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.

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?

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?

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'. :-)

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.