The Morning of Day 22 -- Daylight photos of yesterday's work

I got some better photos of the backsplash and a photo of the entry this morning. Daylight makes a difference! These should give a better sense of the look and feel of the stonework between the cabinets and counter:

The small counter on the fridge side of the room

Another shot of the small counter (without the flash shining on the cabinet)

Behind the sink

The "step effect" at the end of the counter

We weren't allowed to step on the tiles in the front entry last night, but I shot a photo through the doors this morning. The tiles are a sort of slate grey:

Ready for grout

It's going to be fun to take photos when it's all done -- sealed, cleaned, and grout in place. That will all be finished today.

Tomorrow Derek the electrician will return to finish his final tasks, and Zane and Mike will come in to finish up the last bits of touchup (including painting the repaired ceiling -- bless Derek for moving that fixture!).

So although I'm not going to hold my breath or place bets, it seems as if we'll be finished by the end of the day tomorrow, the job having taken exactly the month Zane said it would. Stay tuned!

Day 21: Stone and Porcelain

Day 2 of week 5 was yet another beautiful day, and it saw the installation of the porcelain tile in the front entry and the beautiful tumbled travertine (marble) on the backsplash area.

Our contractor told me to get the tumbled marble, and he was absolutely bang on with that recommendation. It's beautiful. I took a couple of photos, but I took them when it was already dark outside, so you can't really get a sense of the colour.

A bit of the stone backsplash on the fridge side.

It's really much lighter in colour than it appears in this light,

but you get a sense of the texture of the stone and the variations.

A shot of the other side, behind the sink.

I googled "travertine" and got this great description of it from "Natural Stone Interiors":

"Travertine stone is soft and delicate to look at. It breathes spaciousness. It's relaxed and soothing. The feeling is peaceful, tranquil, serene. It's a simple beauty. A casual formalness. The classic aged look of tumbled stone will warm your home. A polished or honed travertine becomes a bit more formal, yet it's still inviting. The soft earthy hues of this natural stone keep it in tune with nature."

Clearly this was the perfect choice for us. We're all about being peaceful, tranquil, and serene (you know, we have those three super serene dogs . . . ), and our "formalness" is most definitely "casual." In any case, I absolutely love how it fits in with the cabinets and the granite.

Tomorrow the tile men return to finish up. They have a few small pieces to cut and install, and then they have to grout everything and seal the travertine. We're almost done!

Oh, and the reparation of the hole in the ceiling continued today; in a day or so you'll never even know it was there.

We're already looking forward to picking up all the drop cloths, cleaning the floors, and (dare I say it?) removing the blue protective wrap from the appliances. Not long until I'll be writing my notes from the FIRST storey!

Day 20: Running Water!

Today the plumbers came to run new pipes from the basement and hook up the sink and dishwasher. As I watched them lying in the cabinet, drilling holes or connecting various fittings, I said, "I guess that isn't the most fun part of your job . . . ." They admitted that no, it wasn't -- and they added that in fact you never do get used to lying in a cabinet with a kickplate running across your back . . . .

My pictures aren't great (my lens and I don't agree on what is in focus from time to time), but here they are until I can replace them with better ones.

Here's the spiffy new faucet (it has an INSTRUCTION book, for heaven's sake!):

Here's the dishwasher, sitting proudly in its assigned spot:

And here's an attempt at showing you the colour of the granite, though this really isn't quite accurate as the brown is deeper in colour than it appears here:

At the end of the afternoon, Ray said, "Hey, I guess I can wash dishes in the sink tonight!" I gasped. Water? In my beautiful new sink? That's right up there with taking the wrappers off the appliances, isn't it?

And yes, I am aware that they are meant to be used. I'm just not quite ready to use them yet.

We're in the home stretch now; we should have this wrapped up by the end of the week. It doesn't seem all that long since we started, really -- and we'll be able to launch our new kitchen for our 25th anniversary, which is Saturday.

I can't really think of a more beautiful gift; thanks, Mom and Dad!

Day 19: Interesting discoveries

I won't take photos today because some things actually look less "together" than they did yesterday, and the things that were done won't really show in photos.

