Jumpin' BackSplash

They have delivered and installed the granite backsplash! Things are happening now- the floor is done, the countertops are in, the backsplash is up, and we might even have a working kitchen by the weekend.

Supposedly we get plumbing and electrical today/tomorrow, and some finish trim. We are sooooo close!

Dain Bramage

Love the smell of varnish in the morning! And afternoon, and evening, and all night...

The floor has been sanded and coated- twice! No pictures yet since it's still drying, but I sure wish you could smell it... since that would mean it's at your house and I wouldn't smell it anymore. Wow- that stuff is ugly nasty and can't be good for a person. We had the crock-pot going yesterday and the house smelled like someone built an Italian restaurant on top of a toxic waste dump. So we ate out.

We actually had bedroom windows open last night (it got down to the 20's) to get rid of the smell, along with lots of scented candles and those odor-genie things. The multi-pronged approach seems to be helping, but I'll be glad when this part is over.

Wednesday is Backsplash Day! Huzzah!

Garfunkle

So you may have noticed we have a very large yellow wall with nothing going on. We certainly have.

In the interest of both using the space and stepping up our Suburban elite-wannabe mall cred, we have purchased actual original artwork- from France!

We spotted these paintings at Barbary Fig on Grand Ave, with "for sale" signs on them. We are going to add one more slightly larger piece, but these are the two we have for now. The local dealer is a woman who works out of her house, and she purchased these while in Provence from the artist. I'll try to get more info on the dude, and maybe a link- but for now this is what I have.

Dance! Dance! CounterRevolution!

Yes- the Counter has arrived! And it's really really nice. For those keeping notes, the pattern is Angola Blue. Enjoy the view- we sure are.

Note: the thing on the island is a colander. Long story for another day. And the orange post-its are on locations where for whatever reason the hardware is not installed- some is missing (order screwup) and others were damaged or mis-drilled during installation.

Objects on the calendar...

May be further away than the appear.

No changes since the last photos, but some schedule updates: Due to some QA issues with one of the cabinets, we are a little behind. One of the cabinets is warped, so it has to go (it's under warranty, and this is expensive- so FIX IT!). Unfortunately this puts us behind a bit while they get it built. We are now about a week behind- the exact order of things seems to be a little foggy- I'm having trouble getting the GC to commit, but then again I do that too- sometimes it doesn't matter what order certain things happen in, so you just go with the flow.

The likely next steps are: cabinet fixes and hardware on the 21st, countertop the 22nd, plumbing the 23rd/24th, backsplash the 29th, electrical the 29th/30th, trim and flooring either during the lull or after the electrical- TBD on that.

Like I said- a little fuzzy, but we're getting closer.

Heck's Kitchen

Things are pretty quiet- the countertop has been measured, so aside from a few fixes (cupboard door issues, that sort of thing) we are in a holding pattern until it's delivered. Pretty boring and frankly a little frustrating- no progress.

So instead I thought I would turn the camera on some of the byproducts of this project- the "how are you managing to keep living through all of this" kind of stuff.

Today, it's a focus on the Substitute Kitchen- aka The Entire House. I realized the other day that we now have the largest and worst-designed kitchen we will ever have. It essentially takes up most of the main floor, plus some of the outside.

Here's how it goes:


The Pantry:
The Oven:



The Cookware:


Cold Storage:



The Kitchen Sink:


And of course, The Stove:


Finally- the single most important piece of equipment for surviving this whole adventure:

The Chef

The Shape Of Things To Come

The exact shape of the island top on the bar side was something we had left to the last minute, just because we didn't really have to pick something-it wasn't going to be attached to anything but some korbels underneath, so we had pretty much a free hand.

Well, it's the last minute! The countertops are being measured on Monday, so we had to get this figured out this weekend or else!

Here you see our design, rendered in corrugated cardboard. It will look just like this- except it will be granite. And black. And the floor will be finished. And it will be shiny.