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.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
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.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Granite!
It's here, and I'm happy!
It looks a bit darker than I expected, but that's just fine.
The colors, the wavy movement, and the waterfall edge that Doyle wanted all look beautiful.
And the fabricators (Iowa Countertop) did a wonderful job on the one and only seam. The colors and movement really flow together. As my neighbor Kathy said, "They were able to save the wave!"
It's all good, and I'm feeling an extreme sense of relief. I kept thinking, what if this looks totally different to me once it's in the house, and I don't even like it? I know a bad countertop isn't the end of the world ... but good or bad, this one will be here for a long, long time.
More good news: just as the countertop guys were ready to leave, the painters showed up. By the end of the day, there will be no drywall white anywhere in the kitchen. I still haven't chosen a wall color, but the primer will be tinted Dover White to help us choose the backsplash and wall color.
It looks a bit darker than I expected, but that's just fine.
The colors, the wavy movement, and the waterfall edge that Doyle wanted all look beautiful.
And the fabricators (Iowa Countertop) did a wonderful job on the one and only seam. The colors and movement really flow together. As my neighbor Kathy said, "They were able to save the wave!"
It's all good, and I'm feeling an extreme sense of relief. I kept thinking, what if this looks totally different to me once it's in the house, and I don't even like it? I know a bad countertop isn't the end of the world ... but good or bad, this one will be here for a long, long time.
More good news: just as the countertop guys were ready to leave, the painters showed up. By the end of the day, there will be no drywall white anywhere in the kitchen. I still haven't chosen a wall color, but the primer will be tinted Dover White to help us choose the backsplash and wall color.
Back door
Our new back entry is finished (except for the light over the back door) and they did a wonderful job. It's pleasure to come in and out of the house now.
The brick walkway looks as though it's always been there. The garden space is gorgeous—Doyle got to work planting it as soon as the painters left, and finished a week or so ago.
The door hardware won't be installed until the painters are finished with the door, which may be today.
And this very minute, the granite is being installed in the kitchen.
Part of me wants to go look at it, part of me is scared to look at it, and part of me doesn't want to see it until it's finished. And one final part thinks it's really silly of me to care so much.
The brick walkway looks as though it's always been there. The garden space is gorgeous—Doyle got to work planting it as soon as the painters left, and finished a week or so ago.
The door hardware won't be installed until the painters are finished with the door, which may be today.
And this very minute, the granite is being installed in the kitchen.
Part of me wants to go look at it, part of me is scared to look at it, and part of me doesn't want to see it until it's finished. And one final part thinks it's really silly of me to care so much.
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