Well, it's been a few days since I've updated this blog and mostly because all I'm doing is packing. What scares me is everything I've been taking out of these cabinets is going in to the new ones. Here I though I was going to be throwing out all this stuff and actually we haven't gotten rid of much.
Not much new happening with the project. Today, we met with the general contractor and the head carpenter and went over everything one more time. We did manage to choose where the dumpster and the port-a-john are going so I feel we accomplished something. We found out the kitchen walls will be taken down to the studs so it'll be easier to run the wiring and plumbing which I'm sure the cats are so going to enjoy checking out. We'll hear next week probably when they are actually starting the demolition.
The time line for the new cabinets installation is the beginning of January. As I understand it, the designer will be over about a week before the cabinets are installed to mark on the floor exactly where the cabinets are going so there won't be any confusion.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Let the fun begin.
Well, it's been a week since the last posting and only a few things have changed. We've met with the general contractor and signed the "contract". We'll have a meeting next week with the general contractor and the head carpenter to go over logistics. Where to put the dumpster and more importantly where to put the port-a-john. It'll be about two months of no kitchen but it's so going to be worth the wait.
We've spent most of the Thanksgiving weekend boxing up the kitchen. Who would have thought we could accumulate so much crap. We found cookie sheets from Syracuse. Why, I don't know, but they're were in the cupboards. The only ones that had any fun with this packing was the cats. For every cabinet that was emptied it was a new place to explore and shut a door on your brother cat. That's right, you don't know about our cats.
Let me digress for a couple, we have three gray cats, they're siblings and identical. Milo, the brave but not so smart one, is the most curious and friendly. He's our bull in the china shop. Then there's Manny, Mr. Sweet Tooth, he's the chicken. He also is a major sweet freak. His claim to fame is he likes to close doors and these cabinets have been a major joy to him as he closes his brothers in the cabinets. Finally there's Maddox. He's a sweet demon. Remember Shrek 2's Puss-n-Boots? The big sweet eyes, that Maddox. He'll give you that sweet look, just after he's been into mischief He's the smart one of the group, urging Milo into one mess after another.
Anyway, back to the kitchen. We've managed to clear most of one wall, and a few drawers. Though we did have to break down and hit the U-Haul store for boxes. Some of the fun of the packing (did I say fun????) has been trying to determine what we'll need while the remodel is going on and what can be sealed up in the boxes.
I'll be posting some pictures of the before the remodel as soon as the packing is done.
We've spent most of the Thanksgiving weekend boxing up the kitchen. Who would have thought we could accumulate so much crap. We found cookie sheets from Syracuse. Why, I don't know, but they're were in the cupboards. The only ones that had any fun with this packing was the cats. For every cabinet that was emptied it was a new place to explore and shut a door on your brother cat. That's right, you don't know about our cats.
Let me digress for a couple, we have three gray cats, they're siblings and identical. Milo, the brave but not so smart one, is the most curious and friendly. He's our bull in the china shop. Then there's Manny, Mr. Sweet Tooth, he's the chicken. He also is a major sweet freak. His claim to fame is he likes to close doors and these cabinets have been a major joy to him as he closes his brothers in the cabinets. Finally there's Maddox. He's a sweet demon. Remember Shrek 2's Puss-n-Boots? The big sweet eyes, that Maddox. He'll give you that sweet look, just after he's been into mischief He's the smart one of the group, urging Milo into one mess after another.
Anyway, back to the kitchen. We've managed to clear most of one wall, and a few drawers. Though we did have to break down and hit the U-Haul store for boxes. Some of the fun of the packing (did I say fun????) has been trying to determine what we'll need while the remodel is going on and what can be sealed up in the boxes.
I'll be posting some pictures of the before the remodel as soon as the packing is done.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Down the Drain
It boggles the mind. Who knew there were so many ugly faucets out there? So far, picking out faucets has been the hardest part of preparing for this remodel. We also found some nice faucets, but nothing that really hit our fancy. Of course, we had to make it hard on ourselves by choosing antiqued copper for our cabinet hardware. Really limits our options for plumbing hardware.
We've ordered some cheap faucets that seem nice. We got 3 (kitchen sink, prep sink and bonus room) for less than the price of one faucet at the fancy plumbing places. Our builder tells us that this brand is very low end and we shouldn't expect to get more than 5 years out of them. I figure that gives us enough time to find some nice faucets that we really like.
--Mark
In the beginning
DJ’s Entry: Back in August 2007 Mark & I got serious about remodeling the kitchen. I called a friend who has a degree in interior design because I knew this wasn’t where my talents would shine. Her expertise wasn’t with kitchens, but she brought a co-worker from Stock Building Supplies that specialized in kitchen designs and between us we came up with an initial design that had potential.
