Range Hood Install

So, we're trying to install our new range hood.  The instructions are not so easy to follow.  Since, we rearranged our appliances, we need to put in new ducting through the attic.  Of course, there is a joist running right in the middle of where the duct is to go into the ceiling.  Creativity and confidence will come in handy on this one.

Kitchen is Progressing Nicely

I painted the cabinets with Benjamin Moore Waterborne Impervo in Simply White.  The interior back of the existing cabinets are painted with Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter.

I didn't think painting the cabinets would be that big of a deal.  I wanted to brush paint the new cabinets so they'd match the old cabinets.  It was much more frustrating that I expected.  I used Impervo as recommended by a cabinet guy.  I chose the Waterborne over the Oil because the paint gal said it wouldn't yellow and is easier cleanup.  If I had to do it over again, I wouldn't use Impervo.  I had to do three coats over primer to get good coverage.  I still don't think it's quite solid looking enough, but I'm not going to do another coat.  Also, when I was doing the third coat, the paint was going on goopy.  I did some research and finally decided to thin it a tiny bit with water like it said on the can.  It went on much better then.  So now that it's done, I've accepted the outcome and am moving on.  I just hope the paint is as scrubbable as it claims.  At least it'll be easy to touch up.  

The general process for paint the cabinet boxes:

1. Prep- lightly sand and wipe down
2. Tape 
3. Prime
4. Remove Tape
5. Wait min. 2 hours
6. Sand primer 
7. Tape
8. Paint first coat
9. Remove Tape
10. Wait min. 8 hours
11. Sand the goops and dust bits out and wipe down
12. Tape
13. Paint second coat
14. Remove Tape
15. Wait min. 8 hours
16. Sand the goops and dust bits out and wipe down
17. Tape
18. Paint a third coat
19. Remove Tape
20. Cross my fingers

To paint the cabinet doors, I removed and numbered all the hinges and hinge holes on the doors.  I primed both sides, then did 2 coats on the backs.  Once the backs had cured for a couple days, I flipped them and did 3 coats on the fronts.

I painted the walls Benjamin Moore's Green Tea.

I still need to strip, sand and paint the old upper cabinet doors.

Progress has been slow as we've been gardening, went to a Mariner's game, and have been catching up on other chores.   

However, after much research and debate, we did purchase our refrigerator, range, dishwasher, and hood this past weekend.  It'll be 2-3 weeks before they are all here.   Now we need to figure out what cabinet hardware and countertops to get.

We thought about wood countertops, but the very affordable ones from Ikea are unavailable for an undetermined length of time, the affordable ones from Lumber Liquidators are unavailable until end of July.  I feel so-so about using granite, but I like the patterns ... Terry thinks granite is too "busy".  All the quotes we got for quartz and concrete were really high.  We'd hate to spend $1800 to $2000 for countertops.  So, maybe we can find a dealer with remnants.  We'll see what happens.

Meanwhile, this project still doesn't feel too inconvenient, expect for dishwashing in the tub.  We have gone through a lot of paper plates though.    

I'm looking forward to the upcoming sunny weekend!  Enjoy!

Kitchen Cabinet Install

Before install, we added a little graffiti to hide behind the cabinets for someone to discover next time the cabinets are replaced.

Cabinets are by Erichsen Cabinet Shop.  They built us unfinished paint grade maple flush cabinets with shaker doors to match the original ones.  The drawer fronts are plain slabs.  We had the interiors pre-finished, so we only have to paint the exteriors.  They fit the character the house.  We are super happy with their shop & service.  It is local, family owned and operated.

Our kitchen is very awkward due to all the doorways, so the only cabinet that is a normal 24" depth is the sink cabinet and a really narrow one by the stove.  All the others are shallower than normal.  I'm very excited to finally see the spot that the dishwasher will go.

This is the awkward area by the old chimney.  Instead of a normal height upper cabinet we had a shorter designed, so we could put in a small TV and hang stuff on the wall.  The counter is shallow there, so I also didn't want to hit my head on the upper while prepping food.  I didn't catch that the cabinet guy had written it down as a normal height one until it showed up.  What was awesome was that they took it back, cut it down, made new doors, and had it back in a couple of hours.  That is awesome service, which is why I chose a local family owned & operated shop.

We managed to get a narrow cabinet between the stove and refrigerator.  The cabinet maker made them pull outs.

Big upper spice rack.

A nice touch- this adorable step stool arrived with our cabinets.  Every good customer gets one.

I can't wait to prep, prime & paint the cabinets.  That'll keep me busy next week!

