Window Sneak Peak

I snapped this rather dark picture of the wood (just stained) that makes up the window seal.

The window is right above the sink and adding the bead board back splash really made it very bright and clean feeling. I am loving more progress being made in here. Bit left do, but almost done!

Back Into The Swing of Things.

We have only been home for two weeks (tomorrow)...one would think that it wouldn't be that long to get back into the swing of the kitchen/dining remodel. In our defense, life as been busy! End of the Spring Holy Days, all day training for Aaron, plus the calls etc.

 

To be honest. It was a needed break. This has been our "life" since Aaron started demolishing this winter! Life as been in a state of dust, piles and "camping". While the kitchen is not done,it is fully functional. It's all finish things that need done. The thing that will make it "complete".

 

I am in love. I love being in there. I love cooking, doing the dishes and making everything just so.

 

As I am typing this up, my hunk of a husband is cutting bead board to get some more up (back splash). Last night he got the range hood in! As soon as we get the light bulbs needed I will have a well lit stove! As of right now it's non vented, but we will vent it out at a later date. We just needed to get it in, and out of the way. The box was BIG!

Here it is:

You also get a VERY good look at the color of the cabs! Love them! 

 

Tomorrow is going to be sunny (Please Please Please be right weather man!) and so we are planning a day OUTSIDE. Aaron got a raised bed built so I can get the early spring things planted. Aaron also found a suprise for the kids...and with that....I will leave you all in suspense!

Until next time!

Sink Is In....

....and just about finish with the plumbing. Dishwasher is installed and ready to hook up, another cab got hung....progress is so good!

The small wall cab, and the cab over the frig is all that's left. This is before the counter was added over to the left where the sink is now. Then putting up the back splash and giving it and the walls it's paint! :)

The sink, dry set in. I will be washing dishes in it tonight! Dishwasher is to the left

Aaron, cutting the whole for the sink!

It's Looking A Lot Like A Kitchen

I have this habit of taking pictures at night, so you get nice dark ones. (Insert laugh)

the next (30inch wide) cab is in (next to the corner towards the stove) as well!

Sorry it's tilted, faulty camera holder. This is looking in from the old kitchen to the knew. To the right, about where the small bucket if on the counter, is where the sink will be. 

I love progress!

Today's Progress

Today was one of "those" days. One where everything happens at once. The motorhome sprung a leak, the road/yard flooded (water is down now, but everything is now VERY muddy!), the kids were all crabby, the internet was being a pill....

 

I am so DONE with the remodel. I want to be 100% in my kitchen, and I am finding the delays of life rather, well, frustrating. Now, stop laughing, it's not funny. Really! I enjoyed it in the beginning, but it's now to the stage that I can see what it will be, I already love spending time in all the light and I just want it done!

Rest of the beadboard and the vaneer on the upper cab.

Aaron will be ready to install the rest of the base cabinets tomorrow (YEAH!) and then we can get the plywood on ready for the counters. Then comes the wall cabinets, hopefully Saturday evening or Sunday. Then plumbing....Everyday Aaron has planned to get under the house to plumb in the new kitchen, he has either been needed else where or was sick! It WILL get done. haha

I got a coat of the paint on the bead board, at counter level, the strips that go to the floor have to wait, until it can dry with out little finger! For some reason the paint looks kinda greenish in the picture, it's a very light yellow, no green at all.

 

I never got to the hall way and clothing today, but instead went though my kitchen items and packed up some for camping and a few other's into a donate box. I have moved the plates and coffee over to the new cabs, as well as some of the pans. I am really looking forward to getting everything in it's place, and having a bigger window in the dinning room. Oh, and a table would be nice to eat on again. haha

 

 

 I will post pictures after Aaron gets the other cabs in. I. Can't. Wait. *sigh*

 

 

Fun and Progress

Yesterday was a good day. After Aaron was done doing the city's garbage, we loaded up and he took us all out for coffee. Or rather, cupcakes for the kids and coffee and a shared muffin for the "big ups". Then, he drove to a quilt store I have been wanted to go into and gave me a bit of money. 

I took Clara in with me, she was having an off day and needed a little Mama time. She had fun, and so did I. I love quilt stores :)Perfect (early) Birthday fun!

Someday, this will be a wall hanging in my dining room.

Close up look. I Love it!

Aaron, cutting the small piece that goes right there by the light switch. He is now cutting the piece that goes on the smaller section of wall. After he is done, I will get it painted! It will be a very light cream, a couple shades lighter then the walls.

