It's June 3rd; Kitchen has been finished for almost a week. I had written the next paragraph weeks ago and then never got back to finishing.
The floor is in! Took 6 days of just laying the tiles. Then there was a day of grouting followed by 3 days of keeping the grout damp so it cured slowly. We picked a gray grout that matched the tiles, but it turned out a lot lighter than what we had hoped for. I still love the way it looks.
While waiting on back splash, Bruce got the faucet in and the garbage disposal hooked up. Yea, water in the kitchen.
The stove and dishwasher were delivered. He got the dishwasher hooked up. Moved the refrigerator back into the kitchen. For the first time in 4 years I have a working dishwasher AND my ice maker is now hooked up! YEA!!! It's the little things that mean so much.
What took the longest was picking the back splash. Ended up using one of the first ones we brought home. They're 2X12 glass tiles that have a white coating on the back. Stacking a few on the wall, they looked a creamy color though they were called GREY. I had so wanted gray (USA spells it "gray" UK spells it "grey") I was finally convinced that I wasn't going to find a gray that was light enough for Bruce. And the creamy color went with the paint around the window. Had to wait a week to get the order delivered. Boxes and boxes of tiles. We bought bought gray mortar to set them with; and low and behold, they look gray. A very light gray, just what I wanted.
Like the flooring, we had a pretty good system going. I'd mix the mortar and "butter" the tiles and Bruce set them in. Had to get a "glass" saw blade for the new tile saw. Cutting glass tiles is NOT easy. When you see pictures of glass tile walls, they're usually small tiles, or a wall with no outlets. Cutting around the outlets was a real challenge. Plus they don't come with any edge pieces. i.e. bullnose. The tiles themselves have four bullnose edges, but once they're cut they're gone. Didn't think of these things before we got started. Bruce managed to cut a small edge piece off the long side of a tile and we used that as our trim. The saw came with a splash guard over the blade. Worked well for the floor tile. But for the glass he had to remove the guard so he could see better. After the first day of being soaking wet, he set up a plastic sheet to stand behind.
It took two days to get all the tiles up. Waited 48 hours and then grouted it. I read the bag wrong, Ooops. Thought it said after wiping off the excess grout to wait 2 to 3 hours before wiping off the rest and smoothing the lines. It said 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Ooops. It was closer to 2+ hours and it was darn hard to get the grout lines smooth.
While we were waiting for the tiles to arrive, I started to put things in cabinets. My different size pot drawers are perfect. Yes, I have 2 very deep (standard size) "pot drawers". But after looking at other peoples, it seemed like a waste of space...you have to stack the pots to use up the area. Doing some careful measuring I got 3 drawers of single layers for all my skillets and pots. I'm a happy camper. :)
We're still working out the "bugs". Bruce logic and Janna logic are not the same, so we're trying to get a feel for where things should be. I ended up with a LOT of unused upper cabinets and not enough drawer space. Don't ask me how. But I'm working out solutions for it all.
There is a definite disadvantage to being short. The upper corner cabinets are hard to reach. They seemed fine in the "show room", but not so much now. A lazy Susan has helped that problem. Also the microwave is not meant for people under 5'6". Opening it and getting things in and out is no problem. Unfortunately, the lower edge has all the control info on it and blocks the view of what's going on inside. At first we thought the light wasn't working when it was running. Turns out we're just too short to see it.
The stove went in with no problem other than Bruce crawling out from behind it and over the counter to get out after hooking up the gas line. Wish he'd let me take a picture, it was quite comical.
After 4 years, I now have blinds in the window rather than the "temporary" curtains. Helps cut down the afternoon heat.
I smile every time I walk by, into or just think about this kitchen. I love it! It's the big kitchen I've always wanted. Bruce has out done himself.
Ordered 36 square spice jars to go in a drawer. Alissa is going to make me labels for all of them.
I found a perfect dining room chairs. We sat in them at
Ashley Furniture but the table they came with was too wide. I looked on line and found them for $60/piece cheaper. So we drove out to Burbank one day and picked them up. Just wish I could find bar stools. Put the old chairs on Craig's list and they were picked up today. I love Craig's list. It has served us well over the years.
Bruce has designed a dining room table. He's out in the garage painting the other side of the kitchen wall (per code). Once that's done he can get his garage organized to start another project.
We got some unexpected news last week. Our tenants are moving out. We had hoped they'd be there for ever or at least a full year. Dave grew up in that house. Now we have to figure out whether to fix up and sell it or fix it to re-rent. And Bruce was wondering what was going to keep him busy after the kitchen!
