Alan created a cool slide show of all the rooms, before and after.
Click here to see the slide show.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Saturday, June 14, 2008
We Did It!
I moved all the food into the pantry, Alan made a delicious meal in our new kitchen (especially enjoying his old favorite pan that had been stored away), we ate in the dining area, I washed the dishes in our new dishwasher, and put a lot of things away in our new cabinets.
Note, I did not say, "put everything away in our new cabinets." We have many boxes of kitchen stuff still to be put away. Not a problem, because we have SO much space. But just not tonight. I'm done.
Today's discussions included exactly how to load the dishwasher, whether to rinse or just scrape, what soap to use.... We are very easily entertained these days. I went back to this favorite website to re-visit such things ideas as:
DON'T RINSE YOUR DISHES
Only the engineers who designed it, really know how to use your dishwasher, the rest of us are idiots to varying degrees. So don't feel so bad.
- In dishwasher culture as many of you know, there can be only one person per household, the Dish Master, who can operate the dishwasher. This Dish Master must learn the ways of the dishwasher, gain the respect of the dishwasher. When others attempt to load the dishwasher, the Dish Master must respond by sneering at and ridiculing said trespasser for his or her dishwasher incompetence. Passive-Aggressors need not apply. The Dish Master, once chosen will be responsible for dish loading until he or she dies. Though maybe this is just my family.
- Perhaps this sounds obvious.....but read the freaking manual. All those engineers spreading their collected wisdom. It's like an oracle. Worship the manual. It has the answers even before you have the questions.
- Fill out and return your warranty card. It's really not as hard as it looks.
DON'T RINSE YOUR DISHES
STOP RINSING YOUR DISHES: Dishwashers are designed to clean dirty dishes.....it's right there in the manual. We are not making this up.
Step 1: Don't Rinse Your Dishes. About 1/2 the country rinses their dishes and are idiots for it. You need not be one of them.
-Your dishwasher is your most complex major kitchen appliance, with heaters, moving parts, rubber seals, electronics, and 42 million gallons of municipal water held back by a $3 valve and $4 hose.
-Cheap ranges cook. Cheap fridges refrigerate. Cheap dishwashers do not wash dishes. Do not be a cheap bastard when buying a dishwasher.
etc etc Well worth a read.
Note, I did not say, "put everything away in our new cabinets." We have many boxes of kitchen stuff still to be put away. Not a problem, because we have SO much space. But just not tonight. I'm done.
Today's discussions included exactly how to load the dishwasher, whether to rinse or just scrape, what soap to use.... We are very easily entertained these days. I went back to this favorite website to re-visit such things ideas as:
DON'T RINSE YOUR DISHES
Only the engineers who designed it, really know how to use your dishwasher, the rest of us are idiots to varying degrees. So don't feel so bad.
- In dishwasher culture as many of you know, there can be only one person per household, the Dish Master, who can operate the dishwasher. This Dish Master must learn the ways of the dishwasher, gain the respect of the dishwasher. When others attempt to load the dishwasher, the Dish Master must respond by sneering at and ridiculing said trespasser for his or her dishwasher incompetence. Passive-Aggressors need not apply. The Dish Master, once chosen will be responsible for dish loading until he or she dies. Though maybe this is just my family.
- Perhaps this sounds obvious.....but read the freaking manual. All those engineers spreading their collected wisdom. It's like an oracle. Worship the manual. It has the answers even before you have the questions.
- Fill out and return your warranty card. It's really not as hard as it looks.
DON'T RINSE YOUR DISHES
STOP RINSING YOUR DISHES: Dishwashers are designed to clean dirty dishes.....it's right there in the manual. We are not making this up.
Step 1: Don't Rinse Your Dishes. About 1/2 the country rinses their dishes and are idiots for it. You need not be one of them.
-Your dishwasher is your most complex major kitchen appliance, with heaters, moving parts, rubber seals, electronics, and 42 million gallons of municipal water held back by a $3 valve and $4 hose.
