One, Two, Three, FLOOR

I was happy to come home and find that the cork was down, the canned lights were installed into the ceiling and another coat of paint applied to the walls. I also had an invoice from McCartney, so that must mean that Bob will be bringing the cabinets in tomorrow. Wow... it will look so different once furniture comes back into the room. I was tempted to do a tap dance on the expanse of floor, but I held myself back.

I stopped at Home Depot (again) to look for the under-cabinet lights and weather stripping for the doors. In the direct wire style, they only had fluorescent (ewwww!) and some halogens (which I think will get too hot). The cool-looking LED or rope lights were of the plug in variety. I guess I will ask Brian what he has in mind.

Oh, and Brian had already installed weather stripping on both doors. Oh, ye of little faith. Another return to Home Depot!

End of Week Two



Over the sink



The second week of remodeling is done. I was disappointed that the floor was not down Friday. However, I just happended to check on the status of my light fixtures and found that they had been delivered to my porch. Luckier still, they were still there when I went to get them!



Kitchen pendant light

This is the larger pendant that will go over the eating area. A smaller, matching pendant will hang over the sink. 
I found these online on lightingcatalog.com and would recommend that site. I also ordered my sink from a partner site, eFaucets.com, and the same was true here. Great selection and prices. I did bite the bullet and returned the cream colored sink with a black one and it turned out to not be nearly the hassle I was expecting.


The first day of the remodel was dramatic, as what was once there was no more in a matter of a few short hours. The following ten days haven't been quite as much "fun." When I would come home in the evening, I there wasn't a lot of visual impact (e.g. wiring, new doors, drywall, paint in the few square feet of wall that will actually be visible.) However, the Balanced Beige  paint color looks great, too, considering the way it was chosen!


I'm hoping that next week will bring the installation of the flooring and the cabinets, the templating for the granite. It would seem that tile installation would also begin. With the deadline for completion coming up less than two weeks away, much still needs to be accomplished.

Corked!



Cork is "breathing"

 My cork has arrived! It is in my kitchen now, "breathing" or whatever it needs to do during the required 24-hour acclimation period. I'm glad that I was diligent in finding the color I wanted, because it is going to be beautiful. Perhaps by this time tomorrow, I'll have a new floor down.

I also saw that my light fixtures have been shipped. Things are coming together. This is good because I'm so over the mess, the inconvenience, the microwave popcorn. :)

Paint Colors?!?



Knock down ceiling done and canned lights

 I got a call Monday from the contractor asking me if I'd picked out paint colors yet. Seriously? Paint? Isn't paint a lot further down the process? He was at a point where he could paint the doors and trim, and actually preferred doing that before the floor went down. How was I going to pick out paint when I didn't have the tile samples, cabinets, yada yada yada? A little better communication on timelines and dependencies would be helpful (the project manager in me just can't help coming out).

Luckily, Julie was able to make suggestions and pick out some Sherwin Williams paint colors. Not that I have any big preference to SW, but there is a store close to my house and I knew that I could look at paint chips easily there. Even better, I was able to look at the colors online on their site.



Balanced Beige and Alabaster

 Out of Julie's suggestions, I  picked out Alabaster White for the trim and doors, and Balanced Beige for the wall color. Voila! I gave the color numbers to Brian and that task was done.

The cork is supposed to be in tomorrow and I learned that it needs to sit in the targeted installation location for 24 hours before it could be installed. Who'd have thunk that? The painting is to be done tomorrow/Thursday and the flooring installed Friday. I am still wa-a-a-a-y ready for this job to be done!

Gutted



No more cabinets!

 Short work was made of the demolition on the first day. The old cabinets were out in no time flat and the appliances were dismantled and moved to the garage.


While the first day dramatic changes occurred, progress has been steady but slower.

Let there be LIGHT!

I was disappointed that I wasn't going to get the glass back door that I had envisioned. It seems that my entry doors are 30" instead of the more common 32" or 36" size. Had I known that the door wasn't readily available in the smaller size, I could have ordered it, but since I was suddenly a little crunched for time, I went ahead with the simple six-panel steel door instead. The plus side was that it was not very expensive, so I could switch it out at a later date should I decide that I still really want that door.

Most of the wiring is done and the canned lights are installed. I think I will be able to perform surgery in that room when they are all turned on.

D(emolition) Day Approaches

The final design decisions are being made. Jule was able to find the cork in the color I've been looking for, and we settled on a design for the tile backsplash. I added the microwave I needed to my order at Factory Direct and decided against installing a wine refrigerator. I need to go to Home Depot or Lowe's tomorrow and pick out the two door styles. I still need to get the lights and the small TV. After that I think I will be done with the selection process.

I've been working on getting my kitched cleared out all day today (with short breaks to mow up what I hope is the last of my leaves and later, to swim). It's a good thing that I had about half of it done from when I thought I was going to be starting the last time, because I am tired of clearing out my kitchen. It's appalling how much grease was floating around the air in my unvented kitchen. Yuk!

But, clear it out, I must as the contractors are supposed to start Tuesday (November 30) on the demolition. I'm a little apprehensive as I haven't really talked to Bob (McCartney) about the details. Julie told me the 30th, but aside from emptying out the cabinets, I don't really know what to expect.

I'm also wondering what I'm going to get regarding some of the specific cabinets. We had talked at one time whether I wanted an 8" or 5" spice rollout, and did he remember that I wanted my shelves to pull out? I've also been agonizing as to whether I should send back my sink and exchange it for a black one. If I'm not careful, I'll end up deciding by not deciding.

Stress and anticipation. D-Day, D-Day's a coming!

Anticipation

It hasn't even started and I'm ready for it to be over. Luckily, since I had gone through the design process with Schloegel that part was done. I had to make a few substitutions, but had a firm idea of what I was looking for.

The wood for the cabinets is cherry, with more brown tones than red tones in the finish. The counter tops will be granite in verde butterfly. The hardware is simple and in a bronze-y finish. It's funny that it never occurred to me to go with anything but a brushed nickel finish on the hardware because the hardware in my current kitchen is bronze-y.

Julie finally found me a cork in the color I had originally picked out. For whatever reason, we were having problems finding the brand that I was going to use with Schloegel, but Julie's supplier came through at last with the new samples.
The tile is copper slate with some glass tile accents.

I had purchased a stove and refrigerator three years ago in anticipation of remodeling. Unfortunately, the refrigerator I bought then is HUGE and didn't work well in the design so I am buying a counter-depth one. Since I've found that I don't care for the side-by-side anyway, it wasn't terribly hard to twist my arm for a new one, but so much for my master plan of spreading the costs out a bit. Ah well... I've got the new refrigerator, stove hood and microwave on order.

I purchased the sink online and I kind of wish that I'd gotten a black one instead of the color I did get. I thought from the photo that it was silver, but turned out to be more of a cream. It's pretty, but I wonder if it will stain, but sending it back will be such a pain (though not impossible, I guess). I'm still debating that and it will probably turn into a decision made defacto. The faucet and soap dispenser are the same ones that I originally chose, but I did find it online for quite a lot less than what it would have been at Fergusons. The disposal and airswitch is purchased.
I still need to pick out the light fixtures, but I think I am almost done with those kinds of items. With my short attention span it's no surprise that I'm already tired of the project!

Work was supposed to have started right after Thanksgiving, but when the contractor was here Monday, they said it would be "shortly after" Thanksgiving. This is already starting to make me nervous. I have told them that I really expected them to be done by Christmas. They didn't seem to think that would be a problem, but I am starting to have my doubts.