Week 6 Day 5

We have an island!!! One of the major points of this kitchen remodel was knowing we had a large island coming that we are anxious to see in 3D.  Taking a space that served as a kitchen and eat-in breakfast area and making it 100% kitchen was sure to offer up lots of storage and space to work with.  So, we are filling it with a long, multi-functional island, and getting more and more excited about being able to use the space.

The island!  The 2 cabinets seen from this door plus the 2 behind it will be uninterrupted space for food prep, dough rolling, etc.

 Looking from the living room doorway into the kitchen.  Seating for 3-4 barstools will wrap around the West end of the space.  You can see in the picture below, the seating will make an L shape around toward the prep sink.

A view from the South East corner toward the living room.  The cabinet on the right will house the microwave drawer with a drawer for storage below.  The left two cabinets (without doors) will store pots/pans/knives/utensils.  The left cabinet is the base for the range.  The right cabinet is part of the giant food prep area.

 Cabinets, cabinets everywhere!  Some installed, some still in boxes, some in with parts here there and everywhere.

A detail shot of the island where the seating area starts. The gas shut-off for the cooktop is peaking out behind the door.

 A detail shot of the cabinet to the left of the cooktop. With an adjustable shelf, this will be a great place to store the oils, vinegars, and various sauces used in cooking.

A detail shot of the cabinets over the double-oven.  The right one has dividers for pans.  This is one of those items where I wish we had paid more attention to the drawings.  I interpreted the drawing that dividers would be on both sides, but oh well. We can do something aftermarket for less money I am sure.

The left cabinet for the TV is now in place.  It's nice to see the space finally getting some great shelving to make it looked finished and grown-up!

An updated shot of the right side.   You can now better envision where the floating shelf will be between the cabinet and the window above.

A wide shot of the fireplace area.  I am getting to the anxious part of the project where I am looking forward to unpacking our lives back into these new spaces.

Week 6 Day 4

Today we had 2 carpenters working on the house.  One was installing cabinets in our living room which is semi-below my office.  The noise was loud and of a certain decibel where a coworker thought I was near a cow about to give birth.  I'm not sure that's exactly what it sounded like, but it was unique.  The guys got a kick out of that during our weekly construction meeting.

A small peak of the island taking shape as seen through the door from the hallway.

I need to find a good before/after shot for the wall below.  No more white range/oven combo, wall mounted microwave, and refrigerator.\

Filling in the space as the cabinets wrap around.  The cabinets on all the walls in the kitchen are Bellmont 1900 series in a biscuit finish.  I need to look up the cabinet door style because I don't remember it off the top of my head.

A peak at the rich Bellmont 1900 series Maple Spice stain that will be the cabinets for the island and in the living room.  This picture more accurately reflects the door style than the one above.

 The living room built in is taking shape.  There will be matching cabinets on each side of the fireplace.  The right side will have a floating shelf about half way between the top and the window above (not seen in this picture.)  The doors will be the same spice color as the kitchen cabinets.  If you look close, there are toe kicks to the right propped up in front of the cardboard in Spice.

This is the best shot I could get of my go-to angle of progression since there are cabinets and a refrigerator blocking where I normally stand.

 A double-tier cutlery drawer.  Even the carpenter thought this was cool.  Both tiers are the full depth of the drawer, and the top tier will push all the way back into the drawer so you can access everything underneath as needed.

Built in trash cans and recycling centers.  There are two of these cabinets in the kitchen.  I can't wait to tell you more about one of them in the future as more work in that space progresses.

 Both sink cabinets have this silver mat in the base of them.  It has little dimples that will catch water should there ever be a leak, in this space.  It's a bit futuristic looking in person, but a nice up-grade to protect a space that is often times damaged from water drips, cleaner spills, etc.

All the plumbing fixtures showed up today.  There are faucets, and instant hot, and the big sink in the garage.  This little sink caught my eye in the kitchen because I thought it said Mirabella on it which is where my in-laws live.   I was trying to figure out how something for the Mirabella got delivered to our house. But it's actually the Mirabelle sink, which goes in the island as a prep sink.

Week 6 Day 3

The cabinets have arrived.  And there are a lot of them!  When they said first thing in the morning, they lived up to that delivery time.  I'm not sure what I expected when I went downstairs later this day, but there are cabinets everywhere.  In the kitchen, living room, hallway, garage....

Unloading the cabinets from the truck.

 Cabinets

stacked

everywhere.

(right and below)

 The double ovens now have a pantry cabinet to keep the company in the hallway.

