet paper holder and robe hook in a matching brushed stainless and new light fixtures. All we need now are some fluffy towels and new shower curtains.  Each bath has been finished with the same (granite top, new faucet, etc), although I only have pictures of the master right now.

In the living room we have added a leather sofa sleeper that pulls out into a queen bed, along with a matching over sized leather chair and a couple of microfiber chairs. In keeping with the slate on the floor, we have added a coffee table and two slate end tables also topped in slate.

In the dining area John hung our new chandelier over the teak table - we enjoyed a wonderful family meal one evening.  The table provides seating for 6 on teak chairs and we have added two hand crafted beetle kill pine stools to expand the seating to 8.

A huge thank you to John and Annie here in Breckenridge. They own "The Cabin Collection" http://www.thecabincollectiononline.com/ and provide hand crafted log furniture - most of it from local beetle kill pine. John is an amazing craftsman - we are so pleased with how our pieces turned out. On the lighter pieces you can really see the blue streaks from the pine bark beetles.

Most of the furniture is now in, we slept on the new king mattress - what a comfortable night sleep, combined with the fluffy new pillows and the wonderful mountain air, everyone had sound sleep. The log bed looks great in the master and it matches the nightstands that we had made for that room so well. We still need to pick out a comforter for the room, but we wanted to show a picture that shows the neat twig details on the bed along with the nightstands.

The fireplace has been inspected and is ready for winter - with how cool it has been up here, we may try to build a fire to roast some marshmallows when we are back in Breckenridge.

We are still awaiting the delivery of our queen over queen bunk for the second bedroom and also are in the process of getting all the final touches for our condo - artwork, decor, linens, etc.

Progress - Kitchen is nearly complete

We had a great week working on the condo this week.

In the kitchen - all of the new appliances are installed.  The stainless appliances look great with the granite. The cabinet doors are installed - we love love love the glass doors with leaf glass, crown molding and new knobs and bin pulls. We also were able to get the slate back splash with iridescent glass accents installed - grout will have to be the next time we are up here. The quick boil setting on the Fridgidare Gallery stove actually works quite well, as we found while making our kids some mac and cheese.

We enjoyed having our morning coffee at the bar - every day our girls spent time picking out which of the barstools to sit at - there is an eagle, a trout, deer and an elk. The pendant light also provide some great surface lighting.

Electrical and busy week ahead

So what could possibly be exciting about electrical? Well, we are excited to have some additional ceiling lights. We added 3 can lights on the living room soffit that will provide some much needs light for reading while relaxing on the couch. In addition, we moved from a swag to hard wired dining fixture and found a great chandelier that will fit perfectly above the teak dining table.

We also found added 3 great pendants for over the new granite bartop.

We also fixed some of the 70s electrical- removing the hardwiring for the dishwasher and the range hood and the disposal, all now current with normal outlets.

We also removed the very dated florescent light boxes in the baths and replaced with a more contemporary glass fixtures.

This week will be busy - we are installing all the new stainless appliances, finishing the grout and hopefully getting the backsplash in the kitchen and baths installed. Not sure if we will get it all done in three days, but we'll post some pictures of what we accomplish.

Doors and trim

Progress continues, a number of evenings have been spent staining the solid core doors, and we are very happy with how they are turning out. The V-groove detail is very rustic and we like the way it looks, but it does make the process of staining and sealing more time consuming.

We were able to find a trim that nearly matches the trim that was installed on the new exterior windows and trim in 2010.

Have to give a shout out to our carpenter - Jeff Church with Summit Property Service, in addition to being a meticulous carpenter and craftsman, he also has helped us out with framing and drywall. He even was able to resize a cabinet so we could fit in a microwave. If you need construction help in the high country, we highly recommend Jeff.

New countertops - Granite!

Big day, we picked out our granite slab at daltile in Denver. I just love looking at all the stones, I could have spent all day there... Since the kitchen is rather large, it took a bit of hunting to find a slab that was large enough to allow all of the countertops and the bar to be cut from the same slab.

We used Luxor Granite for our install, Jesus and his crew did a great job on the install. We are especially happy with the radius edge on the bar top, it allows us to seat 4 at the bar and really creates a beautiful gateway to the kitchen.

