The light was the subway

Well we encountered our first real problem with the remodel. The flooring we chose, which is a vinyl tile gave the installers some concern. Apparently they had never installed it in a house only on a concrete floor (which isn't happening in my kitchen) and they were fussing up a storm. There was also a lot of concern about the transition between the kitchen subflooring and the breeze way. I don't understand it all and honestly I'm not all that interested in learning it all in details. Didn't exactly give me a warm fuzzy. Then we discover the tile was only in one size when it was suppose to be in three sizes to give it a "random" effect. Come to find out, the flooring we chose does not come in the three sizes like we wanted. So no flooring was installed, and we're still dealing with subflooring.

BUT!!, there's good news to this glitch, we got to choose new colors for the flooring. We had been so worried about avoiding anything dark in the new kitchen that we were a bit over the edge here. What we just chose is a slate colored flooring for the kitchen that provides a nice contrast to the light cabinets. So, it turned out to be a good thing (but I want my floor). For the laundry room we went with a cinnamon color. I think that'll go really nice with the blues we picked for the laundry room.

Today, the plumber arrived and installed the faucets and let me tell you, they look terrific, he even managed to install strainers in the oiled bronze so it looks complete. So, we now have water in the kitchen. Baby steps towards the finish. The faucet on the left is for the main sink and obviously the one on the right is the prep sink.

We did decide on the grout color and did without even heading back to the tile store. (Of course, I'm sure John will strongly suggest I get my butt over to the tile store and get him the name of the grout and he'll do it diplomatically). Since we're going with the gray slate color on the flooring, we want to go with a gray grout. I think it'll look great with the tiling we choose. And, you'll have to wait until the tile is installed to see if you agree with us.

The really big change in the kitchen was the installation of the glass doors over the prep sink. They look truly beautiful. We did decide we'll have to find lower wattage bulbs for the cans since they're way to bright. Now I'll have to decide what's going in those cabinets.

I see a light at the end of the tunnel

Ok, so it might just be the subway coming but I think it means we're heading towards the end of this journey.

This past weekend we stained the banquette. Found a nice honey maple color and we both liked the way it's turning out. Need to do another coat and perhaps even a third coat before we put the sealer on.

We have run into a small glitch in the otherwise smooth journey. The light we chose for the dining area is way to big. We're talking ballroom size here. So, we're having the electrician move the new light to the dining room (we've both hated the light in there since we moved in and now we have an excuse to get rid of it.) and we had the electrician put the hall light in the dining area as a temporary fix. Tonight we ordered a ceiling fan for the space. Both Mark & I were disappointed that we hadn't gotten a fan for the kitchen and tonight we resolved that. If the fan gets here before the project is done we'll ask the poor electrician to install it otherwise, we'll take care of it.

Tomorrow the flooring installers are arriving to put in the kitchen floor. It'll be so nice not to walk on subflooring. We're both going to work from home tomorrow to make sure Milo doesn't try to help the installers. I'll be updating tomorrow with pictures of the new floor.

I also understand that the glass doors will be arriving tomorrow so that'll bring some major changes in the room. Thursday, the plumber arrives to do his magic and we'll have running water.

We've been talking about growing fresh herbs in the kitchen for cooking. So, while we're waiting to actually cook, I've ordered a couple of books on hydroponics. I've been thinking about getting a AeroGarden (www.aerogardendirect.com) for the kitchen but have been worried about the three terrors and how they'll abuse it. There's also the matter of where do we put the garden. I'm also just realizing that we haven't increased our counter space at all with this remodel. With the built in oven, microwave and built in refrigerator we lost counter top not to mention the large cooktop. I think the way we've got the kitchen set up it'll be more efficient we just won't have any more prep space.

Well, it's late and I'll update you all tomorrow with pictures.

Each Day Brings New Changes

This week has brought a number of changes to the kitchen and it's really starting to look like it's a kitchen.  The under cabinet lighting is in as is the decorative lighting.  There's no way I can complain that the kitchen isn't bright enough.  