Next week we're taking 3 days off and going to our favorite little place in Nevada, Primm Valley Inn. Lay in the sun and read books and do NOTHING.
I start physical therapy for my aching hip next Friday. Have to get from hurting going up and down steps. I have a lot of ladder climbing in my future.... the rental house has popcorn ceilings that need to come down. I lost 10 pounds doing ours, so I'm looking at this as an exercise program!
On June 11th it will be 4 years since we purchased this house. Doesn't seem possible that it's been that long, it just feels like home now. Just wish I could bring all my friends down here too.
The floor is in! Took 6 days of just laying the tiles. Then there was a day of grouting followed by 3 days of keeping the grout damp so it cured slowly. We picked a gray grout that matched the tiles, but it turned out a lot lighter than what we had hoped for. I still love the way it looks.
While waiting on back splash, Bruce got the faucet in and the garbage disposal hooked up. Yea, water in the kitchen. The stove and dishwasher were delivered. He got the dishwasher hooked up. Moved the refrigerator back into the kitchen. For the first time in 4 years I have a working dishwasher AND my ice maker is now hooked up! YEA!!! It's the little things that mean so much.
Like the flooring, we had a pretty good system going. I'd mix the mortar and "butter" the tiles and Bruce set them in. Had to get a "glass" saw blade for the new tile saw. Cutting glass tiles is NOT easy. When you see pictures of glass tile walls, they're usually small tiles, or a wall with no outlets. Cutting around the outlets was a real challenge. Plus they don't come with any edge pieces. i.e. bullnose. The tiles themselves have four bullnose edges, but once they're cut they're gone. Didn't think of these things before we got started. Bruce managed to cut a small edge piece off the long side of a tile and we used that as our trim. The saw came with a splash guard over the blade. Worked well for the floor tile. But for the glass he had to remove the guard so he could see better. After the first day of being soaking wet, he set up a plastic sheet to stand behind.
 |
| Tile cutting |
While we were waiting for the tiles to arrive, I started to put things in cabinets. My different size pot drawers are perfect. Yes, I have 2 very deep (standard size) "pot drawers". But after looking at other peoples, it seemed like a waste of space...you have to stack the pots to use up the area. Doing some careful measuring I got 3 drawers of single layers for all my skillets and pots. I'm a happy camper. :) We're still working out the "bugs". Bruce logic and Janna logic are not the same, so we're trying to get a feel for where things should be. I ended up with a LOT of unused upper cabinets and not enough drawer space. Don't ask me how. But I'm working out solutions for it all.
There is a definite disadvantage to being short. The upper corner cabinets are hard to reach. They seemed fine in the "show room", but not so much now. A lazy Susan has helped that problem. Also the microwave is not meant for people under 5'6". Opening it and getting things in and out is no problem. Unfortunately, the lower edge has all the control info on it and blocks the view of what's going on inside. At first we thought the light wasn't working when it was running. Turns out we're just too short to see it. The stove went in with no problem other than Bruce crawling out from behind it and over the counter to get out after hooking up the gas line. Wish he'd let me take a picture, it was quite comical.
After 4 years, I now have blinds in the window rather than the "temporary" curtains. Helps cut down the afternoon heat.
Love my "hutch". Place for Bruce's keys, the phone, (freshly picked avocados) and all my colorful dishes. And my half Susan is wonderfully easy to get things in and out of. No more crawling on my hands and knees trying to get to the back corner.
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| Eating Counter Lights |
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| Glass back splash |
I smile every time I walk by, into or just think about this kitchen. I love it! It's the big kitchen I've always wanted. Bruce has out done himself.
Ordered 36 square spice jars to go in a drawer. Alissa is going to make me labels for all of them.
I found a perfect dining room chairs. We sat in them at
Bruce has designed a dining room table. He's out in the garage painting the other side of the kitchen wall (per code). Once that's done he can get his garage organized to start another project.
We got some unexpected news last week. Our tenants are moving out. We had hoped they'd be there for ever or at least a full year. Dave grew up in that house. Now we have to figure out whether to fix up and sell it or fix it to re-rent. And Bruce was wondering what was going to keep him busy after the kitchen!
Next week we're taking 3 days off and going to our favorite little place in Nevada, Primm Valley Inn. Lay in the sun and read books and do NOTHING.
I start physical therapy for my aching hip next Friday. Have to get from hurting going up and down steps. I have a lot of ladder climbing in my future.... the rental house has popcorn ceilings that need to come down. I lost 10 pounds doing ours, so I'm looking at this as an exercise program!
On June 11th it will be 4 years since we purchased this house. Doesn't seem possible that it's been that long, it just feels like home now. Just wish I could bring all my friends down here too.
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