Although there are a few details still awaiting completion—the largest being the backsplash, and the rest being tweaks—our kitchen is basically up and running. And it is wonderful.
We've used the KitchenAid mixer two times, tried out the griddle on the stove (I can report the grilled cheese sandwiches were excellent), and discovered to our relief that the recently connected microwave is an outstanding popcorn popper and broccoli steamer.
We need to start unpacking all the wineglasses, vases, china, and other delicates that have been taking up so much space in the basement all this time. It will be fun to find the right spot for each item.
And this weekend, I'm planning to move my office upstairs! I can't think why I have waited so long, except that with kids and contractors around the house, the basement office has been a fairly quiet, out-of-the-way sanctuary.
The backsplash tile will be the last big hurdle. It's supposed to come in around September 10—an adorable little 2x4 subway tile with a pillowed edge. The color is Cognac, and to my eye it's pretty much an exact match for our Compatible Cream walls.
Even though we're not 100% done, it is such a relief to be up and running, cooking and dishwashing, putting groceries away without going down a flight of stairs, looking out a bank of windows while washing dishes.
It's been a long haul, but so worth it. And we are so thankful.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
New and improved
I cooked in my new kitchen for the first time Sunday night, and it was a revelation.
I love the gas top on the range. Turn a burner on high—it's high! Ask it to simmer, and it complies instantly. After 15 years of raising children, it's a real shock to my system—and a delightful change of pace!—to get this kind of immediate response to my requests.
And if the first meal I cooked was a humble batch of Maid-Rites (Pat's recipe, available on request), let me just say that we all enjoyed them. I promise to make more exciting fare once we are 100% moved in.
Buoyed by my success with the stove top, I decided to fire up the big oven for a batch of brownie bites, cooked in mini muffin tins. I set the temperature to 325 as directed on the Ghiradelli box (yes, I used a mix) and went down to the basement kitchen to fetch a few supplies.
By the time I made it back upstairs, just a couple minutes later, the oven was fully preheated. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard it beep. I'm used to my oven taking a good 10 minutes to heat up.
In other news, the stools from Overstock.com were about 2" too short once you sat on the padding and smooshed it down. Fortunately, we found another option at Pier One last night, and really like them.
Jay is here today working on punch list items like island hardware, installing the new corner cabinet door, and miscellaneous tweaks. It's coming along!
I love the gas top on the range. Turn a burner on high—it's high! Ask it to simmer, and it complies instantly. After 15 years of raising children, it's a real shock to my system—and a delightful change of pace!—to get this kind of immediate response to my requests.
And if the first meal I cooked was a humble batch of Maid-Rites (Pat's recipe, available on request), let me just say that we all enjoyed them. I promise to make more exciting fare once we are 100% moved in.
Buoyed by my success with the stove top, I decided to fire up the big oven for a batch of brownie bites, cooked in mini muffin tins. I set the temperature to 325 as directed on the Ghiradelli box (yes, I used a mix) and went down to the basement kitchen to fetch a few supplies.
By the time I made it back upstairs, just a couple minutes later, the oven was fully preheated. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard it beep. I'm used to my oven taking a good 10 minutes to heat up.
In other news, the stools from Overstock.com were about 2" too short once you sat on the padding and smooshed it down. Fortunately, we found another option at Pier One last night, and really like them.
Jay is here today working on punch list items like island hardware, installing the new corner cabinet door, and miscellaneous tweaks. It's coming along!
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Cooking with gas (and electricity!)
Yesterday and today have brought drywallers, plumbers, and electricians—a veritable whirlwind of activity.
We now have a fully functioning dual-fuel range, which includes features I wasn't even expecting: a convection oven and a drawer that functions as a second oven. I'm very tickled with the second oven—not just a warming drawer, but a real oven you can set to whatever temperature you need! Most exciting.
And the dishwasher has reappeared, promising an end to dishpan hands and water spots.
I think the island will be temporarily set tomorrow, so we can walk around it all weekend and see what we think. There is enough "wiggle room" that we could set it anywhere from 38" to 40" away from the sink counter ... of course, if we go to 40" our walkway on the other side will be smaller. And we're not sure about our stools yet, which makes a difference. There are options that wouldn't stick out any farther than the island countertop, but so far, none of them are very comfortable.
We now have a fully functioning dual-fuel range, which includes features I wasn't even expecting: a convection oven and a drawer that functions as a second oven. I'm very tickled with the second oven—not just a warming drawer, but a real oven you can set to whatever temperature you need! Most exciting.
