Monday, January 31, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
Lipstick's Adventure Behind the Plastic
Poor baby, this project has been very hard on Lipstick. She spends her days in a one room prison. Then, even when she's freed, she'd not permitted free run of HER house. She's not allowed inside the plastic around the kitchen and the entire master bedroom area is closed off.
Her favorite water source, the bath tub, is completely off limits forcing her to search for water in the shower. (And for those of you wondering, there is ample water in her bowl, but that's just too EASY!)
So for a special treat, I decided to let her explore the new cabinets that would be her new domain. She loved it!
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| Yes she was actually down in the sink cut out, but jumped out before I could get a picture. |
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| And for the reason I don't let her in there -- she's managed to find one, very small opening underneath the corner cabinet and wedged herself in there. Luckily, she was also able to wedge herself out. But it was game-over after that! |
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
More cabinets and some trouble
From January 28. The good news first. Cabinets are rolling in and they look awesome.
The bad news ... in the livingroom on the other side of the bar (behind the refrigerator), I'm have a single cabinet plus bookshelfs above installed. I should have noticed this in the rendering (or it should have been pointed out to me), but the bookshelf is cabinet depth. See below
So if you were seated at the barstool, you'd be smack up against that cabinet. Plus, it looked weird because the shelves were so deep and books would just be at the very edge.
Not worry, everything can be fixed with money (this thing anyway!). We're still debating how much because I think I was clear that I wanted a bookshelf like my previous one, which had a deeper cabinet at the bottom with shallower bookshelves on top.
Watch the details folks. Live and learn.
The bad news ... in the livingroom on the other side of the bar (behind the refrigerator), I'm have a single cabinet plus bookshelfs above installed. I should have noticed this in the rendering (or it should have been pointed out to me), but the bookshelf is cabinet depth. See below
So if you were seated at the barstool, you'd be smack up against that cabinet. Plus, it looked weird because the shelves were so deep and books would just be at the very edge.
Not worry, everything can be fixed with money (this thing anyway!). We're still debating how much because I think I was clear that I wanted a bookshelf like my previous one, which had a deeper cabinet at the bottom with shallower bookshelves on top.
Watch the details folks. Live and learn.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Things to think about for the Next Remodel
I thought I'd keep a little running list of things to remember for next (as if!). Who knows. But there are few things I didn't think through that have caused some consternation. Remodelers beware.
(1) Location of plugs, especially in areas with decorative tile. As previously, noted, my team had to lower all my kitchen plugs because they were slotted to interrupt my single row of decorative tile. Yuck. I wouldn't have thought to put them there, but my designer says that's how most people do it.
(2) My friend Dana also suggested using a plug strip nestled underneath the upper cabinets. But it was too late by the time I got that info. Maybe next time. The benefit of this technique is that no plugs are visible around the walls -- good for if you have granite or decorative tile that shouldn't be interrupted.
(3) Another note on plugs. In retrospect, would have been nice to have a few inside cabinets, where I could plug in cell phone charges and thread cord into drawers for charging out of sight.
(4) Really think through plumbing fixtures and where they will go. As it turns out, I bought a tub that can't be turned so that I'd be soaking looking outward because you have to be able to access the pump, etc. If I'd known that limitation, probably would have chosen different tub. Also, I assumed fixtures would be in same place on the wall, but didn't think through whether they would be difficult to reach because of the shower. So now we'll put them in the center on the wall...fingers crossed. I had a similar problem with my sink. The sink I chose was too deep for the faucet to be mounted in the center. I'm reconciled with a side mounting but it never occurred to be that would be an issue.
More soon:
(5) Really think about things like how deep shelves will be and how they will look. I've ended up having to redo my living room shelves.
(1) Location of plugs, especially in areas with decorative tile. As previously, noted, my team had to lower all my kitchen plugs because they were slotted to interrupt my single row of decorative tile. Yuck. I wouldn't have thought to put them there, but my designer says that's how most people do it.
(2) My friend Dana also suggested using a plug strip nestled underneath the upper cabinets. But it was too late by the time I got that info. Maybe next time. The benefit of this technique is that no plugs are visible around the walls -- good for if you have granite or decorative tile that shouldn't be interrupted.
