It Doesn't Hurt To Ask

They started tearing out the chimney in the basement, which was something I wasn't expecting them to do.  Nevertheless, it was something that we wanted to do eventually, so I'm going to let them.  They took out one wall all the way to the floor in the basement.  The side walls will be coming out soon.

So now there is a pretty good sized hole in the dining room floor.  One big enough for a little Skeeto or Izzypop to fall down.  We're keeping a close eye on those two.

I was really excited about the bookshelf. I loved the idea of our our cookbooks neatly on the shelves and off the counter. I loved it until we tried to put one of our cookbooks on it. The shelves were too close together and only 3 of our cookbooks would actually fit there. Boo. So I fretted and fretted all night long about it. The next morning I called James and asked if there was any way Scott could take out one of the shelves and move the other one to be centered. After all that fretting, the answer was "Sure! He can do anything." And here is the updated shelf with our biggest cookbook looking pretty good on it I would say. I love it again. :)








Brian just couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't stand to see the sink in a box on the porch for another minute. So I came home to this. Our new farmhouse sink unwrapped. I might actually like doing dishes now.......Nah!

Hooked on Uppers

Well, the upper cabinets went in yesterday.  I was pretty sure that it would make the space feel much more enclosed, but it really doesn't.  Brian and I are really pleased.  Here is where the sink and range will go.

And here is where we will put our nicer dishes.  This will be more of a display area so we don't have to keep a curio somewhere.  There will be lighting inside the cabinets from the top.  Also, the shelves that are in there currently are the wrong ones.  They are supposed to be glass.  We'll get those swapped out soon.

Here's a view from the pantry before they had put the doors on.

We still have issues with countertops and flooring.  We're trying to find the right tile for a black and white checkered floor.  There are actually four kinds of black and four kinds of white laying on the floor here.  I think Brian has made his decision...figures it would be the most expensive one...:(

We are planning on white subway tile on the backsplash (the wall to the left).  The pantry door wall and the wall to the right will probably be painted grey.  We're trying to decide whether to make both countertops soapstone or whether to make the one on the left soapstone and the one on the right carrera marble.  I have seen so many kitchens mixing countertop materials that I think it might be pretty cool, but we're still not sure.

Here's a picture of a kitchen with a combination of soapstone and carrera.  Most pictures I find have an island with a different countertop...I haven't found any really great galley kitchen pictures as an example.  Of course, most kitchens aren't galley kitchens anymore.  My brain is hurting from trying to picture our space with a similar finish...I think I need a Mt. Dew.  Any opinions or suggestions are most welcome.

What A Difference A Day Makes

Is it possible that Brian could actually have his dream kitchen sometime this century?  Today made me think it just might happen.  They started putting the cabinets in and they got almost the whole kitchen drywalled.  Upper cabinets, mudding and taping along with the remaining drywall will be tomorrow.

Skeeto was thoroughly enjoying the "galley-ality" of this space.  Plenty of room to run.

Here's a better shot of the cabinets around the fridge (no we are not keeping the old one there :) and the lower cabinets along the south wall. 

Here's a little bit better panorama of the room.  The new stainless, counter-depth fridge will go to the right.  The new range and oven will go to the left, the farm house sink and dishwasher will go on the left more toward the back pantry door.  Speaking of which, our old bedroom door looks pretty dang good as the pantry door, don't you think?

Real Progress

Today they started a little sheetrock work to get ready for the cabinet installation.  You really get an idea of what it's going to look like to look in on the dining room and see that view out the window...so cool!

Yesterday the electricians finished up putting in all the boxes.  By the time I thought about it last night, it was too dark to take pictures.  And since we have no light bulbs in those nice new cans and no switches in those nice new boxes, it was impossible to get decent blog pics, so here you have it a day late.

Anyway, the best development of the day was the delivery of our new cabinets!  I can't wait to see them installed.  Our new farmhouse kitchen sink was also delivered, but it has not been taken out of the box yet so more pictures to come on that.  Also, Brian's new appliances were ordered today.  Brian is already dreaming up what we will be cooking with them.

We are having a problem, though.  Countertops and flooring.  Brian insists on soapstone countertops.  There is only one place our contractor can find that has a slab of soapstone...and the slab is not big enough.  He's working real hard on trying too convince Brian they are too high maintainence.  It's not working.  Also, we cannot figure out what to do for flooring.  We hate wood floors in a kitchen...although they look awesome, they're just not practical.  Brian really wants a black and white checkered floor that has a more natural stone look.  It's pretty much impossible to find white natural stone tile.  We just don't know what to do on that front.  All I can do is do what I always do when I am having "decorators block"...To the Internet!  Wish us luck.