-Cheap ranges cook. Cheap fridges refrigerate. Cheap dishwashers do not wash dishes. Do not be a cheap bastard when buying a dishwasher.
etc etc Well worth a read.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Appliances In
Not final, cause there's nothing on the countertops (except construction junk and dust) and no furniture in the rooms, but having the appliances in does fill the room out a bit. I haven't had time to get better photos, but I wanted to at least get a few up there.
We're still schizophrenic, running back and forth from the temp kitchen, where all the stuff is, to the new kitchen, where the fridge and sink are. The hard work started tonight with cleaning and moving. Such a relief to begin. We've been obsessively using the Roomba to keep the floors clean (it's still awful cute) and using Bona after, wiping down the countertops, wiping up drops of water on the floor. Wonder how long we'll keep this up!
We picked out carpeting for the stairs and upstairs too, so we'll have that in a few weeks! Yay!
We're still schizophrenic, running back and forth from the temp kitchen, where all the stuff is, to the new kitchen, where the fridge and sink are. The hard work started tonight with cleaning and moving. Such a relief to begin. We've been obsessively using the Roomba to keep the floors clean (it's still awful cute) and using Bona after, wiping down the countertops, wiping up drops of water on the floor. Wonder how long we'll keep this up!
We picked out carpeting for the stairs and upstairs too, so we'll have that in a few weeks! Yay!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
99% Done!
Yesterday the appliances were installed, the electrical stuff finished, and now it's just a few last small things like door knobs and door stops and drawer front adjustments. The appliance guys scratched up the floor a little, but maybe it will buff out.
I'm alternately thrilled and depressed, excited to move in and exhausted. After spending so much energy on all of this, there are bound to be a few disappointments and inevitable moments of coming up short. At the same time, there are more projects to continue to work on - carpeting the stairs and upstairs, re-doing the bathroom, choosing stuff to fill the new rooms.
This is when I wished I love to shop and had better taste (with more money to go with it). I won't go through the things I don't like - I'm grateful for all that we have, and on the bright side, the stove fits exactly into the space allotted, there's a ton of storage, I love the cabinets, sink and floors, and I can't wait to stop washing dishes in the bathtub. It will probably be this weekend that we start using the kitchen more fully, as work is very time-consuming right now. I'll be glad when Ethan can move out of my office and into his room, and hopefully he'll find the time to help us out with all the stuff that needs to get done.
I'm sure once we move in stuff and start using everything it will all feel fine, and life goes on. I'll post photos later - there's no way of getting a photo of the whole thing, because of the long narrow shape of the kitchen, so you'll just have to come over. July 5th party? We hope!
I'm alternately thrilled and depressed, excited to move in and exhausted. After spending so much energy on all of this, there are bound to be a few disappointments and inevitable moments of coming up short. At the same time, there are more projects to continue to work on - carpeting the stairs and upstairs, re-doing the bathroom, choosing stuff to fill the new rooms.
This is when I wished I love to shop and had better taste (with more money to go with it). I won't go through the things I don't like - I'm grateful for all that we have, and on the bright side, the stove fits exactly into the space allotted, there's a ton of storage, I love the cabinets, sink and floors, and I can't wait to stop washing dishes in the bathtub. It will probably be this weekend that we start using the kitchen more fully, as work is very time-consuming right now. I'll be glad when Ethan can move out of my office and into his room, and hopefully he'll find the time to help us out with all the stuff that needs to get done.
I'm sure once we move in stuff and start using everything it will all feel fine, and life goes on. I'll post photos later - there's no way of getting a photo of the whole thing, because of the long narrow shape of the kitchen, so you'll just have to come over. July 5th party? We hope!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
What Is This Man Doing?
You got that right! He is actually washing dishes in a sink! Remarkable, I know, but it's really true. We cooked in our temporary kitchen, but we celebrated the plumber's visit by doing dishes in a real sink. Alan even used the dispos-all, a new experience for this kitchen.
We experimented with our new towels when we dried. That would be microfiber towels and flour sack towels, which we discovered on Gardenweb, our reno-bible. They worked. Amazing! Here's a close up:
Yup, really works. I'm so happy. This means appliances aren't so far away.