(3) Another note on plugs. In retrospect, would have been nice to have a few inside cabinets, where I could plug in cell phone charges and thread cord into drawers for charging out of sight.
(4) Really think through plumbing fixtures and where they will go. As it turns out, I bought a tub that can't be turned so that I'd be soaking looking outward because you have to be able to access the pump, etc. If I'd known that limitation, probably would have chosen different tub. Also, I assumed fixtures would be in same place on the wall, but didn't think through whether they would be difficult to reach because of the shower. So now we'll put them in the center on the wall...fingers crossed. I had a similar problem with my sink. The sink I chose was too deep for the faucet to be mounted in the center. I'm reconciled with a side mounting but it never occurred to be that would be an issue.
More soon:
(5) Really think about things like how deep shelves will be and how they will look. I've ended up having to redo my living room shelves.
Ah Cabinets!
Once again, I've fallen a bit behind on my blogging. Leaving my small, but devoted followers in the lurch.
I survived the sanding of the sheet rock will minor trauma. The guys did a great job of keep dust out of my opulent living quarters, but I'm told to expect to be discovering it for months to come.
Last week, the guys starting moved the cabinets from the garage into the kitchen and building out the cabinets. They are going to be so awesome. I love the color, plus they have great hinges, smooth pulling features -- everyone one would expect in outrageously expensive cabinetry! Here's how things are looking:
And here's the bathroom
Other progress to report:
(1) Selected my granite slabs for the kitchen on Monday so they'll be coming Tuesday, January 25 to measure template for fabrication. That should take about a week.
(2) I'm still on the search for my bathroom tile, but hope to have that wrapped today.
(3) They are cutting hole in the plywood for the sink today. Selected location for faucet.
More news as it comes in.
I survived the sanding of the sheet rock will minor trauma. The guys did a great job of keep dust out of my opulent living quarters, but I'm told to expect to be discovering it for months to come.
Last week, the guys starting moved the cabinets from the garage into the kitchen and building out the cabinets. They are going to be so awesome. I love the color, plus they have great hinges, smooth pulling features -- everyone one would expect in outrageously expensive cabinetry! Here's how things are looking:
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| Yum. Love the light cherry color. |
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| Nice deep drawers for pots and pans! |
And here's the bathroom
Other progress to report:
(1) Selected my granite slabs for the kitchen on Monday so they'll be coming Tuesday, January 25 to measure template for fabrication. That should take about a week.
(2) I'm still on the search for my bathroom tile, but hope to have that wrapped today.
(3) They are cutting hole in the plywood for the sink today. Selected location for faucet.
More news as it comes in.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Day MLK Day
I must have hired the only contractor in AMERICA who gives his workers MLK day off. I mean -- no offense -- but I'm working today. Everyone I know is working. Anyway, sheet rock sanding starts tomorrow so I'll be on the look out for that sneaky, super fine dust to permeate through our carefully errected barriers. Wish me luck!!
A watched pot never boils
The daily monitoring of progress has left me somewhat depressed. Yes, things are happening, but the pace seems very slow. But I went away for a few days last week on business, and came home to things really starting to cook.
We've also made some great progress in the bathroom! The code requires contractors to use tar to seal the shower basin, which unfortunately caused some irration for one of my neighbors. But there's no other way to do this. Hope this will be the last smelly thing, but the cabinet installation and tile cutting is going to be noisy. My contractor thinks it will be six more weeks -- so that puts us at the end of February. Fingers crossed.
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| The sheet rock in the kitchen is complete. and this is going to look awesome |
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| This bar is going to totally transform this condo |
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| You can't really see it, but the plugs have been lowered per my request |
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| Looking into the kitchen from the livingroom |
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| My new plug! Sheet rock complete |
We've also made some great progress in the bathroom! The code requires contractors to use tar to seal the shower basin, which unfortunately caused some irration for one of my neighbors. But there's no other way to do this. Hope this will be the last smelly thing, but the cabinet installation and tile cutting is going to be noisy. My contractor thinks it will be six more weeks -- so that puts us at the end of February. Fingers crossed.
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| The infamous tar.... |
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| Bath tub is in and doesn't look too big. What a relief! |
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