You know how on all of the decorating HGTV shows they always start out showing the designers tearing out the old, painting the walls, re-doing floors, etc? Then, fast forward to the reveal and the happy homeowners? TV rarely shows all the detail work. Cutting the minute trim pieces, putting the outlet covers on, hanging the crown molding, returning the refrigerator that has stopped working....oh, did I forget to mention that?!?
Yes, the little slice of heaven turned out to have a freon leak from hell. We had the appliance for a couple of days before we actually had time to hook it up for water/ice. When we did, we heard these odd gurgling noises for a day or two. We called the service dept. and had a visit scheduled, but lo and behold, the gurgling noise stopped, so we canceled. The next day Shawn went to grab some ice and found nothing but a puddle. We had no cold whatsoever. Thankfully we were too busy to transfer food to the new fridge so we didn't lose anything. But now as I write I am watching the two poor saps from Sears who have to move out the old and bring in the new. I guess, as my father used to say, that's the way the cookie crumbles.
So we don't have any exciting pictures to show you at this point. You'll just have to wait for the big reveal!! The last of our cabinets are coming next week so hopefully things will fall together once those arrive. We are anxious to get things put away and get the house/cooking back to normal. We were having a conversation a few days ago of how many days the girls have actually eaten vegetables. "Well, there was that one day when we had lettuce on our hamburgers" OR "when we were at so and so's house, they ate broccoli!" Ha, ha. Not much longer now.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Sanding and Priming and Painting...oh my!
We were able to get a lot done this weekend with the extra day off thanks to MLK Day. As the title indicates we sanded, primed and painted ceiling and walls. "Tennessee Haze" proved to be a most satisfying color choice. We are pleased. Since the bathroom was also dismantled due to the replacement of the floor in there we decided to repaint (see the photo of my assistant painter who loved every minute of getting to help!) a slightly bolder color than what had been in there previously.
But...the piece de resistance pour la weekend was...the arrival of the new refrigerator. (Cue angels singing in the background.) It's a beautiful thing. Par usual there was a dent that this author didn't see because it was up high and not in my line of vision (and not very substantial quite frankly) but the 6' something person who resides in our household DID notice it and was quite irked! However, I think he is calmed by the fact that compensation for said dent will most likely cover the cost of the over-the-range microwave so thank heavens for small blessings. We'll live with the dent.
Plumbing is roughed in, additional lighting is up, and the bathroom is put back together complete with new toilet. Another major glitch over the holiday was that the first corner cabinet (the crux from which all future cabinets will be set in place) would NOT fit in any of the doors in our house! So the back had to be cut off and then put together once it was placed in the kitchen. C'est la vie!
But...the piece de resistance pour la weekend was...the arrival of the new refrigerator. (Cue angels singing in the background.) It's a beautiful thing. Par usual there was a dent that this author didn't see because it was up high and not in my line of vision (and not very substantial quite frankly) but the 6' something person who resides in our household DID notice it and was quite irked! However, I think he is calmed by the fact that compensation for said dent will most likely cover the cost of the over-the-range microwave so thank heavens for small blessings. We'll live with the dent.
Plumbing is roughed in, additional lighting is up, and the bathroom is put back together complete with new toilet. Another major glitch over the holiday was that the first corner cabinet (the crux from which all future cabinets will be set in place) would NOT fit in any of the doors in our house! So the back had to be cut off and then put together once it was placed in the kitchen. C'est la vie!
Thursday, January 17, 2008
What's New in Week Two
While progress has been made, the work that's been done hasn't made for great photo opps. We did have quite a bit of electrical work done late last week. More than anticipated, of course as one line lead to another. Ah, life in old houses! More dry wall and then mudding and skimming of said dry wall was on tap on Monday and Tuesday of this week. (Big thanks to Laird Wynn for the excellent dry wall sander.) But the cherry (Brazilian Cherry, that is) on top of this week is our beautiful floor being installed! When allowed in the room, Lindy and Audrey treat it like a dance floor.
We owe such a debt of gratitude to all those friends and family who have provided meals for us during construction. I don't think the girls have minded the renovation one bit because they've been able to see so many friends in the process. Thank you! Thank you!
The hardest decision so far has been what color to paint the walls. (The one thing we could actually change if it came down to it. Silly, huh?) Linda and Judy, how I wish you were closer for consultation! We decided on a lovely shade called Tennesse Haze. Stay tuned for paint on the walls and the NEW FRIDGE!
