Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Kitchen is FINISHED

It's been 3 months to the day since we started the remodel.  Demolition started on Monday, 6/22/09.  Yesterday, 9/22/09, the last piece was put in place - the new light kit.

This light kit uses regular bulbs instead of the CFL.  The CFL were not compatible with the controls on the wall; these bulbs are.  They are not as bright - there are only 3 60-watt bulbs in there.  Sounds like a lot, but it's kind of dim.  When it's really dark outside, the light seems brighter - so maybe we just need to get used to it.

new light kit


  Old light kit

This is probably the last post to the Kitchen Blog.  It's been "fun".  The blog, not the project.  But all the hassle and stress was well worth it.  I love my new kitchen. 

Thursday, September 17, 2009

I have said this before...

But we are SOOOOO close to being done.  The window treatment went up on Monday, 9/14/09.  Levelor wooden blinds with 1" slats.  Got them at Penney's.  We love the look.
This is how they normally look - partially open to provide privacy and block the western sun.  We can see out, but no one can see in.

 
Fully closed

 
Fully open.
The ONLY thing left now is the light kit over the kitchen table.  We had to order a new one, since the one we have is not compatible with the controls on the wall.  Ordered the new kit on Friday, 8/27/09.  Anticipated arrival - 1 week later, 9/04.  I finally called Littman Brothers on Monday (9/14) to see what had happened to our light kit.  Can you believe it - the light kit had Just Come In That Very Day.   Yeah, right.  Anyway, installation is now scheduled for next week, 9/22.  It is supposed to look the same as the current one.  Just work better with the controls.  I'll post the results.  I know you'll be sad - but that will most likely be the last post.  :-(

Friday, September 4, 2009

PS - Trim for cabinet over the fridge


The trim work was installed on the bottom of the cabinet over the fridge. Looks so much better. Matches the other cabinets now.

Inching onward





We just keep inching forward toward COMPLETION, but in teensy weensy steps. I keep saying we're almost there, but that's what I've been saying for several updates now...

Our new fan/light fixture was installed a week ago (8/27). We were delighted with it until we tried to turn off the light. It doesn't turn off - sometimes for hours. The bulbs flash on and off, like little flashbulbs (remember them?). Pretty darn annoying. I called Littman Brothers the next day. They said to call the Emerson Fan Company. I wondered why THEY didn't call, but OK - I called.

After spending a lot of time on hold, and speaking with several people - the problem was identified. The light fixture and the remote controls are not compatible. Solution: keep the light fixture and use a pull chain to turn the fan & lights on/off. OR, get another light fixture. I call Littman Brotheres back, and told them what Emerson had told me - and said I DO NOT WANT TO USE A PULL CHAIN. They said they would order a new light fixture, one that uses regular bulbs, and would absorb all costs related to the purchase, shipping and installation. Good. I was prepared to go picket them and raise a fuss in person if there had been a problem. New light fixture should be in sometime next week. In the meantime, we have a light show every time we turn off the light.

PIX 2 = shows both of the light fixtures in the kitchen.

Our window treatment (Levolor wooden blinds) was delivered on Tuesday. One of the boxes looked like it had been run over by a truck. See PIX 3. Thank goodness I was home when FedEx delivered it. I talked to the driver about possibly refusing delivery. He said he would make a note on the record that the box was heavily damaged, and suggested I open it and see what was inside. Miracles do happen. If it was damaged, to call Levelor.

So that's what I did. I found damage to the front trimwork of the blind, but not bad considering the way the box looked. I was prepared to accept it, rather than deal with a re-order and return of the damaged blind. I called Levelor to let them know that there was obvious damage, but we couldn't know the full extent of the damage until the blind was installed. Something in the workings could be bent or sprung or something. The lady I spoke with said 'We'll ship you a new one - and you can keep the damaged blind.' In that case, yes please, send a replacement. SOOO, we're waiting yet again.