The light over the dining area by the banquette is a bit larger than I thought it was when we ordered it.  I'm short enough that it shouldn't be a problem for me, but for a number of our friends (including Mark) there could be a lot of head banging (and not in a good way).   We're thinking about trying to find a smaller fixture or maybe a pendant and moving this light into the dining room.   

The light is a bit large for that room but  I think it'll work nicely and while we've talked about putting a ceiling fan in the dining room, this light would be over the table where it wouldn't be  likely to smack anyone in the head.  

We met with the foreman (Dale) for the cabinet crew from Kitchen & Bath Galleries 

this morning to go over a few of the concerns I had with the cabinets only to find out that while they look done, they are not finished.  They still need to be fine tuned so hopefully that will resolve all the concerns I have.

Dale was hopeful the glass doors would be in today and he could install them tomorrow.  Mark & Dale also discussed the cook top There was some concern that the brackets that supported the cook top had a problem.  But when we got home tonight the cook top was installed so I guess they figured out the problem and resolved it.   This is why we hired John so we don't have to worry about this (thanks again John and Chris)

I've also made a decision about the banquette.  Ok, I know, you thought this was all resolved but listen, the more I thought about it, I really like that banquette and I really wanted to show it off more.  If we just painted it, it would get lost in the wall color and I really didn't want that.  So my plan is to either stain or wash it.  At the worst I'll have to just paint over my ideas but it's worth giving this a try.  

Looks like the cushions for the banquette are going to be a bit more than I thought, but as Mark pointed out, they are being custom made so the price for that is reasonable.  Besides they are going to look so good with this kitchen they'll be worth the price and as a family mentioned, they'll look great with the gray fur sprinkled all over it.

We understand the flooring will be in next week.  Once it arrives it'll need to sit in the house to acclimate before it's installed so hopefully by the end of next week, we'll have flooring, that will be so exciting for me.

The stove is installed and it's great.  It has cut outs in the rack that pot holders will fit into giving you a good grip for pulling the rack out.  And get this, the bottom rack extends fully out of the oven on some kind of rail system.  It's so cool.

It's been a busy week

Well it's been a busy week here at our small castle. Finishing touches to the cabinets, a keystone added to the crown molding above the cooktop. We've met with someone that will be making the cushions for the banquette and best of all, the counter tops are in. Every day seems to have brought about a small change until Friday, when the counter tops were installed. Poof, it almost looks like a kitchen. And best of all....I finally made a decision on the colors and have sent them off to John, now no more changes. Ah, but I've just thought of something, what color do we paint the banquette????? The color from above the chair rail or below or do we go with an entirely different color. And you thought that was the last you had heard about colors. Just teasing, we'll be going with the color from below the chair rail, but I'm going to see if we can do it more like a wash instead of a full paint.

That's a decision John and I will need to hash out. By the way, didn't you just love that posting from John. He's great. Need a remodeling job, he's your man.

Vince, the cabinet installer added the really cool keystone to the crown molding. It looks so awesome. The keystone was part of the original plan but seeing it on paper versus seeing it in the actual cabinets, my cabinets is so much better. I gotta tell you, everyone we've dealt with on this project from demolition to now has been really great.

Wednesday we met with Wayne of Wayne Furniture Repair (www.waynefurniturerepair.com) to discuss making cushions for the banquette. So unless these cushions are over the top expensive, we'll be going with him. We choose an upholstery fabric in a deep blue with red accents, and royal blue pillows. I think it'll give us a nice POP of color (don'tcha just love that designer talk). We decided not to remove the chair rail since it's really in keeping with the style of our house. We'll go with pillows to provide the cushion from the chair rail and it'll allow us to change out the colors as often as we want with different fabrics and size pillows.

