Archive for the 'Fun' Category
Our Kitchen Remodel – A Progress Update
Our kitchen remodel has been underway for two weeks now. Well, really three if you count the week we spent dismantling our previous kitchen.
We seem to be right on schedule, which is nice. The electrical and plumbing were laid out in their new locations and we passed our City permit inspections. Drywalling started shortly thereafter. That should be finished early this week. From there, we’ll paint the walls and ceilings.
Sadly the hardwood floors we discovered and were so excited about were not able to be salvaged. Years of wear and previous refinishing made them marginal for another refinishing. Given the information that they would not be able to be refinished any additional times, we made the long range decision to go with new floors. Some of the boards were salvageable though and our contractor will use them as patch pieces for future jobs he has that need them.
Our temporary kitchen is working out okay. By okay I mean that we are getting take out or eating cereal for dinner. Work has also been extremely busy lately, so cooking is near the bottom of our priority list. It actually seems like we planned the timing perfectly for the remodel. No time to cook now, so we might as well destroy the kitchen. We look forward to spending lots of time using it this summer during the slow real estate season.
Here are the previous posts about our adventure:
Remodeling Our Kitchen
Budgeting for a Kitchen Remodel
Designing a Kitchen
Our Before Kitchen
Our Temporary Kitchen
A Remodeling Surprise
My Archnemesis
NOTE: I have an 8-month old, I feel I have the right to complain about this.
Oh baby protective gear, how I hate you with an unrelenting passion. You consistently foil and harm me on showings and inspections.
Baby gates- why are you always closed and locked at the top of stairs and so hard to figure out how to open? I always have to hoist myself over you, smack my shins, and risk toppling down the stairs.
Door knob locks- on every single door! Why can’t I open you? You spin around and around and I can never grip you tightly enough to turn the knob. And why did you lock me in the basement that one time? I shake my fist at you!
Electrical outlet shock shields- why are you on Every. Single. Outlet. For inspections! Gah. Stop breaking my fingernails.
Babies, you’re good little people. I just hate your protective gear.
This Old House Magazine
The magazine version of This Old House arrived in the mail yesterday. It was a very good day.
There are only 2 magazines that I immediately sit down and read cover-to-cover, and this is one of them (the other is Wired). It is a perfect mix of interesting stories, tasteful design ideas, and moderate skill project suggestions. Each issue is full of useful tips and addresses issues that relate to me, since we actually live in an old house.
This month I learned that…
1. We can grow purple shamrocks (four-leaf clovers) in our yard since they require indirect light. We’ve struggled to grow something other than hostas in the part of our yard shaded by the ginormous maple trees, so this might be a way to add some color and interest to the area.
2. After looking at pictures of kitchens both in the ads and in the articles, I’m more comfortable that darker knobs will look good on our white cabinets. Although Amy found some interesting crystal knobs yesterday afternoon, so it may be a moot point.
3. The article about “the best place to buy an old house” really shows how interesting and diverse residential architecture was throughout the country 100 years ago. One of our clients actually commented on this yesterday after we showed him a very unique brick tudor within walking distance of West Hartford Center. We were sitting in the car debriefing and he pointed out that all the houses would have looked nearly identical if the street had been developed since 1960.
4. Spring comes early in the This Old House world. There were two articles about tidying up outside which will need to wait at least two more months for those of us in the Hartford area. Even our friends in the warmer climates are getting slammed with winter this year, so I’m not sure if there is anywhere entering spring at the moment. Washington DC is a mess, and apparently it’s snowing in Atlanta today.
I picked up all of these tidbits in the first half of the magazine. But wait, there’s more! Secrets to Curb Appeal … Reader Remodel of an American Foursquare… Garden Junk … All About Wood Windows. This Old House is terrific for homeowners interested in learning about little things they can do around their place, inside and out. And there are ideas on just about every page for those who aren’t likely to pick up a hammer themselves.
Now, about those wood windows…