Day 137

I can't believe this is my kitchen! 

The fridge thing is looking a lot better, and we now have all the cabinets hung!

The island has paneling, and is awaiting 5 extra doors to be affixed to the front for decoration.  There is also crown and under cabinet molding to be attached to the wall cabinets. 

Jason attached the old window molding back on.  We need to sand and paint it.

 

I've gone into shock!  

Day 136

Jason installed the new foyer light!  It is the second one I picked out (grinning sheepishly)!  The other one is being returned. 

 We also did some more sanding/trim painting, took a car load of galvanized pipes and other random things to the dump, and tried to get my sewing machine repaired (I killed it). 

Jason touches up the crown molding once again.

 

I made a craigslist posting to get rid of the extra flooring we had.  We received a call within 8 minutes, and it was gone in a couple hours!  I think every party involved was pleased. 

Day 134

Here is a picture of the notorious Fridge thing I have been talking about. 

To fill everyone else in that I don't see on a daily basis, we wanted our fridge to have cabinetry around it when we designed the kitchen.  We're probably going hog wild with the cabinetry because we had such a dearth of cabinet space at our rental.  Since we don't have superhuman telescoping arms, the cabinet that goes above the fridge obviously can't be super deep.  However, you have to screw it into something if you aren't going to screw it into a wall, so Brian built what I've been calling "the fridge thing."  We wanted it to be very sturdy so it can hold... heavy bottles.  The cabinet people provided us with paneling for the sides and some trim pieces, but otherwise left us on our own.  That is why Brian built it!  It isn't done yet, obviously. 

Can't you just imagine a new LG french door refrigerator right there in that spot?  There are two cabinets left to install to the right of the fridge thing.  That is where Jason's designated emptying pockets spot is going to be.   Our pantry is over there to the right, currently storing trim pieces and random tools. 

And this is the island experience!  I wanted a raised bar so that I can hide kitchen mess behind it when we are entertaining.  Well, and also because I think it will be neat. You know how everyone always gathers in the kitchen during a party?  Well I can just see loading that bar up with snacks, and I think it will be perfect height for our guests to support themselves against if needed.  It's been known to happen, so it also needs to be very sturdy. The next step is to attach the paneling to the bar, which again, didn't come with instructions.  Maybe we are supposed to be creative here?  I'm game! 

So we're trying to decide in what state is acceptable for us to move in.  When we finish these kitchen projects, we could get the floors done and move in while we finish the trim painting and installing.  We could even do that before we get the countertops.  It will probably depend on what the bank account says and also how desperate we feel to get out of the basement.  Which could be pretty desperate!  

Day 130

I came home from work today to find more kitchen progress! 

It's such a huge kitchen now I need to take pictures from two angles to really get the full spectrum of its greatness.

look at all that future counter space!

 

I'm so excited!  I can't wait to see what it will look like with the crown molding on the cabinets.  

Day 127

Exciting change - some cabinets are on the walls! 

Brian Headley, Mike's son-in-law, came over and helped Jason install some of the cabinets yesterday.

I could lift that no problem but someone needs to take the pictures.

 

I seem to only have pictures of Brian's back.  He'll be back to help us finish, so he'll make another blog appearance.  

 

Jason is already putting stuff in them!

The cabinet space shown here is already more than we had all together in our rental house!

Day 122

I'm sorry that it has been a week since my last post!  I've been feeling under the weather this last week and I haven't felt like doing much of anything.  Jason, however, has been busy!

Jason built these sawhorses using the salvaged 2x4s from the wall we removed.  They stack together!

He also painted the trim in the bedroom.  Since the brown was so dark, it may need a second coat.

 

We finished installing the crown molding.  We still need to paint it again, but Jason has caulked all the edges and nail holes.

 

Here he is hammering in some brads that didn't go in all the way.  

 

Jason installed new wall sconces!  I LOVE them.

 

Last but not least, Jason finished the recessed lighting above the fireplace.  We have a plan of attack for completion.  The end is in sight!  

Day 115

Today we worked on the crown molding!  Even though we are really excited about the results, I must say that this project is frustrating for even my patient and mild mannered Jason. 

Jason is making a coping cut.  This allows the corners to join cleanly without gaps. 

Here you can see that Jason has to saw carefully along the curve of the detailing.  

 

Look how great it looks!

We ran out of molding (and energy), so we'll need to return to the hardware store tomorrow to get some more.

We also primed the bedroom molding that was previously painted brown.  It is much improved, don't you think?  

Day 112

Happy New Year!

We purchased the crown molding and the chair rail.  We wanted to get started on it today, but after watching many videos on diynetwork.com, we realize now that we need a coping saw to do this right.  Tomorrow we will go back to the store and get one.

In the meantime, we painted the second coat of blue in this room, and also spent several hours sanding and prepping the trim for paint.  That isn't a very fun project because it didn't feel like we actually accomplished anything, but I know we did.