PIX 1 = our window treatment is all over the dining room table right now. Should have been pix 3 but had trouble uploading and don't want to start all over. :-)

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Not done yet






We are soooo close, but not done yet.
(1) new fan/light fixture has been ordered. (I think I already said that in an earlier post.) It should come in next week sometime. Then we need to schedule installation.
(2) New window treatment (wooden 1" blinds from Penney's) ordered today. Did we fall into a deal, or what. 70% off sale today, plus an extra $15 off on each item with a coupon I got in the mail. WOW. 10 days from now they should be in. Then we need to schedule installation.
(3) Change order items yet to be done. See pix 1 - bottom of the cabinet over the fridge is unfinished. It was in the plan that way, but we did not catch it. Raw wood with staples, believe it or not, is what you see. So, we had to order trim and a 'skin' to apply to the bottom. Delivered here sometime next week. Then we need to schedule installation. (do you sense a pattern here?)
(4) Change order item #2 - trim to cover the gap between the cabinet and the wall next to the bay window. Should arrive next week. TWNTSI.
(5) Handles for the cabinet over the microwave. Need to buy. TWNTSI.

Did run into a slight OOPS. The toaster oven no longer fits on the counter beside the microwave. (See pix 2) We think the error occurred when we changed from Plan 1 to Plan 2. Plan 1 called for enclosing the fridge in a cabinet. We didn't like that, so Plan 2 removed the enclosing cabinet. We did not notice that the size of the cabinet/countertop to the right of the fridge was smaller by about 3". Oh well. Toaster oven now lives in the pantry. It's really light, and easy to move, so no big deal. We seldom use it, except during 'tomato bread' season. Which is almost here by the way. We have several tomatoes on the edge of being ripe.

I resurrected my old canisters from the basement and they now live next to the microwave. Flour & Sugar used to be in large glass jars in the pantry. Hard to get at. Had to move sugar to get at flour. I think the old ones look ok in their new home. (see pix 3)

Dining room is about back to normal. Actually, it is back but something seems missing. It looks so bare in there. Perhaps we just got used to all that clutter during construction? (See pix 4)

Last, but not least, Bob found a perfect runner to go on top of the divider cabinet. (See pix 5) It's so convenient to put stuff on it, that I was worried about scratches, etc. So we've been looking for something to put there. The width is perfect. He had to trim the length a bit. The left over piece fit perfectly on the end table by the love seat. It looks better in real life than it does in the picture. BTW, when Dan comes back to do the other change order items, he's going to move the outlet and phone jack down to the wall behind the couch so they are not visible. So that's another change item yet to be done.

Next blog updates probably won't happen until some of those outstanding items get installed. I'll let you know when I am done posting. In the meantime, check back around 8/24. Perhaps something will have changed by then.

WE LOVE OUR NEW KITCHEN.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Window Treatment


We decided that the old window treatment had to go. It's been up there for 10 years (believe it or not!) and we're tired of it. We thought a more simplistic look would be great - faux (Martha Stewart for 'fake') wood blinds with a decorative cornice at the top, hiding the inner workings of the blinds.

So, we went shopping yesterday (Sunday) at EddieZ's. Would Mariette Hartley steer us wrong? We thought not, so off we went. However, it seems faux wood blinds only come in 2" wide slats. And, in case you're wondering, real wood isn't any better - real wood comes in 2" or 2 1/2". Neither Bob nor I care for the look of 2" slats.

But aluminum mini-blinds do not come with a decorative cornice. So we'll keep looking.

In the meantime, we've put up some homemade simplistic window treatment, to block the western sun and offer a bit of privacy. How do you like it?

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Week 7 draws to a close




We're at the end of Week 7. Most of the mess in the Living Room has been cleared. The kitchen table is back where it belongs - in the kitchen. The coffee pot is out of the bathroom! YAY.

We have lots of empty boxes to dispose of. Luckily, a friend of a friend is moving and will be more than happy to take the empties off of our hands.

As we unpack, we are finding things we just don't want anymore. And, luckily another friend is having a garage sale in a couple of weeks - and she will take the white elephants. Problem solved.

