Adding Appliances

Things are really starting to come together in the kitchen. Since all of the cabinets are now in place, we were able to start installing all the appliances.

Microwave and oven, plus a few panels of the backsplash to envision how it will look when it's all put together.
Fridge:

Dishwasher, oven, microwave:

And the person responsible for all the installation. Thanks Dad!

Now we have our work cut out for us: installing all the shelves and door/drawer pulls. The granite will be installed on Wednesday which means I'll have a kitchen sink by the weekend! Can't wait to make my first meal in our new home. Gotta go dust off those wedding presents. Here's hoping I can find the pasta maker and the bread maker when we unpack the kitchen. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!


Oh, and not to dissappoint, Jerry installed neon signs in his office. (insert ooohs and ahhhs here). The fan and window blind will be replaced soon.

That's all folks! Next post will hopefully show our new granite in the kitchen and master bath!

Kitchen Cabinets Part 2

Get your reading glasses out, this is going to be a LONG post. Lots is going on in the house, so I'll try to stick to lots of photos and not a ton of explanations.


The cabinets are finally all in. Here they are in process:


See, no toe kicks and upper trim:

Here are the doors up and the toe kicks:

Toe kick! (Brings back memories of The Cutting Edge, you know, that ice skating movie where the figure skater and the ex-hockey player team up for the Olympics? Toe Pick! :))

Here's the finished product with upper trim. We might add crown molding in the very distant future. All these little things really add up!

Here is the "finished" vanity in the master bathroom. Do you see the problem here?

That's right, the center piece and toe kick are the reddish color that's in the kitchen, not the brown color that are supposed to be in the bathroom. So, new pieces are being created and will be installed when the granite gets here.


Here's the cabinet we had built in the water closet to compensate for the fact that we don't have a linen closet:
So, that's all in cabinet news. The granite has been templated and should be ready for install next week. Here's hoping!

Here's the latest from the rest of the house. Jerry got some new furniture and got to work setting up his office. It looks really great! Just wait until he hangs up all his sport paraphernalia and neon signs. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, my husband owns not one, but TWO neon signs that he would like to hang in our home. You can see a bit of one of them in the lower left corner of this photo.

Here's the other side of his office, he'll be building a shelf above to show case some of his stuff. Working in a pro-hockey arena for 5+ years really makes the signed sports items add up!

We also tackled the blinds in the master bedroom. Here's the before, yellow, missing slats, doesn't really line up and just looks dingy in general:

Here's the after. We are so pleased with how much this brightened the room, and now I don't have to worry about the neighbors being able to see in.

And, just to remind you all that it's not all sunshine and roses over here, a few shots of the carnage all of this remodeling causes:

Mondays and Thursdays (our trash and recycling pick up days) can't get here soon enough!

Plus, in case you thought Jerry did all the work around here, I finally got around to putting together my bookcase. Yes folks, I made this all by myself even though the instructions recommended two people for some parts. It only took me about 300 hours and gave me one major splinter. :) Now I just have to unpack all of my books... which will definitely require the help of my big, strong husband since I can't carry the boxes up the stairs by myself.

And, as promised, here are some closeups of the birds. This is Emmy and Petey. Watch out ladies, they are big flirts!

And the group shot for those of you who have lost count of my numerous birds. From top to bottom, left to right, here are the names: Dobby, Ponce, Peeps, Emmy, Blue and Petey.

Thanks for reading. The painters are here, so I'll post on that next. Can't wait for the house to be all uniform colors!

Magnificent Master

It was a big weekend for our master bedroom. First, Jerry and I tried our hand as electricians and decided to replace the fan.

Here it is before. Jealous? In addition to the intricate bronze details, fluted glass, several light bulbs that are out this thing is extremely un-level and could rouse the dead in the middle of the night, much less a light sleeper like me. Unfortunately, the upstairs of our home gets very warm since hot air rises and all that, so Jerry has not enjoyed waking up in a sweat because I shut the fan off in the middle of the night to enjoy a few hours of silence.

Here is the new fan. It is more contemporary and matches the style of our new bedroom set nicely. Also, we were equally impressed with our ability to install it without electrocuting ourselves or burning the house down. It only took one call to our "life line" (aka my father, thanks Dad!) and several consults with the Internet. Since the fan isn't hooked up to a light switch, we also installed a remote control to avoid having to pull the cords every time we want it on, off, or adjusted in any way. Jerry thinks he gets to keep the remote on his night stand... but if this sucker starts making noises in the middle of the night, he is sorely mistaken.

In other bedroom news, our bed was finally delivered. We really love it. Please excuse it's towering height, I think I might need a ladder just to get in, but since we don't have a linen closet upstairs, we had drawers installed underneath. There are two drawers on each side, and of course, photo genius that I am, I forgot to take pictures of them, but trust me, they are there and they are very useful for storing spare sheets and towels.

