And on a lighter note...

Stupid Kisses tricks!


(you'll need quicktime to view)

First near catastrophy

We were caulking the windows and the drapes came loose - so E brought the yellow step ladder over and was hoping up to help me put them back on their hooks. Next thing I know I'm nearly hanging from the ceiling and E is spauled on the floor over what used to be a ladder. Stupid "uni-frame, welded" ladder. Luckily he wasn't hurt and he managed to fall on the broad part of his arms instead of his palms. Little bruised and surprised that he could destroy a metal ladder... but everything is OK.

See the carnage:

Flushy Flushy

The plumber was here this morning and thank all that's holy the toilet went right back on the wall! He said it was close, but close enough to line back up with the pipe. He also changed out the supply line and flapper and inside thing (so technical). He said it's like a brand new toilet now - I say he knows how to make a 20 minute call in to a 70 minute call! But whatever - at least we know it's all good. He even poked a hole in the wall to make sure it wasn't leaking (guess who gets to fix that).

Second photo is the vanity we picked out last weekend to replace our discontinued model... not 100% sure if I like it yet... I did buy a narrower medicine cabinet to go with it - and the cabinet is black so it will match better. You can see the scar from the old vanity - it's about half as deep almost as wide.

Unclean (yet still an improvement)

The tile is done. The guy our neighbors recommended was totally great. They even cleaned up every mess they made! But the floor is finished, and I think it's more level than it was before! Tile will be sealed tomorrow then we couldn't get the plumber till Wednesday (darn it) so as you can see - we are unclean! But E is going to have to move the toilet tomorrow - washing your hair in the sink isn't the easiest thing to accomplish. Then today we went out to Lowes to get our vanity and they were sold out and what we wanted was discontinued. (damn it) So we compromised on a smaller vanity without the vessel sink - it has kind of a modified pedistal top on a regular vanity. good news - it's smaller so I think the bathroom will look bigger in the end (we'll see - not throwing away any packaging till I'm convinced though) Here's some pictures:

And it starts....

Thanks to our neighbors we found a tile guy that is affordable. But we can still save money by doing the demo ourselves. So E started knocking the tile out from the floor today. Hopefully the tile guy will be here Wednesday to do the work on just the floor, then we'll tackle the rest in a couple weeks.

doing the demo

large tiles for the floor and brick tiles for the tub, glass tiles for the vanity surround (colors match better in person)

The mark of a successful party...

If the mark of a successful party is that everyone ends up in the kitchen... well I guess it was a success! Some people from my new job came, the immediate Muellers came by and a few more friends saw the new kitchen. Everyone said it was great - and that was really gratifying after all that work! The best part is that for entertaining the space works really well now. Before people would clump up in wierd places since the layout wasn't very centralized. Now it is easy to get all the way around the island and mingle. There is nothing really blocking the view in any direction (inside) and I think that really helped with the "flow".

What people liked best:

The automatic trash can lid
The custom pot rack (thanks Mom and Neil!!!)
The fact the cabinet insides were IKEA ("this doesn't look like IKEA at all")
and the granite (better for how much it cost!!!)

after a few weeks rest - E and I are tackling the bathroom then we're moving up and out!

:)

Pictures of our FINISHED kitchen!

Never thought I'd say it! But we're done!! E and I spent the weekend at Great America yesterday and today we're watching movies and I'm working for a client.. wow - not painting, drilling, sawing, sanding etc.

The FINISHED island as seen from the hallway

The FINISHED island as seen from the other side

The FINISHED kitchen as seen from in front of the windows

The FINISHED kitchen as seen from the dining area

The FINISHED closet as seen from the dining area

The foyer with no boxes, trash, tools, junk in it

The FINISHED closet as seen from the front door...

wow - no onward to the bathroom!

Busy Busy Busy

As we fast approach our last weekend before the kitchen party, panic has set in. (We are visiting friends in Ohio next weekend while the baby is still cute and snuggly). We got the closet interiors installed last night, that was pretty easy. And tonight we're hoping to fly through attaching the last cover panel, making a cut of scrap stainless to make our interior drawer and attaching the last filler pieces with electrical outlets. Could be a tall order, but hopfully if we stay on it, we'll get through it. (We have learned that the simplest tasks take FOREVER). Tomorrow we're going to buy the moulding to finish off the closet and make it blend in and the closet doors so we can put all our tools and junk away in said closet.

Ugh - I'm a little woozy, I chipped a tooth last Wednesday and today was my appointment to get the crown (did a good job chipping it, didn't I?). And although we have a great Dentist - it was unpleasant none-the-less. It's my last molar on the bottom left - and as a bonus I get the permanent crown cemented on the day before the party - whoo-hoooooo!

The mass cleaning continues - and the house is starting to resemble a livable, organized space - so it's all good.

Paint - done Pot rack - done

OK - people thought I was crazy when I said I was painting a brown wall well, brown. so as an illustration that all brown is not equal, a photo.