  

More Kitchen Progress- drywall & paint

Patching the old vent hole

After picking out dozens of paint chips- I tried out some samples.  This one is "Artichoke Hearts" by Benjamin Moore.  It's greenish goldish.

Testing paint color for inside of cabinet

I decided to go bold, but neutral.  Walls = Green Tea, Benjamin Moore

Inside Back of Cabinet = Revere Pewter, Benjamin Moore

I still need to paint the rest of the cabinet.

White Ceiling (I hate painting ceilings).  I've never been so glad to have a small kitchen.

I went with brown paint because it matched the curtains & window seat cushion in the blue dining room.  Plus we have so many colors in the house, I had to find something that wouldn't clash with the adjacent rooms.

The room beyond the kitchen is painted "Evening Glow" by Behr.  It really does glow, especially when the morning sun comes in the windows.

Break time in the garden.

Last night, when heating up dinner, the microwave died.  It was at least 10 years old.  When we were planning the remodel we debated whether to replace it.  Sometimes decisions are made for you.

Today I need to apply one more coat of wall paint, put a coat of paint on the cabinets, and get the room cleaned up for cabinet install tomorrow.  Time to go get some coffee!

Kitchen Progress

I got the outside of the old upper cabinet boxes stripped with a heat gun and sanded.

I'm hoping the nasty old red paint on the interior of the boxes is solid enough to prime and paint over.  I really don't want to strip it.

Drywall is up and ready to tape.

We hope we can be ready for cabinets by early next week.  I guess I better get off the computer and get going on it.  

Kitchen Progress

Me + Dust Mask + Heat Gun + Scraper + Sander + Shop Vac = two very long days going on three.

Trying hard to finish stripping the old large upper cabinet boxes before the weekend.  Two are definitely original- solid wood, three to four layers of paint.  The third was added in the 1950s- plywood shelves, different hinges, two layers of paint.

ARGH..... waiting for the City Electrical Inspector....

So, I have things I need to get done today away from the house.   My electrician said the inspector would be here between 9 and 2.  It's 1:00.  In this day and age of cell phones, one would think that the inspector could give his customer, me, a call with a decent estimated time of arrival.  

Maybe my electrician forgot to schedule of inspection.

On a positive note, the electrician installed a dimmer switch on my dining room light, so we can now have mood lighting with our meals.  

Also good, I called the cabinet guy and he said the cabinets are built and at the finishers getting the interiors finished.  They should be ready next week.  Of course, I'm totally not ready.  I haven't been very motivated this week.  I have a very painful canker sore on my tongue (too much coffee & acidic food lately- I think.)  So, I couldn't drink any coffee and it hurt to eat, I had a constant headache from the pain and caffeine withdrawal.  I want coffee so bad, but I don't want it to flare up before it's healed.  Crap.

It's going to be a busy weekend- plumbing & sheetrock.  

Next week, the gas line for the range will be moved and I need to finish stripping & sanding the old upper cabinets.  

In unrelated news, I stopped by the humane society yesterday and there was lots of potential additions to our family there.  One dog in particular reminds me so much of Smithers, our rott mix.  I don't know if I want another dog with that much attitude.  I'd really love to find a super submissive sweet dog.  One dog fit that bill, but was huge and drooled- a Saint Bernard mix.  I may just have to take Terry down there this Saturday to have a look see.   

TV in Kitchen?

So I've been debating whether to put a little TV or just a radio in the kitchen above my prep area.  Since the electricians are here and they said it was time to install a cable jack or not, I got the jack installed.  Still don't know if I'll put the TV in.  We don't watch a lot of TV, but there are times when I'm cooking or cleaning when I'd like a little entertainment.  Terry hasn't been enthusiastic about the idea, but he also hasn't said, "no TV".  So, we'll see what happens in a few weeks. 

Yesterday, the electricians stubbed in the boxes for the pendant lights.  They were supposed to be centered on the windows, but there was a joist in the way, so they are 1/2 inch off center.  Little things like that would typically drive us crazy, but once again we'll call it "character."  

Kitchen Update- Lighting on a Budget

So, we got nothing done over the weekend on the kitchen due to nice gardening weather.  However, I did take Terry to see the light fixtures I was considering at the lighting store.  Like his usual self, he was very nit-picky about the fixtures, but said, it was up to me to make the decision.  Bleh.

Anything is going to better than what we have now, so as long as we keep to our budget and don't buy anything totally unfit style wise, I'll be happy.

