....and the winner is

Wilson Art's Pearl Soapstone.  

Thank you to all for the input!  Votes were split down the middle, believe it or not.  The love affair with gray continues.  I choose the color, the order has been processed $$$ and now I wait.  Unless I've overlooked something this is the last decision ... well, do I count recessed lighting and the pendant light above the sink?  Nuts.  How silly of me to think I was actually was done making decisions!  Well, those should be easy ones, right?  Ha!

Dreaming of Laminate

Dizzy with the last decision to make for our kitchen - counter top color.  Laminate is the winner but it has been all long.  Gray is the obvious choice.  I LOVE, LOVE gray but I thinking about shaking things up with another neutral.. ;)  I was half tempted to just go with a lime green for fun (and maybe to see the look on Jason's face when he got home).  

I could use some help - which one do you like?   Pearl Soapstone or Shoji Screen
(If this helps you - cabinets are white, medium brown laminate floors, light taupe walls, SS appliances)

 

Progress?

Our GC spent the past two days anchoring our island and attaching side panels.  It's amazing how the island came to life after being raised only 4 3/4" high.  While he was working I was able to sit there and I feel it's potential - it's going to be a great spot to gather and chat while someone (Jason, hehe) cooks.  

 As close as we are getting, we are still so far.  Sears so promptly informed me that my cook top is delayed until March 22nd (was suppose to be ready tomorrow) .  *sigh*  I really hope that's the date but for some reason I have this feeling I will get another call with the same message - "another week out".  We'll just wait and see.  What else can I do?  The hood I ordered last week has not been delivered either but it 'shipped' last Friday.  I ordered my sink online too, no idea when that is coming.  More waiting.  Ah, patience.... :)  I do have ONE item on hand, ready to go - my faucet.  Went with a model from IKEA, Ringskar.  I hope it functions as well as it looks.  What joy it will be to have water running through it! 

 

    

What's for dinner?

No physical progress unless you count the rearranging I did.  I always want to do this when no help is available.  Thank goodness for felt pads - what would I do without them?  I was so tired of having the 'kitchen' behind the sofa plus do I really need two microwaves?  Two weeks was enough.  Old Ken(more) is on craigslist, awaiting a new home.  New Ken cooked my dinner tonight - Trader Joe's Tuna in Red Curry Sauce.  Not bad for a quick meal.  One day I will have a cook top and I'll be able to make home-made curry - Oh, that will be the day!

I've been prowling the internet for sinks, faucets and island hoods this past week.  I committed to an island hood from overstock.com.  I was hoping it would be here before our GC starts next week but I don't think it's even been processed yet?!  I was uber-cheap with a $25 coupon .... AHH!  I just checked the status - 'SHIPPED' !  Very exciting..can't wait to see it.  Hope it looks and works as well as I'm hoping!  Monday I plan to commit to a sink and hit up IKEA for a couple replacement pieces.

Remember kids, measure twice - cut once!  Or have someone else measure and cut for you. ;)

2011 ...going, going, gone!

I had good intentions to post something for the new year.  We're still in the first quarter of the year, I call it good.

I spent most of this time planning.  How much planning, do you ask?  Incredible amounts.  I made a binder.  I really should have made one ages ago but I was busy knocking down walls and so forth.  The binder is wonderful by the way, highly recommended.  As much planning as I did though, there were still hiccups.  Our trip to IKEA was the first (let's just say we should have opted for delivery).  YES, we went with IKEA cabinets after going back and forth between IKEA, HD and a local cabinet company.  Honestly, it came down to price, it was half of the cost of HD (we were looking at the Martha Stewart line) and it was exactly what we wanted - frameless, slab doors + white.  We are making progress.  Jason installed our only wall of cabinets and our microwave/wall oven combo is also IN!  Yay!  Thanks for the hard work J ♥  He wasn't able to finish it all but I am going to have the contractor finish the rest.  *fingers crossed*  I would really love to show off our progress but I've decided it would spoil the dramatic "BEFORE & AFTER" shot I'm soo looking forward to.  If have to wait a little longer, so do you.  ;)

 I won't deprive us completely -

 Our new kitchen!  

