Kitchen redo

It's done!!!!!

2009-10-09T13:23:00.000-07:00

Here is the finished kitchen from the living room! [Click on the image to get a larger view.]

(Actually, we're still waiting for a piece of trim from the cabinet mfg, and the final building inspection won't happen until next week.)

Here's the view from the left, coming up the stairs. Note the pillar.

And here is the view of the right. We haven't figured out what chairs to put around the island and desk areas, and we're now having the living room/hallway lightly sanded and re-poly-ed next week, but Lynnie is busy cleaning the inside of the frig and the outside of everything so we can start to put all the kitchen stuff back again.

Tuesday

2009-10-06T05:52:00.000-07:00

This is the situation as of Monday night at 7:30: The lights all work (except for one 4-way switch that needs to be replace). Rest of power not yet working. There are 5 additional circuits in the this new kitchen! Note the pendant lights over the island!

Faucet and drain now work in the sink, and the garbage disposal is in but not working.

Most of the backspash tile is in, but we ran out of tile, and couldn't get more until this morning. Here is the mosaic that Lynn designed! Not grouted yet, but still looks stunning!

Under cabinet xenon lights are on dimmers and all are working fine.

Hopefully today the stove and dish washer will get installed, and the tile finished.

Monday morning

2009-10-05T08:03:00.000-07:00

Well, the baby-sitting has prevented us from updating for a few days. Here is the granite countertops that were installed last Friday. Really starting to come together!

Tuesday, 9/29/09

2009-09-29T18:18:00.000-07:00

Today, a lot of work got done, though much of it is not visible. In fact John the electrician complained that much of his work goes un-noticed and unappreciated, so here is some of what he did today:Most all the electrical is finished. What remains is connecting the wires to the service panels, which is scheduled for Monday. Hopefully the doorbell and telephone will one again work at this time.

The appliances came yesterday, and are awaiting the plumber (Monday) to install the gas line to the stove, and water lines to the dish washer and refrigerator (above). (The frig currently has a plastic wrap on it, and it will be jet black when unwrapped.) The frig is in it's place but will eventually be pushed back, lining up with the cabinet on the left. The ceilings in the living room and kitchen were painted today, as well as the new living room walls. The dark red kitchen paint will be applied tomorrow, which should make the whole room pop! The wood floor adjacent to the kitchen will also be vanished tomorrow.

Granite is scheduled to be installed on Monday, and the exhaust fan connected. Minor problem appeared yesterday: Eric was cutting a hole in the wall for the exhaust fan, when he realized the external light which John had just installed, is right in the path of the fan.

We did manage to sell our old frig on Criag's list, and the purchaser was supposed to come this afternoon to pick it up. Unfortunately, there was no one here to help, so he rescheduled for Saturday. We told him to call ahead, to be sure we're there. (Baby-sitting this week-end).

2009-09-26T12:57:00.000-07:00

The floor tile is now in and grouted, and all the baseboard installed. We've managed to pick paint for the kitchen (Spanish Red), and approved the granite pattern layouts this morning. Hopefully the granite will be installed next week. The electrician was by on Friday, and installed most of the outlets in the kitchen. He'll be here all of next week: lots of electrical stuff to do.

Tile day

2009-09-23T19:01:00.000-07:00

Good news today: Eric the contractor picked up the floor tile yesterday, and installed it all today! Tomorrow comes the grouting. The island and cabinets still need baseboards. In other news, we put our frig up on Craig's list last night, and in a half hour it was sold! Fellow came over this evening and gave us the cash, and he'll be back on Tuesday to pick it up. Monday the appliances will be delivered and the frig moved to the garage.

Lynn tried to heat up some leftovers in the microwave this evening, and the thing blew! Think it knew it was destined for the junk yard? I went up into the attic and brought down Ross's old orange cube, which we will make use of until our new one gets delivered and installed.

Monday, Monday!

2009-09-21T17:28:00.000-07:00

The cabinets are mostly in now. Here is the refrigerator side (note the glass door in the corner cabinet:
Here is where the exhaust fan is going
and here is the bead board for the front of the island:

This is the right side of the kitchen. You can start to see the little desk area in the corner:And here is the other side of that corner, again with the (bubbly) glass doors.