Although Zane the contractor dropped by this morning and told me that the plumber was coming but that neither the electrician nor the tile installer could come before Monday, I arrived back from walking the pack (my three plus the two babies) only to find Mike and Derek, the electrician, on my doorstep. Oops. The plumber had been and gone; apparently he didn't realize how much work he needed to do, so he's going to return on Monday with reinforcements. Luckily the gentlemen hadn't been waiting long.

So now, at the end of the day, most of the electrical is done (there's a pot light that needs to be replaced, one light fixture to install, and the dishwasher can't be hooked up until the plumbing's done). The plumber will come on Monday, Tony the tile man on Tuesday, then Zane and Mike to finish up the last touchups, including filling a hole in the ceiling (the result of Interesting Discovery #1).

Interesting Discovery #1:

We all forgot to think about the fact that once the cabinets went in on the fridge side of the room (they're deep because of the fridge), the ceiling fixture would no longer be centred. In fact, it was really not centred. After a conference and verifying that there was in fact enough wire, Derek moved it. Now there's a hole in the ceiling which will need to be fixed, and the fixture is in a much better location (centred enough to satisfy my slightly OCD tendencies).

Interesting Discovery #2 (not exactly kitchen related):

I was out in the yard, playing with the temporarily increased pack, when some sound made me turn towards the house. I completed my turn just in time to make interesting discovery #2 -- there's enough of a gap between our dryer vent and our wall for a MOUSE to fit through! I know this because I saw one shinny up the wall and in past the vent. How delightful. Now, somewhere in my basement, is a mouse. Will the cat find and destroy it? Will one of the DOGS get it? Unlikely. Most likely we will see it go running across a floor at some point, and I will make girlie noises because I simply can't handle the idea of there being a rodent in my house.

Time to replace -- and seal properly -- the dryer vent. (I told you that renovations make you notice other things that need doing around the house!)

We shouldn't be living on the second storey for too much longer, and Ray is very happy about that.

Day 18: Better than I'd imagined!

Cabinet installation finished today (with the exception of the one door that needs an adjustment), and I'm just going to share with you what I saw at the end (or almost the end -- you'll see that Mike was still doing some paint touch-ups when I took these):

The blue protective wrap will come off . . . eventually.

(I'm not ready to use it yet, anyhow.)

The whole thing is almost unbelievably gorgeous. Our contractor came by and was pleased as Punch. He said, "Do you see the finish on these cabinets? That's furniture-grade finish. There just aren't many who can give you a finish like this." It looks just great -- I hope the photos give you a sense of it. You wouldn't know you were in the same space at all!

And because life isn't hectic enough, apparently, look what came to visit for two days:

Hana

Dazzle

These two are enroute to Rhode Island from Alberta. They'll stay with us until Saturday morning, when I'll drive them to Syracuse. Guess they'll get to experience the plumber and the electrician tomorrow!

An extra bit: A taste of the real "Before"

I found this photo tonight; it's the best I could find to give a sense of the kitchen "before" since the ones I took just before this project began were all out of focus.

Taken at Christmas in 2004; Skipper is a baby,

Sage (no longer with us) is still spry.

Things worthy of note in the "before" photo:

The corner to Ray's left. Totally useless bit of space which was therefore filled with all sorts of random things, like dog food, a bread box, etc. There was also an even more useless cabinet in that corner. Accessing that cupboard meant kneeling and then trying to squeeze your arm and shoulder through the tiny door to get at things which were inevitably hiding in the very back. There was a similar space in the opposite corner; that one was full of bread maker, spice rack, radio . . . you get the picture.

The 12" of counter space between the sink and the stove. Kitchen planning guides say you need at LEAST 30". Oops.

The jutting bit of counter in the right foreground; that represents the edge of the kitchen counter and its corresponding cabinets. We had cabinets only along that one side. On the other wall was just the fridge (and a desk).

The attractive white melamine paint with its stencilled country details (hey, it was better than the terrible walnut-brown veneer that was there when we moved in).

I'm sorry I don't have a better photo of the whole room, but this gives a pretty good idea of what we had to work with before -- and so helps you understand the amount of grinning I was doing today.

The End of Day 17, and I can't stop grinning!

Frank, Luc, and the young lad (whose name we weren't told, for some reason -- maybe you don't GET a name until you've served an appropriate apprenticeship . . .) left about half an hour ago, and the dogs and I have been downstairs ooo-ing and ahhh-ing since then. Here's how things look right now:

The view from the dining area

The window side of the room

(Ray said, "Oh look -- new turkey roasters!" Uh, no . . . new sink.)