Thursday, the electrician from Eastpointe Electric was here installing switches and plugs. Seems like such a small thing but it really adds to the feeling that the room is coming together. While the electrician was working we had another guy from Kitchen and Bath Galleries here fixing the lazy susan under the corner cabinet. The kitchen vent was also installed. This vent is really cool, rather than being this huge focus in the room it's just a smooth line over the cooktop. It slides out from the wall when you need it and slides back in when it's not in use. At first I thought we'd go with one of those more ornate vents, you know the ones I mean. But this makes the cabinets the focal point rather than the vent.

Of course, Milo and Maddox had to investigate the unit. All three boys are getting so spoiled being allowed up on the cabinet tops to check things out. It's gonna be tough getting them to remember they are not suppose to be on the counter tops.

Friday morning, the installers from Majestic Marble & Glass arrived to install the counter top (http://www.majesticmarbleandglass.com). It only took them a couple of hours (and a lot of grunting) to get the tops in the house. One of the sections had to come in as two pieces because it was to big to bring in as one. So they warned us there would be a seam. I gotta tell you, I was worried about that but figured they were the experts and I'd trust that they'd make it look great. I was well rewarded for my trust. After the guys were finished with the installation, you can't even see where the seam was. I was impressed. I actually felt sorry for one of the installers, he was so tall he kept hitting the light fixture in the breezeway, I'm sure he had some choice words for that light after he left.

We did have a small set back in the kitchen. The faucet we choose for the prep area won't fit. It's to tall with the cabinets installed which really bummed me out. Fortunately, Mark came to the rescue and quickly ordered a new faucet from the net and hopefully it'll be here next week so we'll be able to get it installed quickly. You can't really tell from the picture, but the prep sink in really deep. You can almost get an entire bushel of corn in there. On the side of both the prep sink and the main sink we've had them add a drain board. I can't wait until we can actually start using this kitchen. The main sink under the window is deep and long, it'll be such a nice change from the old blue enamel sink. The installers did warn me not to pour boiling water in the sinks because it could crack it. I can live with that.

I'm just amazed at how all the choices we made. From small samples hanging on the walls for counter top choices to walking around in the showroom looking at different cabinets in the designers office space.

Well, I'll be updating again soon as new changes take place.

Getting there - Light at the end of the tunnel

I hope I'm doing this right. Although I have been using computers for years, this is my first blog post.

DJ and Mark are truly troopers. Although kitchens are the hardest room in the house to live through while remodeling they are really doing well. Even though they are tough, they are (like a marathon runner) probably feeling the impact of the wall. There is light at the end of the tunnel, they just can't see it clearly.

The electrician worked on the lighting today which will look great when he is finished. (Did you see the great fixtures they chose?) We are putting the flooring on the schedule as well as the interior trim replacement. Once the counters go in next Friday we can invite the plumber over to install all the fixtures. With flooring and plumbing in place, appliances can go in. But low and behold we aren't finished yet. It will then be time for the painting. Then one final cleaning and we'll be there. I do expect an open house or at least a donut when we are done.

Honestly, the project is moving along extremely well and that can be at least, in part attributed to a willing and appreciative customer. As will all three projects for DJ and Mark they have been great people to work with.

Updates and Comments

Well as you can tell things are moving along. Maybe not as fast as I'd like, but actually for a job this size it's really moving quickly.

Friday, Majestic came out to do the template for the counter top. After attaching all these squares, they take a picture. They do this with each section of counter. It was interesting. It took about 20 minutes for each section to put all the squares up and take a picture. Who knew?

Vince is installing the cabinets and he's with Kitchen and Bath galleries. It's amazing how much he has done in such a short amount of time. If I were doing this...well,it wouldn't be happening at all. The next phase is the crown molding over the cabinets and they'll be done. There are some bumpers that will need to be installed to keep the cabinets from hitting each other and the lazy susan will need the cabinet builder to take a look at the cabinet to figure out why it's not spinning correctly. All in all, everything is looking great.