More progress today, I am thinning out things, and getting at spring cleaning. It. Feels. Good. I was reading on a blog (sorry, I forgot which one) where she is doing a challenge. She is getting rid of 40 bags of stuff in 40 days. Every day she attacks a room. Might sound extreme, but she said it actually add up quickly. With all the un worn clothing being a big part of it. I am inspired! Last night I did the bathroom, today is the laundry and the girls clothing/blankets (I just did their toys and books).

Catching Up

When the flu visits it brings along it friends laundry, disinfecting etc. 

 

I am close to being caught up on laundry and disinfecting and we are pretty well over the yuck. Clara is the last sicky and is getting better. It was a quick moving bug thankfully.

Aaron got my upper cabs hung in the dish coffee area. Here is a picture. I am hoping to talk him into getting the back splash cut and up this evening. *big grin*

There is still an end panel to put on the light colored end. It will match the cabs. I am not sure why, but the lower cabs always look so dark! They all match in color! The tops are a pretty good picture of the color, just a hair lighter.

Right door is coffee, tea, cups, etc. Left door is plates, bowls, etc.

Staining Process

While work has been happening in the kitchen, it's a slower work. 

 

Aaron is staining the unfinished oak cabinets we chose. Here are some pictures of what it looks like right now. All but the three smallest cabs are in some stage or another of cabinet finishing.  

 

You start with unfinished cabinets , then add the stain, let it sit for a while then wipe it off. Adding more until you get the desired color. Then you set them some where out of the way to dry and wait their turn with the poly.

You then precede to do this with as many cabinets, doors and drawers you can find an out of the way place with. As the stain on them dry, you start the poly process to seal in and protect the wood.

 

Sink base, stained, but not sealed, with doors on top, in one of the stages of sealing

There are three stages of sealing, first coat, wait for it to dry, sand, second coat, wait for that to dry, sand again and then third coat, and again...it needs to dry. While you are waiting for the different stages to dry, you stack as needed.

When they are done, they are stunning, make me smile and please forgive me, but I seem to have a think for taking pictures at night (maybe it because the kids are in bed....) so these are a bit dark. The color is a bit lighter in person.

and since I am rather forgetful, and have had this for a while now, I though I would actually post a picture of the picture on the box! haha

A Wonderful Invention!

It can turn a boring end of a cabinet into some fun and exciting!

Small "coffee area" installed! The doors and drawers are almost dry and ready to be put back on/in! The color of the cabinets is actually lighter. This ones it a bit better.

The Frig.

So, since I took so many pictures of my awesome frig, I am making it's own post. 

 

Pull out freezer with metal baskets and an ice maker. Both top and bottom are out in this one. The dish washer goes right next too it, about where the bucket is, but more towards the wall.

Hard to see detail on a black appliance! The freezer is on bottom and pulled out, not a swinging door. The door for the frig part opens to the left.

Inside the frig. All of the shelves are adjustable.

Door. Even the top cheese/butter one is adjustable. The bottom shelf is not, but is large deep enough to hold a gal. milk jug.

All of the shelves in the frig pull out like the drawers. Supper nice! That will make cleaning so easy!

Close up of a pulled out shelf.

I am standing at the stove and looking towards the living room. The door way is 40 inches across and almost 8 feet high, it looks smaller in the picture. There is plenty of room for me to stand at the frig, pull out the freezer and still get by, or not be flat up against the cabs in the wall across from it.

Bottom drawer pulled out on the freezer. No bending and digging way back in the back to find something! :)

 

How did you sleep Mommy???

Dust

Almost every aspect of this project (so far) has been dusty. Not just a little dusty, but write words in it dusty.

base of the computer :)

Like this job, sanding the Spackle on the walls: dusty!

Aaron hang plastic in the door ways to the new kitchen, then put a fan in the window to suck out the dust. It really does a good job, this is right when he began.

I don't mind all the piles of tools, misc house stuff laying around, or the face that we have our living room, dinning, office all crammed into the living room. Piles like this: 

 

This is Aaron's pile of misc tools and stuff. on top of our chest freezer, that used to be "counter space" in the old kitchen

 

I think the thing that drives me the most nuts, and at that, it's still not very nuts, is the dust.

I have never been so happy to have a messy house!

Updated Pictures

Close up of the now grouted floors! I am in love! :-)

Last night, Aaron got the rest of the window frame finish. Now to tap, Spackle and then PAINT!

