Week Two

Yesterday I enlisted the help of me sainted mother to help organize our stuff. We now have all the less-often-used kitchen things shoved under the ping pong table in the basement, and a small, elite selection of edible and non-edible items gathered in rubbermaid tubs in the living room, under the dining room table, which is now buried in microwave, coffee maker, and toaster. We also tossed four or five garbage bags of elderly non-perishables and orphaned tupperware lids. I have six more bags of stuff to go to whichever charity calls first and is picking up.

I neglected to mention our purchases over the weekend. We bought the sink, the faucet, the garburator (!!), the pot lights (which are instead of the pendant lights over the peninsula in the plan), the light above the sink, and the ceiling light fixture. We decided to forgo the $800 faucet which was absolutely perfect, except for the price tag, for the $299 Home Depot special, which is still fashionable and has the features we wanted, with a price tag of less than half. The sink is stainless steel, and the garburator is a 3/4 hp "Quiet Plus" (as opposed to the "Super Quiet", which was $50 more, and, for all we could see, otherwise identical). We still need a dining room light fixture, which is a lower priority, and will hopefully, someday, match the hall and front entrance lights. Anyway, we have almost everything required of us, except the range hood (on order) and a microwave.

Today, the electrician wired a bunch of switches and plugs, and more drywalling was done, including the bulkhead. Most of the cabinets are now gone, and tomorrow the rest, including the sink and plumbing, also go. We are running the dishwasher for one last, glorious time, as I write. The stove is out of commission for the duration, so it's all down to electric frying pan, crock pot, microwave and restaurant from here on in.

So here are today's progress links: looking north, SSW, and WNW.

The dogs did better today. Unlike me. I must go to bed now. I am grumpy and the mess isn't helping.

Day Two

Voice mail I got at work at 1:30 today from T: "Well, I went home at lunch, there's no one there and no sign of any progress".

I called him back. "You are kidding, right?"

"Yes, I am."

I know him so well.

Today, another wall came down and a bunch of drywall went up. Very spacious.

Here are today's photos: looking north from the kitchen door, looking WNW from the dining room, and looking SSW from the dining room.

Here is what was found under the light fixture over the sink: the ugliest wallpaper ever. Recorded here for posterity, but it's going sooner than later, despite the entertainment value. I wonder if it can still be bought anywhere?

So, our last few days with kitchen plumbing... I think I will do a lot of dishes. Maybe I'll make sure every single dish in the house is clean. T's suggestion is to have one plate, bowl, cup, fork, knife and spoon for each family member and find a place for the rest for the duration. Not a bad idea. I think tomorrow's trip to the grocery store will include an industrial sized stack of paper plates and plastic utensils. We should probably buy stock in the Glad garbage bag company, too.

No turnin' back now!

We have liftoff!!

Today, the builders came. They didn't build much, but they did destroy. We were out all day and when we got home, this, this, and this is what we saw.

They cleaned up pretty well, too, but the kids dutifully donned rubber boots or slippers, in case of, as Jack said, "a sharp piece of wall or something". The light switch is hanging from the ceiling. All our pantry contents are in laundry baskets in the bedroom, and everything else is under the ping pong table. I can't find a cup, and when the dishwasher is done, I'm not too sure where I will put its contents, since they are ripping out the rest of that section tomorrow, and we are out of laundry baskets.

The poor doggies had a rough day. They were locked in the playroom downstairs (because if they ate the builder, it would take that much longer to get our house back), and I guess it was a small room, and lots of upsetting noise, and when we released them, there were unpleasant substances all over the carpet and the room smelled like someone had died in it. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. Maybe I should look on the internet for doggie tranquilizers.

So, it has begun, for better of for worse. We have a designer coming next week to offer suggestions on paint colours. So far, I love it, but ask me in a week if it was worth it.

The First Delay

Well, January 26th has turned into January 27th, because the builder isn't done his last project yet. I am not terribly surprised, but it doesn't bode too well for our project. He swears he will be done by next Friday, though. I do have faith, because the builder is going on holidays in a week or two and he needs to finish before then because the cabinets will be delivered the day after he leaves.

So here are some pictures of Before: the kitchen, another view of the kitchen, and the dining room.
This is what we are going from, so as you might agree, we can only go up from here.

And, of course, our clutter problems will be solved, not because of the mass exodus of useless stuff that is happening due to the migration of kitchen items from the kitchen area, and not because of the surplus of useful storage space, but because the new kitchen will be so wonderful that it will practically keep itself clean. I am certain it will always be showroom-perfect and sparkling, without any new habits or energy expenditure on my part. I am sure of it. With this effort and money, it had better be self-cleaning. I wonder if there is anything in our warranty about tidyness?

Dates!

We have dates!

The builder is coming January 26 to start the destruction, and the cabinets are to be delivered on February 7, installed the 8th and 9th. Then the counter people come to template on Feb 10, they cut our granite and install counters on the 17th. I like putting these dates down in black and white, because it tempts fate. Either I am vindicated when my predictions of interminable delays come true, or I have done enough knocking-on-wood that the renovation gods feel they have something to prove and it all comes together exactly as planned.

Today we chose a range hood. It should be delivered about the right time.

We still need a microwave, a sink and faucet, and lighting (x4 plus 2 new fixtures to match the kitchen/dining room ones on other parts of the house). Here is the microwave that T wants. It has more features than we will ever need, but it has cool twirly knobs. Our coffee maker is also nearly ready, legitimately, to give up the ghost. It is the one appliance that does not owe us a thing; it may even be our first "collective" appliance as a couple. It has made thousands of cups of coffee, and it is time to retire it. I have set T on the task of choosing the new one, with some input on required features. I'll let you know what the short list is.

We are also debating new dishes and new pots and pans. Oh, and I am really hoping for new, intact, useful dish cloths and towels that match everything. It never ends. All our previous stuff is cobbled together from the combination of our respective homes and is a bit of a jumble, and as T put it, when $400 for new pots seems like a lot, consider it as a fraction of a $25,000 renovation and somehow it seems easier to swallow. We'll see. I'll keep you posted.