So get ready for 99.9% DONE photos!
So get ready for 99.9% DONE photos!
Light at the End
Monday we spent 10 hours going to L.A. to shop (no IKEA or Crate & Barrel here) and it was, well, excruciating. This may be hard to understand for those of you who like to shop, but that describes neither Alan or I. Malls, stores, parking lots, lines, decisions.... we'd rather not do it, but if we have to, we'd rather do it on-line. So between feeling exhausted by the enormity of it all, it was just so hard to make a decision. We've made so many decisions since February, we've just run out of decisiveness.
We had a mega-list, found every home decorating store in the Topanga mall, and came home with a tiny percentage of our shopping done. Most important was a bed for the guest room/Marina's room/Adrianna's room/front room, that we had seen at an IKEA in Palo Alto, so that is done. And since shopping at IKEA is kinda like getting beat over the head (in a sorta fun way), you keep putting stuff in your bag just to move along and make the pain stop. Mostly what I like about IKEA is that they have twine in the loading area so you can tie things down in the car.
There was a reward when we got home though - the electrician had been there, and we have light. Yay!! Well, mostly. He didn't do it all.... But I think part of the process of remodeling is driving your expectations lower and lower as the weeks progress, so that by the end you are grateful for every 5 minutes of work that gets done.
OK maybe that's an exaggeration. We're excited for the light because we can actually go in there in the evenings and see the progress. (Hmmm, is that also part of the plot, to keep us in the dark so we can't actually see what they've done?)
We hope to have the electrician over again some time soon to finish it all off.
Family/Dining Room:
Kitchen:
We now have 2 porch lights so it actually looks like we are welcoming people to a front door. For some reason one isn't lit, but you get the idea.
We had a mega-list, found every home decorating store in the Topanga mall, and came home with a tiny percentage of our shopping done. Most important was a bed for the guest room/Marina's room/Adrianna's room/front room, that we had seen at an IKEA in Palo Alto, so that is done. And since shopping at IKEA is kinda like getting beat over the head (in a sorta fun way), you keep putting stuff in your bag just to move along and make the pain stop. Mostly what I like about IKEA is that they have twine in the loading area so you can tie things down in the car.
There was a reward when we got home though - the electrician had been there, and we have light. Yay!! Well, mostly. He didn't do it all.... But I think part of the process of remodeling is driving your expectations lower and lower as the weeks progress, so that by the end you are grateful for every 5 minutes of work that gets done.
OK maybe that's an exaggeration. We're excited for the light because we can actually go in there in the evenings and see the progress. (Hmmm, is that also part of the plot, to keep us in the dark so we can't actually see what they've done?)
We hope to have the electrician over again some time soon to finish it all off.
Family/Dining Room:
Kitchen:
Marina's Room:
We now have 2 porch lights so it actually looks like we are welcoming people to a front door. For some reason one isn't lit, but you get the idea.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Close to Done???
Finally, the painter has removed the last of the dropcloths, the paint smell is receding, and now we just hope for a quick in and out with the electrician, plumber and appliance installer. And a few last minute details. Then on to the next project - NO WAIT! Can I at least spend a few moments kvelling in my kitchen before the next project???
We're picking out some rugs (looks like Pottery Barn will be our source), Monday we'll go to IKEA for at least a bed/couch for Marina's room, and to Crate & Barrel perhaps, and see whatever else we can find.
Anyhow, here's what it looks like this morning -
We're picking out some rugs (looks like Pottery Barn will be our source), Monday we'll go to IKEA for at least a bed/couch for Marina's room, and to Crate & Barrel perhaps, and see whatever else we can find.
Anyhow, here's what it looks like this morning -
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Floors are Finished
Floors are just so beautiful! I'm really happy with them, and all my fears are gone about them not looking good with the maple cabinets. We bought a Roomba and when things get slow, we watch it bump into walls and spin around. I can see why people name them - he - I mean it - looks so sad when it gets stuck, and then happy to head back to its base....
