Step-By-Step

Our children very thoughtfully hosted Christmas; therefore we have not lost momentum on the remodel. Now that the project is ours we accomplish what we can each day and no more. The last thing Corey did was install cabinets, so our "galley" has finally returned.

Old houses are not entirely square, so there is a shim here and there.

We are eager to add floor, tile back splash, and appliances. But first the counter top people must do their work.

The reality is we move ahead step-by-step and will probably be at it for two or three more months. Currently Don is laying the sub-floor in the main floor bath room and preparing the door to that room. He has "re-purposed" the door that before joined the little diagonal hallway and the front entry. With the new floor plan it is no longer needed.

Sami painted her "Eldon" desk four and a half years ago (see entry May 26, 2011). One of her first remodel projects. Finally, the last touch has been added; the cushions!

Since we will continue to use our basement kitchen for several more months, Sami covered the temporary counters, which were beginning to suffer from all of the use, with some bright oil cloth that was a Christmas gift from Claudia.

Sami can remember when it was standard practice to cover rental house counters with oil cloth

On the First Day...

Christmas may be only seven days away, but our big countdown started last Wednesday when the cabinets were delivered, a total of 22 big boxes. Corey was here yesterday to lay out lines for positioning the cabinets on the kitchen walls using his laser leveling system.  He's back today to finish unpacking and finish the lines on the walls.  Don is helping with the two-person stuff. 

Sami has painted the kitchen walls "Lapland," a soft olive green in preparation. Corey and an associate will install the cabinets over the weekend, and Corey will return next week to work on the two custom cabinets that will be inserted into the walls

The quarter-sawen oak looks and smells lovely. Pretty nice Christmas gift!

This cabinet will go over the range hood

None of the Above

Don searched everywhere for the old window trim that he had stored when he installed the new windows five years ago, but could not find the trim for the upstairs front windows. So he bought new material and built new trim and sills. Of course he spotted the old trim right after he had finished building the new - leaning against his work bench!

Way back in 2011, at the beginning of the project, we put new windows in the study and tried to figure out what color we wanted the paint that room. We sampled several greens and yellow-golds on the wall, but didn't really like any of them (see entry 5/5/2011). Now, five years later, we have decided to go in a different direction and chose a gentle, warm-gray called "gray owl." What made us decide on gray is the fact that we love the gray in the bathroom and wanted to continue the theme throughout the upstairs.

Our plan is to paint all the rooms in the house and we have come up with a color scheme that flows from room to room. The salesman at the Benjamen Moore paint store is getting to be a close acquaintance!

Sami put in an 8 hour day painting the study. Its about half done.