Easy assembly.  Most of our trouble came during installation.  Extra perk with IKEA cabinets, you can google almost any ? and the answer pops up.  ikeafans.com = awesome

 Tip:  Organize everything into piles and label.

It's amazing how many pieces there are and they all look the same.  

We filled up six flat bed carts. 

 Our very first cabinet.  I had to capture this BIG moment.


I'm still working to hit my goal of completion in May!  All I have to do is.......the to-dos are too long to list, I tried.  Current focus is on counter tops.  I'm about 95% sure I'm doing laminate.  Budget is a major factor but it's also just a great product.  Easy to clean and low maintenance, it has my name on it.

October + November Catch Up

My life....

My kitchen. It has a nice college-esque appeal.

Kitchen completely gutted, holes in the ceiling, my refrigerator on the other side of the house...fun times.

We hire a contractor for the first time - work begins...

Sweet PATCHES! He did a great job patching and texturing (not shown) the ceiling. I never want to patch drywall again but there is more in my future...thankfully, not immediate future. This gives us time to forget how horrible it is.

Recessed lights

The week of Thanksgiving it snowed, we lost power and froze (at least for one night). Our bedroom window in the morning. House temperature was 45*. Chilly eh?

Finally able to paint the remainder of the main living space. Went with a dark shade in the family room to separate the space visually since it's so long and narrow.

It's beginning to look a lot like a house!

Starting to finish the other half of my house. We first began laying these floors last November! This was a happy day.

Nearly there.

Floors done (well, there is a tiny strip that needs to be done BUT really it's DONE!)


Next? Some rearranging so our spare rooms can breathe and some work under the house as one of the joists sits low and this low point is evident in the floors we laid. I notice there's always 'something' extra special with each project you tackle.

August + September Catch Up

Pictures from months past....

August 2010


Cabinets above the peninsula were removed.

30-year old cooktop crud - very gross.


September 2010

Pulled up old, ugly vinyl flooring and cabinetry.
We we able to use the base cabinets from the peninsula in the garage. Score.

The boys take down the last wall separating the dining room from the kitchen. Look how I was able to capture the dust!

Getting there.

Many lovely trips to the dump in the meanwhile....

Over Due

14 days until Christmas. 28 days until 2011. How many days since my last post? Too many to count, that's how many! Is it more shocking that this year is about to end or that we still don't have a kitchen? The goal is May 2011. My friend is expecting (YAY!) and her baby is due in May. I decided that is also a perfect time for my "baby" - my brand new, precious, functional kitchen to be done. We shall see....

Enough chatter, how about some progress?

Since February we have completed the following:

• Bedrooms are painted, ceiling finished, carpet installed and window coverings are in place. All they need now are some of the finishing touches like trim and closet solutions.
• Our wood laminate is completely laid in all planned areas of the house. We just recently finished this (last week). It makes a huge difference. No more sub floor - no more half-house living!
  
• All doors are painted white with new satin nickel knobs. Amazing, what a difference this made.
• Much time was spent outside during spring + summer....lots of fun with a chainsaw, a wood chipper and the family. Some really ugly ferns were also sent packing.
  
• The kitchen has been completed gutted since October - we did all of this ourselves, including, removing the soffits (worst job ever). Oh yeah, this job included knocking down the LAST wall.
• We hired a contractor - interesting experience but all ended well. This was also a major piece of the puzzle as he patched and finished the other half of our ceiling (another horrible job), moved plumbing to center the kitchen sink, and installed recessed lighting in the family room.

I will post more pictures of our progress since February but I'll spread it out over a few posts.

February 2010

Installing new outlets. Observe our new (not orange shag) carpet in the guest room.

Painting + Lighting

Paint is so tricky (same color in both pictures) - it took me a LONG time to pick out a paint color but I'm so happy with it. The time I took was worth not having to repaint at a later time. I can't say I had the same success with our bedroom but I'm going to make it work.

Let's not forgot one more thing I can cross off the list tonight - CHRISTMAS TREE!