painting update

We've been very busy since I last posted.. but unfortunately the pictures don't do it any justice. I feel like we've been nonstop since the taping was done but it's still a disaster and I'm starting to think our poor house will never be clean! I guess you could say it's a getting a little frustrating.

With all of the colors picked we've been going back and forth between taping, sanding, painting, caulking.. for the last two weeks.
The crown molding was installed- it looks great but painting around it has been a little challenging (I'm getting better).
Ben spent much of last weekend replacing areas of the base molding in the living room and bedroom as well as installing shoe molding throughout.
Ben was also able to install some of our bath hardware (meaning no more drying our bath towels on doorknobs!) until he ran out of anchors.
I still need to do a second coat on the bath ceiling and clean up the walls a bit- the bathroom was the first thing we painted so it's still a little messy. Window and door casings as well as base molding is also in the plans. But we were able to re-install the medicine cabinet without any disasters!

And just today I worked on the living room radiators!
They definitely aren't perfect but anything is an improvement over the old, dirty, mustardy yellow..
And finally- as I had promised.. our big kitchen "reveal"..
Keep in mind we still have a ways to go in terms of work- we still need a backsplash and window and door casings. We're still missing some hardware and I need to clean and organize.. it's dusty and guarantee that if you open a cabinet door something will fall out- we've been stuffing things everywhere just to get them out of the way! But it's definitely taking shape.. and we can finally use it!

weekend update

I hope most of you enjoyed a relaxing New Years weekend. Snowed in or not, it's a wonderful weekend to reflect and prepare for the year to come. Unfortunately, as usual, this weekend allowed us little time to sit, let alone reflect. Here's a quick day by day of what was done.. and why there was no time to nurse any hangovers.

Thursday
The plumber came and once again made our lives so much easier- he hooked up our gas range and our dishwasher.
Meaning we started our New Year off with a working kitchen- it's amazing how something so little can improve your lifestyle so much! So leave it to me.. I canceled our dinner reservations and made something that resembled a home cooked meal though there's still no sink so it wasn't all that easy.. not to mention most of our kitchen supplies are still packed up in the garage.
Don't the red Solo cups just make the tablescape?!?!

Friday Morning
New Years Day and we were up early- according to me, but if you ask Ben, we slept in. Ben got right to work as I enjoyed a cup of tea. He was in the shower trying to clean up a little grout residue. Looking back you'll see we haven't done much in the bathroom recently. In fact the last time I brought up Ben's tile grout job was here.. months ago. And it's taken us that long to actually get back to it. We knew when it was done that it had to be touched up just a little (which is why we opted to hire a professional to do the floor)
and this weekends project proved to help. Ben lined the floor and protected the new bath fixtures before using Acid Sulfamic Cleaner on the tile. I steered clear of the area (he was well protected with a mask) because of the chemicals so I wasn't able to take any good pictures. But it helped tremendously. Now we need to get a few spots with a razor but other than that it looks great. While in there Ben also caulked around the perimeter of the tub.

Friday Afternoon
Jason from Progressive Finishes was back to install the crown and the base around the cabinets. As usual the afternoon didn't go as planned and it was looking like my "full" height cabinets weren't going to look so full height. Kraftmaid provided us with a two piece crown- which normally would have been fine except that our ceiling is not perfectly level (remember we went with the wood paneling.. I posted about it here). Because our ceiling isn't level the filler has to be installed and a crown has to be applied on the face of it. With a two piece crown (pictured below), it can only be mounted on the top of the filler, not on the face.
And instead of me just letting the issue go.. Jason patiently let me try to work it out in my head. Normally I'm easy to work with but because the ceilings are so low in our house to being with it was even more important for us to have full height cabinets- the lower they hang the shorter the room feels. I just knew there was a way that it could be done somewhat easily and the way I wanted it done originally- full height! So we came up with a solution- we decided to go with a regular crown that we'll mount around the cabinets and the full perimeter of the room- giving the cabinets the full height look I was going for and the easier install for Jason because he won't need to work with the two piece crown!