As I was visiting with my mommy this morning, she asked how busy Aaron has been. She meant calls, I have been keeping him plenty busy here. haha

I said that it really hasn't been too bad, a couple calls at night here and there, but not rushed either. As we were visiting he got call # 2 for today (since midnight). He then got call #3 before he even got home. he has not been home since. So much for the slow spell!

I am in a mood to sew and cook, and at the moment, I can't do much of either! I will love space, and my new kitchen all the more when it's done. Until then, I am drooling over recipes and fabric and quilting books. 

Have a great day!

Cabinets and Pretty Things

We have been waiting patiently for the kitchen cabinets. I ordered them on the afternoon of the 31st of Jan. (as wells as my stove and frig). We were told that it would be the 16th that would be our delivery date. Now we are looking at the 23rd. My appliances are in, most of my cabinets are in, we are just waiting on 4 of them. Why is it taking so long? because I had to pick the cabinets that they are no longer going to stock in the store. This happened just a few days AFTER I placed my order. So, now they are waiting for the rest of my order to come in.

While this is rather frustrating, as I don't like waiting, we do have a lot we can get done before they come. So then they do arrive, we can stain and install them!

I picked these up for my door ways into the kitchen. This is the smaller of the two door ways. The ginger bread is 11 inch long. The ones for the larger door way is 15 inches long. The door way is 40inches wide. This one goes to the living room.

 

Ok, the picture makes the door way look all wonky, it really is strait! :-) Like my handy holder-upper?

 

Nothing too exciting happened with the kitchen today. We bought the pipe for the plumbing, and those are so UN attractive. Haha. While we were in Lowe's, I picked up a couple African Violets for my kitchen window.

This evening we are going to grout the kitchen floor and while we do that, I am going to listen to Tracy Dole tell Jethro's story on National Radio! For anyone intrested to listen too, here is a link. 

http://www.moodyradio.org/chrisfabrylive.aspx

You can click on the listen link on the upper right hand of the page. This baby, and his story is a blessing from God. Take a listen!

Tile Floor: Part 1

Yesterday morning, bright and early, my mother-in-law came down to help me lay the tile on the kitchen floor. By help, I really mean show me how. I was clueless. She is talented. After a doughnut and some coffee we got to it.

Now, the house was built in 1937 and the floors are not too level, they slop a bit, Aaron spent a bunch of time one day getting that almost all the way fixed. Well, it caused a bow that we didn't notice before. Right in the kitchen. That wouldn't work with the tile, so, under the house he went again.  While he was doing that, Kathleen showed me how to decide on how you wanted the tiles in the door ways and we dry laid the first couple rows to make sure everything met in the middle.

dirty floor, but this is a good picture of the color.

All the day, between taking care of kids, posting cars and such either I (not as much as I would have liked too) or Aaron helped her. She headed home with just a small section for us to finish last night. I started in on it, and then Aaron finish the last corner while I got Andrew to bed.

Did you know you use muscles laying tile that you didn't know you had?

This evening I will wash the tiles off and pull up the spacers, so we can grout tomorrow! 

Thanks so much for your help Kathleen! 

all the white residue is what I am cleaning off today.

The evening is starting to wind down for the kids. Soon it will be a story, brushing teeth, pjs and bed.  Today has been a good day, a lot of work done in the new kitchen and wonderful times with our children. 

 

This evening it is starting to snow. After a few weeks of mud, warmer temps, then a hard freeze, winter is actually visiting us again with it's white stuff.. I love how snow can change the world. So white and clean.

Here is the view out my new kitchen window: 

 

Just as it started to snow.

 

 

PokaDots

Clara loves Pokadots. She has a blue stuffed dog names Pakadot Dog that she sleeps with every night. So this morning when she woke up, she will thrilled to see this:

 

Looking in from the old kitchen. Some people jack up old trucks, I have an old jacked up old stove! :P It's on wheels so we can move it, but still be able to plug it in and use it until the new stove gets here. I can't wait!

Door from new kitchen to living room.

 

 

 

Big happenings tomorrow. Kathleen is coming down to teach me to lay tile on the floors!

Green Room

I have decided that the green of the sheetrock is NOT my favorite color! Accent color yes, but all the walls....oh my!

 

from new kitchen to old.

wall where the new stove will go.

Corner from new kitchen to living room, the frig will be right there.

 No it's not snowing...just dusty!

The helper with lunch all over his face. He has an eat and help style today!