The refrigerator side of the room, across the "peninsula"

Another view of the fridge side of the room

The cool opening for the microwave -- vented and everything!

I still can't believe it -- just look at all that counter space! I've got to find a good "before" photo so you can see how much counter space we had to work with before. It was pretty sad. Now we have this glorious expanse of lovely granite on which to work (I'm picturing rolling out dough on there!).

Counter space. Storage space. It's a version of heaven, no?

Tomorrow the crew returns to finish up the installation, including the trim and valance and all the doors. I'll still be ogling . .

The Morning of Day 17: "I told my wife I make a lot of women VERY happy!"

We awoke to a bright and shining morning. People had asked me if I was excited because cabinets were coming today, but I really wasn't -- I didn't quite believe it would happen.

The line in the title was Frank the cabinet installer's response to my comment, "I think you have the best job in the world."

It's lunch time on Day 17; I'll let the photos tell the story.

Truck #1: Equipment and Prep

Protecting the floors (and I didn't have to ask.)

Tools ready to roll

Truck #2: Cabinets and Stone

"Look! Paparazzi!" (I was in my bedroom window.)

Christmas in March -- packages to unwrap!

A set of drawers -- and a good look at the colour and door style.

Another big piece that shows colour and grain.

It's incredible how quickly it's all coming together! I'll take photos at the end of the day; it's going to be quite the change in that room.

Days 15 and 16: Calm before the storm, and a taste of what is to come

Cold drizzle called us back to the reality that it is still only barely spring here. Still, it's clear that winter's last hurrah can't be far away.

Yesterday we had a day of total calm. No tradespeople in the house, nothing arriving or leaving. It was nice having an extended weekend of relative tranquility.

Today, we got a glimpse of the kitchen that will be, as the appliances arrived this morning and now sit in what will be the dining area like patient troops awaiting their marching orders:

Tomorrow reinforcements arrive in the form of cabinets; leadership will be provided by the cabinet installers, who will begin the final stages of making this all come together.

Excited? Me? Nah . . . .

Day 14: Home again!

The end of Week 3, and we have returned from our 4-day exodus to the hotel. We're all happy to be back in the house, and the floors look incredible. We've got sheets all over the place -- we're afraid to walk on the wood! (That feeling will pass, I'm quite sure . . . .)

By this time next week, we should have a kitchen!

This weekend's mission: to move some furniture back into the living room so that we aren't confined to just the two upstairs rooms. We'll start doing that tomorrow. The weird thing is that I'm not sure what I want to put back in the room and up on the walls. I've got a clean slate in there, and it's kind of a wild and liberating feeling.

Meanwhile, I've learned that renovations make you start eyeballing the rest of your house and noticing what needs to be freshened up. This is NOT good . . . .

Days 12 and 13: Floors get "wow" and I'm more resourceful than I thought!

Today I went over to see how things had progressed with the floors, which had received their a buffing and then a second coat of varathane yesterday. I was delighted to see how beautiful they look in the daylight. Birch has such variety in the grain of individual boards, and that grain really pops when you put stain on and then seal it.

Here's what I saw this morning:

The kitchen/dining area side.

The front hall, with the spiffy vent cover.

Looking into the living room.

Another view of the living room floor.

I'm really pleased with how they've turned out and quite sure the cabinets (also birch, but darker) will look really nice against the wood of the floors.

The other great discovery today was exactly how resourceful I am (or what a forward-thinker, I suppose). Yesterday I was feeling sorry that I hadn't been able to download the photos from my camera because I hadn't brought along a USB cable. Then I thought to myself, "I wonder if by chance there might be one in the buffet?" (which happens to be in the totally accessible basement). Well, yesterday when I was home feeding the cat, I checked, and SURE ENOUGH -- there was a USB cable in the buffet.

But it gets better: this morning I looked in the cloth bag I'd used to transport my camera from home when we left there on Monday, and there in the bag was the USB cable I use all the time. Apparently I hadn't forgotten it after all!

So instead of having no cable and no way to upload photos, I now have two cables, and the blog gets visuals once again.