Of course all that means I now need to buy crown.. so the cabinet installation still isn't complete. But as I always say.. practice patience! I don't mind waiting if it means it will be done the right way in the end.

Saturday
Saturday was literally spent in the kitchen. Ben installed the microwave- which by the way also serves as a convection oven.. I even baked cookies in it to make sure that it worked!
And I unpacked kitchen boxes, ran the dishwasher, unpacked some more and ran it again.. over and over. We finally have plates and flatware- and glasses.. oh my!


I'm sure they'll need to be moved again, but Ben's been eating off of paper for four months (usually we're much more sensitive to the environment) and I could tell he wouldn't last much longer.

Ben also hooked up the tv for me!
Sunday
And Sunday we took a break.. from the kitchen. When we first bought the house Ben and I had an agreement and me insulating was not part of it. But like our budget all agreements were thrown out of the window as soon as we closed. Turns out, I too have to get down and dirty. It's no fun, but better for Ben that he doesn't have to go it alone.

Our day started out in the attic where insulation was greatly needed. Originally Ben told me all I had to do was cut and hand him the insulation. Within minutes I was on my hands and knees guiding it through the nailing strips, securing it into place.
I know we didn't do a good job- Ben even said it as we were cleaning up. But really- it was my first time and I wasn't even supposed to be there! I wanted to go to the movies. But I have to admit it is worth the pain and suffering if it brings our heating costs down.

just a peek..

kitchen update

Quick little update on the kitchen progress..

Cabinets
Because the Home Depot installers weren't able to fit us into their schedule until after the holiday we asked Jason of Progressive Finishes to do the job. He was able to get started on Sunday..
While he wasn't able to finish the whole job- he has to come back to install all of the crown and base moldings, but he worked hard to get all of the cabinets in so Capital Stone could come in and template for our counter tops this afternoon.

Counter Tops
A few weeks back Ben and I went to pick out granite for the kitchen. We opted to not even look at marbles because we wanted the most durable options- I tend to be all over the place when I cook and don't want to have to worry about being careful in the kitchen. We ended up going with White Diamond..
Obviously all slabs vary but at least you get the idea of the coloring and movement I'm going for. Luckily Capital Stone was nice enough and planned to come out so quickly to template. They even said we could possibly have our counter tops next week!

Appliances
After months of postponing delivery dates we are finally having the appliances delivered tomorrow! I know they won't be up and running right away but I must say, I'm looking forward to having a room that actually resembles a kitchen- in the last few months we've been calling an empty room with a cabinet or two our kitchen and it was very depressing.

So with everything starting to take shape I'm now worrying about the little details- cabinet hardware (I bought some already and now think I may have to reconsider my selection), the backsplash, the trash can/storage, paint and molding colors.. really all of the things I didn't get into earlier because I knew I wouldn't need them for a while. But it will all get done eventually.

I just can't help but think it would be a small miracle if we actually had a full-size working refrigerator to ring in the New Year with.. but if not I'll just have to clean out the mini fridge and make way for a bottle of champagne. Either way we've made great progress and it's worth celebrating!

Check back for more updates!

ready to install

The cabinets are being installed tomorrow..
and we couldn't be more ready for them.

last minute kitchen prep

As I had mentioned in previous posts we've been working on the kitchen in preparation for the cabinet installation. In the last few days three projects have really taken over.

The Ceiling
Once we decided to go with the rustic paneled ceiling look (something I first saw and posted about here) we quickly got to work. Last week I took a trip to Allerdice and looked at a few boards that we thought might work. We were limited on the depth of the boards since the cabinets have already been ordered and delivered.

We ended up going with an 8" tongue and groove pine plank. I posted about it getting acclimated here.

The installation went pretty quickly, one board at a time. While a few were slightly warped and gave us a little bit of a challenge in the end we decided any uneven gaps just added to the "rustic" feel.