We owe such a debt of gratitude to all those friends and family who have provided meals for us during construction. I don't think the girls have minded the renovation one bit because they've been able to see so many friends in the process. Thank you! Thank you!
The hardest decision so far has been what color to paint the walls. (The one thing we could actually change if it came down to it. Silly, huh?) Linda and Judy, how I wish you were closer for consultation! We decided on a lovely shade called Tennesse Haze. Stay tuned for paint on the walls and the NEW FRIDGE!
Friday, January 11, 2008
Moving Right Along
We're up through Day 4 and things are moving along so quickly that the kitchen is progressing faster than I can figure out this @#$%^ blog! Hopefully I will have this up and running today and will be able to send it out to all of you.
We now have a beautiful header (well, as beautiful as 2x4 and 4x4s can be). This was a huge deal however as there was some uncertainty as to how to tackle this structural issue. But as you can see from the ceiling pictures it is in place and holding up a good portion of our house. Scarily once the soffets were torn out we realized that there wasn't really a whole lot holding things up before.
Anyhoo, we have lights, a ceiling and dry wall in the family room. Next week comes the floor. Stay tuned.
We now have a beautiful header (well, as beautiful as 2x4 and 4x4s can be). This was a huge deal however as there was some uncertainty as to how to tackle this structural issue. But as you can see from the ceiling pictures it is in place and holding up a good portion of our house. Scarily once the soffets were torn out we realized that there wasn't really a whole lot holding things up before.
Anyhoo, we have lights, a ceiling and dry wall in the family room. Next week comes the floor. Stay tuned.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Everything Must Go!
It's official. Kitchen renovation has begun in the Warren household. Our last official meal in the kitchen was homemade pizza with the Karel Clan (thanks, Chris) complete with Shawn's favorite LaRosa's sauce (thanks, Jake).
Monday am the dumpster arrived and it was full by day's end. We were able to repurpose several cabinets into our basement laundry room which, of course, meant Shawn and Julie working furiously for the two days prior to get things ready in the basement! The ol' domino effect, don't you know. Couldn't move the old fridge to the basement until the tool cabinet was out of its spot and we couldn't move the tool cabinet into the storage space until it was cleaned out, etc. etc.
A shout out to Rob and Fil for helping to move the fridge, BTW. And major thanks to Tim and Melissa for taking Lindy and Audrey for the entire weekend so we could get all of this work done! You're the best.
Major kudos go out to John Carver (his business is Millenium Home Improvement if you ever need anything done!) and his buddies for an amazing amount of effort. Not only was the entire tear out done by the time we got home from work on Monday but things were cleaned up and (some) of the dust had settled.
We hope to lose weight throughout this endeavor with all of the trips we are making between the dining room, where we have all of our kitchen and family furniture and where we are eating, and the basement where the sink, microwave and refridgerator are. But as everyone who has ever done a kitchen remodel knows, all of the take-out food we will be eating will probably negate the exercise we get on the stairs.
Our shameless plug is that we're not too proud to accept invitations for home-cooked meals.
Monday am the dumpster arrived and it was full by day's end. We were able to repurpose several cabinets into our basement laundry room which, of course, meant Shawn and Julie working furiously for the two days prior to get things ready in the basement! The ol' domino effect, don't you know. Couldn't move the old fridge to the basement until the tool cabinet was out of its spot and we couldn't move the tool cabinet into the storage space until it was cleaned out, etc. etc.
A shout out to Rob and Fil for helping to move the fridge, BTW. And major thanks to Tim and Melissa for taking Lindy and Audrey for the entire weekend so we could get all of this work done! You're the best.
Major kudos go out to John Carver (his business is Millenium Home Improvement if you ever need anything done!) and his buddies for an amazing amount of effort. Not only was the entire tear out done by the time we got home from work on Monday but things were cleaned up and (some) of the dust had settled.
We hope to lose weight throughout this endeavor with all of the trips we are making between the dining room, where we have all of our kitchen and family furniture and where we are eating, and the basement where the sink, microwave and refridgerator are. But as everyone who has ever done a kitchen remodel knows, all of the take-out food we will be eating will probably negate the exercise we get on the stairs.
Our shameless plug is that we're not too proud to accept invitations for home-cooked meals.
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