Dan will need to seal the back splash grout/tile before we can move the toaster oven, microwave #2, etc. back into the kitchen. Until that happens, I can't really finish the dining room clean up. We're still using the temporary light over the kitchen table (See 8/02 pix) - but we did find and order a replacement fan and light fixture yesterday. The salesman said it takes 7-10 days for the fan to come in. Then we need to schedule the installation. I'm guessing it'll be early September before we see it. We have a Casa Blanca fan in there now, but we've had so many issues with the fan not working due to voltage that is in spec for ComEd, but out of spec for Casa Blanca - we decided to junk the darn thing and buy new. Emerson is the brand of choice. It's not supposed to have any voltage issues. I sure hope so.

We do have a new Change Order, submitted to Dan yesterday. I have not heard back on when and how much to do it. The outlet and phone jack that were installed on the wall by the Divider Cabinet are eyesores. We didn't like it when they were put there, but decided to hold off until the phone actually got moved to see what it looked like. Terrible. So we've asked Dan to move them both to the wall behind the couch near the baseboard. We'll still have wires showing, but not the two 'uglies'. I doubt that will take place Monday when Dan is here to seal the backsplash, and poly the stained wood. But I can dream, can't I?

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Unpacking and moving






Wow, what fun it is to unpack 21 boxes of stuff, and try to put it all back where it came from.

Yeah, right.

By end of day yesterday, most of the boxes were emptied and their contents moved to their old/new homes. We've loaded the glass-front cabinets with pretty wine glasses. You can almost see them in pix 1. I'll attempt a better pix today, after the painters leave.

Pix 2 = wine glass cabinet. We lost 3" width, and ?? height. So not all the glasses can go back where they came from. Wine glasses, yes. Water glasses, OJ glasses, etc. - no.

Pix 3 = The hutch is all back to where it was before we emptied it to make room for our everyday pans, dishes, etc. I can't recall who had that tip, but it was a really good one.

We are finding things that we just don't want to keep anymore. Luckily my friend (Donna) is having a garage sale this month, and is willing to take it off our hands. This works out for us - we get rid of it, without throwing it away. Donna makes a bit of cash, hopefully enough to pay for her trouble. And what she doesn't sell, SHE gets to throw away. Win-Win.

Pix 3 = dining room and pix 4 = living room. It's been cleaned up a lot since then. Bob has broken down most of the empty boxes - the misc. ones that we accumulated from wine purchases, Amazon, etc. - and they are on the curb for the re-cycle pickup. We still have quite a few of the boxes we bought. I hate to throw them away. Maybe the garage sale????

Anyway, yesterday was a very long & painful day (as in aching muscles - ALL OF THEM). Bob helped by schlepping boxes, and putting things on the top shelves. He also re-did the spacing on various shelves multiple times. It was hard to judge the spacing until I started putting things away. He was helpful, kind and patient throughout. What a sweetie!

We are going to order some extra shelves for what I call 'deep storage'. Things that I seldom use, but would be nice to have in the kitchen instead of the basement. Although, considering where the shelves will be, perhaps I should call it 'high storage'. :-)

Sunday, August 2, 2009

hours away from completion




Most of the electric is done. I've included pix of the lights in the glass-front cabinets and the task lighting below the cabinets. Since the pix were taken in the daytime, it doesn't really show up all that well. Bob took another one using the 'fireworks' setting on the camera, but it looks 'BRILLIANT'. Believe me, the lighting is much softer and more subtle than that.

Dan was here all day on Saturday (8/01). He'll be here all day on Monday, too. That should finish off the punch list. Small, misc. items, yet to be done.

We were able to do dishes in the Kitchen Sink last night. Woo Hoo. I love the new sink - which is one big sink, not two divided bowls. We are having a problem, tho. I have a dishpan (RubberMaid) that is green. It's also 11 years old. I want a new one to go with my new kitchen.
Can't find anything other than white. What the heck? People don't use dishpans anymore? I can find dish drainers in all sorts of colors, but no dishpans. Even the Rubbermaid site only shows white. I really don't want to try eBay for a dishpan!!!