Had a nice chat with John of Blue Ribbon on Friday about the pot filler and it's not an option. If I had decided to do this from the beginning when John first mentioned it, there would be no problem. But to do it now, they'd have to remove the cabinets, tear out the wall and run new plumbing. When that was explained I decided that it wasn't a good idea. Come to find out today, Mark had already told John and Chris that he'd talk me out of the idea. While we discussed the pot filler I mentioned that all the designing shows say what a wonderful idea it is to have. Well, all the men in the room cringed and I really mean cringed and in unison said I have to stop watching those shows.

After all, all those shows can remodel an entire kitchen in 30 minutes.

Friday, the put the bath vanity in place and it's looking a bit more orange than I thought it would be but I'm still loving it. I know I originally talked about getting a "furniture" vanity but I couldn't find anything that I loved enough to pay $1000 for. Besides, none of the fancy units I liked had drawers and I'm really loving the ideas of drawers in the vanity. A place for brushes, bandaids, first aid stuff. All those things that you need in a bathroom.

Lighting

The original kitchen light plan was for 4 recessed cans in an "L" shape. One over by the refridgerator, one by the cooktop/sink, and the other two in a straight line from the cooktop/sink can towards the banquette. While DJ and I were looking for a pendant light for the breezeway, we found a set of fixtures that we really liked and we decided to use multiple fixtures of the same style to tie together the front hall, kitchen and breezeway. You can see a photo of the pendant light we're going to use over the kitchen table. We've got a shorter fixture for the front hall and a fixture that is tight to the ceiling for the breezeway.

So, one of the cans was moved on the light plan to be over the prep sink. That ended up getting moved twice because it was over the cabinets, then it was over the crown molding. It's now a few inches past the crown molding, and still mainly lined up with the sink (that it is no longer above). Hmm. I'd been stewing over this for a few days because it didn't really make sense there and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it. I did think of moving it to hall near the bath entrance. That area seems very dark now, but it didn't before. I think it just seems dark because the kitchen is brighter with the new lighting and the plastic and barriers are blocking a lot of light. I never really felt we needed a light there before so I dropped that idea.

John came by yesterday and scowled at the same can light. He didn't like the way it was close to a cabinet and was off center of that cabinet. We can't center it because there is a joist in the way. John suggested adding a second can, so there would be one lined up with each door of the cabinet, and to add wall washer trim kits to the cans. That would direct the light towards the cabinet doors. Accentuating these doors will be very nice since they are the glass cabinet doors. We'll want to drop the wattage of the bulbs in those cans to make it an accent, rather than main lighting. I think this will work out very nicely. Thanks for the idea John!

Cabinets are Installed

Well, all the cabinets are installed now and the duct work for the vent has been run. The can light by the prep sink has been moved and all is well. I found out that they are called can lights and not cam lights that I've been calling them now I have to decide if I need to correct the entire blog or if I can just let it stand. Decisions, decisions. Anyway, I'm guessing tomorrow or Monday the crown molding will go up on the cabinets or maybe they'll wait on that until they paint the ceiling.

Tomorrow they're coming out to do the template for the counter top and the bath vanity. John of Blue Ribbon let me know they'll be moving the vanity in tomorrow so they can measure it. template for the kitchen and the bath. I also found out they'll be putting in the bath vanity tomorrow so they can measure the vanity.

I'd feel so much better about the entire project if I could just make a decision on the color and stick with it. I've gotten to the point where I'm asking the guys at the paint store what colors to choose. So, what do you the reader think I should do? Not only do I have to make a decision on the color but I have to decide if I want a hint of the primary color on the ceiling. A number of the design programs I've been watching on HGTV suggest that you mix a small about of your wall color in your ceiling paint to tie the room together. I don't know about that, but it's an interesting idea.

New Cabinets

Ok, the installer who's done a wonderful job so far is gone for the day so here are some of the pictures. He'll be back tomorrow to hopefully finish up. He's in a holding pattern for installing some of the upper cabinets while he waits for the HVAC crew to come install the ventilation for the exhaust fan. We've also got some questions for the electrician. So it's looking like e-mail time to the foreman.