And the dishwasher has reappeared, promising an end to dishpan hands and water spots.
I think the island will be temporarily set tomorrow, so we can walk around it all weekend and see what we think. There is enough "wiggle room" that we could set it anywhere from 38" to 40" away from the sink counter ... of course, if we go to 40" our walkway on the other side will be smaller. And we're not sure about our stools yet, which makes a difference. There are options that wouldn't stick out any farther than the island countertop, but so far, none of them are very comfortable.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Close only counts in horseshoes
We're so close to being done, but we're not there yet.
The floors are finished. The kitchen and dining room look very good. The living room, where they sanded out the scratches, has an interesting mottled section that looks a bit as though someone spilled a Diet Coke. Unfortunately, that section is in a major walkway, and is unlikely to be covered by furniture or a rug. But it's done for now.
The appliances are here, but not all up and running. The range still needs to have gas connected. The island, which houses the microwave, can't be set until the piano mover relocates the Acrosonic from our bedroom back to the living room, sometime this afternoon. Our old dishwasher is still in the basement, waiting for its big move to the new space.
The backsplash tile should be here in about a month. It took Nebraska Furniture Mart a full month to get it ordered after I brought them the information. If I weren't so beaten down by this extended process, I'd be really annoyed with them, but I just can't find the energy, and it wouldn't get the tile here any quicker anyway.
Bit by bit, drip by drip, we are getting there. I am trying really hard to focus on the positives and not dwell on unfinished business. Some days are easier than others.
The floors are finished. The kitchen and dining room look very good. The living room, where they sanded out the scratches, has an interesting mottled section that looks a bit as though someone spilled a Diet Coke. Unfortunately, that section is in a major walkway, and is unlikely to be covered by furniture or a rug. But it's done for now.
The appliances are here, but not all up and running. The range still needs to have gas connected. The island, which houses the microwave, can't be set until the piano mover relocates the Acrosonic from our bedroom back to the living room, sometime this afternoon. Our old dishwasher is still in the basement, waiting for its big move to the new space.
The backsplash tile should be here in about a month. It took Nebraska Furniture Mart a full month to get it ordered after I brought them the information. If I weren't so beaten down by this extended process, I'd be really annoyed with them, but I just can't find the energy, and it wouldn't get the tile here any quicker anyway.
Bit by bit, drip by drip, we are getting there. I am trying really hard to focus on the positives and not dwell on unfinished business. Some days are easier than others.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Floored
As I'm now in the disgruntled, over-due, ungainly and irritable stage of kitchen gestation, I've been avoiding posting recently, but thought I should give you an update.
The floor finishing/refinishing, done by professionals while we were on vacation the week of June 27, did not go well. We came home to find unlevel spots still unlevel, boards with large knotholes that weren't replaced, deep and obvious scratches that should have been sanded out or had boards replaced, and bubbles in the finish.
We were, to succumb to a bad pun, floored that anyone would think this was satisfactory work.
I'll accept full responsibility for the eight loads of post-vacation laundry that came out of the dryer smelling like polyurethane. But I'm beyond unhappy that we came home to find floors that look we did them ourselves.
Actually, that's an unfair statement, since the entryway floor Doyle single-handedly refinished at our old house turned out great.
This job, not so much.
The floor people (name available upon request) have agreed to re-do the floors. Their current plan is to remove the defective boards and replace them, re-sand the areas that need it, re-finish those areas and try to get them to match the rest of the floor, then cover everything with one more coat. We'll likely have to move out for the duration again.
Because the living room has the majority of problems and the largest area to be re-re-done, I'm considering asking them to refinish all of it rather than attempting to patch in the repair.
We meet tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. Please send good flooring thoughts our way!
The floor finishing/refinishing, done by professionals while we were on vacation the week of June 27, did not go well. We came home to find unlevel spots still unlevel, boards with large knotholes that weren't replaced, deep and obvious scratches that should have been sanded out or had boards replaced, and bubbles in the finish.
We were, to succumb to a bad pun, floored that anyone would think this was satisfactory work.
I'll accept full responsibility for the eight loads of post-vacation laundry that came out of the dryer smelling like polyurethane. But I'm beyond unhappy that we came home to find floors that look we did them ourselves.
Actually, that's an unfair statement, since the entryway floor Doyle single-handedly refinished at our old house turned out great.
This job, not so much.
The floor people (name available upon request) have agreed to re-do the floors. Their current plan is to remove the defective boards and replace them, re-sand the areas that need it, re-finish those areas and try to get them to match the rest of the floor, then cover everything with one more coat. We'll likely have to move out for the duration again.