No more standing in this corner for pictures toward the deck and the living room.  I'll now have to stand about 24" out from the wall.

 The sink cabinet is here.  Queue happiness when I observed it is indeed centered in the window.  It's the little things.

Double wall oven cabinet: check!  The frame is for a smaller wall-oven combination so this will be removed and reworked to fit our full size double ovens.

 Every kitchen needs a broom closet, er cabinet.  You can see more boxes of cabinets and 3 drawers stacked to the left.

And more boxes of cabinets and unpacked cabinets and drawers.

Week 6 Day 2

Well, today didn't quite go as planned, but progress was still made.  The cabinets, which we had hoped would be delivered early in the morning, didn't arrive at all.  Our lead carpenter stayed until 5:30 PM and then informed us he had just learned they were only then being loaded onto the truck.  Due to this meaning they wouldn't get delivered until 7:30 (or later) he opted to have them delivered first thing tomorrow.  The good news is that the appliances were delivered, and almost precisely on schedule.  I was told they would arrive between 12:30 and 2:00 PM, and I believe the truck got here around 12:45 PM.  That is customer service to get excited about.  Thank you Albert Lee Appliances!

A peak into the kitchen from the foyer.  Since the plastic was out of the way,  I took the opportunity to get a quick shot of the new space with widened doorway and freshly painted walls.

 What, you don't have a set of double-ovens just hanging out in your hallway?

I think the refrigerator more in the living room rather than in the kitchen is a bold choice.  This way we can just quickly run behind the couch and grab a cold beverage or some ice cream when watching a movie or the big game.

 One of the things we have wanted to purchase as a couple since we got married was a freezer for the garage.  We hope to be able to produce more food in the garden than we can eat fresh, freeze it, and be able to enjoy it year-round.  Also, the idea of buying meat on sale or a 1/4 of a cow is very appealing.  By removing the hot water tank as part of this project, we freed up a space in the garage perfect to hold this type of freezer.  See how nicely it fits right under the duct work for the furnace?  Also, note the previous kitchen cabinets being recycled in the garage.  The Mister says "If you see cabinets in a garage, I bet that house has a remodeled kitchen."

Top box: Range
Bottom Box: Dishwasher
Right Box: Sharp Microwave Drawer









Right box below: Hood

It may be hard to see, but there are level lines around the kitchen where the top of the cabinets will be.  Ready for installation to begin tomorrow. Yippee!

Week 5 Day 5

Alternate Title: Let There Be Paint!

I plan to do a full resources post in the future, but to save the questions, the wall paint is Benjamin Moore Yarmouth Blue (HC-150) in an eggshell finish ind the ceiling is Sherwin Williams Pure White (7005) matched by Banjamin Moore in a flat finish.

I am enjoying how the blue trim around the soffit sets off this architectural accent.

The signature view of how things are changing.  I still get excited when I see all 3 doorways lining up at the same height.

This may be the last shot I ever take standing in the broom closet (above) or in the lazy susan area (right) as cabinets are schedule to go in next.

A collage of how things have changed since the beginning.  So excited to finally be on the downhill of the project.  4 weeks left...

Week 5, Day 4

The dry well prep is almost finished!  Today the walls got primed, and a final skim down of the only original wall left in the kitchen was started.  In reality this should have occurred earlier in the week, but it got missed so the guys came in this afternoon and worked on getting that corrected.  Also, the living room and hallway got their coating of knockdown (UGH) so they will match the rest of the walls in that area.  Loads of painting for us to complete once the space is turned back over to us (or the plastic and tape are down so we can move around in there.  I still need to decide what color to paint the hallway, but I am leaning toward the same Tawny that is in the living room stripes.  We shall see.

The soffit...I am in love with this design change so much.  I really cannot wait to see it painted and trimmed and being the light to the gatherings that will take place around the island as we have many future gatherings with family and friends.  

I love this view from the living room.  At the end I will do a post of all the pictures from this point (or maybe The Mister will put together a video/slideshow of them on how this has all evolved.)  Hint, hint, nudge, nudge...

 The wall this view is facing will hold so many fun things.  Just looking at this space and knowing how it will function and imaging pulling so many wonderful foods out of the ovens to place on the island warms my heart, and quite frankly makes me hungry.

 

I am not sure how this will translate onto the blog, but here is a close up of the knockdown finish that is in every room except the kitchen.  You can see the left wall is flat (kitchen doorway) and the right wall is textured (hallway.)  Ah, the excitement of having one room with flat walls just makes me so happy.