Painting should be finished by Wednesday, with any luck, and then hooking up fixtures and appliances. Our contractor's 91 year old mother passed away Friday, so we may slow down even more for a bit. That's life. Fortunately the painter finished with Marina's room so that we could stash Ethan's stuff in there (while he's on the AIDS ride) and HOPEFULLY, for all our sanity, he can move into his room when he returns.
Here's the floor!
Painting should be finished by Wednesday, with any luck, and then hooking up fixtures and appliances. Our contractor's 91 year old mother passed away Friday, so we may slow down even more for a bit. That's life. Fortunately the painter finished with Marina's room so that we could stash Ethan's stuff in there (while he's on the AIDS ride) and HOPEFULLY, for all our sanity, he can move into his room when he returns.
Here's the floor!
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Why I Haven't Been Blogging
First, work was incredibly busy, what with increasing my hours, learning a new job and learning InDesign and putting out a newsletter, and getting ready for Strawberry.
Then Ethan came home from college, which looks like this:
Because the bedrooms were finished, and all of extra space already had stuff from that part of the house stored in them, he was reduced to having all of his stuff in the laundry/storage area of the music room (clearly a well organized lad), and sleeping on the floor of my office. Which is where I do my blogging.
Then we went to Strawberry, which looked like this:
Way more fun than blogging (though COLD and rainy too).
More soon.
Then Ethan came home from college, which looks like this:
Because the bedrooms were finished, and all of extra space already had stuff from that part of the house stored in them, he was reduced to having all of his stuff in the laundry/storage area of the music room (clearly a well organized lad), and sleeping on the floor of my office. Which is where I do my blogging.
Then we went to Strawberry, which looked like this:
Way more fun than blogging (though COLD and rainy too).
More soon.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
We've Hit the Two Month Mark!
Not too bad I guess, but I am getting impatient for all the last things to get done.
But we do have floors, just finished today! I just have one photo to post, in Marina's room, since the other rooms have cardboard pieces or appliance boxes on them, and they haven't been swept from this week's drywalling and sanding (for the heater closet and living room doorway). But I keep walking around the area barefoot cause it feels so good, so warm! They still need the edge piece and baseboards and some thresholds, so I'll post more pics when it all looks spiffy.
But we do have floors, just finished today! I just have one photo to post, in Marina's room, since the other rooms have cardboard pieces or appliance boxes on them, and they haven't been swept from this week's drywalling and sanding (for the heater closet and living room doorway). But I keep walking around the area barefoot cause it feels so good, so warm! They still need the edge piece and baseboards and some thresholds, so I'll post more pics when it all looks spiffy.
Next to come is finishing up the last of the painting, electrical, plumbing and finally appliance installment (I can barely remember what we ordered).
The roofers came and put dormers and vents in the red tile roof. And, I just looked out my window onto that part of the roof, and see that the guy replaced a few broken tiles as well! Nice! The heater can go in anytime after the painting is done. Sort of anti-climatic that we won't be using it for another 5 or 6 months!
But we're starting to look at bathroom stuff and stair carpet for the next phase. It's hard to build up enthusiasm for it somehow - maybe has to do with kitchen overwhelm, job overwhelm, lots of offspring activity (Marina is getting readying herself for her travels to Israel/Romania/E.Europe and moving to Portland, and Ethan is finishing school, renting a house, AIDS ride and moving back home!) and then also getting geared up for Strawberry music fest! How could I not be overwhelmed?
BREATHE!
The roofers came and put dormers and vents in the red tile roof. And, I just looked out my window onto that part of the roof, and see that the guy replaced a few broken tiles as well! Nice! The heater can go in anytime after the painting is done. Sort of anti-climatic that we won't be using it for another 5 or 6 months!
But we're starting to look at bathroom stuff and stair carpet for the next phase. It's hard to build up enthusiasm for it somehow - maybe has to do with kitchen overwhelm, job overwhelm, lots of offspring activity (Marina is getting readying herself for her travels to Israel/Romania/E.Europe and moving to Portland, and Ethan is finishing school, renting a house, AIDS ride and moving back home!) and then also getting geared up for Strawberry music fest! How could I not be overwhelmed?
