Progress Report

So guess what....

We are still under construction.

Who's surprised?

Yeah, I knew that this would take longer than planned, but living in it is getting really old.  But- there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  Next Friday is the drop dead date.  I told out contractor that i was on the verge of loosing my mind and that next Friday is it.  He smiled and nodded and I think we came to an understanding.

On the upside, it is getting more exciting as things are starting to actually come together and look more done.

I know I've been slacking on timely updates, but these days, I come home, eat dinner and head straight to bed.  Its my little oasis in the chaos.  On the up side, I've been getting so much sleep!  I may be addicted to going to sleep at 9:30pm.  Unfortunately my social life may suffer from this construction lifestyle I have adapted.  

Now, without any further stalling, here is the progress report from this week. I'm giving it an A+.

The fridge got a cozy home-

This was all Chris' idea and it was a brilliant one.

The fridge was kind of "floating" with the side of it exposed, and so now, we added a piece of wood to make it look like the fridge was built in.  I'm very happy with the results.  

Now you see it

Now you don't

The coloring of the wood is not exactly perfect, but my friends in the cabinet business have assured me that cherry wood will weather and age over time and it will all look cohesive soon.

The unexpected downside is that now we have hid the only magnetic surface in our kitchen. Where will we keep the chore chart and the grocery list?  These are the major dilemmas I'm dealing with.... looks like I may have to head over to Pinterest and find some creative ideas.

Back splash tile went up-

After some serious waffling, we finally made a decision between green or blue glass subway tile.  We had green in the condo and loved it, but we decided we should branch out and try new things. 

So we bit the bullet and bought a whole bunch of tile (which is non refundable btw).  We really like it, and it definitely give some more character to the kitchen.  It is a bit darker than we expected, but we still really like the rich color.

If we were to do this again, I think we both agree we wouldn't have chosen such a dark/bold color, but that doesn't mean we don't like it. 

Cabinets came back-

The not-so-perfectly-colored-cabinet doors came back, and I am so excited to say that they are great!!!!  This is a huge relief, and they look so good!  The more redish stain actually makes the visible grain actually disappear a bit, so I'm pretty excited about the whole thing.

This is now

This was then

Score one for the cabinet man.  I appreciate your double staining work.

Moldings are up-

To ensure that the new opening into the kitchen doesn't look like an "add-on," we wanted to mimic the character of the rest of the headers/moldings in our house.  Our contractor made column-esque moldings to go around the opening that I think make it look just great.  Its little details like those that really make it feel like a smooth transition from 1918 to 2012. 

 

Floors were stained and sealed- 

Our floors have become a beautiful shade of golden brown and they look simply amazing.  They are currently covered while the rest of the construction is going on, but I'm already in love with them and so glad we decided to go for it.   These guys were a budget buster, but well worth it!

Protective paper

The only downside to these bad boys is that the stain/sealant is VERY toxic. So toxic we actually had to move out of our house- which was actually fine by me, as I was happy for any respite from the chaos.  Coming home to gleaming hardwoods was wonderful, it was like we were on one of those reality shows and we got to do the "big reveal."

After we stopped staring at our reflections in the shiny new surface, I totally spent the next few minutes sliding around in my socks doing my happy dance while Chris laughed at me.  Then I sang an original song which I made up on the spot, I call it, "I Love You Floors."

What we are still waiting on:

• Grout and sealant on our back splash
• Final paint job of the moldings and walls
• Granite installation
• Final sanding and sealing of the floors (yes we have to move out again)

Come next Friday, our house will be done, our furniture will be put back and my sanity will be restored.

I can't wait.