Tomorrow we return, and we'll start moving the living room furniture back in over the weekend as soon as possible (it's what Ray wants for his birthday -- to escape living in two rooms!).

Next week the "stuff" arrives, and by this time next week, we should be looking at a kitchen that is at least starting to look like a kitchen. That's the plan, at least . . . but so far I've no reason to doubt it!

Day 11: Sand, stain, and seal!

Day 2 of Week 3, and what a glorious day it was; it's hard to believe this is only the middle of March!

As you know, we have to stay out of the way while the floors are being done, and we're certainly doing that. Because we've had to shift our residence for a bit, it was pretty much inevitable that something would get forgotten -- or even a few somethings . . . .

What that means for this blog is that I've forgotten my USB cable, so I can't upload the two photos I took of the floors this evening. (It was pretty funny -- I had to take them from the front entry since I can't actually go IN, so I'm not sure how great they'll be when I finally get to see them on the computer.)

So for now, you'll just have to take my word for it: the floors are gorgeous! The stain is startling since I've never seen them with a rich colour. It picks up all the wonderful shading that is inherent in birch, and I'm sure the cabinets (also birch, but with a darker stain) will look great against the floors.

The floor dudes are very professional; when we passed by in the middle of the day, I was in awe of what a good job they did of filling cracks (50-year-old hardwood means some gaps have formed over the years), sanding, staining, and then applying the varathane. I saw one of the workers on his hands and knees sanding a crack between two boards with a piece of sandpaper -- no machine, just him and the sandpaper!

As a friend said today, tomorrow is "hump day"; not long til we'll settled back in, waiting for the cabinets. We'll even be able to move some furniture back into the living room -- how cool is THAT?

Day 10: Wood!

Day 1 of Week 3 has been another absolutely beautiful day, this one after a rainy weekend (and so even more appreciated!). I can't believe how fortunate we've been with the weather during this renovation: because it's been so beautiful, it's easy to leave windows and doors open to let the fresh air in (and some of the dust out).

I forgot to mention that we said goodbye to the dumpster on Friday; that was a momentous occasion. It's a good thing he had a very solid big tarp to pull over the load since it was stuffed to the gills with construction/demolition debris.

We also said a virtual goodbye to the ceiling fan and chose some new light fixtures for the kitchen and dining area. I was told to get "lots of light," and we followed our instructions. They're simple, but I really like them.

LOTS of progress on the first day of Week 3. The glass doors and the new bifold for the closet were cut, sanded, and painted as needed, and their handles were put on, so they look finished -- and terrific. I'm so pleased with our choice on those.

Skipper checking out today's work.

(You can see the new hardwood in the background.)

But the bigger news for today was the installation of the new hardwood. Hard to believe what a change that has made in the room. The floor is 2 1/4" wide birch strips, and we love it already. Tomorrow the rest of the first floor, the stairs, and the hallway will get sanded, and then staining and the application of urethane will begin (a process that will continue over the next few days).

Here's what the room looks like now, with the new floor :

(Sorry the photo is so dark; I'm sitting looking right into the window
as I write this, so it's pretty hard to gauge brightness!)

The kitchen end of the room.

And here's a feature I just love, though it's a little thing: check out the floor vents (also hardwood):

I love that they're recessed and sit flush with the floor!

The other thing to do today was to choose the stain colour for the floors (they were just natural birch before, but the stain will really warm up the rooms). Here's the "paint test strip" (like on the highway, you know?):

The colour in front of the left side of the cabinet door (the redder one) was the winner.

So a great day all around. It will be a big week since we have to stay out of the way of the hardwood specialists while they do their work, but I'm sure looking forward to seeing the finished product at the end of the week!

Day 9: Paint and the Resolution of the Air Lock Problem

This was a really fine day. Not as sunny as it's been all week, but we saw some really nice progress on the room today. The contractor and his associate arrived at their usual 7:15 a.m. (Ray to Kelly: "HURRY!!! Get upstairs from the shower NOW -- they're going to come in!"), ready to paint walls and doors. I was thrilled to hear that he completely approved of my door and handle choice, and they both found my "butt hinge" story pretty funny (remember, they were eight-year-old boys at one point).