BREATHE!
Monday, May 12, 2008
We Have Floors!
We went from sparse communication with Craig, the floor guy, waiting for the flooring to be delivered so it could acclimate, to suddenly the floors had to be installed TODAY, upon delivery! He has a job next week, so he can't wait, so he'll start TODAY! That old tile is too well glued to the floor, so he'll work around it - TODAY! So, although the drywallers were here finishing the closet and the doorway to the living room, he began work on it TODAY!
And it's beeyoutifullll!! Here it is in the family room,
in Marina's room (looking toward the window),
in Marina's room (looking away from the window) - wish I knew how to get the color better, but this will give you a better impression of how it looks in person,
and in the kitchen, next to the cabinet (I think the color matches better in person).
Reminder: Greenwood Bamboo, vertical, carbonized
And it's beeyoutifullll!! Here it is in the family room,
in Marina's room (looking toward the window),
in Marina's room (looking away from the window) - wish I knew how to get the color better, but this will give you a better impression of how it looks in person,
and in the kitchen, next to the cabinet (I think the color matches better in person).
Reminder: Greenwood Bamboo, vertical, carbonized
He Crawls on His Belly Like A Reptile
Alan has been a DIYer (do it yourself) this past month with network cable and stereo connections, taking advantage of the open walls to get conduit going from one end of the house to the other.
He hit a snag this week when the heater vents were installed in the attic space before he made the time to complete the project, blocking the access he'd planned on. Plan B meant climbing into the crawl space as well (as if it weren't creepy enough to climb through the tiny attic), where it's not deep enough to do more than belly crawl under the pipes.
So today Alan was my contractor (dealing with the flooring guy), my IT guy (helping me with new software at work), and my wiring guy. I don't know why he doesn't want to make me dinner too...
And here he is trying to be one of the guys...
Sorry, couldn't resist. At least he's still laughing.
Guess we're having take-our tonight....
He hit a snag this week when the heater vents were installed in the attic space before he made the time to complete the project, blocking the access he'd planned on. Plan B meant climbing into the crawl space as well (as if it weren't creepy enough to climb through the tiny attic), where it's not deep enough to do more than belly crawl under the pipes.
So today Alan was my contractor (dealing with the flooring guy), my IT guy (helping me with new software at work), and my wiring guy. I don't know why he doesn't want to make me dinner too...
And here he is trying to be one of the guys...
Sorry, couldn't resist. At least he's still laughing.
Guess we're having take-our tonight....
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Tons of Stuff
The drawers and doors and handles are on the cabinets. Sweet! It all looks so good together and I'm completely excited and happy with how it all looks with the counters and the paint.
I'm a little worried about a couple drawers being not exactly flush with the others, but Alan thinks it's not noticeable. Am I starting to get totally obsessed with perfection? I think they can be adjusted, so I'll ask. Here they are:
The pulls look TOTALLY cool, and even though they weren't my very first pick (see this post) I like these a lot! (They're a little dusty in this picture - I forgot to clean them first.)
The pot rack is up on the wall beside our bookshelf in the kitchen corner. Alan and I had a bit of a heart attack this morning when we were holding it up to the wall (to see how high we wanted it mounted). We lost communication with each other and forgot how it all held together, and one of the very heavy iron braces when crashing down onto our NEW COUNTERTOP!! OMG I thought it was all over. BUT we couldn't find any cracks (which is what I full expected after hearing the crash) or even marks or scratches (what I was willing to settle for in that split second). Tonight when I looked again and ran my hand over the surface, I felt a tiny little pitted spot, but it could easily be from the manufacturing end of things. What a relief... It will be really nice to get at our often-used cookware.
The trim around the kitchen window is up. Get this - the window is not level, and the right side is a full 1/2" lower than the left side. Because the countertops are level, thank goodness, it meant that the trim around the window had to be whittled down a bit so that it would fit on the backsplash. Not sure if anyone but me will notice - maybe it will turn out to be one of those nice little oddities, like an eccentric relative you think of fondly.