Painters will be here on Thursday. After that, the only thing left will be the doors to the cabinet above the microwave. Oh, and one other thing...

There's large gap (1/3 inch?)between the cabinet and the wall (the floor cabinet between the dishwasher and the bay window). Dan tells us that these cabinets are not designed to fit flush against the wall, AND that our wall is bowed. Huh? There is a trim kit, available at extra cost, that will cover the gap. Another call to Susan so she can order said trim kit. That most likely won't be in until the cabinet doors above the microwave are also installed.

Bob and I are also looking to buy a new ceiling fan/light fixture for the kitchen. We've had so much trouble with the Casablanca fan that's in there. Casablanca works only with voltage between 20-25. Commonwealth Edison sends between 20-28 down the line. Everyone blames everyone else. Bottom line, frequently (like NOW) the fan & lights don't work. So we went looking at fans today. Another problem: Hunter fans, at least at the two big box stores we visited, do not support a 3-way switch. We need to be able to turn on the lights from either the kitchen or the family room. We ended up not buying anything, pending some online research and a call to Fancy Fans (local ceiling fan store). In the meantime, we have a lovely new light fixture in the kitchen. Check it out.

Friday, July 31, 2009

Running water is good




We now have a functioning kitchen sink - faucet, water, the whole works. WOW. I forgot how convenient it is to have running water in the kitchen sink. Actually, having a kitchen sink is pretty grand, too. :-)

Still have electrical work to do to get the outlets all working. Dan's doing that as I type this. Once that is done, we can move the coffee pot back where it belongs - on the kitchen counter. There's just something wrong with having a coffee pot in the bathroom.

The lights are in over the sink (see pix). By end of today I should be able to turn them on/off. They look great, and throw a lot of light. (Dan demo'd them yesterday.)

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Backsplash Beauty




The back splash went up yesterday. We LOVE LOVE LOVE how it looks. The colors are darker and richer than the sample we had. To us, the sample and the real stuff is so different, that someone else might have complained about the look of the finished back splash. But we just keep walking in there, admiring it. Today, the grout goes up (on?), which will make it look even better.

Dan tells us there is a good chance we'll have a working sink & faucet by EOD. That will be a giant leap forward. However, the stove will most likely remain in the middle of the floor, since the painters are coming tomorrow. I can deal with another day of no stove. Working around the 'no stove' situation is easier than working around the 'no counter tops & no working sink' problems.

pix 1 - remember these samples way back when? See the tile sample - don't you think it looks different from the real thing?
pix 2 - the stove/sink wall
pix 3 - the area to the right of the fridge, where the 2nd microwave goes.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

There Be CounterTops



Progress, progress. The crown molding is in and so are the counter tops. Looking really good! The one picture makes the counter top look like it's 10 feet long, doesn't it?

The microwave has been moved up; the new doors for the cabinet above it are on order.

Tomorrow, the back splash tile goes in.

Unfortunately, the stove is back in the middle of the kitchen, alongside the old corner cabinet. But that will go back tomorrow, too.

By Friday, we may have running water in the kitchen again!!!!!

Monday, July 27, 2009

*whine* We want our house back




Well, it's the start of week 6 without a kitchen. The end is in sight, but it's seeming like we'll never get there. (Halfway to the wall...)

I did not post on Friday, because Dan wasn't here that day - so nothing changed. We took the opportunity (of his being gone) to rip out the innards of the front closet, paint, and install Elfa shelving & closet pole. Looks so much better, and the option of adding more shelves (easily) is always there with Elfa. BTW, the 'WE' in that statement is, of course, 99% Bob. I provided company & opinions on placement of the shelves when asked.

We took some pix of our Dishwashing area in the basement. Since we have the dishwasher back, we only have to wash stuff down there every 2-3 days. Most items can go into the DW, but some - pots & pans, sharp knives, wine glasses - must be done by hand.

I did start re-loading the pantry. I'm glad I took "before" pix, because I certainly do NOT remember where stuff goes. Dan says we can start reloading the cabinets, but I don't want to do that yet. First, if I need to get at something while he's working in the kitchen, it could be difficult. Second, until the counter tops are installed (TOMORROW!!!!!), I just don't want my dishes in the cabinets.