The installation took place one step at a time..
1. Ben cut each to the width of the room- we measured each one beforehand to try to prevent any major mistakes.
2. We then applied sub floor adhesive to the back of the board- an extra step and probably not a necessary one, but it made us feel a little better about them staying in place.
3. On ladders we each took an end of the board and used mallets to fit the boards together.
4. With the board up Ben used a nail gun (pictured below) to nail the boards into place.. After the first couple of boards I decided the nail gun wasn't for me.

I'm pretty sure this is Ben trying to hammer in one of the my nails...
We were able to get a little variation in the color of the boards, but they're still a little too "golden" for me, so I'm planning on lightly staining them with a custom stain we've already purchased.

The Radiator
With the cabinets still in the garage we felt like this was our opportunity to finally clean up the radiator and spray it before everything was put in it's place.

Before I got sanding, I protected the floors and walls and the functional parts of the radiator that couldn't be painted.
To prep for the painting I first used a compressor on the radiator to remove all the loose dust and dirt. Then I sanded to get rid of the old chipped paint and any extra dirt. After the sanding process was over I wiped the unit down with bleach and once it was dry I primed it with a spray primer.
With the primer dry I started spraying it with the semi gloss white paint. I went over it and over it- going through three cans, but in the end I was pleased with the result.
But then again, anything beats what we started with.

The Windows
I'm in the process of working on sanding the windows before the cabinets go in- anything to prevent more mess once we can finally put things away!
I still have two and a half windows to go- its been a little bit of a challenge because of the layers and layers of old paint. Not to mention I take frequent breaks- even with a dust mask, working with old lead paint isn't fun!

I know I won't get to painting them before the cabinets go in, but we're going to replace the window and door casings after the installation so I'll plan on doing all of the painting at once. Definitely looking forward to getting rid of the minty green!

rebuilding the kitchen

This past weekend has been quite busy on the corner of Bensonhurst and Division. We've been nonstop since the cabinets were delivered on Friday and we're still not done, but here's a quick look into what the last few days have been for us (and why it really hurt to get out of bed this morning).

Thursday
So might as well start where I left off. Last week Ben and I literally demolished the kitchen to make way for new electrical and plumbing. It was easier for them to have full access and as you can tell by the picture below- we now have lots of new wiring for everything..
And the plumber disconnected the sink allowing us to remove the final base cabinet..

Friday
With the electrical in and no major problems along the way I was pretty sure the cabinets wouldn't arrive when they promised they would.. but I was wrong. Instead they arrived early and now our garage is packed with them!
Once they arrived I called Home Depot to set up the installation. I was told that the installer would call me, but I haven't heard from them yet. I'm dying to get them in.. so installers, if you're reading this call me!!! I'm crossing my fingers I'll be able to get them in this week because I've put off the appliance delivery yet again (about the 5th time) and hope that Friday's delivery won't have to be postponed.

And with the cabinets delivered we knew we had a busy weekend ahead of us. But before we started doing anything, we needed to figure out what to do about the ceiling. After a little research we decided to go with the wood paneling I posted about here, so I headed to Allerdice to pick out the wood before it got dark. Once I opted to use the 8" pine and got Ben's approval, we headed back to Allerdice and picked it up. Ben wanted to give it a couple days to acclimate before we started actually installing it..
hence the new obstacle on our living room floor. I apologize for the mess, but we might as well be honest- I consider our living quarters fairly "rough" these days. Not to mention our housekeeper (me) has been a little preoccupied and hasn't really had the time to maintain the household.. but at least I'm keeping everyone fed!

Saturday
We spent Saturday morning cleaning up the rest of the walls, including behind the sink base cabinet. When we first started removing the sheetrock we didn't do the cleanest of jobs- we were trying to get it done quickly, so we had to go back over some of the areas and I had to remove the nails along the studs.
Ben spent the afternoon insulating three out of four walls- we opted not to insulate the wall between the living room and kitchen.
And while he finished up that I got the fun job of removing all of the staples used to hold up the ceiling tiles.