AND we got the custom, awesome, pot rack installed! Thanks to Mom and Neil for putting this together for us. It worked out perfectly!

The list is getting shorter and shorter! Hopefully soon I'll have pictures of the clean, staged, FINISHED product!

ooooh... almost!

I finished the backsplash - just a minor hitch in the faceplate, wrong size (who knew there were sizes?) And E has most of the plinth installed under the cabinets - just the fussy part where the hood vents out - requires a saw and it's too late to saw today.

We are planning a kitchen unveiling party for the 22nd (of September) I hope you will all come and oooh and ahhhh over the finished product!

grout + backsplash = pain in the butt!

the effect is nice though - guess it was worth the effort

installed plinth - looks all professional and stuff


and the island looks real too... just have to pick up the stools and finish the vent!

Crazy cheap gene

Do you ever get halfway through a project and think to yourself "Self, why the heck are you doing this?" That was definitely me last night... grouting a backplash is a lot more difficult because the area is small the the tools are meant more for floors and wide open spaces I think. plus you have to bend over and reach way out to do the work... not fun, but it is complete! Still doing some cleanup - but that should be good later. It's so humid the grout isn't setting up very fast - finally I just went to bed and this morning I was still able to wipe quite a bit of it away! Oh well. I'm definitely hiring a contractor for the bathroom - no question.

Some progress...

So we did make some progress this weekend... Saturday we went to an open house for free burgers, then decided that Mexican food sounded better! We did some shopping for some art for the condo, found some barstools that we'll pick up one of these days when we have a zipcar handy. Then pretty much recovered from the Mexican food (or more accurately, Mexican beverages)

But Sunday we got some stuff done, E got the baseboards trimmed out and they ready to install (almost - IKEA shorted us by ALOT so we had to run out there... just a note, this weekend was "Everyone go to IKEA and buy your kid crap for college" weekend). But I got the backsplash halfway finished. Monday when I get home from work I just have to do the grout. I think it came out pretty well for an amature tiler! And I got the top seam of the closet started. So this week I'm hoping to really work each night and complete the backsplash, the closet (mud and primer, then paint) and get the final big wall in the living room painted. Then next weekend I am going to start in the far corner and put everything back the way it should be and get the loft organized and finished off. **sigh** That's the plan anyway... I've had a lot of those on this blog!

starting the stainless tile - hard to work under cabinets!

stainless tile adhered to wall - just need to grout in 24 hours then silicone caulk everything!

Let there be more light!

E got the track lighting up over the island... It is crazy bright in here now! I added 4 mini spot lights to the track that shine on the new cabinets. They are also handy when staring blindly into a cabinet looking for inspiration to strike! We ran into a snag with the toe-kicks... apparently we needed the legs under the kitchen to be unscrewed all the way (thanks IKEA, that was helpful to know in advance). But E is going to ask one of our friends in the building, they have a table saw, so that will make short work of that.

Short update, but I have a cold - been running around too much. My Dad and Uncle checked my Gran into a nursing home. It was the right decision for her best health, but running up and down the road doesn't help MY health!!

And a quick congrats to our blogger pals the gharaiblets, they are adding a new member to their family! Congrats guys!!

A working weekend...

Well, this weekend we locked ourselves in (a little tooo tightly - sorry Grandma & Grandpa R). And we worked worked worked! We have ALL the cabinets installed, the granite has been fixed - thanks to Granite Design of IL, the door pulls are all installed and I have about 80% of the kitchen stuff put away. The refrigerator was delivered and the old one taken away. We had a plumber in this morning and he installed the dishdrawer, faucet, drain, and fridge ice/water line. I need to do some modification so I can add a pull-out self... but we're doing really well! Here are some pictures of our progress!!

Running water!

genius dishwasher/dish placement - put dishes away without straining myself!

the island - Almost!

Lighted front glass front cabinets for my beautiful crystal and barware

Cabinets with pulls and all installed! - we're adding a door over the microwave (above the dishwasher)

Cabinet doors open - with food and such inside!

End of island - we're ordering panels to cover this area (expansion for stove hood) the panels will be the same as the cabinets from Scherr's

And this photo accurately reflects how E and I feel! (My crazy kitty Kisses)

Granite is finished!

While I was away this last week the granite was delivered and installed! Whoo-hooo... I saw the new sink last night when we got home and it looks awesome - it's HUGE! (Maybe it only looks gigantic because I've been using the bathroom vanity for so long!) I did get all but a couple of pulls on last week - I was waiting to install the doors by the sink until that gets hooked up. And now E can get the last cover panel and big cabinet installed and we can move on! I can still see the light at the end of the tunnel - I know it's possible to finish eventually!!! E sent me this photo from his phone...

Delays prevail!