So here are some photos of the room, now painted in a colour which I believe is called something like "Antique Linen." It's a soft, pale yellow, really, but it's sort of hard to get the colour right in the photos:

And here are the new doors, one in its natural state and one already painted white to match the trim. I'm really pleased with the way they look; they're going to lighten up the entries so much!

The "air lock" at the front door: pretty -- but safe!

The door to the back entry, painted white as the other will be.

Now we relax for the weekend, and then Monday the hardwood that was delivered today will be laid in the kitchen and dining area. Then it's on to sanding and finishing all the hardwood on the first floor, the stairs, and the upstairs hallway.

The drywall man returned to do one other piece of patching which had been forgotten (covering a hole where an outlet used to be). He looked around and said, "Wow, what a change, eh? It was pretty scary looking when were were here before!"

I told him he had expressed my feelings perfectly.

Day 8: Primed and Ready to Go

Day 4 of Week 2 saw the arrival of the sanders (who make the drywall beautiful) and then the contractor's associate, who primed the kitchen/dining area. Although it is rather stark as a result, at least it has started to look like an actual room:

The other exciting news is that we've agreed on a solution to the problem of the "air lock" door: we're going to put in a glass-paned door (a "French door") between the entry and the rest of the house. It will be pretty, it will let in nice light from the front door, and it will let people see right away all the nice work the contractor and tradespeople have done.

So off I went to Rona to buy doors, knobs, and "butt hinges." Thank God for the Rona dudes who are trained to spot people who are standing rooted to a single spot, staring with a totally perplexed air at shelves of hinges. "Can I help you with anything?" the friendly Rona dude asked. "Uh . . . I'm supposed to get 'butt hinges' . . ." (you can't help yourself, you know; you emphasize the "butt" whether you intend to or not and then feel like an 8-year-old boy). "I'm not sure which of these are butt hinges . . . this one says 'Butt hinge' -- would it work?" Duh. (The answer: yes, as long as it's the right size.)

In any case, I bought it all, loaded the doors into the Element myself (no small feat; I was rather proud of myself!), and headed home. They're going to look great.

The contractor won another battle today: I decided not to reinstall the ceiling fan in the dining room. It won't match the rest of the room, and he's tickled pink. Of course that means I have to figure out what sort of light fixtures I want to put in the kitchen and dining area now.

Day 9 will see paint and door prep. Fun stuff! And we found out today that the cabinets will be installed almost a week sooner than originally planned -- THAT is some good news!

Day 7: The Waiting Game

The third day of Week 2 was for the most part spent waiting. I knew the drywall crew had to return to put up a second coat of mud (and to fix a certain hole), but I didn't know when they were coming. That meant that I had to stay home so that I could let them in.

Well, the day rolled along, the hours passed, and no crew arrived. Things I could have done in the morning or even early afternoon (had I known no crew was coming) just didn't get done, and the dogs and I hung out at home.

Finally, at about 3 p.m., the crew arrived. There was a funny moment when I showed them that nothing had been done to the back side of the wall created by covering the one door into the kitchen -- they had never noticed, and the contractor had forgotten to mention it!

They were sympathetic to my request for rodent-proofing the kitchen, and here is the result:

I'm much happier now that the perfect entry spot has been covered.

The next step will be sanding and then painting the whole kitchen/dining room. We're still expecting the hardwood to be done next week. Once that's done, there'll be no more tromping across the floors with big dirty boots! (I guess we'll have to figure out a system of plastic or runners of some kind.)

So things continue to roll along, and we're still doing fine (apart from not liking to wait for people to arrive). Yesterday I actually had a day with no restaurant food!!

Mud photos

Here are a couple of photos I took this morning of yesterday's mud work:

Already you can see that it begins to look more like a room and less like a disaster area (despite all the wires sticking out).

There were a couple of holes which the drywall crew didn't worry about filling because they were going to be behind cabinets in any case (and so never seen). I don't mind that so much (I'll just erase them from my memory banks), but there was one which I told them I needed them to fill today:

Yes, sadly, we do get the occasional field mouse in the house (in fact we had two this winter). I am told it is one of the perils of living in a 50-year-old house. Well, this particular hole would have been right behind the refrigerator, in a spot which I felt was a little TOO congenial for rodent entry.

They're filling it now.

Today has been a very quiet day. I'll tell you about it later!