The picture to the right is the cabinet for the oven and micro convection oven. The cabinets above will be for the cookie sheets, pizza stone, yorkshire pudding tins. The cabinets to the left are the storage drawers that'll hold the storage containers and upper cabinets.

You looking for more pictures, oh good, cause I've got a few more to share with you. This is the corner piece near the prep sink. The cabinet is nice an deep so it'll be a great place to store the baking goods like flour, sugar etc. There's a small corner piece above that we're not all that sure what we'll store in there. Maybe baking spices like vanilla and nutmeg.

These are the cabinets above the prep sink. They'll have glass insert doors with a craftsman style lead glass. The glass is going to be opaque similar to this bottom cabinet we saw at the design gallery. I've spoken with the kitchen designer and we can order additional glass doors if we decide to after the kitchen is all done. We had decided not to put lights in the cabinets because I didn't think it was all a necessary expense and now I'm wondering if that was the right choice.

Milo managed to get into the kitchen this morning and was able to check out some of the installation before we found out he had escaped. Took a while to get the barriers back in place so he was enjoying checking out the cabinets this evening. He was really unhappy at not being able to get down there and see what the installer was doing. I started to yell at him to get down, but we thought without the counter tops installed he wouldn't understand why he can't get up there. So he and his brothers did a thorough investigation and seemed satisfied.

I really like the light color of the cabinets and I think it'll go great with the colors I've chosen for the kitchen. Poor Mark he's getting so tired of me looking at paint colors. I showed the poor guy some colors last night and all he could say it was great go with it and stop looking.

With the cabinets in over the prep sink we've discovered one of the cam lights is in the wrong place and will have to be moved. I think we'll also have them install another cam over by the bathroom since that area seems to be bit dark.

Stay tuned there's more to come.

As I type....

As I make this quick entry, the cabinet installer is drilling and assembling. I'll post pictures later. This is so cool.

Yahooo! The cabinets are here

The cabinets were delivered today and they take up almost all the space in the kitchen. I know there's a lot of packing material there, but I can't believe how much space is being taken up. I have no idea how the installer is going to work in there. I'll find out tomorrow.

We also found out the wallpaper border we liked (not loved mind you) is discontinued and we can't get it. Oh, well, back to the drawing board. And in spite of reading that you shouldn't have blue walls in a kitchen (it'll curb your appetite) I still want my turquoise walls. Besides, when this is all done, if I hate the wall color, I can easily change it. There's going to be so little wall to paint that it'll take less than 3 hours to paint everything even after taping. Mark's been joking that we need to leave the wall behind the dining room door unpainted and see if anyone notices. Funny as that may be, it's not happening.

I'll post some more pictures tomorrow after the installer has had a chance to get some of the cabinets done.

The Cabinets Are Coming, The Cabinets Are Coming

We received word on Friday the kitchen cabinets should be delivered Monday afternoon and they'll start the installation on Tuesday. So, of course, you know I'm working from home on Tuesday. Finally, we're back in motion. With the holidays, it everything ground to a stop and while I knew it would happen I'm getting antsy to get this all done.

I'm still bouncing all around on the wall colors, but I think we're set. I'll like the end result. I will be checking with John to see what he thinks. I'm really fond of of this tropical blue but I've been reading that you're not suppose to put blue in a kitchen, it curbs the appetite. I don't know, I really like the color.

The other challenge I've been facing is finding someone to do the seat cushions for the banquette. Who knew this was going to be so tough. I've been emailing one company here in North Carolina and finally sent him the drawing so hopefully, we'll be getting a price soon. I'm just afraid of what these cushions are going to cost.

We spent this weekend getting some goodies for the new kitchen. Some trivets, paper towel holder, knife block and such. Most of what we want to get we'll wait until this is all done so we know what we need and what we already have.

Anyway, keep posted, it looks like there will be some changes happening soon.