Slate flooring

We did it! We spent the better part of 4 days in July laying beautiful Multi Raja slate. The result is dramatic. John tore out the 1970's ceramic tile from the kitchen as well as the carpet from the hallway and dining area. We put down a striking 16*16 slate that adds some real impact.

The slate adds a real richness. In addition, by putting it not only in the kitchen but in the hallway and the dining area it really ties the are together. We used an enhancing sealer that makes the colors in the slate pop....

Next, the new countertops!

Cabinets - New, modern and black

The Reclaim cabinet paint ended up exceeding our expectations. It was super easy to apply and looks amazing, we love the black that the licorice color provides. It also seems to very durable after we sealed with polyurethane. A huge than you to Patty Henning who reps for Caromal Colours, her advice and help guided us to a very successful outcome.

We picked out a beautiful leaf glass for the front of some of our cabinets that ties in with our "Aspen Traditions" theme, Commercial Art Glass in Denver has a wide variety of glass in a many styles - it was hard to pick our favorite. They also will help router your cabinet doors and install the new glass fronts.

We had our carpenter install crown molding on the cabinets that we painted to match the cabinets.

Once we get the new hinges, and updated bin pills on the drawers along with the stainless knobs on the doors, the cabinets should be good as new.

Cabinets and Countertops

We are super excited about our cabinet finishing supplies - we are using Reclaim from Caromal Colours - they now have Reclaim in Licorice. The existing cabinets are solid wood and in very good condition, however the finish is dated and could use some help. A new finish in a jet black along with some new hardware, glass door insets, crown molding and undercabinet lighting should improve things greatly. A local craftsman is helping us resize some cabinets so we can fit in the new stainless appliances. We've also picked out some cool bin pull handles for the drawers with matching stainless knobs.

We picked Giallo Ornamental as our granite material for the bathrooms and decided to go with a square undermount sink, along with brushed stainless faucets. This should tie in nicely to the black vanity cabinet with the stainless knobs,

We are still looking for granite for the kitchen countertops, tile for the floors and tile for the backsplash.

Progress - sprinkler system and doors



We are making progress. The sprinkler system is in and has passed rough inspection. Much of it was able to be run behind existing drywall, however there are still lots of holes that need to be patched.

We also picked out some beautiful knotty pine solid wood doors. (Shout out to Builders Outlet in Denver). We are getting rid of the ugly metal sliding doors and some 1980s vintage bifold doors. We chose to stain and finish the doors ourselves, thanks to my mom and grandfather for instilling their love of woodworking in me as a child. Lots and lots of work, but we really are liking the way they look as we get them done. We decided to go with a darker stain in a toffee color so they will match the trim on the new exterior windows and sliding glass door that were installed right before we bought our condo. We also are updating the door hardware to a oil rubbed bronze lever style handleset.

Starting Out - Vision for our condo to be

For a number of years, our family has dreamed about owning a ski condo. John and Marty both enjoy skiing and spending time in Breckenridge year round, and our kids have also grown to love the mountains. We really like the area near the south end of Breckenridge, it provides close proximity to both the mountain ski area and to the town.

In 2010, the Village at Breckenridge underwent a complete exterior renovation including all new windows, doors, exterior stucco/siding and roof. This renovation also included the addition of a new clock tower which is visible from most locations in Breckenridge.

In late April 2011, we purchased a condo at the Village at Breckenridge. In this blog we will share our journey as we make updates to the condo, improve upon it and make it into the vision we have of a luxurious mountain retreat.

We are starting with a condo that was built in 1979 and has had minimal updates, we consider it to be a blank slate that we can improve upon and finish out in a manner that will allow us to provide a luxurious mountain retreat to our guests.

We are currently working on install of a sprinkler unit throughout the condo, as well as installation of new solid knotty pine craftsman interior doors that are being custom finished in coffee color. We also have a number of electrical upgrades in process - new chandelier in the dining area, pendant lights over the breakfast bar, can lights in the living room, new light fixtures for the bathrooms. We have also selected a beautiful Giallo Ornamental granite for the baths that is to be installed soon, as well as new bath faucets and sinks.

Next up will be new tile for the floors and backsplash - we are thinking slate, but haven't made a final decision. We are also starting the process of refinishing the cabinets which will include new glass doors for some of the upper cabinets as well as new hardware.

We'll plan to keep this page updated as we move into further updates including paint, granite and carpet as well as new furnishings and housewares.

Thanks
marty and john
Aspen Traditions