I'm definitely going to go with a couple of simple (meaning budget conscious) mini-pendant lights in front of the windows to replace the ugly old fluorescent light.  I would love to buy some lights from Rejuvenation, but we have to sacrifice somewhere.  We're also keeping our vintage ceiling fixure in the middle of the room to save some money.

For under cabinet lighting, I'm considering a couple MaxLite Self Driven LED Lightbar sections.  Since the LED display at the lighting store was less than ideal, I have no idea if the lightbars will provide the light we'll need, but we've lived without under cabinet lights thus far, so something will be better than nothing.  We like that the LEDs don't get hot like Halogen and even Xenon.  They'll a bit expensive, but use little energy.  So, they'll be a good light to use when we want to leave a light on in the evening.

When considering the cost of lighting, I had to take note that the electrician's labor adds a lot to the cost.    

Electrical is one thing we're happy to pay someone else to do.  Today, the electricians are here to do rough in.  It's so nice to hear the sound of progress.

Covering up the old chimney

 The chimney in the kitchen presented a design challenge for laying out the cabinets and appliances in a functional manner.  Every cabinet estimator took one look and said, "have you thought about removing it?"  Well we had thought about it, but the boiler exhaust is piped through it and we just didn't feel like going to the trouble of taking the chimney out or paying someone to take it out.  We also have lived in a less than ideal kitchen for so long, we've gotten used to functioning in it.  So, the chimney stays.

We added some extra framing around it and then sheetrock.  A section near the top of the chimney bulges out, so rather than cutting it off, we framed it so that the sheetrock there does stick out an inch or two further of the rest of the chimney.  We weren't sure if it would look weird, but like every other odd thing in this house, we call it "character."

Now that the chimney is covered up, there will be no dust drifting down it from the attic.  

Kitchen Demo Day

Moving the appliances out

"Is the kitchen done yet?"

"Hmmm... should we take the plaster down?"

Bye bye plaster!

Very messy process

Maybe we should have covered the floors better

"Are we done yet?"

We found the water pipes that would have been hooked up to the old hot water tank that would have been a part of the original wood burning range.

Bye Bye plastic tile!  Note: bead board underneath.

Bye Bye lower cabinet

Hello friend

"PROGRESS US"  Yup, us making some progress here.

Note:  original pipes went up the walls for a wall mounted faucet.

Bye Bye drippy faucet!  After three years, no more drip drip drip!

I don't know what he's trying to say here.  

Note:  The cast iron drainboard sink was extremely heavy.  We're planning to keep it with the house... in the basement somewhere... maybe utility sink.

Smithers asks, "when the heck are you two going to be done with the house?"

Bye Bye icky well-built cabinets.

You can see where the original lower cabinets were... where there is no fir floor or vinyl.  I bet there was an apron sink with wall mounted faucet originally.  The sink and lower cabinets that we tore out must have been installed in the 1950s.  We also notice that the upper cabinet on the left has 1950's hinges and doesn't have the bead board backing like the other two.  We're thinking that that one may been added in the 1950s, but made to match the original upper ones.  

The time has finally come to remodel the Kitchen!

I dug through the photo archives to find evidence of what we've lived with over the past 6 1/2 years.

Kitchen as it was when we first toured the house- 2004

Vintage double drainboard sink

Vintage vinyl

 After we moved in we tore out this upper cabinet to move the refrigerator to that wall

We discovered where a wood burning range would have been connected to the chimney

We painted the cabinets that first year to cover up the yellow paint

Without much counter space, we made do with a rolling cart

The pull out bread board has been very handy for extra workspace

I think this was the last time we made pie- 2007

Hand washing dishes- 2004 to 2011.  This photo was taken in 2007

 Scraped up the vinyl floor- 2008

Refinished floors- 2008

Note:  Backsplash is ugly vintage plastic tile.  Countertop is laminate with metal edge banding.

Note:  Awesome vintage bottle opener in lower right corner of photo.  Has been very handy over the years.  We're keeping it.

Notice our ugly Ikea plastic bag holder to the left of the back door.  Very handy, but very ugly.  Also, we boarded up the doggie door after the floors were refinished.  Poor doggies.  

Notice- for 6 years we've lived with the exposed chimney.  Dust falls down it from the attic.  It's gross.

The refrigerator is too deep for the room.

The gas range has been great, but it's feels crammed in there because of the refrigerator.  Also, we've been living with no vent hood.  So, there's not much light to cook by at the range.

After much planning and saving, we finally started remodeling a couple weeks ago.  Stay posted to follow our progress.