To Have And To Holed

A renovation is kind of like a marriage. There are ups and there are downs. It takes a lot to make it work, but with patience, perseverance and time, you can end up with something pretty great. Something you want to stay in forever. Today was one of the down days. I came home to a helluva lot of holes in my perfectly good walls.  Holes in the kitchen I expect.

But there were holes in the mudroom...

Holes in the basement...

Holes in closets and holes in toy rooms...

Holes means patching and patching means painting. Painting where I wasn't expecting to need paint.  Ugh.  Anyway...here's me trying to focus on the things that will actually get us closer to being done with this....trying to be patient and to work things out:

Obviously from the images above, there was a lot of work done to get the electrical in working order.  Trenches were also ground into the brick walls to prep for outlets along the outer wall.

The original door to our bedroom will now become our pantry door.  I love that we can use this to match the rest of the house.

Even though today was one of those days when I wonder if this is all worth it, I can't be in too foul a mood.  Tomorrow will be 10 years since I married my wonderful, sweetest, most caring husband.  And since he can't possibly wait to exchange gifts until the day of our anniversary, he presented me with these beauties.  Diamonds are definitely, aside from her hubby of 10 years, a girls best friend.  Thank you for the earrings, Brian.  But more importantly thank you for being my One Great Love.  I can't wait to see what kinds of torture we can put this house through during the next 10 years. 

Updated:  Brian gave me some flack about not putting a picture of his gift on the blog, so here it is.

Now I know what you're thinking..."She gets diamonds and he gets a set of old used books that don't even match!?!"  Yes, yes, I think so too.  But to be fair, this is what he wanted.  They are old, true.  And they don't match because it is difficult to find a matching set.  They are the complete set of "The Diaries of George Washington". He has been collecting "The Papers of George Washington".  There are several series and several volumes in each series.  They started printing these books in 1976 and are *still printing new volumes*.  Washington had a lot of papers.  Anyhoo...these were what he wanted.  I know, he's a nerd.  But he's my nerd.  And I am his.  Happy anniversary, love.



Nice Cans

Friday the electricians started the unenviable job of sorting out the spaghetti bowl. They were able to get all the canned lights in the kitchen and start on moving the dining room light to be in the new center of the room.

 



Tonight was a glorious night.  About 200 people showed up to watch the eclipse from the park across the street.  We just hung out on the balcony and watched the sun set afterward.  Having fun with my iPad:

 So much of why I love this house.

Making Some Headway

Today the floor registers were moved and the plumbing was started.

Also, part of the cement board went down to prep for the tile floor.  Thankfully, we have been able to keep the refridgerator inside.  I can only imagine how crazy I would be if I had had to go out to the garage every morning for the milk.  And to answer Brad's question, this baby is not staying.  We just don't have the room, but we did just buy 3 months worth of freeze dried meals for when He comes.  They take up a lot less room than this fridge.  Here's hoping we have water. :)

  

We also met with the electrician to go over where all the lights, outlets and switches will be....Check out the mess this guy has to sort out.  I do not envy him.  It's going to be great when it is done, though.  We won't have to worry about our newly remodeled house burning down because of old rickety wiring.

Back at it tomorrow.

Good Eats

What's worse than eating take out every night because your kitchen is torn up? Eating cold leftover takeout every other night because your microwave was thrown out with the rest of your kitchen.

This little beauty was left on the porch by the Overstock gnomes today. Ahhh...sweet, sweet reheated Pizza Hut.

Party On, Dudes

Today they framed in the new dining room wall.  The doorway will be the same width as the other doorway in the dining room (to the front room).

It is so hard to show in these pictures how the feeling of the dining room will change as a result of this.  Those tiny 3 feet really do open up the room.

I really cannot wait to have some company over in this new space.  I don't think it will be the best spot for Thanksgiving for 30 people, by any means, but maybe we could invite 2 other couples over without having to sit elbow to elbow and play some serious Settlers. :D



In other news, they cleaned up the backyard today.  My lawn is almost dead :(.  They are hoping to do electrical, plumbing, and HVAC all this week...Seems like an aweful lot, but we shall see.

The Beginnings Of A Pantry

They started framing in the pocket door today. It is going to be a great day when we actually have a pantry in our kitchen.

Oh My!

Today they tore out the wall between the kitchen and dining. They will be moving the wall about 3 feet out and will be widening the doorway. It is going to be awesome! The light that it lets in will be great.

  Also, the masons came back and did some cleanup. It's looking pretty good!

Can you believe this side of the house once looked like this:

We've come a long way, baby.