Itchin' for a kitchen

Ever since we had our new range with convection oven delivered, I've been itchin' to do some cooking in my new kitchen. Thing is, there still isn't running water there, although that's coming soon---maybe next week. This week we finished up the ceramic tile we laid in the kitchen and dining room and although we have to go back over the grout with a sealer and colorant, for the most part, that's done.

In this photo, Rudy put in the last tile.

It was a huge job, over 250 square feet in the kitchen, dining room and pantry, and was a major step in being able to add trim and shelves in the new pantry, and moving small pieces of furniture in. The only mishap was that the camel colored grout turned lavender/mauve. The theory is that the water changed the chemistry of the colorant---or it was just plain bad juju---nobody knows. That's the problem with grout; it never dries the way the sample looks and it's impossible to change much once it's dry.

Another major step was getting to the point where we could add the underlayment for the countertops, which will be pine. This photo shows the left hand side of the kitchen with the two sections on either side of the stove.

This shows the other side, with Rudy doing a "dry run" on the sink---upside down. The underlayment for that side is also in.

Remember the BEFORE photos? Even though it doesn't seem like it, we've made progress. this is the left hand side, before. The stove now sits in front of this former tiny pantry wall.

And this is an overview of the other side, with the original cabinets, flooring, wall and countertops.

The refrigerator is sitting out of the way until the counters are done, but is otherwise ready to go. It's been sitting open for a few weeks in order for all the new plastic inside to outgas. Otherwise the food will taste awful. Yuck.

Here's a photo of the kitchen and dining room from the living room. A set of antique french doors will go into that opening eventually, and a very small island will sit in the middle of the kitchen between the two sides.

The living room walls have been painted with "Mark Twain House Tan"....a National Historic Register color available at Lowe's. The trim has been primed at this point.

So, no cooking for me in my new kitchen---yet. But I still have hopes that we can at least cook a meal here before the end of the year, when I can try out my new convection oven. Until then, it's sandwiches and frozen dinners in the microwave.

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!

bobbi c.

It's almost a kitchen....

I have about 50 photos to "process" but wanted to post this one now. Today, just a month after Husband started work on the kitchen walls, we were able to install the new range and the rest of the cabinets on that side of the kitchen. We still have work to do....countertops, backsplash, sink, faucet....but this is a big step.

And the other side, with the original cabinets retrofitted to fit a modern sink and a tiny 18" dishwasher.

Happy trails,

bobbi c.

Some Sunday progress...

Kitchen cabinets!

Hand-built by husband to fit in the middle (sink area) to replace the old section we had to remove. He did use some of the antique wood in the construction.

And this is where it's going:

After I painted it, he did lots of fitting and refitting...it's in!

Then some tweaking, sanding and shaving with the plane--taking a deep breath and screwing it in!

THEN, dry fitting the new smaller sized dishwasher (only 18" wide) in between the two cabinets. We bought the smaller size so that we wouldn't have to demolish the whole set of cabinets. Previously, the house had no dishwasher at all. It's much smaller than we're used to, but figured a smaller one was better than none, so we'll adjust. This dishwasher is also a few inches shorter than our old one and is ADA compliant, which might come in handy in the future, or for future residents.

Now we'll have to rig some kind of trim piece on top to hide the gap. Two faux drawer fronts will go on the front (apron), under the sink area.

Countertops, unless we change our minds again, will be yellow pine butcherblock and backsplash will probably be either glass or mosaic glass tile.

Happy trails!

bobbi c.

Christmas approacheth...

Since we don't have an official deadline for getting the remodeling done on our 1930 cottage, we decided to set an arbitrary date...I figured Christmas would be good. If nothing else, we can haul the electric fireplace into the living room, bring over a few chairs, and call it a holiday in our new old house. Even if we don't make it by then, it's something to shoot for.

It seems like we've been mired down by painting. I can only reach so far, I don't do ladders, so Husband had to take time from his more important cabinet fitting projects to finish up what I couldn't. Finally we got the apple green walls in the kitchen finished, I did the final coat of "Toasted Coconut" on the cabinets, and now we're onto a very important step....doing the "dry fit" of the cabinets to see what we'll have to do in order to make them fit back in. We are using the original cabinets that were here when we bought the house, but had to take them out in order to block the huge holes in the wall that was behind them. Also, we had to re-do the 80 year-old plumbing and make room for a dishwasher.

Here's why we're keeping the old cabinets that were on that side (in addition to the fact that I love them). They are made out of real antique pine---the boards are over 12" wide in many places and are much better than many of the new cabinets you can buy today. Unfortunately, we'll have to use new stock cabinets on the other side, but will paint them the same color and hope they blend in. A handcrafted cart/island will fill in the middle.

One issue is that they were more shallow, so finding a sink and dishwasher to fit was a challenge. I finally found a clearance sink that was smaller and less deep, and special ordered an 18" dishwasher that probably was made for an apartment. This way we are able to keep the existing cabinets with just a little tweaking to fit it all back in.

Here's a photo of the "dry fit" when we were finally able to sit the base cabinet in place to see how it will look. That was an exciting moment!

And from the living room, a view into the kitchen and dining room beyond it. You get a good view of that wonderful candy apple green color:

This photo shows the left-hand side of the kitchen with the new (small) black and stainless refrigerator, and the new range with convection oven (something new to us).

The upper cabinets will cover a lot of the green on that wall, and the bases will cover a lot of the orange. I'm not a fan of stainless appliances, but didn't want all black and do like the fact that it looks a bit retro as well as modern. We also choose a stainless light fixture for the ceiling there.

This photo shows the right-hand side with the small dishwasher.

Not terribly thrilling, but exciting in a green-nerdy sort of way was seeing 90 bags of GreenFiber insulation going into the attic. Here we have the carefully disguised workers in protective gear from Jordan Talley's crew (J & W Remodeling in Taylor, Texas).

And another nice surprise...a new pink rose, which I'm fairly sure is an antique/heirloom. So far, I've seen yellowish-white, blood red and pink roses here.

Until next time....Happy trails!

bobbi c.