Almost finished !

Here are a few pics of how things are looking now. Things are almost complete!

Midwestern Weather

This is not about the kitchen, but I thought I'd share some midwest weather we had this evening. This is a picture of HAIL STONES from the hailstorm we just had. I included my foot in the picture so you can see how big they are ! And of course it was pouring down rain - a very loud storm with hail hitting the house and the ground. And of course our cars - I got a ding on my hood from a similar storm a couple weeks ago, and I think Diane got a ding on her hood tonight. Bummer !

Countertop Updates

Countertops were installed yesterday as planned. Here the installers are cutting out the opening for one of the sinks. It took about 4 hours to do the complete install. Of course that included a few modifications, like fixing the opening for the cooktop to be actually centered over the drawer stack underneath, instead of two inches to the left. Glad I was there to supervise !

Big sink

This is the south wall where our main sink it. Its a big one - 29 inches! Seemed like a good idea when we picked it out of the catalog, and then seemed HUGE when it arrived in its box. Now it seems just right. Both of the sinks we chose are black, and made of a manufactured granite product called "silgranit". We read many rave reviews of this product on the web, so decided to go for it. Cheaper than stainless too. Supposed to be very durable, scratch-resistent, and not show water spots. If we had any plumbing, we could check out that latter claim. Hopefully that will be coming soon.

Grey Expo

Here's the concrete-looking countertop that makes a u-shape on three walls of the kitchen. At the last minute we chose a black cooktop instead of a stainless one, and I really like the contrast. Drawer beneath the cooktop has been taken out as it needs to be modified a bit to close around the cooktop's gas intake valve thing in the very back. Just a small notch out of our beautiful cabinets! At least it won't show.

Island countertop

Here's a shot of the island countertop. Its a zodiaq product, and the pattern is called Black Forest. I know its not a very good shot, but you can refer to an earlier post for a better sample. My other shots were blurry and the countertop is now covered with backsplash tiles so I can't take a new pic. The part of the island shown in the lower left doesn't have its top on it yet. Long story having to do with the need to move the island to put the floor down, and not wanting to move the 1000 pound countertop along with it.
Anyway, you can see the small bar sink, along with a hole drilled for the faucet and one for an instant hot water dispenser. So we don't even have to boil water when we want tea or hot chocolate!

Recent Progress

Here is a summary of the recent updates: (1) some of the hardware is up, but the cabinet guy needs to come back and finish that up, presumably this week. (2) The microwave/speed cooker (top) and oven (bottom) were installed last week, and look awesome. The fridge will go next to them, assuming it gets here! Now they're saying the 28th. We are not happy, but whe can we do? Just wait. (3) The lights and switches are all in now, so I've included an arty shot of lights and hood. Hood is stainless but still has its white protective coating. (4) and finally, the outside. The siding is all finished now and looks great. I will be priming and painting this week. Its called sweat equity. Ha Ha.
Wednesday the floor and countertops are supposed to be coming in. More pictures after that !

Cabinet color

I think I may have finally found the right camera setting to show the color of the cabinets. Its sort of a gray brown. Now our challenge is to find a paint color to go on the bits of wall that aren't covered by cabinets. We had been thinking of gray, but can't seem to find one that we're excited about. Perhaps we'll have to reconsider...
A few new posts below. Countertops, sinks, and faucets should be in place next week. We got all appliances except fridge delivered last week, and are waiting on the fridge. Hopefully it won't be long on that...

Inside

And here's the new door and window from the inside. We've been able to reuse the trim from the previous door and window, which is sort of cool.

Deck

We added a second level to the deck instead of putting steps per se. Its just covered in plywood now, but will evenually be done in redwood. We also decided on horizontal copper pipe for the railings. And of course you can see the new back door and the newly replaced window.

Pantry details

Here's a couple pics of the pantry. The top part has adjustable shelves, as does the right side. The left side we designed a pull out system to allow us to see things easier and have better access. We saw something like this at Home Depot, and then worked with the cabinet maker to create something that would fit in our pantry. We're looking forward to putting out stuff away in the new pantry!

Cabinets !

Today our cabinets arrived and were installed. Took all day. I stayed home to watch, which was a mixed blessing. Exciting to watch, but I was cringing at times as the installers were beating on the cabinets to get them in place. All went in well. The stain we chose really looks great. These pictures were taken this evening.

I'll try again tomorrow in better light. It still looks pretty piecemeal, but its exciting to see things coming together.

tabula rasa (a blank canvas)

I know you've been dying to see the progress, but there's not much to photograph. Right now the place is completely empty. Brian was here today finishing up the priming, and put luan down on the floor in preparation for the cabinets. Update is that cabinets are supposed to be installed on Monday, July 7th. New window and door are supposed to be here this week, but things seem to be moving slowly. However, we are very excited in anticipation of progress.

See also two new posts below.

Herb Garden

Worked like a crazy person in the yard last week. I wanted to get mulch down to try to keep the weeds under control. Also needed to have something looking neat and clean since we are living in a first floor disaster area. So, I mulched the side yard and planted an herb garden. I bought the big pot at an antique store for $30, and I knew it would make a great planter. The wagon wheel I bought at a garage sale a couple years ago. I'm loving the vignette!

Attention to the house

In a fit of home improvement fever, we decided to have the trim painted on the outside of the house. A crew of young hispanic men descended on our house on Saturday and Sunday and scraped and painted all day. Now it looks very nice - fresh and bright.