Over-the-Counter Microwave

This morning, we put the last coat of paint on the trim, and John took on the unenviable task of getting the over-the-counter microwave up and installed. It turned out to be easier than we expected! John only swore 11 times.

Here is the result!

Waiting Period

So, since the cabinets have been finished, we've really just spent most of our time waiting for the next big part of the project, which is the counter-top installation. In the mean-time, John has installed the under-cabinet lighting, and we've painted the trim. We'll have some touch-ups to do to the red paint once the counter-tops are in as well. Tomorrow we're planning on tackling the installation of the microwave, and then all that's left is the plumbing work and the dishwasher. The end is in sight!

The goal is to have everything done and put away before Kathleen heads for Salt Lake City for a conference next week.

Cabinets installed!

Well - here they are - all installed!

Just waiting on new plugs and light switches (which John will install tomorrow)the over the stove microwave (sometime later this week or weekend)some under counter lights (sometime this week) the counter top (next week), and all the plumbing (next week), including DISHWASHER!

Here are the photos of the new cabinets!

Cabinet installation - day one

The first day of cabinet installation is now over - and although it is not complete - there are signs that our kitchen is starting to look like a kitchen once again. All the cabinets are in their places, and what is left to do is molding, valances, and clean-up tomorrow.

Also happening tomorrow: The counter-top company is coming in to measure. So it will be an exciting day. Hopefully, we'll be able to put back our appliances, and eat at home once again soon.

At least tonight, we don't have to paint!

Painting Done!

So, with the exception of the trim, we are done painting! The cabinet installers are coming before 8am tomorrow morning to start that stage of the project - we can't wait to see what the cabinets look like in the space! And we're pretty proud of the work we've managed to do in just a few short days.

And on the third day ...

This morning we awoke at the crack of dawn (well, maybe a little after the actual CRACK - I think if the dawn had actually cracked, we slept through it) and put the first coat of RED (Red Wine according to Behr) on the walls. Instead of watching paint dry, we decided to go to Home Depot and buy our new kitchen faucet, and a few odds and ends from Superstore. In the evening, we got all dressed up to sing for 10 minutes at a fundraising concert at the Winspear, had a glass of wine with some of John's festival friends from Ontario, came home (opened another bottle of wine) and put coat two of the "Red Wine" on the walls.

It is all coming together, we are getting tired on envisioning what the cabinets are actually going to look like, and are very excited to see what the final product will look like on Monday night!

We will save posting photos until Sunday night when the final coat of paint is on the wall. Trust us though ... it's RED.

Onwards!

Primer!

We have put all our trust in the paint guy at Home Depot with regards to the appropriate primer to put on the walls. Here are the pictures taken after the primer went up. You will note, I hope, that the primer is pink. He informed us that this will help the red paint, which is notoriously finicky. We think this makes good sense. Today, we put the first two coats of the red paint up, one this morning and one this evening and then we'll see where we're at with regards to further coatage. Probably at least one more tomorrow, maybe two.

Here's the primer! Note the "helper" in the second picture.

End of Day 1

So, after the demo this morning, John cleaned up the rough edges of the plaster hole and headed off to Home Depot to buy a sheet of dry-wall and all the requisite plaster and tool sneeded to get the wall repaired. Here are the results, both before mudding and after. The wires sticking through the drywall are for the under-counter lighting.

Tomorrow, we'll keep mudding and sanding until the wall is ready for paint (two or threee coats, depending how our attention span holds out). We'll give the walls and other bits and pieces of the room a good clean and then start the priming! We are right on pace for Monday!

We did discover that "cabinet installers" was not the same thing as "counter-top installers", so we'll have to wait until early NEXT week for the counter-top, but that's not a big deal.

Here are the end of day pictures!



And here are what the renovations are doing to the rest of the house!

Kitchen Renovations

We are hoping to provide a fairly detailed blog over the next week of our kitchen renovations, so that friends and family can read about and see the trials and tribulations of the transformation (alliteration, whoo!). For those of you who have seen the kitchen, the change will be quite dramatic, and will result in about twice the cabinet space, and half again as much counter. Yay!!

We phoned our cabinet company last week to check on the status of our materials, which we expected to arrive and be installed in November. We were pleasantly surprised to hear that the cabinets and counter top were to arrive TODAY!!! Currently, the timeline is that installation will take place early next week. In the meantime, our to-do list includes clearing out the old kitchen (done), demo (today), drywalling (to repair plaster), mudding, taping, cleaning, prepping, priming, and painting (more alliteration!). We made a preliminary start on the demo yesterday by taking out the tile backsplash. You can see the resultant damage to the plaster in the photos below. John got up early this morning and began removing cabinets, and our goal is to have everything out and the new drywall up by the end of the day. The latter should only be a single sheet, so it shouldn't be too difficult.

In the midst of all the work to be done in the next few days, we have a choir rehearsal tonight, a concert on Saturday night, church on Sunday morning, and rehearsals on Monday and Tuesday night of next week. And Kathleen's office is moving tomorrow during the day! NO END TO THE EXCITEMENT!

Some Photos!

October, already??!!

Well, here we are, into October in seemingly record-setting time.

We have discovered this week another one of the joys of living on our street, where the elm tree branches hang so low that they touch the road surface. With the fall colours displayed in full glory, the street is a beautiful sight.

We are working slowly towards getting our house ready for winter. John did an amazing husband-of-the-year quantity of yard work yesterday to get the lawn mowed, crab apples picked up, leaves raked, etc. We are hoping to take advantage of the long weekend to dig out the garden and get the carriage house (our garage) cleaned out as well.

We have been led to believe (largely because we gave them money) that we can expect our new kitchen cabinets and counter top to arrive in early November, which is a very exciting prospect indeed. Before they arrive, we will tear out the old, and paint the walls (red!). Our new cabinets are white, and the counter top is a mottled grey-ish colour. When all is said and done, it will be a very handsome kitchen, we think!! And it will have a dishwasher, which is pretty exciting.

We celebrated our birthday on Saturday by having hockey poolers over in the afternoon to pick their teams and eat chili, and by going for a wonderful evening at Adam and Shelly's with food, games, wine, cake, etc. It was a very peaceful and happy day!!