HOMEundone

Hello Everyone... I'm home from work today... feeling lousy, but not too lousy to play on the computer!

Thought I'd share...
I arrived home from work yesterday to boxes... lots and lots of boxes filled with new kitchen cabinets! I've opened a few of the boxes and I love what I see!!

Hickory wood with a cognac stain... lots of colour!

And wonderful stainless steel appliances (Kitchen Aid gas range and dishwasher and a Fisher&Paykel fridge)


We've worked hard to get to this point.

We started with a 1939 kitchen - if it had any original character & features worth saving, we couldn't see them!


Then we removed floors, walls, plaster & lathe... what a mess!


See next message for more pics and info...

Putting it back together was just as much fun (and work!)


All of this work was done through Christmas... no turkey dinner in our home this year.

So... install starts Monday!!
Here's a picture of a picture of the plan...


Apron-front farm sink... wonderful faucets (kitchen jewlery!)... a couple of glass cabinet doors... I'm loving it!!!!


Next week I get to post a picture of the real thing!!
Of course... we'll have to wait a few weeks for the granite countertops... and I haven't choosen the backsplash tile yet (I'll wait until the counters are in 'cause I want to get a "feel" for the space)... but it's coming together!

Your kitchen is going to be amazing!! I really like the fact that you're doing something different -- in particular the stain colour and the style of cabinets. And the layout of the room is interesting -- the stove is in a little bump-out, yes??

The tile pattern is great Do you like tiling, or do you get elected to do it because you're better at it than your hubby??

I never thought I'd say this, but.... I can't wait till Monday so we can see the beginning of the cabinet installation You'll post pics, right??

Sorry to hear you're feeling lousy. Hope you feel better soon

Too funny smoog, I thought the same thing about the cabs! I'm not usually a fan of medium toned wood but that color is fab. I also appreciate the unique touches. An awesome , well thought out plan!

real nice/excellent!!!!......................................................




NO TURKEY??????

Hi Smoodgie & Sweetie,

Your comments on the colour of our cabinets made me smile... you see, we originally wanted to go dark (mocha-ish). As the design came together, though, I started to wonder about whether dark cabinetry would be best for the space. Not only was I concerned about the lack of natural light in the kitchen, but I really wanted to stay true to the age of the home by capturing/creating a sense of heritage.... and dark cabinets are very contemporary. So DH and I decided to go with the Cognac - still dark enough to look up-to-date (because of the camera flash the photo above looks lighter [golds & reds] then real-life), but with a bit of tradition mixed in.

smoodgie Wrote:...the layout of the room is interesting -- the stove is in a little bump-out, yes??

The layout of the room was definitely a challenge! Yes, the stove is on a wall that bumps out - it's the back of the fireplace. Because we didn't want to use the wood burning fireplace we could have removed the chimney/fireplace and replaced it with a gas fireplace on the outside wall of the living room, but we just didn't want to go to this added expense (Smoodgie... you've just priced out a fireplace... ouch!! Couple that with the cost of having the chimney removed and patching the roof!). So we worked with the wall the best we could. I'm quite pleased with the result... hopefully it'll work as well in real life as it does on paper!

smoodgie Wrote:The tile pattern is great Do you like tiling, or do you get elected to do it because you're better at it than your hubby??

The very first tile I laid was in our last condo... next to the doorway by the fridge (top left in the photo below)


DH and I wanted to renovate our 80s kitchen and I was insistent that we could do alot of the work ourselves, including the tiling. "I've seen it done on my HGTV programs," I said. Together we hunted high and low for a tile that matched my vision. Once we found it, together we laid an anti-fracture membrane and then dry-laid the tile to be sure of my pattern... DH mixed some mortar, I knelt down in the doorway and said, "Okay, grab a trowel and let's get started!" and he said, "You can do it... HGTV taught you how." He wasn't being mean, he was just being a smarty pants! So off I went to 'show him'. And I kept going. Since that first tile, I've tiled the floors in the foyer, hall, storage room and bathroom. I've also tiled walls in two bathrooms. DH always helps by cutting tile, mixing mortar & grout and, from time to time, he'll lay some tiles. But the job of choosing/designing a pattern and then making it happen is mine... and I love it!

Geetwin... no, no turkey dinner for Xmas ... but I'll definitely be cooking one for Easter! MMMM I'm looking forward to it!!

Finally... yes, Smoodgie, I'll be sure to post some progress pics on Monday evening!

Cheers,
Vickie

I have to share a couple pics with everyone...

Yesterday I went to the lighting store to pick up a couple of tiffany glass pendant lights we ordered... I love them!! They'll be hanging over the peninsula, to the left of the stove (can't see it in the drawing above).



They're going to look so great!!

When I was downloading the pick to the laptop, I saw that my hubby had taken a picture of my brother and his partner (Brad & Shelley) while they were sanding our drywall... it's so funny I had to share!



They look like white-masked bandits!

Hope you're all having a great weekend!
Vickie

Wow, you're lucky you have relatives who are willing to sand drywall for you!!!!

The Tiffany shades are so different from what you see in all the decor magazines and TV shows. Nice to see you going with what you like and not what's trendy Your kitchen is going to be so nice and unique when its all done Can't wait to see it!!

smoodgie Wrote:Wow, you're lucky you have relatives who are willing to sand drywall for you!!!!

I'm even luckier than that... Brad helped Brian hang the drywall, then he did all the mudding & taping (he works in the film industry here in Vancouver - set building), then Shelley joined him to help with the sanding, mudding & sanding again. Finally, they primed the space for us! There's still a few touch-ups he has to do on the ceiling, but we'll have to wait until the install is started (i.e., boxes out of the way) before he can finish.

By brother is wonderful!! (So is Shelley!)

smoodgie Wrote:The Tiffany shades are so different from what you see in all the decor magazines and TV shows. Nice to see you going with what you like and not what's trendy

We looked at all the more trendy pendants but I just couldn't find anything I thought would fit the space and my design plan (contemporary rustic). The off-white portions of the tiffany glass matches the chandelier glass (chandelier and a matching fixture for above the sink)



Hmmm... I just searched out this pic on the website and now I'm not so sure about this fixture!!! We looked at it from below as it hung in the store... looked nice there!

I'm sitting here telling myself, "it's all good... it's all good!"
I guess I won't know until we install the lights next weekend!