Rehabber’s Rehab

Our countertops were installed today.  We now have SURFACES.  Places on which to put things.  A covering that keeps the dirt out of the drawers.  And the sinks are installed.  We have to get the plumber back to get running water to them, but in terms of appearances, we are starting to get there.

The bathroom and kitchen look like what they’re supposed to be now, and I know that we are so close to utilizing them for their actual purpose.  In a few days I can (or Thor can) wash dishes in the dishwasher and not the tub.  The countertops in addition to the microwave that Thor and Matt installed last weekend are turning the room into a usable space. The microwave was a bit more trouble than we thought it would be because the electrician put the plug a little too high and at first we thought a part was missing.  All the worry was for nothing and eventually it went in.  This increased our quality of life also because we were able to move the old microwave out of the office and are able to start to use that space for its true purpose.

I think I am most pleased with the bathroom.  It is a remnant that we choose in the middle of a snowstorm on a Friday afternoon.  All of the slabs of granite were frozen together and it took 6 guys to pull them apart so that we could look at this piece.  It looks awsome with cabinets and the slate we already have in there.  There was definitely a moment of worry when we chose it because we didn’t have any samples with us to make sure it matched, so I was doubly thrilled to see how good it looked.

The kitchen is thrilling too.  We were finally able to settle the debate over whether the countertops were black or not.  They are not.  They are green with black, gold, and white flecks.  After this weekend it will work like how it’s supposed to too.  As I type, Thor is in the kitchen installing the tambour (appliance garage) in the kitchen corner.

Thor and I made our final cabinetry decision tonight. After getting quotes in the cheap and the super custom, we decided to go with midrange KraftMaid. The brand is pretty highly rated, and seemed to give us a lot of choices. We knew for sure from looking around that we wanted cherry. We figured that out after every cabinet we picked out that we liked was in this wood. Our final choice was:

The runner up in the color we chose

The winner in a slightly darker color

Thor had already spent 4 hours at the Home Depot agonizingly watching the sales associate slowly click on the computer and figure out which cabinets we would put in the space. Then I got to waltz in tonight and make the final decisions. The moment of truth and final decision occurred when we were deciding what cabinet to put in the last corner. The corner is shortened since the edge of the short wall is there, and so a typical corner cabinet does not fit. Unfortunately Kraftmaid doesn’t have any cabinets that would fit (something I learned after much discussion). I really wanted that extra 12″ of space. It drove me crazy to think about the space being wasted, and I wanted it.

I “suggested” switching to a different cabinet company that might have a solution for our corner problem. Thor told me that if I wanted to sit and watch that woman dawdle on the computer for another 3 hours while she redesigned the kitchen in another cabinet brand, I was welcome to, but he was done. I decided that perhaps a compromise and keeping Thor happy was more important that those 12 inches and caved. Besides, the idea of watching her mess around on the computer any longer than necessary made me wanted to knock myself over the head with one of the granite samples.

We picked out the bathroom too, a plan light brown maple cabinet that should go nicely with the tile.

Project of this weekend was dressing up the windows we had installed last weekend.  We ordered the windows in wood unpainted or stained so we could do it our selves and make sure the stain matched the rest of the house.

First step was taping off the window edges, during which I have perfected my taping technique to a perfect art.  We are talking edges that meet perfectly in the corner with no gaps in-between.  This is opposed to my usual modus operandi of ripping of hundreds of tiny bits off to have the tape meet and overlap exactly in the corners, and ending up with messy pieces that fall off and are stuck everywhere.  The trick, I found, is to lay the tape  along the edge and up to the corner.  Then placing a putty knife in the corner cutting it into an oblique angle, you can rip the tape along the edge.  You should rip from the corner inward.

The weather is unseasonably warm right now, so we knew this was a project we needed to get done as soon as possible.  We removed the windows from the frames, and stained them to match all of the trim.  It was a bit of a rush job since the windows needed to be put back in before we went to bed, so the stain didn’t get to set as long as it should before we applied the polyurethane, but it worked out.

Taking the tape off, we started out using cotton rounds and alcohol to remove the left behind tape gunk, but then I switched to nail polish remover (acetone), which worked quicker with a lot less elbow grease.

There was one mishap taking one of the double hungs out and the catch on the tension cord that lets the window go up and down was broken.  No word yet on if there is a warranty or replacement part.  We are completely bummed because they are brand new and it is the one in our bedroom.

Either way they are looking really great and add a lot of character to the house.

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Our windows are supposed to arrive on Friday, so i thought I’d update you with what we’ve ordered.  When Matt and I got together I already had an idea of what I wanted and what style.  The front and back windows would be the same - a picture window with two casements on the side.  The casements would have mutton going across about 1/4 of the way down with a line dividing that rectangle.  Matt has started calling this the cottage style.  Although I love prairie style (a wide grid that runs just inside the frame) - I didn’t think it would be right for our house.  We also both agreed that we would add trim around the windows and on the house.  Currently the windows are just set in the stucco.  Along the side of the house, the double hungs would be replaced with double hung windows, but the ratio of the two panes would be 40/60 instead of 50/50 with muttons running down the middle of the top part.

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We wanted to go for a walk around the neighborhood to see what we liked, and literally the exact moment we stepped out the door it started raining.  We were pretty confident with our choices, though and Matt ran home to add them to the drawings.  We are both really happy with the way things turned out.

Windows in the back/North side of the house with bedrooms

North side of the house with bedrooms

If all goes well and there is enough time this weekend, in addition to putting a new roof on the back sunroom, we’ll also be able to start putting the windows in.

Well we’re doing our part.  On Thor’s day off today he picked up a console table that is great for our living room.  It is narrow enough that you can still walk past it, and our stuff just fits on it.  We might put another under the living room window, although I was hoping for something with bigger drawers that we could keep games in.  Now we’re going to keep our eye out for a bench with storage underneath in that area instead.

He also purchased a microwave so we have now expanded our limited kitchen and our cooking options.  In addition to eating sandwiches every night or cooking bratwurst up on our mini propane grill, we can now heat up left-overs in minutes.  We bought the cheapest microwave we could find since we don’t know what exact size will go in our kitchen when it’s done, or where it will go.

Some cheap and free physical labor was done today.  Thor finished scraping the wall paper in the bottom half of the closet.  Unfortunately this is probably the easiest part since the rest is over eye level and on the ceililng.  Yes, they even wall papered the ceiling.