It's Here!

The table, that is. Here's a picture, plus a shot of the top, prior to any oiling.

Cabinets Are About Done

It's like weight loss. The last 10% is the hardest. The cabinet paint is finally touched up and other than some window/door trim painting (and buying a table), we are ready to move in. Finally.

Oil

Last night the counters received their first coat of oil and it soaked in pretty well so they got a second coat tonight. Here's a picture of the kitchen before it was buffed off:

And another of the piece over the microwave. It looks a bit richer than when it was just wet with water.

(PS - the blue tape at the wall edge is intended to keep some of the counter clear so the backsplash tile grout/caulk will stick. The other markers identify some nail holes still requiring touch-up.)

Touch Up #2

After a few hours on Friday, the painter came back today to work on cleaning up the areas marked by blue tape. I guess this is the disadvantage of pre-painted cabinets, although much less time and fumes involved than if we had the cabinets painted onsite.

Soapstone

Dry

Wet

Makes a bit of a difference

We Have Lights

And appliances (only microwave drawer is new), and lots of little blue tape markers to show the painter where to touch up. Door moldings are still going in and painting those is our job.

Toe Kicks

It's not that exciting, but the cabinet folks came back and put down some of the floor trims. The sink and the "buffet" piece received extra fancy toe kicks. Things are coming together.

Marmoleum

The marmoleum went in today.

Floor is Prepped and Ready To Go

Marmoleum coming tomorrow.

Hall Closet

Doesn't look like much and not part of the plan for the kitchen project, but after the cracking plaster in the living room, we ended up having to have the hall closet redone and we finally painted it. It's the one place in the house that was never painted by us yet. It will be nice to fill it back up and empty the office.

Counters

Day 58 (since the demo started).

After a little break for fabrication, the soapstone counters arrived today:

After the backsplash goes in, we'll oil them and they will darken a bit. Many people just use mineral oil, but we also picked up this oil/wax combo that we hope will keep them dark longer.

Here's a bit more detail of the piece on top of the microwave.

We Need a Table

Here's a picture of the mostly finished bench area - just waiting for a table.

Morgue Drawer

Here's CJ showing off the "morgue drawer". The idea was one that came from some posts on the Gardenweb Kitchen Forum.

The Bling

The new hardware went on today. Amazing how something so small can totally change the look again. The polished nickel looks much better than the blue masking tape.

Living Room - Primed and Painted

Primed the patches from kitchen remodel damage:

Painted - That 8-year old Restoration Hardware paint touched up well. This is the only room in the house that has only been painted once and we haven't done the trim yet. Maybe a fall project...

Hope That Guy Knew What He Was Talking About

The guy at the paint store suggested a gray tinted primer to prime the patches in the dining room before we repaint it red again. At least it looks better than the drywall mud.

Crown Molding

Today the rest of the doors went on and the crown molding was added to the cabinets. Not much left for Monday other than placing the hardware. Then we just need to install flooring, appliances, backsplash, outlets, light fixtures, undercab lighting, icemaker line, touch up paint...

We Have Doors

Here's a different view of the kitchen that shows we do have upper cabinets and doors. Not sure what we are going to do with all the new space.

The Sink Arrives

We've had it for a while now as we picked it up at a local "going out of business" sale, but it's been at the cabinet shop since then.

One Little Outlet

One of the things we decided to try in the new kitchen was getting the microwave off the counter. We opted for a microwave drawer that will go in this cabinet next to the fridge and buffet. The issue we are having now is that it would be great to have an outlet in the area above the microwave, but how to get it there with all the paneling and where exactly would it work out best? This caused quite a hiccup in the day as silly as that sounds.

Western Walnut

We tried to plan as much as we could during the planning phase, but one of the change orders we had was to change the wood on the buffet piece and bench tops to western walnut and to use an oil/wax finish. It turned out very well.

More Cabinets

The sink cabinet is coming together as is the bench area and some uppers even went in today.

Cabinets In Progress

There's a lot of stuff going on in here now. On the left side you can see that the bench is going together. Someday we'll have to figure out a table for that area...

New Windows

Well, the windows are in. We still need to paint the trim, but right now there are too many cabinets in the way.

Here Come the Cabinets

Some of the bases went in today.

The Old Green Door

The door from the former hot water heater closet found a new life as a paint table. The kitchen Tilt Pak windows are all primed and ready for paint then install.

Transitions

After a long morning yesterday and a little touch up on the hardwoods today, we now have

a subfloor in the kitchen:

a new transition to the new basement stair entry:

a new transition to the new kitchen entrance:

and a new piece to make a transition from the dining room to the kitchen:

Once the cabinets are installed, we will be ready for the real flooring.

Jackson Antique

Here's the painted kitchen after a long weeked of painting. The color looks different in different light - sometimes gray, sometimes green, a little taupe.

Ready for Paint

Contractor came by and gave his thumbs up on the smooth drywall in the kitchen. It's ready for paint. Still a bit of work for the drywallers to do in the hall closet and on the repair patches in the dining room, but we are getting there.

And Then There Were Walls

And a ceiling...

Mudding and Drying

That's what has been going on for the last three days. Not so much to see in the kitchen,

but, looks a bit different if you've ever seen the stairwell before...