Found a problem over the weekend. We took advantage of the cooler weather to open up the house. Well, opening the kitchen windows proved to be quite difficult. Investigation revealed that when the new casing was installed, the nails? brads? staples? went through the wood, and are sticking out into the window track. Brute force got the window open, and then closed again that night. We don't want to do that again until Dan checks things out. That won't happen until tomorrow (hopefully), because Dan is out sick today. I hope he feels better real soon, for various reasons.

Some of which are quite selfish. :-)

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Homestretch





We're in the homestretch now. The trim work is going up. Lots of detail, and the kind of thing you probably don't notice. But it all adds to the beauty of the room.

The trim in the entry way is done, except for staining the wood strip at the edge of the tile leading to the family room. The coat closet doors are back up, and compared to the new pantry doors - they look AWFUL.

Pantry doors are up, minus handles. We have the handles but after discussion with Dan, we decided we want knobs on those doors, instead of handles. Knobs are easier to work with on bi-fold doors. Luckily, we know a place we can buy them that is fairly close to our house.

Counter tops are going in next Tuesday (7/28). Once the back splash is up, the sink can be hooked up, too. Hopefully all of that will be done by Friday (7/31).

Pix 1 = YAY. We have a handle!
Pix 2 = Molding above the cabinets on the fridge wall
Pix 3 = Divider cabinet now has all of the trim work (on the bottom)
Pix 4 = New pantry doors

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Window casing, bench, other trim




Lots of work yesterday (Monday 7/20), most of which was spent on the bay window in the kitchen. The old bench, with an original stain that was almost black, has been replaced. The new stain, when completed, will match the cabinets. The new window casing is also in, and first coat of stain applied. Bob and I are thrilled with the way Dan has put up the new casing. It looks great! (See pix 1)

Kiki is most confused and unhappy over what Dan has done to her favorite spot in the house: the bay window. Since wet stain and cats are not a good combo, he put up a 'wall' of stuff to keep her out. (Pix 2) She kept going into the kitchen last night, sitting and staring at the 'wall' - and complaining loudly. Probably was thinkg, "Stupid humans. Move this stuff out of my way!"

The plastic wall between the kitchen and dining room has come down as well. (pix 3) That will save me miles of walking, I'm sure, as I prepare dinner. Now that I have a working stove, I cook there. But since I have no countertops, prep is still done in the dining room. Now it's a quick few steps from stove to prep area. With the plastic wall up, I had to go around through the living room.

Today, more staining. Maybe switch out the cabinet above the microwave? It's a little awkward cooking there with the microwave so low. Dan had thought he'd have time to move it yesterday, but EOD came before he got it done.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Happiness is...


A WORKING STOVE, MICROWAVE AND DISHWASHER. :-)

Don't they look lovely in their new home? No counter tops yet, but all three appliances were hooked up and are now working. YAY.

Lots of work done on Friday, most of which dealt with electrical so things don't look much different.

Next week the trim work goes in, so the pix will be more interesting.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Gonna move the microwave



(Hi Dan - did you find us this time?)

Dan moved the stove against the wall for me this morning. I got out a big pot, and pretended to cook, stir, etc. on the back burner. The microwave is definitely too low. I kept banging the lid on the underside of the microwave. So either Thursday or Friday of this week, Dan will take out the 15" cabinet and install the 12" cabinet that's in the garage now. Susan will order new doors.

The pictures really show that the two appliances are different colors, don't they? The microwave is much older than the stove. We were not able to get the same color when we got the stove, but came pretty close - we thought. The difference is not so glaring in real life - at least not to us.

Templater is here right now. He measured for the counter tops using some pretty sophisticated equipment involving lasers. He's out in his truck at the moment, creating the plastic templates. He'll fit them to the cabinets before leaving, to be certain the template is correctly sized. Then we wait - hopefully not very long - for the counter tops to arrive. Could be a week, more likely two weeks. [update: they fit perfectly. Susan signed off on them - literally, she took a pen and signed each piece. Everyone left, and the house is quiet.]