Here's the rest of the set, a chest for me on the left (please note that it is larger than Jerry's :)) and a media chest on the right for Jerry and all of our electronic needs. Yes, our TV is ridiculous, but for various reasons that are too boring to get into here, this is the only room that it worked in. Plus, now we have an extremely comfortable media room. My main issue with it is that it shines like the sun and tends to wake me in the middle of the night. Since Jerry is usually sleeping by then, I have to try to climb over him, find the remote control, which is at least illuminated by the solar glare going on, and turn it off, all while not waking him up. Luckily, we got a tempurpedic style mattress which makes it so he doesn't feel it when I move around in bed. Needless to say, I have a tough life.

After the dog had a few near death experiences jumping on and off the bed, we added this ottoman to the bottom as a launch pad for him. It's something we had in the condo and is in kind of rough shape, but for the time being, it's better than a dog with a broken leg, or worse. We'll replace it with something that is a little more to scale in the future.

Here he is, testing it out and scowling at me. "Mom, I'm not ready for my close up, I haven't even brushed my hair!" He is still in the process of learning to use it to get in and out of the bed. He takes advantage of it about 50% of the time, and practices his vertical jump and death defying skills for the rest.

The contractor is here installing the rest of the cabinets as I type this. If I'm up to it and can remember to charge the battery on my camera, I'll do another post tonight.

Kitchen Cabinets (!!!!!!) Part 1

The kitchen cabinets are here, hallelujah!

The lowers were all installed on Friday. I can't wait to get my oven in there.


The fridge will go over here:


Here are the drawers that will flank the oven. Think of how many pots and pans I'll be able to fit in there.


A little bit of trim thrown in so that we weren't staring at a blank peice of wood every time we entered the kitchen:


This is why we went for custom cabinets. All of the drawer and cabinet faces were cut from the same peice of wood so the grain lines up when it's closed.


Here's the drawer hardward:


Slightly different angle:


Our big decision now is should we mount them on the cabinet doors vertically:


Or horizontally:


The uppers will be installed on Monday:


And so will the bathroom vaninties:


In other house news, Jerry was VERY proud of the closet doors he installed. I agree, they look great... although anything would be an improvement over rusty, peeling, bronze framed, mirrored doors that were there previously. Those doors had to be replaced because the slow leak from the shower rotted out the track.


Also, here's a dramatic before and after...

Mailbox before (ewwww!):


Mailbox after (ahhhh!):


Once the cabinets are installed, the contractor will measure for granite and that should be installed in about a week. Then we can FINALLY have everthing we wanted, even a kitchen sink. Now we're off to install a new ceiling fan and wait for our bed to be delivered. We're too old to be sleeping on a mattress on the floor, can't wait!

Perfect Patio Furniture

Since we are now the proud owners of a lovely new grill, we decided to get some patio furniture to go with it. It's the perfect spot for us to get away from the brutal heat of this suburban summer. Who knew it would be so much hotter just a few miles west of the beach?

Also, Jerry and his buddies plan to smoke many cigars out here at night. Thank goodness it's far from the house!

We temporarily moved the adirondacks here until we find some chaise lounges.

Still waiting on those kitchen cabinets... I sure hope they get installed soon... my girlish figure depends on it. :)

Gorgeous Grill

My parents finally came through on the housewarming gift and got us this amazing new grill. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Can't wait to have our first home cooked meal in the new house.

Here it is with the fancy cover:


And Jerry taking his first peek. You can't tell from this shot, but trust me, he's impressed. He'd better be. Grilling is officially a "husbandly" duty.

Here it is opened up. This thing has all the bells and whistles. Mmmmm, I'm getting hungry just thinking about all the food Jerry's going to cook for me. :)

Finally, one of the joys of owning a pool is fishing the little animals out of it every one in a while. Look, our first rat! Don't worry animal activitists, this little guy scampered off as soon as I rescued him.

That's all for now. Here's hoping for kitchen cabinets next week!

Small Successes

Not too much going on at the house this week. The cabinets are being stained and apparently it takes several days for it to dry between each coat. Here's hoping they'll be installed early next week.

The painters came back and were able to finish the pool deck. Can't wait for the grill and some patio furniture so we can start enjoying it more. (Ahem... Mom? Dad? where's that house warming present you promised? :))

Jerry got to work making the closet more funtional for us. Here is the build-in on my side, soon to be filled with purses and shoes. Hmmm... I think I'll need more build-ins!

Here's the one on his side. Since his dresser is also serving as our media cabinet, he needs more storage. What can I say, the man has lots of t-shirts.

His next project will be installing this door on the closet to replace the rusted, mirrored number that was in there when we moved in.

Finally, my aunt sent me this adorable housewarming gift. (Thanks Auntie Barbara and Uncle Craig!) Can't wait to find the perfect spot for it in our new home.

Here's hoping for lots to report next week.