In September was the Southern Ideal Home Show where we knew we could see Blue Ribbon Residential Construction (http://www.blue-ribbon-construction.com/). John Sperath, President has done a number of projects in the past for us, including remodeling the main bath, adding an upstairs deck and the Cadillac of storage buildings in the back. His work has always been outstanding.
Anyway, back to the beginning of this project. We had a short chat with John at the home show and discussed what we wanted and John made a note to contact us in a week or so to go forward. He also gave us a list of preferred vendors so we could start looking at flooring, tiling and cabinets. Now, not being one to want to sit around, I started dragging Mark around to look at tiling, cabinets, and flooring. I’ve read numerous horror stories about remodels and I wanted this to go as smoothly as possible. So, I figured easiest way was to pick everything out first. I found an awesome backsplash tile that I wanted to use in the kitchen (http://www.lindapaul.com/tile_murals/Pepper_Pail_backsplash_tile.htm) I just knew it would be perfect. So with a copy of this picture, we went in search of cabinets and flooring that would work with this backsplash. As much as I loved this backsplash I quickly realized that it could cause problems in the future. While I love the chili pepper theme, the next owner might not. We visited the cabinet supplier, the plumbing, the tile and the flooring suppliers that John recommended. And in the course of a couple of weeks managed to pick out cabinets, flooring, tiling but alas, no plumbing.
John suggested we meet with Shauna McDonald at Kitchen & Bath Galleries (http://www.kandbgalleries.com/index2.htm). Since John has worked with Shauna In the past, we decided to follow his direction. Shauna was terrific, we were pretty set on getting oak cabinets because we like the look of the grain, but after explaining that oak has been over used and is actually being ripped out of kitchens now she directed us to the hickory. What a pretty grain and color. We quickly chose the hickory cabinet with a honey finish. It’s a very plain style which is just what we were looking for. We had chosen the countertop, and hardware on an earlier visit to the showroom so we gave that information to Shauna.
After a couple more weeks, we met with John to further discuss our project and to let him know we were adding another job (ah yes, the while they’re here syndrome). Not only are they going to rip apart the kitchen to the bare bones, they’re replacing the counter in the bonus room and removing the shower from the laundry room.
In the last week, we’ve had the final design meetings with both Shauna and John. So now, we’re just about ready to get this show on the road. We’ve a tentative start date for the kitchen demolition for 11/27/07. So two guess as to what we’re doing over Thanksgiving.
In September was the Southern Ideal Home Show where we knew we could see Blue Ribbon Residential Construction (http://www.blue-ribbon-construction.com/). John Sperath, President has done a number of projects in the past for us, including remodeling the main bath, adding an upstairs deck and the Cadillac of storage buildings in the back. His work has always been outstanding.
Anyway, back to the beginning of this project. We had a short chat with John at the home show and discussed what we wanted and John made a note to contact us in a week or so to go forward. He also gave us a list of preferred vendors so we could start looking at flooring, tiling and cabinets. Now, not being one to want to sit around, I started dragging Mark around to look at tiling, cabinets, and flooring. I’ve read numerous horror stories about remodels and I wanted this to go as smoothly as possible. So, I figured easiest way was to pick everything out first. I found an awesome backsplash tile that I wanted to use in the kitchen (http://www.lindapaul.com/tile_murals/Pepper_Pail_backsplash_tile.htm) I just knew it would be perfect. So with a copy of this picture, we went in search of cabinets and flooring that would work with this backsplash. As much as I loved this backsplash I quickly realized that it could cause problems in the future. While I love the chili pepper theme, the next owner might not. We visited the cabinet supplier, the plumbing, the tile and the flooring suppliers that John recommended. And in the course of a couple of weeks managed to pick out cabinets, flooring, tiling but alas, no plumbing.
John suggested we meet with Shauna McDonald at Kitchen & Bath Galleries (http://www.kandbgalleries.com/index2.htm). Since John has worked with Shauna In the past, we decided to follow his direction. Shauna was terrific, we were pretty set on getting oak cabinets because we like the look of the grain, but after explaining that oak has been over used and is actually being ripped out of kitchens now she directed us to the hickory. What a pretty grain and color. We quickly chose the hickory cabinet with a honey finish. It’s a very plain style which is just what we were looking for. We had chosen the countertop, and hardware on an earlier visit to the showroom so we gave that information to Shauna.
After a couple more weeks, we met with John to further discuss our project and to let him know we were adding another job (ah yes, the while they’re here syndrome). Not only are they going to rip apart the kitchen to the bare bones, they’re replacing the counter in the bonus room and removing the shower from the laundry room.
In the last week, we’ve had the final design meetings with both Shauna and John. So now, we’re just about ready to get this show on the road. We’ve a tentative start date for the kitchen demolition for 11/27/07. So two guess as to what we’re doing over Thanksgiving.
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