Sunday
We were hoping to get to the sheetrock by Saturday afternoon, but as to be expected we were a little behind schedule. That and the electrician cut all of the electricity on that side of the house until the cabinets are in so we're limited to daylight hours meaning our workday ends at 4:30. So Sunday was our day of catch up. We decided we were going to do all of the sheetrock and start on the ceiling before we called it a day.

In the morning we picked up all of the sheetrock and then we got moving.
Ben cut the sheetrock panels with a knife and we (yes Ben and me) cut out the outlets with a dremel.
Once we were done with the sheetrock it was getting late, but we still wanted to get moving on the ceiling. Because we're not quite done yet I'll wait to post about the ceiling later this week. Also happening this week- sanding and painting the kitchen radiator, sanding the windows and prepping the rest of the kitchen for the installation..

removing the ceiling

Our little house is plagued with ugly ceilings and unfortunately they have to stay put for the moment. Originally we were afraid replacing them would be a huge challenge- we were sure the ugly cardboard tiles were installed to cover up water damage. We just don't have the money to start messing with major repairs at the moment. My short term plans include teaching myself how to install wallpaper and lining a couple of the ceilings with a textured grasscloth but until that happens we're going to live with the ugliness above (just don't look up when you come visit).
But because we are doing such an over hall in the kitchen we thought it would be a shame to ignore the big elephant in the room. Again, we couldn't imagine why anyone would mask a perfectly fine ceilings with ugly tiles, so we prepared ourselves for a disaster and we were pleasantly surprised (you can count how many times that has happened throughout the renovation process on one hand).

Ben started taking the crown molding down last night and the cardboard tiles just started popping out.
We discovered that nailing strips were put into place to hold up the boards- which will make it easier for us to install a new ceiling when we figure out what we're going to do.
A few weeks ago I posted about a kitchen design that was very similar to ours here. I loved the idea of the reclaimed wood on the ceiling and had mentioned to Ben that I might want to take advantage of our clean slate and do something a little more interesting. He quickly told me he loved the idea but didn't think it would work- he was afraid we'd have nothing to secure the wood to. But now that we have nailing strips he said it may still be a possibility.. I'm crossing my fingers!

Since the kitchen turned out so well, I've started questioning our originally decision to let the rest of the house be. I just don't want to push our luck..

demolishing the kitchen

The kitchen is coming!! But before the cabinets can be installed we have to prep the walls and get the new plumbing and electrical done.

Earlier I had mentioned that we had to remove all of the existing sheetrock for the guys to get in there so last week I started moving our "kitchen" into our living room.. I'll spare you the details.. just know we are now living in very cramped corners!

We started with this..
and over the weekend Ben and I began hacking away at the kitchen walls..
Ben first removed all of the window and door casings, as well as the rest of the moldings and I made my way through some of the walls.
Ben cut the base cabinet in half so we could remove the area that was not attached to the sink. The plumber will come in and disconnect the sink before we remove the other half.
Just a little treat found underneath the cabinets..
There were two existing corner units that proved to be the most difficult to remove. They were built in such a way that they almost appeared to be original to the house. We quickly found out they were not (the corner cabinet was built over many old layers of vinyl flooring) but they were fastened to the walls in such a way that in many areas the walls came off with the pieces.
By Sunday night we were exhausted and while we still had a ways to go Ben started cleaning up and we decided we'd finish the rest later this week..
I've made my way through a few more areas the last couple of days and tonight we have to finish it up by removing the crown molding and getting rid of the rest of the nails.

By Thursday the plumber and electrician will have full access to the walls. The cabinets are being delivered on Friday afternoon- giving us the weekend to insulate the walls and install the new sheetrock. We had hoped that the cabinets would be installed early next week- in time for the appliance delivery on Wednesday, though it's looking like that might not happen. Unfortunately both Ben and I know delays are common and to be expected so we'll be patient.. once we have a finished kitchen it won't matter how many more days or weeks we waited for it.

In the meantime I still need to work on the counter tops and hardware!