End of the week

2009-09-18T18:46:00.000-07:00

Hello again. Well the old frig is still in the TV room opening into the kitchen. We've finally agreed to get rid of it, so if any wants it, it's yours. Otherwise it's going on Craig's list on Monday. New appliances arrive next Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Eric started putting in the cabinets today. Here is where the new frig goes:

The cabinet on the left pulls straight out with access on the side. Pretty cool!

They've gotten most of the left side and back of the cabinets installed today, and started on the right side as well. They're coming back tomorrow (Saturday) to put in more of the cabinets; maybe even the island!

We've been plastered!

2009-09-17T20:05:00.000-07:00

The plaster is still damp, and tomorrow starts the cabinet installation. Only problem is that the old refrigerator is now in the den, and the old stove and dish washer are now in the living room.

2009-09-17T03:45:00.000-07:00

Inspections are finally completed and the blue board is now in. Actually starting to look like a room again. The put the boards right over the old ceiling. No idea how the electrician will find the wires for the recessed lights, particularly after today. This afternoon the plaster goes on. They'd come earlier but NSTAR is shutting off power to our street for 2 hours this morning to fix something in the wires.

2009-09-11T20:54:00.000-07:00

No developments that you can see today as we await the plumbing and building inspections that will happen next week. We passed the electrical inspection today.

This lack of kitchen has made for some interesting meal preparations and esp clean-ups. Have you ever tried to flush cool-whip down the toilet? It takes at least 6 flushes, then may still leave a residue! Hot dogs and beans look pretty interesting in the toilet also. We had to do that when I spilled Harry's water in his dinner plate as I bumped the TV tray. Daily I wash our utensils in the bathroom sink. If the bowl that I "cooked" in is too big, I have to use the bathtub to wash it. My dishdrain is located on the toilet handy unless we need to use the toilet for its intended purpose. We do eat many dinners out!!!

Day 7

2009-09-10T19:58:00.001-07:00

No photos tonight. Building permit did finally get issued by the town and is now proudly displayed in our dining room window. And we now have electricity back in our upstair bedrooms and baths.

Day 7

2009-09-09T20:27:00.000-07:00

Appliances on their way out, new cabinets on their way in. The living room is completely filled with the cabinets!

Day 6

2009-09-08T17:56:00.000-07:00

Most of the wiring is done. The new subfloor is temporarily in, because we are still waiting for the building permit. All the paperwork is in, the town of Natick is just being very slow. By not attaching the subfloor yet, the contractor can pick it up so the inspectors can look underneath.

Here they have pieced in the hardwood floor.

Tomorrow the cabinets are scheduled to arrive, the electrician finishes his rough work (5 new circuits in the kitchen), and hopefully, the building permit will arrive.

Day 5

2009-09-02T20:34:00.000-07:00

The start of the half-walls, from the kitchen. Mirror image on the other side. Not much more will happen until the plumbing and electrical inspections.

Day 4

2009-09-02T04:18:00.000-07:00

Took the carpenter the better part of the day but the Beam is finally in!No more wall!

Day 3

2009-08-31T19:59:00.000-07:00

And the wall came tumbling down. There are now 2 temporary walls where the was just one this morning. Hopefully tomorrow morning there will be a beam in this space, and the inside wall can be removed:

Day 2

2009-08-28T19:40:00.000-07:00

Lots of wall removal and plumbing today, leaving me no place to hide! The plumber was in every room downstairs except the bedroom and of course the kitchen. He moved the exhaust stack and the gas and water lines to their new positions. This took all day! Can't wait til Monday-the wall is supposed to come down.

2009-08-27T17:49:00.000-07:00

End of day 1. Look: no island!

Day 0

2009-08-27T16:37:00.000-07:00

At the start, the cleanest the kitehcn has ever been!

Here's Micah's contibution to the destruction!

And here is our alternative food prep area. Stylish, isn't it!

2009-08-27T16:29:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our kitchen makeover adventure!

Here's where we started, after emptying most of the kitchen and living room: