A New 1/2 Bath

Happy Thanksgiving!

If you're like me, you've been cleaning and shopping the past few days to gear up for the big weekend. We're helping my sister host 22 tomorrow at her house, and then making breakfast for everyone here the next morning. It will be great for them to see the house - the last time most of my extended family saw it was November 2009, when we'd only been here a few months, and let me tell you - it was not pretty.

That said, we've had a lot of details fall into place over the past week to get us ready, and we're pretty excited to show you guys. We're not quite finished here, but getting pretty darn close. 

Lighting has gone in this week, and in case you haven't caught on, I'm a sucker for details like these. I've had our fixtures in the basement for months (one of them for years) waiting for this moment, so it's a bit one. We chose schoolhouse lights to go throughout the kitchen. They create a great warm glow, and add an interesting shape to the big open ceiling. 

Over the sink we opted for a barn-style pendant. We like the simple, rustic look and the glow it casts on the white fireclay of the sink and chrome of the faucet. The brown of the kitchen lights also brings in the brown of the cabinets. 

We're suckers for Edison styled bulbs, so we couldn't resist one in the pendant.This one is called "squirrel cage" which I can't help but love.

And finally, we have undercounter lighting to make our backsplash glow. Here's the effect from in the room:

And here are the lights themselves. We opted for LED fixtures, which cost a bit more but are super efficient and have very long-lasting bulbs. 

Here's the room all lit up from the back door.  It's a huge change from the old room, which had one fluorescent fixture in the middle of the room that didn't even work. I spent much of the past two years cooking beneath the bulb in our range. Needless to say this is a tremendous improvement, both in look and in function.

Oh, and did I mention our half bath was installed? YAY! We dusted off the wall-mount sink and rustic little faucet on Monday when we very enthusiastically welcomed the plumber. He got everything in in a day, and the electrician got this pendant light (this is the one I've had for years) all wired in today.

I'm obsessed with this little room. I just love the quaintness and charm of it, not to mention that I no longer have to go upstairs when nature calls. What an idea!

And here's john, all tucked in his little corner. Doesn't he look right at home? 

Don't miss the fleur-de-lis towel hook. I just couldn't resist.   

But wait, there's more! Our upstairs bathroom is now fully functional. Well, almost. It's lacking a rather minor detail - a door. That's right, it's wide open! Not that we really mind, but we might have to hang a sheet for when my brother and sister-in-law stay with us this weekend.

There are some new additions though - notice our his and hers medicine cabinets, all lit up from above. We had some height challenges in getting these right - they started too low (my 5'6 fault) and then landed too high (C's 6'5 fault) and then we got them right in the middle. We're already filling them and enjoying their usefulness.

Notice the fabric reflected in the cabinet on the right (which is mine, in case you were wondering)? That's a butterfly tablecloth. Don't worry, it's definitely not a permanent bathroom addition. I ordered a custom plantation shade to cover the window, but it will be another month or so before it arrives, so we're making do in the meantime. So . . . . no bathroom door or window covering. It's basically a nudist bathroom for now. Fixes to come soon, we (and our neighbors) hope.

And a bit more his and hers - cute little towel hooks. 

Here's the lighting up close. The vanity lights were inexpensive finds from Signature Hardware, and the overhead schoolhouse light is World Imports from Amazon (same as the kitchen fixtures, except silver instead of bronze). 

So that's where we are for now. The contractor is nearing the end of his time with us - basically the door and some paint/trim finishing to go. I bet he's really going to miss us!

Now I have to go brine a turkey. Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Super Silver Sage

All day I've had my fingers crossed that I'd come home to a painted bathroom and it worked! This is my favorite color yet. I'm normally not a gray person (I tend to gravitate toward warm colors, in case you haven't noticed) but this gray has converted me! I love the softness of it, particularly next to the white trim, white tile and brown window. Mwah!

Don't mind the ugly wood on the sides of this shot - that's trim that will be installed around that door we're waiting on. The wall color is Restoration Hardware Silver Sage, and I've decided that if our current kitchen color doesn't adequately grow on us, this may be in the kitchen walls' future as well.

I can't wait to get our medicine cabinets and vanity lights up to complete the look. And a plantation shutter over the window for a little privacy, of course. We're down to the details, and it's very exciting.

And that's not all! Our office walls was repainted yellow (Sherwin Williams Brittlebush), finishing off the office-to-half-bath look. Here's the view with the door open, which it will probably most often be when the bathroom is not in use.

And when it's occupied you'll see this view. The yellow is more true in this photo - it's a bit washed out in the previous one. I just adore this cute pocket door, all newly stained and with nice new hardware to dress it up. Hard to believe it's almost 90 years old. 

And here's the view into the office from the dining room. I was always a bit concerned that this new wall could crowd the room, but I really like it and think we still have plenty of space to enjoy. Getting my chevron rug back in there will be a really nice finishing touch, now that painting is complete. 

So, in terms of my painting to-do list, he made some serious progress today. Here's where we stand:

- paint/stain all trim and doors
- paint ceilings off white
- paint kitchen walls
- paint half bathroom walls
- paint full bathroom walls
- repaint 3rd bedroom wall (where they tore out plaster to install the full bathroom pocket door)
- repaint office wall (new wall that made the office smaller and allowed for the half bathroom)
- repaint upstairs hallway outside full bathroom (again, pocket door surrounds)
- install full bathroom pocket door and stain (the wrong door came originally, so we're waiting on the correct one to arrive)


 It seems everything left to do depends on that silly door finally arriving, so I'll cross my fingers that our favorite demolition crew guys show up with it ready to install on Monday. It worked last time!

Wet Paint

 Our painter keeps moving along, and I was thrilled yesterday to come home to find some new colors on our walls. Our kitchen and half bathroom walls were painted yesterday, and they bring a lot of new color into this old house!

The kitchen walls are Restoration Hardware Bay Laurel - a soft greeny-gray color. Kitchen wall area is very minimal by the time you account for all the cabinets, backsplash tile, doorways and appliances. We basically have one long wall and the area around the back door and around the basement door. 

We're still adjusting to the color - I thin it's a bit shocking after a month or so of all brown and white in there. Maybe we got a little too used to the "fresh drywall" look. It's nice this morning in the early light though, and I have a feeling it will keep growing on us. 

The half bathroom is Sherwin Williams Red Tomato - kind of a faded brick color. We decided we can have some fun in this room. It's so tiny, and will have a lot of white once we have the wall-mount sink and toilet installed. Eventually we'd like to add dark oak wainscoting to the bottom half of the room as well, but that's down the line. For now we're just digging the red.

I really like how it plays off the dark woodwork, and once the yellow walls are repainted on the office side of the wall (this is the new wall that went in, so it's still the color of texture right now) I think all the warm colors will work together really well. 

So as far as painting goes, here's where we are:

- paint/stain all trim and doors
- paint ceilings off white
- paint kitchen walls
- paint half bathroom walls
- paint full bathroom walls (I've got my fingers crossed that this one happens today)
- repaint 3rd bedroom wall (where they tore out plaster to install the full bathroom pocket door)
- repaint office wall (new wall that made the office smaller and allowed for the half bathroom)
- repaint upstairs hallway outside full bathroom (again, pocket door surrounds)
- install full bathroom pocket door and stain (the wrong door came originally, so we're waiting on the correct one to arrive)

Beginning of the End

Chris and I spent the weekend making our home feel like a home again, which is quite a task after two months of living out of boxes and take-out containers. It was wonderful to begin getting things in their places, though, and by Sunday evening we were even able to have friends over for dinner - yay!

Our first breakfast in the kitchen was a momentous occasion - we have really missed our big breakfasts. So on Sunday morning I went and got some morning staples and we enjoyed yummy egg sandwiches. Isn't he a handsome chef? 

When it's just the two of us eating, we find ourselves dining on the island right in the kitchen, which is wonderful. We're still kind of in awe of the fact that we're not hurrying out of the kitchen as fast as possible like we used to, now that it's actually an enjoyable place to hang out. 

See the nice white ceiling? The painter came yesterday and made some mean progress for the first day, mostly around painting and staining trim work. 

We decided pretty early on that we wanted to play with white and brown around windows and doors, so for our new windows, the window itself is stained dark brown next to painted white trim. It makes a nice dramatic pop and adds a lot of dimension. The muntins are still drying on this one, so once everything's finished it will be a six over one. 

Here's the view from the back door - again notice the painted ceiling and the stained door trim on the left. But before we zoom in over there check out the end of the island. 

Chris and I are both big detail people, and I couldn't resist buying a bottle opener for him to hide somewhere. Isn't it cute? The first time he used it he sprayed beer all over his face, so I think he needs to work on his technique, but it's still fun tucked in under the end of the butcher block. 

Now, back to trim. The baseboards and door trim in the kitchen look great stained dark. I love how the walls are totally boxed in with nice, pretty, heavy woodwork. I'm hoping to see color on the walls very soon.

The trim around these two doors totally impresses me. The open door way leads to our living room, and the closed one is a basement door. The way they turn the corner will all these little detail pieces of oak is beautiful, and of course it all looks great with a fresh coat of stain. 

And the view of the back door. Again, we're playing with light and dark here so we have the dark cabinets and dark door trim, and white door in the middle. They're going to put on a fresh coat so that it holds its own next to all the new stuff, and the recessed light overhead will keep everything out of shadows, so it will be nice and bright. 

 
Now let's move upstairs. The window up there is so charming, I just keep staring at it. I love the dark little box in the white room, and the muntins definitely turn up the charm. I'm going to order some plantation shutters to give us some privacy, and add to the brown accent. 

And here's a bigger view of the room. We hung the shower curtain this weekend so we're really using the bathroom now, which is wonderful. I also picked up the standing toilet paper holder this weekend, which is a fun, quirky, vintage look in there. And very functional given the placement of the toilet without any close walls. 

More painting/staining is on the agenda for today, and I really have my fingers crossed for some color. I'll update soon.

To Do

Construction is slated to begin next Monday on our kitchen and bathroom - only 6 days! It feels very surreal, and we couldn't be happier. Between now and then we have a few things to do to get ourselves ready.

- Empty out kitchen cabinets, getting rid of stuff we don't use.
- Set up a makeshift kitchen in the guest room - toaster, crock pot, microwave, paper plates . . .
- Clear everything out of upstairs bathroom.
- Clean gross basement bathroom, and make it as usable as possible (I got this out of the way last week)
- Caulk leaks in downstairs shower. (I think this is a honey-do)
- Get rid of unneeded furniture and appliances on Craigslist - old kitchen island, hutch, wardrobe, range, dishwasher
- Finish purchasing items from our extras list (this is the fun one, so I saved it for last!)

I think that's the bulk of it, and really it's great that we can do so little and be ready for such big stuff to begin. We can't wait to see the walls come down!

Zero!

 
After 27 months, dozens of chain links, more floorplans and time surfing google images than I care to imagine, 8 contractor interviews, 4 bids and just generally lots of anxious, impatient waiting, we're there!

We have selected our contractor, are finalizing details for a contract and are mere weeks away from tearing up our kitchen and bathroom! Or rather, coming home from work to find our kitchen and bathroom torn up - this is what contractors are for, after all!

We're thrilled to be about to get this huge project underway, and are thankful for all the sweet friends and family who have listened to us obsess and complain while we waited the past two years. And we're also thankful for all the times they will (hopefully) have us over to dinner over the next two months. *hint*

We'll have lots of updates throughout the project, and look forward to finally having a housewarming party once it's all said and done.

Yabba Dabba Doo!!!!!

I'm sure my not so subtle hint yesterday left very few of you puzzled, but if anyone is still unsure of my activity today maybe the picture above can clear things up for you.

When CJ and I began planning for our kitchen, we looked at granite because that's what we tend to see in kitchens. However, as we kept obsessing over looking at pictures of beautiful, classic kitchens in old houses, we kept seeing beautiful white and gray carrara marble. We quickly decided that was the way to go.

So, I made an appointment today to visit a stone fabricator and select our slab - that's right, the very slab that will become our countertop! Chris decided at that last minute that he couldn't stay away, and was able to sneak away from work for a minute to join me. We were nervous and excited - you know, sweaty palms, hearts racing - and then we saw it!

Isn't it beautiful? This slab should be just about the perfect amount of stone to make countertops on our kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanity. We love the lightness of it, and the grey veining that makes big, dramatic lines across the slab. Needless to say we were obsessed. 

Very obsessed. I hope there weren't cameras in there.

Anyway, after we finished talking business with the sales guy, we went back and just hung out with it for a bit. It's amazing how real this makes everything feel. This exact piece of stone will be in our home, in (hopefully) not too long at all. 

We decided on a honed finish (vs. polished) for several reasons. We prefer the matte look, which helps you really notice the texture and color of the stone, vs. being able to check your teeth in the reflection of it polished. In addition, it is a more durable finish for marble, which is softer than granite. The edge will be a simple, squared off edge with very slightly rounded corners.

In the end, it was hard to leave our beautiful slab behind at the fabricator. To ease our pain (and yours if you're having any sympathy pain for us), I just watched SNL's "Mike's Marbleopolis" skit - which is so silly, but totally cracks me up. Don't worry - no marble columns are included in our kitchen design . . . . . . yet.

Cabinets!

Chris and I and our likely contractor are working through our final estimate, and it's pretty exciting! On Monday we met with a local custom cabinet shop, and we just got our drawings back from the cabinetmaker last night. It's so exciting to begin to see our plans take shape.

Here's the kitchen plan from above:

Isn't it beautiful? I just keep looking at all the little boxes and smiling. Feel free to do the same. When you're finished I'll explain what you're seeing!

Cabinet #8, in the bottom right corner, is our pantry - a 42" wide, floor to ceiling cabinet with roll-out trays. It's one of my favorite little boxes in the picture. Moving down the line, #7 is a set of drawers between the pantry and the dishwasher, and #11 is a wide upper cabinet above both. #6 is our sink base, and next to it is a pull-out trash drawer. Above that, #10 is another upper cabinet. In the corner, #5 is a lazy susan and #9 is an upper corner cabinet. #2, #3 and #4 frame in the microwave, and #1 is a pull-out spice rack next to the range. #12, hanging out all by himself in the corner, will be above the refrigerator.

Here's the window wall from the front (the window is between #10 and #11). The picture doesn't show it, but there will be a shelf over the window with little built-in wine cubbies to connect the two lines of cabinets.

The pantry cabinet, the cabinet above the fridge and all the lower cabinets will all have dark, shaker style doors, like this:

All the upper cabinets will be painted white with glass in the doors. We debated between going fancy with seeded glass, but in the end like the clean look of just plain old panes.

All the door and drawer fronts will be inset, rather than overlay, which means that the fronts fit into the frame when they're closed, rather than sitting on it. This is a bit of an upgrade, but gives it a very classic, traditional look. And as you know we're suckers for that!

And don't forget the bathroom! The picture below is our upstairs bathroom vanity, which will fit the space so exactly it will look completely built in. It's a pretty simple design - two sinks on the sides with a set of drawers in between. The doors and and drawers will be white shaker - in a style that goes along with everything going into the kitchen.

So, we're moving right along and loving it. Tomorrow will be another big day - I'm off work and have an other very exciting remodel-related appointment. You'll have to wait to read about it, but here's a hint.