Kitchen Renovation is complete!

The kitchen is done... really has been for a bit. We have basically gotten everything put back together, but our curtain rods are on back order, and I want to wait to take pictures until the curtains are up. So that's the delay.

But, rest assured, we LOVE it! Even with the new perspective of flip-flopping the living room and dining room. :)

Hopefully the curtain rods will come in and we can install them before we leave for the lake. If not, pictures will be delayed until mid-August. They were supposed to be in yesterday, so I'm not sure what the holdup is.

The annual room clean-up

Every year, I go through the boys' rooms while they are at camp or with grandparents and purge and clean. This year, I didn't get to it while J-Mav was gone, so he helped me go through his room. Even with his help, we got a huge box of stuff to get rid of, a big bag of stuff to give to J-Mav's cousin, and a large trash bag of stuff to throw away. We cleaned real good, and I even washed the window! Then J-Mav went around with the Magic Eraser and touched up his walls. Tonight we finally hung the wall decal he got for his birthday.

And I've spent about five hours in Keeper Boy's room... sorting, purging, cleaning... I also have a big box of stuff to get rid of from his room, as well as a bag of trash... mostly papers from the last school year that he no longer needs. I cleaned his windows, too. And I hung some stuff on his closet door where there were holes from things being thrown when he was mad. Tonight we finally hung the wall decal his godmother gave him for HIS birthday (it's him!), as well as his Rookie of the Year award for his high school hockey team and his varsity letter and team photo in a shadow box.

Nah... the boys don't like hockey at all! ;-P

Kitchen Renovation: Pics coming soon!

I hope to get some pictures tomorrow... we bought rugs today and hope to have furniture back in the living room and dining room by tomorrow afternoon. Stayed tuned!

Kitchen renovation: "Done"

I haven't posted in awhile because there really hasn't been anything significant going on. The stairs were stripped and stained to match the floor while we were away last weekend; however, the risers need to be touched up so I'm going to wait to post photos. The stairs themselves look awesome, though!

Except for a few items, the list from my last post has been completed. They fixed the downstairs toilet and installed a threshold/sweeper for the door from the house to the garage (these were holdovers from the last project). They replaced that cracked door panel. And a few other odds and ends.

We have been using the kitchen since July 11. I have cooked three meals in it so far (stuffed shells, meatloaf, and breaded chicken tenders, if anyone cares). I *think* I have figured the oven out now. ;-P We LOVE it. It's so beautiful. Of course, as with every renovation project, we have found a couple odds and ends (already) that we would've done differently, but it's nothing huge. :)

The custom pantry was installed on Wednesday and it is beautiful! The remaining trim work and pendant installation happened yesterday. (Yes, we finally picked pendants! J-Mav says they look like drizzled chocolate... he's right!)

There are a couple odds and ends going on today, and the paint touch-ups will happen next week. And then we will really be done and the lock-box that's been on our house since March so the contractors can get in while we aren't here will go away!

Still to do:
- Put the knobs on the pantry cabinet (happening today)
- Finish caulking around the pantry cabinet/counter (happening today)
- Fix/replace cracked/damaged pieces in the floor throughout the upstairs (happening today)
- Various paint touch-ups (happening next week)

Yay!

Kitchen renovation: Skreeeeeeech

Everything has basically come to a skreeching halt, and it's pretty frustrating knowing how close we are to being done.

The stairs were scheduled to be stripped and re-stained to match the floor while we were gone over the holiday weekend. However, there was some sort of mis-communication, and the subcontractor had it on the schedule for this coming weekend instead.

The replacement pantry cabinet is just being shipped from somewhere in middle America today and won't arrive until Friday or Monday.

So they are looking to do the stairs on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, with the cabinet install on Tuesday or Wednesday. Hopefully we will have our pendants picked and here by that time, as well, and they can be installed, too.

We will be gone from Saturday to Tuesday, so the timing of the stairs is no problem. However, Mom and Dad will be back with J-Mav on Tuesday sometime and will be here until Thursday. So I'm really going to push for the cabinet install on Tuesday so they aren't banging around on Wednesday while Mom, Dad, and J-Mav are all at the house.

All of this aside, they have scheduled the "completion" walk-through for tomorrow morning. This means we will be able to use the kitchen and start moving things back in. (This will be pretty inconvenient since we have no where to put the food until the pantry cabinet is installed.) It also means there will be a lengthy punch list of things they need to finish after the walk-through, even though they will deem it "complete."
- Install pantry cabinet
- Finish trim work after cabinet is installed
- Replace cracked drawer front on trash/recycling door
- Have floor company replace/repair damaged floor boards
- Shave Justin's bedroom door so it will close
- Strip/re-finish stairs

And holdovers from the downstairs project include:
- Replace toilet innards so toilet stops running
- Install threshold and sweeper on door from hall to garage

I'm sure what tomorrow's walk-through ultimately means is that they want their final payment for project completion...

Kitchen renovation: almost done!

Oven's in! Electrical rough-in is done for the pendants (just need to choose them). Some of the flooring is uncovered from it's protective cardboard... Just need to get the new pantry installed and do the stairs. The stairs start tomorrow. Hopefully it'll all be done (except the pendants since we still need to pick, order, and then receive them) by the end of the weekend.

7/2 dinner: Dogfish Head Ale House... J-Mav was at his friend's house.

Kitchen renovation: APPLIANCES!!!

Today we came home to an installed refrigerator, dishwasher, garbage disposal, faucet, and microwave. The oven will go in tomorrow. We are in the home stretch now!

7/1 dinner: hamburgers on the grill; mac & cheese on the grill burner; Sweet Frog for Jack's bday