Tough to get a good picture of it in the sun.
I'm a little worried about a couple drawers being not exactly flush with the others, but Alan thinks it's not noticeable. Am I starting to get totally obsessed with perfection? I think they can be adjusted, so I'll ask. Here they are:
The pulls look TOTALLY cool, and even though they weren't my very first pick (see this post) I like these a lot! (They're a little dusty in this picture - I forgot to clean them first.)
The pot rack is up on the wall beside our bookshelf in the kitchen corner. Alan and I had a bit of a heart attack this morning when we were holding it up to the wall (to see how high we wanted it mounted). We lost communication with each other and forgot how it all held together, and one of the very heavy iron braces when crashing down onto our NEW COUNTERTOP!! OMG I thought it was all over. BUT we couldn't find any cracks (which is what I full expected after hearing the crash) or even marks or scratches (what I was willing to settle for in that split second). Tonight when I looked again and ran my hand over the surface, I felt a tiny little pitted spot, but it could easily be from the manufacturing end of things. What a relief... It will be really nice to get at our often-used cookware.
The trim around the kitchen window is up. Get this - the window is not level, and the right side is a full 1/2" lower than the left side. Because the countertops are level, thank goodness, it meant that the trim around the window had to be whittled down a bit so that it would fit on the backsplash. Not sure if anyone but me will notice - maybe it will turn out to be one of those nice little oddities, like an eccentric relative you think of fondly.
Tough to get a good picture of it in the sun.
And lastly, the heater guys came and put stuff in the wall (ducts and holes and even a plenum, whatever that is). We have to hire a roofer to put a hole in the roof which is apparently difficult to do with our Mediterranean red tiles - I think it sounds like a big job mostly because no one really wants to do it.
We Have a Faucet
as well as soap dispenser (from Home Debit) and an air switch for the disposal!
For some reason the lyrics that have been running through my head are Greg Brown's song, "All the Money's Gone."
For some reason the lyrics that have been running through my head are Greg Brown's song, "All the Money's Gone."
So how much do you all notice the line of silicone that runs along the counter where the backsplash is connected? It bothers me, but Alan says I eventually won't notice.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
More Color
The smell of paint is making me a little crazy, but I don't mind sitting with doors open in the cold, fog blowing in, because the upstairs landing is so beautiful! We were inspired by the color in Karen & Mark's bedroom, and for 2 years have had swatches of similar colors in 3 different spots on the walls. Finally the kitchen project propelled us into action, and we now have a fully painted room.
The color is Geranium with some meddling by our painter, so is now a new color called "Geranium II a la John Brown". It goes really well with the Eat A Peach color we have going up the staircase, "tying the whole house together," as The Dude would say. It's lovely at sunset.
The color is Geranium with some meddling by our painter, so is now a new color called "Geranium II a la John Brown". It goes really well with the Eat A Peach color we have going up the staircase, "tying the whole house together," as The Dude would say. It's lovely at sunset.
Monday, May 5, 2008
We Have Countertops - and a Sink!
It's a good thing we were having such a grand time at Marina's graduation in Arizona, because at the very same time, our countertops were being installed, and we weren't there to wring our hands, watch the process, and get all excited. It was emotional enough watching my girl graduate!
We got home when it was already dark, but just had to go in with a flashlight to check it out. Needless to say, we couldn't see much. But this morning we could, and we're so impressed - they did a fabulous job, no nicks or cracks, just one seam, and the sink looks beautiful too.
The photos don't do it justice, you can't really see the green-ness, but here they are. Again, you'll just have to come and see for yourself.
We got home when it was already dark, but just had to go in with a flashlight to check it out. Needless to say, we couldn't see much. But this morning we could, and we're so impressed - they did a fabulous job, no nicks or cracks, just one seam, and the sink looks beautiful too.
The photos don't do it justice, you can't really see the green-ness, but here they are. Again, you'll just have to come and see for yourself.
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I just love the rounded bar...
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and the rounded radius edge...
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