We're at day 25 since construction began, and we're ready for it to be finished. Getting the family room back in order helped a lot. Getting the appliances hooked up will help, too. And that is scheduled to happen this week.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Appliances are all in the kitchen



Appliances are all in the kitchen as of EOD on Monday. See pix 1. I didn't say they were 'installed' - just that they were in the kitchen. Even if they're not all in their proper home & hooked up yet, at least the fridge is working, and out of the family room, so we have our space back. Makes it a bit more of a walk to get to the 'refreshments', tho. :-)

The cabinet where the iron railing used to be - which I'm going to call the 'divider cabinet' from now on because TCWTIRUTB is just too long to type - is installed. There's still blue tape around the bottom, so I'm not sure what that means. There's only one shelf, and there should be two. But it looks great from both the kitchen & the family room. Hopefully, the rest of the electric and wiring can be finished SOON so we can move the phone/answering machine to its new home.

Love the look of the new cabinets. The new light fixture is wonderful. You can see it in pix 1.

Might have a problem - I called Susan to let her know, and we'll discuss more tomorrow when she's here. (The templaters are coming to measure for the countertops, and Susan wants to be here for that.) . The microwave is much, much lower than it was before. There will only be 3 inches of clearance between the bottom of the microwave and the top of the stove 'control panel back'. There won't be as much clearance between the burners and the microwave as before. Question is, will there be enough that I can have a tall pot on the stove, and be able to lift the lid, stir, etc. Bob & I don't care for the way it looks either, but as mentioned before - we're reserving final judgement until the pieces are all together. I'm hoping Dan can move the stove into the opening tomorrow so I can see how it looks/works. He doesn't have to hook it up - just put it there.

If it turns out we can't use the current configuration, we already have a cabinet in the garage that is 3" shorter. I think that would leave an acceptable amount of clearance. The cabinet in there was delivered in error - wrong size. It may turn out to be the 'right' size. Of course, I don't know how much trouble it will be to switch out the two cabinets. Won't Dan be thrilled. He's pretty easy going - at least here. He might go home and complain to his sweetie but he's always calm and pleasant here.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

What is wrong with picture 1



So, look over the first picture - what is wrong? I'll tell you at the end of today's post. It's not the 'stand alone' base cabinet. That's just waiting to be installed. It's something else.

More cabinets are up (see pix 1 - stove wall. Pix 2 - fridge wall). They expect to finish up Monday. The templaters will be here Wednesday to measure for the counter tops. Then we wait. If we're lucky, it'll be a week before they are delivered. If we're not lucky - could be 2-3 weeks. We don't know yet if Dan will be here working on odds and ends while we wait, or if he'll just wait and wrap it all up the same week the counter tops come in. We'll find out on Monday.

We still don't know for certain, since we have not unpacked it yet, but Susan tells us that the 2nd shelf for the cabinet going where the old railing used to be, is packed in with the top for that cabinet. Dan can bore the holes to make both shelves adjustable - so that problem is not a problem anymore.

The blotchy sink panel may not be a problem either. Dan said to reserve judgement until the cabinet was installed in its new home to see how it looks. And it seems to look OK. Final decision will be made once the counter tops are installed.

Did you see the problem? We didn't until we got an email from Susan explaining that the corner base cabinet is the wrong size - the left side as you're looking at it is 3" too short. (Manufacturer error) It should line up with the cabinet above it. We immediately called Kitchen Studio for a more detailed explanation, since we did not understand how the templaters could measure for counter tops when the cabinet was the wrong size. We talked to Deb, who was most helpful. She assures us this will not be an issue for the templaters. She says it's the corner measurement and the way the wall is, that concerns them. Dan will tell them it needs to be 3" longer on that side, and they will be able to adjust. We're a bit nervous, but these folks do this for a living and they know more than we do abut the process. The correct base cabinet should be delivered in time for the counter top installation, so this problem should not cause a delay.