Done, finally!

We spent most of the three day weekend painting the kitchen trim, unpacking the kitchen, and trying to get the house back on order. We've gotten the mudroom, dining room and kitchen in order, but have more cleaning to do and need to spend some time getting the living room back in order.

All in all, I think we're pretty happy with the result. We finished up just short of 6 weeks.

We've got a few things to buy or replace that don't work as well with the kitchen, but you can see the basic jist of things.

Here are some before and after pictures:

North view before

North view after

Northwest view before

Northwest view after

East view before

East view after

Southwest view before
Southwest view after

It's amazing how different the space feels. We actually don't have enough stuff to put in the cabinets. The pantry is almost totally empty and the rest of the cabinets are only half full or so.

Thanks to all of our friends that graciously had us over for dinner over the last few weeks and lent us time and gear to get this done.

Just a few details left

We're coming down the home stretch. The tile is grouted, the new lighting installed, and the appliances moved into place. We finally got a good look at the new hardwoods, they look good!

You'll notice that we still haven't picked a trim color, but have decided the brown is to dark. Back to the drawing board, we are planning to finish that off this weekend.

Unfortunately we also have a ton of cleaning left to do, they did a very cursory job of cleaning debris out of the new cabinets, so we need to vacuum everything out and wipe it down. Needless to say, I'm ready to be done with all of this and not thrilled to have cleaning added to the agenda for the weekend.
There are a few details left to finish up, the exterior wall needs some patching and the grout needs sealed. Not much left outside of that.

All in all, I think a good result!

Kitchen Remodel Week 4: Countertops!

Lots has happened over the last 3 weeks: a new functioning window, the installation of the pulls for the cabinets, finishing the hardwoods, and new trim. However, we've been on hold for any major progress until the counter tops were ready. The process for natural stone counter tops is to stencil the mold for the counter tops once the cabinets are installed to ensure a tight fit. It took almost 2 weeks from the time the stencil was done until the install and the backsplash and appliance install was on hold until those were done.

They did the install today, and will start the backsplash tomorrow. That should be finished up on Tuesday or so, and then they'll install the appliances and the new lighting.

We think things are looking pretty good. Here's the north view. The new fixtures are inplace, but not properly mounted. The counter folks custom cut through the quartz to custom mount them.

Northwest view

New window framed in with custom built trim from Andersen Renewal. These are amazing windows, built to replace old double wooden double hungs. They slide like a dream, look consistent with the era of the house and have screens. It's a little thing, but it's awesome!

Our on site contractor/project manager custom build trim to match the rest of the woodwork in the house. We'll be priming and painting that this weekend.

From there it should be finishing details. We're hopefully to have a functioning kitchen by the end of next week!

What a difference a week makes

A week ago, Tom and I had a totally demoed kitchen. There's been a lot of progress over the last week. New plumbing, new wood floors, and drywall were all in by the weekend which meant that Tom and I painted all weekend.

Since we're getting a lot of cabinetry in, we put some color on the wall and just pained the areas that would be shown (days 9 and 10).

The cabinet installers showed up today and starting putting in the cabinets. They've got another day or so of work to do to get in the molding and hopefully the pulls for the drawers and knobs for the handles. The hardware for the cabinets didn't show up with them, so that will happen another day.

North wall, new window should be going in on Friday. You may thank Tom for the artistry.

They did some cool custom work for us to work with some of the interesting angles and space needs we have. They built an entirely new unit to replace the past built-ins, and they built custom cabinetry to fit in the angled corner. They also built a structure to fit the fridge in.

East wall

We're probably 2 weeks on having the counter tops installed since they custom cut those for us, and the back splash and appliances won't be installed until that's done, but it no longer looks like we're living in a construction zone which is a good thing.

Kitchen remodel

Well, I'm long overdue for a post but with good reason, it's been busy. Tom and I have flown 3 weeks in the last month, work is busy, and we've embarked on a total kitchen demo. When I say demo, I mean complete to the old studs. The only things that we're moving back in are the fridge and the garbage disposal!

We left town for the demo, and I think that was a wise call. Here's what we came home to:

It's hard to believe all of this actually fit in the kitchen!

This is the north side of the kitchen where the sink will go in. Windows are being replaced.

This is the east side of the kitchen

So far, it's been moving quicker then we thought. Days 1-3 were demo and new plumbing. Days 4 and 5 were new electrical, permitting, and the start of drywall. I did a happy dance to come home from work and see walls and insulation!





Next steps are the get the drywall done so we can paint, and get the new hardwoods installed. We'll have to evacuate the house next week when they are sanding and staining.

One of the things that's been interesting is the story of the house that's unfolded. We found old plumbing where the stove was, and a window that had been on the east wall. We also found where there were holes into the exterior wall for allowing air to flow in and out of the icebox. Pretty cool!

A new year, and a new president

Well as you know, I've been ready for years to wish George W. adieu and I got my wish today. While I believe government is slow to change, I look forward to seeing where President Obama will lead our country and how much he's able to effect change.

I believe that he will bring a warmth and dignity to the office that has been missing in recent years. He's building a strong cabinet around him that hopefully will help him navigate the complicated Washington landscape.

I also have to admit that I'm excited to have a young family in the White House. I've been impressed with how openly demonstrative they are in public, and how they have been able to maintain a private family dynamic under the public eye.

During today's inauguration, I was impressed by how many Americans felt were compelled to turn out or tune in. Even more then that I was surprised by the celebrations all over the US (Times Square closed) and all over the world. I don't recall ever seeing this level of excitement over an election in my lifetime.