Bar stools

We spent all of last weekend hauling boxes over to the house and trying to get things set up.  Today, after school, the girls and I went over to get more done.  First of all, however, we needed to have an afternoon snack:

Yep, I can tell that’s going to be a popular spot for hanging out.

We move in on Friday.

Amazing!

I skipped going to the house yesterday, so when I went by today it had been 48 hours since my last visit.  In that time, so many things happened!

First of all, here’s a better photo of the floor color in the man cave:

There’s really no other way to describe that color than “creamy pumpkin.”  I like how warm and bright it makes the room — much better than the original depressed-needing-Prozac gray.

Up in the girls’ toy room, the very last little detail was completed — the wood  trim on the half wall overlooking the stairs:

This is a seemingly small thing, but we’ve learned that all those little things add up!

(The pieces of blue tape are to mark places where the paint needs a little more work.)

Speaking of the stairs, the cable railings are done in the foyer:

Yep, it’s a lot of cable, but now we don’t have to worry about anyone going over the edge, particularly our young nephews or other little friends.  For code purposes, we will also need a railing on the wall, but we’re working on that.

We also have cable railings outside:

All of this is a mere trifle compared to the Big News:  The kitchen is essentially complete!  That’s right, the counters were installed today, along with the rest of the lights.  Woot!

Check it out:

After agonizing over the endless choices — granite, quartz, stainless steel, slate, Fireslate, laminate, and more — we ended up going with a slate gray Formica with a subtle pattern in it. We (or at least I) hope to put in a tile backsplash of postage stamp mosaic glass tiles in mixed colors at some point in the not-so-distant future, so we wanted a simple counter that wouldn’t clash.

Formica was admittedly not the most eco choice we could have made, but the  company has improved its processes in recent years and is now more environmentally friendly.  Furthermore, we went with a higher grade that should last for a long time and won’t need replacing.  And for those of you who say that laminate doesn’t last, we’ve had our current cheap white laminate for nine years and it looks great, so we know what we’re getting into.

If you look at the first photo again, you’ll see the large piece of diamond steel we had put on the front of the peninsula.  Shiny!  We needed to put something there, as it was just the rough backs of the cabinets, but felt like wood would eventually show wear and tear.  Pete and I have always liked the look of diamond steel and we’re pretty sure that it can withstand just about anything our family can dole out.

On a related note, the bar stools we ordered came yesterday.  That was another one of those long searches that I agonized over.  I found something I liked, but Pete didn’t.  Then he found something he liked, but I didn’t.  Once the diamond steel was installed, we decided against getting shiny metal stools and turned our attention to something that would be noticeable.  We ultimately decided on unfinished wood stools that one of the guys is going to paint fire engine red for us.  I’ll post photos when they’re done.

In the second kitchen photo, if you look above the kitchen sink, you can see the pendant light.  There are three more like it hanging over the peninsula, but I didn’t get a good photo of them.  As I mentioned here last month, I shopped for months for the peninsula lights.  I knew exactly what I wanted and apparently it did not exist in this universe.   So we bought some simple lights, only to be told by the electrician that they wouldn’t work, which led to an eleventh hour order at Home Depot’s website.  They’re simple chrome pendants with white shades.

I think that pretty much covers it for today.  Hopefully, we’ll have news on the driveway and garage doors soon.

Happy for a lot of reasons

Check out the nearly-completed bench in the dining area:

Here’s a close up of the poplar used:

Elsewhere, the closets are pretty much done.  Just one more shelf in the laundry closet and that’s it.  Speaking of the laundry closet, check out the doors:

This week, I’m not exactly sure what projects are happening.  Hopefully the driveway will go in and the kitchen counters will be installed.  The cable railings are going in around the main stairs, so I’ll soon have photos to share.

The crew always listens to the radio while they work.  Today, we were there when President Obama and Vice President Biden took their oaths of office. I thought it was very fitting that we were listening to the beginning of a wonderful new era while in our new house!

Seating

Jeff the Builder has been working on the L-shaped bench for the dining area.  Here’s the framework: The seat backs are on a slight angle, so as to be more comfortable.  I’ll put up photos when he’s done.

In other news, Jesse has been down in the man cave working on the floor.  It’s insulated concrete, which we’re having stained a golden-brownish color.  I can’t wait to show you how it looks.

Upstairs, Tom has been doing all sorts of great things with wood, which I’ll have to post photos of, because he has a gift.

Did I mention yesterday that we think the kitchen counters are coming next week?

Also, the electrician will be out one last time to install a few more lights and finish a few more things.

As the guys are finishing rooms, they’re removing all their stuff and cleaning up, leaving empty rooms behind.  At this point, there are several empty rooms, including the living room, the study, the half bathroom, the toy room, and the craft room.  I think all that remains to be done in the bedrooms is closet organizers.

Outside, it looks like we won’t be paving the driveway until next week because it’s so very cold out there.  (All people from Canada, Wisconsin, and other northerly places should stop snickering.  It IS cold down here.)

More soon!