So the kitchen has been kind of on hold because my Grandmother is ill, so E and I have been up and down the road to Galesburg a lot to visit. BUT E did manage to get the cabinet rebuilt for the dishwasher and we are now ready for granite (again). I think my guys are busy because I can't seem to get in touch with them, but I'm sure they'll remember I owe them a bunch of money so I have no doubt they'll call back soon!

This weekend (after Harry Potter, of course) I'm hoping to get all the pulls installed and the new closet mudding finished. Then I have to run out to IKEA to get 4 stupid plastic things so I can finish the drawer fronts.

Then once the granite is in I can put up the last big cabinet and cover panels and we can have the dishwasher installed once the sink is hooked up.

**sigh**

I'm hoping to be 90% done this weekend... just waiting on granite and the sink!! Here is a photo of E's handy work!

oooh - pretty

So the granite guys are the coolest guys ever. We called them Friday during the dishwasher debacle and they hadn't cut the sink hole (by 20 minutes!) in our piece yet. Had they cut that hole it would have become a unique piece of stone and ours to keep. Since we got a common stone, they are able to use that piece elsewhere and have a leftover piece from another job that will be long enough. E's solution is to simply build a new bottom and shelf for the IKEA cabinet to make it 1.5" wider. All this for an inch and a half. **sigh**

BUT - they went ahead and brought the island piece this morning. So hopefully E can get the new cabinet built after he gets back from New York for his meeting.

And maybe we can have the new piece early next week and then, joy of joys, we'll have a sink and running water and everything! We also learned from the dishwasher debacle that you can't turn on a dishwasher with your sink all disassembled (the installer wouldn't have been able to test it.)

Here's some pictures of our island victory!

fucking fuck fuck fuck!

Sorry - those are the only words that acurately describe my emotion at this moment.

All granite is stopped - E is thinking of a solution.

Lowes = bastards.

The Closet Fairy

Boy - I should leave town more often! I went down south last weekend to visit my parents and E stayed home to work on the closet. I figured he'd get it all framed and then wouldn't be able to do the drywall by himself. Well lookie lookie - a complete closet! So this weekend I plan on getting it finished with the mudding and then I'll paint next week. Also yesterday our faucet was delivered and I just scheduled our granite install for Monday! I'm so excited! E will be out of town for work, but as soon as he gets back he'll be able to hook up the sink and we'll have a fully-functional kitchen! Yippeee!

it's larger than it looks! the closet is big enough for a stacked washer/dryer (should we ever be allowed to install one) and I designed it to have bi-directional doors so we can access the full closet. We'll run to the depot this weekend and buy the doors and closet bar and shelves.

the final kitchen layout - as soon as granite is in we can install the tall cabinet on the left

the new sink in person

Granite in motion

The installer was over last night to make the template for the granite (Granite Design of IL). I didn't understand this process previously, I just thought they were way better with a tape measure than I am. Turns out he brought these 4" wide white plastic strips and literally made a template. Our island does present them a problem since we have that cutout for the pop-up hood. (Speaking of, AJMadison has never responded to our requests for a replacement part since the hood was damaged - so don't buy from them - just print out the page and Lowes will match the price!) Since the hole is so narrow the granite guys don't really have a saw that can do that (they don't cut with water) and they can't get inside it to polish - but you'll never see down in the hole since the hood will be there and the top cover panel is .25" larger than the hole. He said they'll do some crazy notch on the underside - whatever as long as it works!

updates updates updates

OK - busy busy busy! We went on Saturday to our granite guys shop and looked at a slab of granite. The guys are very cool and met us at 8 am on a Saturday. Whoo-hooo. The piece is very pretty and I think it'll be gorgeous in our place. We also picked out a undermount sink that isn't perfectly square, but will be a little more modern. I also ordered the faucet today from homedepot's website.

And we're still working away on doors - I'm almost ready to

put pulls on now though. We had a problem with the gigantic cabinet over the fridge - the doors looked like a couple of drunks - so E finally figured out that the cabinet was out of square in the front. We couldn't deal so he took it back down, removed the back panel and re-squared and re-nailed the back piece on (if you ever do IKEA anything that back piece of particle board is apparently very critical to the overall structure and stability).

After visiting our granite on Saturday we went and ordered our remaining appliances. Except that our fridge is out of stock. But we were able to get our dishwasher - and we're having it installed by a professional (oooooh). E didn't want to mess with electricity and water (can't say I blame him). That should be here in the next week (I hope). We also swung by a tile store and got our backsplash material. Originally I was going to go with a matte white marble in 1 x 2 inch bricks. But once I got there with a sample of the cabinets and the granite - the marble didn't look so hot. E found some stainless bricks in the same size - they were 2x as much, but we only needed 8.5 sq ft so we really didn't break the bank. We got a black grout to use with the stainless... it should look hot!

Our granite guy will be back tomorrow night to make his template then we should have a sink and countertops (that aren't plywood) in 10 days! yipee! It almost looks like a kitchen!!! Enjoy some progress photos. (oooh, plywood and undercabinet lights - how chic!)

:)