The Tale of the New Kitchen - Chapter 5

This was a tumultuous week as far as kitchen renovations go.  I was waiting patiently for a kitchen snag to happen.  I waited, and waited, and waited some more but nothing went awry. 

Until...last Thursday when the kitchen floors were installed - improperly.  So inproperly, in fact, that they "pop" when you walk on them - kind of like firecrackers.  We bought the new click-lock hardwood planks that do not require glue or nails and are praying that this is not the norm for these kinds of floors.  We also noticed, after more careful inspection, that the padding was installed upside down, which could affect the moisture control under the subfloor and the leveling of the floor.  So, after an entire day of debating what to do about it...we decided to have our contractor rip up the entire floor and start over.  Are we terrible customers? No, but we felt awful making the call to ask that it be redone (don't worry, we bought our contractor a 7-11 gift card as a small thank you - we assume he likes 7-11 by the Big Gulp cups that are always in our kitchen each night).

So - that aside.  The kitchen really looks good.  Grant and I painted this weekend (thanks Ashleigh and Ryan Smith for the burnished clay recommendation) and the countertops were installed which are simply beautiful!!! Estimated completion date is Tuesday or Wednesday (even with the floors being re-done).  Can't believe the project will be finished two weeks early.  So, as we approach the final chapter, here are some photos for your viewing pleasure.

The Tale of the New Kitchen - Chapter 4

The gas range will go here

It is amazing what a week can do.  Our kitchen finally resembles, well...a kitchen.  This is now the exciting part.  All the cabinets are officially in, the apron sink is placed (my splurge...couldn't resist), the bench is starting to look like a real bench, and the drywall/patching is completed.  All of this means that it is PAINTING WEEKEND!!!  Last time Grant and I painted it was the biggest test of our marriage to date (I don't really blame him, I touched up the living room in the wrong color which required about 2 hours of fixing...I confused Mushroom Bisque with Plateau - an honest mistake). 

So, I have now officially moved from kitchen designing mode to kitchen decorating mode. In fact, we played around with pillows on the bench tonight - wine in hand, of course (yes, Sunday night is not our only wine night of the week).  Cheers!


Ah...the floors - good riddance!





The bench (not finished yet, unless you want your rear to fall through). 

 Grant had a bit of a meltdown on Tuesday night

when we thought that the bench was too deep...don't worry, he is over it

and we are happy again



My pride and joy - the farm sink



This is the scene tonight (instead of the pile of old floors seen in the photo above -
I finally have a pantry!



The fridge area (this is our old fridge...the new one is still chillin' in the living room - get it, chillin')



The scene last Monday

The Tale of the New Kitchen - Chapter 3

The Permits on the front door

Well, here we are enjoying our Sunday night ritual - 5:00pm wine and cheese hour...except instead of our beautiful granite cutting board and delicate cheese knives, we have paper plates and a steak knife.  No need to worry about the wine, though...I did make sure to save two of our favorite glasses from the wrath of being boxed in the basement abyss. 

I also pawed through the latest Martha Stewart Living magazine this afternoon salivating over summer pasta and veggie dishes which seem to be way more appealing now that I don't have a working stove to boil water than they ever did before.  I have carefully ripped out the pages for safe keeping until the glorious day when all will go back to normal.

Such is the life as we move into week two of the kitchen renovation.  This has been a bittersweet week.  Sweet because we are a day ahead of schedule (yes, it's true), the recessed lights are almost in place, new outlets are ready on the walls, the gas line has been moved from one side of the kitchen to the other, the wall cut-out to the living room has been semi-punched through, and we have passed our City building and electrical inspections. 

Bitter, because nothing cosmetic has yet to be done.  The kitchen is still a dusty shell closed off from the rest of the house by a plastic drop cloth and blue painter tape. 

This week will be more promising: Drywall and patching should occur (hopefully) tomorrow, the base cabinets are due to be installed w/our porcelain farm sink by Tuesday and the template for the counter top should follow shortly after.

The one silver lining is that I feel like we have a little present waiting for us each evening when we come home from work.  We chat about the progress, dream about the finished product, and then uncover the plastic wrap on the sofa and TV to relax before it all starts over the next day.

Below are the latest pics for your indulgence.  They can only get prettier from here.

The cut-out to the living room - will be slightly lower than it appears

The recessed lights

Remember when I said we found the old floors? Well, we found two more and I cannot decide
which one is the ugliest.

This about sums up the old electrical outlet...scary!

This is more like it

Our lovely new gas line

The beautiful scene that welcomes you into our house

The Tale of the New Kitchen - Chapter 2

The original kitchen flooring...
hideously 1950s vintage

Today marks the first official day of the kitchen renovation.  Last night was a scramble of boxing, emptying the fridge, and stuffing random things in the closet. Grant stayed home to meet our crew: Javier and Dan.  So far, we love them! Although, we are treading lightly...the ease of this process has to be too good to be true. 

I think our contractors are after my own heart.  Upon arrival, they quickly prepped the floors for workmens' boots and equipment and left behind a "Bartlett Binder" with a schedule of what is to be done each day until....our August 11th completion date!! If only everyone in my life could be so organized.  And just when I think that I am in heaven...Kelly from the contracting crew calls to update me on the progress of the day and the plan for the next day.... Pinch me! Rarely do you find a company that treats the customers like customers should be treated.  If I ran a company, this is how I would do it, too.

Today was the prep and semi-demo day.  We are now cabinet-less and counter-less.  We found the original flooring under the ugly laminate panels.  And, even cooler, when you turn on the light  you can now see through the wood planks from the kitchen to the basement.  Check back soon for new updates.  Coming soon: The Cut-out.



Before







After