Why I love my new kitchen

One of the major reasons we’re building our new house is the kitchen.  I wanted lots of space to work and so that our daughters could cook with us.  (That’s not just a pipe dream; they’re both budding chefs.)

So, while we chose pretty stuff like this:

… it’s the  functionality that is the most important to us.

Do you see that corner base cabinet on the right?  That was something of a big deal for me.  We have one really awkward cabinet in our current kitchen and I cannot tell you how many times Pete has walked into the kitchen and found me arms-and-shoulders into the cabinet, cursing furiously while I tried to reach a certain baking dish.

We actually tried to design the kitchen without any corner cabinets, but couldn’t quite swing it.  Luckily, Ikea has an amazing corner base cabinet.  Check it out:

First, do you see the door?  It’s hinged, so it folds out smoothly when you open it.  And check out that lazy susan.  Nice spinning action.  I’m pretty sure I’ll be saying “la-di-da” or something like that whenever I grab my pots and pans.

In other news, you know how you’ll plan something for months and think that you’ve got everything squared away and that there are no changes left?  Ha!  In the past couple of days, Pete and I have been rethinking how we’re going to set up our desks in our study, which has led to us completely re-evaluating that room, which has led us to rethinking our furniture layout in the living room.   We’re still thinking and talking and discussing, but we don’t have much time left before we have to make some decisions and then just live with them.  *sigh*

More soon!

Problem solving

A few times in this project, we’ve hit a minor stumbling block.  Something that we’ve planned didn’t work out the way that we thought it would or it didn’t work out at all.  And by “we” I really mean “me” because in a couple of cases, I was the reason that plans had to be changed.

Example #1 — the master bathroom

I was hell-bent on having a vanity that had drawers.  It’s a seemingly small thing, but it was of huge importance to me.  In 15 years of home ownership, I’ve never had drawers to organize my toiletries and make up, which led to jerry-rigged systems involving baskets and bins.

A couple months ago, we realized that the Ikea bathroom vanity we had planned to use wouldn’t fit in that small space.  We intentionally made the bathrooms in this house small, which made finding cabinetry a bit more difficult.

We searched the internet  for days and couldn’t find anything that was reasonably priced.  So, Pete had the brilliant idea to use Ikea kitchen cabinets and then he and Jeff the Builder put their smart heads together and came up with a plan using one cabinet with a door and one cabinet with drawers and a small kitchen sink that had the sink on one side and a drainboard on the other.

Okay, so we really don’t need a drainboard in our bathroom, but I’m so happy to have drawers that I simply don’t care about the rest.  Best of all, we got to use a cabinet that I’ve always loved — the Abstrakt high gloss white — but didn’t actually want to use in the kitchen.  (I have a white kitchen now; I’m not spending the next who-knows-how-many years wiping down white cabinets.)

Here’s the result (the doors and drawers are still covered with a protective plastic):

I haven’t decided what hardware to use on the door and drawers yet, but I’m sure something will come to mind.

Example #2 — the half bathroom on the first floor

For several months, we planned to use the Ikea Abstrakt high gloss red cabinetry in the half bathroom on the first floor.  Then I actually measured the space and realized that we would need to be able to actually get into the bathroom and that my plans were far too oversized.

At some point, either Pete or Jeff the Builder suggested that we use a wall-mounted sink, which led us to buy a stainless steel restaurant hand washing sink.  I am not kidding:

Since the sink is hanging there on the wall and there’s no cabinet or anything below it except for air, we got that wall cabinet over there on the left for toilet paper and other important stuff.  Of course, this means I’ll have to be more diligent about cleaning the bathroom floor, since more of it will be visible, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take.

Example #3 — the cabinets over the stove

Because of my instance that the wall cabinets go all the way up to the ceiling and our desire to have a microwave mounted over the stove, we had to get a little creative with the wall cabinets.

Those skinny wall cabinets were the only things that fit there.  And of course they had to align with the bottom of the microwave, which left funky little spaces up at the top.  Jeff the Builder and I decided weeks ago that we’d just buy the cabinets and figure things out later.  (We’re really good at that.)  This week, Jesse and I talked about it and decided that little cubbies up there would be ridiculous, so he closed off the openings entirely, giving that section of cabinets a more seamless appearance.

So those are a few of the ways everyone has been really creative during this process.  The guys have pretty much completed all the heavy construction and are working on the finishing details, so it’s possible that a few more oddball things will come up, but I’m sure it will be nothing major.

More soon!

Let there be light, part 3

Ready for more photos?
This is the view that greeted me when I went over to the house on this dreary, cold, wet day:

That’s the light in the dining area and here’s what it looks like closer up:

The lantern is from Pearl River Department Store in Chinatown, New York City.  I love the look of white paper lanterns — they give off such a nice soft light.  And you may may remember from yesterday’s post that we put a large round lantern in the craft room.  Furthermore, we also have three small ones in the living room:

(Lanterns from Ikea.)

I have to apologize once again for my bad photography.  These photos simply don’t convey how great these lights are.

Alas, that’s it for the lanterns.  Pete asked me not to go overboard with them and five is probably pushing it.