Because the living room has the majority of problems and the largest area to be re-re-done, I'm considering asking them to refinish all of it rather than attempting to patch in the repair.
We meet tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. Please send good flooring thoughts our way!
Friday, July 9, 2010
Just call me Mrs. Blandings
A friend said my description of "warm, goldish, buttery tan" made her think of this clip from "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House"!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Labor pains
As we move into our tenth month of remodeling, I have lost all trace of the cheery, chipper attitude that was a hallmark of my early postings. Remember when I got all thrilled because the guys were framing and I could see the outlines of the new structures? Trust me when I say that re-reading those posts is like reading letters I wrote in college: I was a completely different person.
After nine months of this, I'm fed up with subcontractors who assume that I am always here and ready, willing and able to make decisions at any hour of the day or night. I'm tired of looking at things that are almost finished, but won't be done for a couple of months (note to self: next time, try harder, much harder, to like tile that is in stock somewhere in the known universe).
And I've made so many decisions that right now, I don't even really care about any of the remaining ones.
I have nothing left to give to this kitchen. It's on its own.
My neighbor Kathy has been there, done that, on a much larger scale. She and her husband remodeled their entire house, which entailed moving out for months with their two kids (and moving back with three—they had a baby during their extended remodel). When I indulged in a little venting this afternoon, she was the very soul of empathy.
"It's just like labor—you're at that point where you don't care how, you just need it to be DONE," she said wisely. "It's really too bad there's not a c-section option for kitchens."
To which I say: Amen, sister! Bring on the epidural, or better yet, the "Twilight Sleep" they gave my mom in the 1960s.
A few random updates:
Today I re-ordered the pendant lights because the first batch were too short. I managed to return the first batch to Rejuvenation, only to find out later that I should have gone through some process on their website rather than just packaging them up and shipping them back. Meanwhile, the replacements will take 5-6 weeks. There is plenty of light in the kitchen without the pendants, but it's just one more thing that isn't done—and this one is my fault to boot.
Tomorrow, I'm going to order the backsplash tile. We settled on a handmade 2" by 4" subway tile in a color that just about matches the walls. It will take around 8 weeks to arrive, and the contractors can't frame up the niche behind the range until we have the tile in hand. That means I'll be looking at a wall with a small hole in it until school starts, probably.
And finally, we're in frantic pack-up-the-living-room-and-dining-room mode because we're having those floors refinished when the kitchen floor is done--which means every stick of furniture in those rooms (including our 1939 piano) will have to find a new home.
I'm sure—I hope—that it will all be worth it.
After nine months of this, I'm fed up with subcontractors who assume that I am always here and ready, willing and able to make decisions at any hour of the day or night. I'm tired of looking at things that are almost finished, but won't be done for a couple of months (note to self: next time, try harder, much harder, to like tile that is in stock somewhere in the known universe).
And I've made so many decisions that right now, I don't even really care about any of the remaining ones.
I have nothing left to give to this kitchen. It's on its own.
My neighbor Kathy has been there, done that, on a much larger scale. She and her husband remodeled their entire house, which entailed moving out for months with their two kids (and moving back with three—they had a baby during their extended remodel). When I indulged in a little venting this afternoon, she was the very soul of empathy.
"It's just like labor—you're at that point where you don't care how, you just need it to be DONE," she said wisely. "It's really too bad there's not a c-section option for kitchens."
To which I say: Amen, sister! Bring on the epidural, or better yet, the "Twilight Sleep" they gave my mom in the 1960s.
A few random updates:
Today I re-ordered the pendant lights because the first batch were too short. I managed to return the first batch to Rejuvenation, only to find out later that I should have gone through some process on their website rather than just packaging them up and shipping them back. Meanwhile, the replacements will take 5-6 weeks. There is plenty of light in the kitchen without the pendants, but it's just one more thing that isn't done—and this one is my fault to boot.
Tomorrow, I'm going to order the backsplash tile. We settled on a handmade 2" by 4" subway tile in a color that just about matches the walls. It will take around 8 weeks to arrive, and the contractors can't frame up the niche behind the range until we have the tile in hand. That means I'll be looking at a wall with a small hole in it until school starts, probably.
And finally, we're in frantic pack-up-the-living-room-and-dining-room mode because we're having those floors refinished when the kitchen floor is done--which means every stick of furniture in those rooms (including our 1939 piano) will have to find a new home.
I'm sure—I hope—that it will all be worth it.
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