It turns out that the lights we chose to hang over the peninsula aren’t going to work for some technical reason or the others, so we picked out others online last night.

Oh, and here is a not-so great shot of the lights on the front porch:

Do you see that rain coming down?  It is nasty out there.  At some point, I promise to take more photos of the porch, because we used some interesting materials.

Also , I can finally show you these marvelous photos of the shelves in the pantry:

Yes my friends, we have GORGEOUS L-shaped poplar shelves in the pantry.  I’m never going to want to close the beautiful pocket door that I begged for.

Jesse and Tom asked me what I was going to do with so much shelf space and I told them it was going to be my Armageddon Pantry.  They thought I was joking.

More soon!

Some new photos for you to appreciate!

The siding is done:

The kitchen is closer to done:

More soon!

The kitchen is more kitchen-like

What?  You want to see photos of all of the new appliances and what the kitchen looks like now?  Okay then.

Here’s the fridge and part of the kitchen, when you first walk in.  The living room is just beyond.

The fridge looks massive, but it doesn’t actually stick out that much further than the base cabinets:

Here’s the back wall with the stove, dishwasher, and our sexy sink.

The microwave will be mounted above the stove and the cabinets for that wall are standing just off-camera.

On sunny days, we might need sunglasses:

Other things going on this week: Outside, the guys are finishing up the siding.  Inside, they’re finishing the tile in the bathrooms.

On Monday:  The crew will install the stairs.  At last!!!  Also, the electrician is coming back on Monday to install all MY our beautiful lights and the appliances.  I’m guessing he’ll also install the outlets — wait until you see the outlet covers! — and basically finish all the electrical work.  At some point, the plumber is coming back to install toilets and hook up sinks and all that stuff, but I’m not sure when.

More soon!

Appliances

Jen mentioned in yesterday’s post that I had a “great story” about the appliances that we purchased.  Unfortunately, I’m not the storyteller in the family, so I will simply present the facts.

We didn’t have grand ambitions for the kitchen appliances, so other than having them in a stainless (or stainless-look) finish and by a reliable brand, here were a few of our criteria:

Refrigerator: large capacity, preferably bottom-freezer.  We liked the idea of having a filtered water dispenser in order to do away with the Brita that we’ve been using the past few years, but it wasn’t a requirement.

Range: smoothtop electric, preferably with an expandable burner.  We have a smoothtop now and are very happy with it.  Even though having separate cooktops and wall ovens is typical in high-end kitchens, we never seriously considered it.  We’ve never had a setup like that and really don’t feel like we’re missing anything.  Also, separates are much more expensive than combined ranges for some reason, plus having two appliances requires additional hassle with electrical hookups as well as just finding the right place to put them.

Over-the-range microwave: nothing fancy; we have a pretty basic one now and are fine with it.  Again, the trend is toward fancy range-hoods instead of microwaves over the range/cooktop, but that’s so inefficient in terms of space, and once again, the total cost (hood plus separate wall-mounted or countertop microwave) is generally quite a bit higher than having the combined microwave and fan over the range.  Range-hoods do move more air than a microwave, but if it’s that smoky in our kitchen, we have other problems.

Dishwasher: large tub, not too expensive.  We’ve had pretty bad luck with dishwashers breaking on us since we first became homeowners 14 years ago.  In that time, not including the one that I just bought for the new house, we’re on our 7th dishwasher.  Since we’re now resigned to them simply not being built to last, we’re disinclined to pay a lot for one.  Also, according to Consumer Reports, paying more doesn’t really buy you more capacity or better cleaning, it just gets you less noise and more flexible loading features.  Our current dishwasher is only rated average for noise, and it never seems loud to us, so we’re not going to sweat that aspect too much.  As far as loading is concerned, we never take advantage of half the flexible features of our current unit.

With all that in mind, I had been keeping an eye out for sales since we had some flexibility as to when the appliances would need to be delivered.  Sure enough, our Thanksgiving Day newspaper was chock full of Black Friday sales circulars, and I quickly found a deal that was too good to pass up.

Lowe’s was offering a huge rebate on a full suite of Whirlpool kitchen appliances, plus free delivery, so I checked out each item to see if it would pass muster.  They were all in faux-stainless (fine with us, since it’s much more smudge-resistant than the real stuff) and met all of our other criteria.  The range and dishwasher were two of the models that I had already been considering anyway, the microwave was fine, and the only twist on the fridge was that it was a side-by-side, which I had never really thought about.

Traditionally, side-by-sides have been less energy-efficient and more repair-prone, but I checked it out anyway.  It turned out to be the most efficient side-by-side available (Energy-Star rated), and it was very roomy and well-planned inside.  It even included a water and ice dispenser on the front (pretty common for side-by-sides, not so much for other types).  I checked Consumer Reports, and Whirlpool is the most reliable appliance maker across the board, including side-by-side fridges, so we were good to go.

The best part?  We had originally budgeted $4000 for the kitchen appliances, although we never figured we’d actually spend that much on them.  After rebates and discounts, the total we paid for these four appliances was:

$1666!

I just hope that doesn’t turn out to be an unlucky number.