Kitchen pics

I previously posted some hideous 'before' photos of the kitchen when we moved in. It was not only horrible, but also unusable. It was filthy, the tap sprayed water everywhere, and the dishwasher just grunted.

On moving in, we immediately ripped out the kitchen and replaced it with new Ikea Lidingo cabinets, topped with butcher block countertops. We pulled down the outdated cabinets that hung from the ceiling and drywalled the hole. Instead of the oversized peninsula from before, we added 42" glass door cabinets facing the rest of the room, and created a bar area that shields the (usually messy) kitchen workspace from view. Some vintage 50's Philly diner stools make a great place to eat breakfast!

Our wonderful realtor blessed us with a new dishwasher, and we installed an over-the-range microwave. We pulled down the headache inducing fluorescent light that all DC area builders seem to believe home-owners want in their kitchens, and replaced it with a fixture we had waiting for something else. This will be switched for track lighting at some point.

The kitchen still isn't finished - it needs trim, backsplash (we have white subway tile waiting to be installed), and a new oven and fridge. Eventually, we will also replace the always-dirty tile floor. But for now, it's workable and a million times better than it used to be. So here are some 75%-of-the-way photos! (Excuse the mess - I didn't clean up to photograph!)

Tips for cleaning: host a party!

When the house gets really messy, there's only one thing to do. Throw a party!

The looming deadline of having a number of people coming over to your home enforces a tight cleaning schedule and fun times at the end of it! The results aren't show-house quality, but they are a significant improvement!

We hosted for the super bowl last weekend, which meant a couple of days of frantic cleaning and tidying beforehand. The mammoth blizzard DC has been experiencing meant it almost didn't happen, but luckily a few people were able to fight their way through the aftermath of the storm. I think the lure of hot chilli must have been too strong to resist... :)

Since we did some cleaning, I thought I would upload some long overdue pictures of the living room with furniture back after the laying of the floor. It's definitely time for a new camera, and probably a few photography lessons for me too. The lack of decent overhead lighting in THATC makes everything look a little dreary in photos, but it's actually more cosy than dismal. Day to day living in a house undergoing long, drawn-out renovations can be painful - there is always construction stuff everywhere, and it's hard to 'finish' a space. (note the 9ft teak plank leaning on the bookshelf, awaiting it's future home...) I look forward to the day when we don't have any more renovation projects at THATC and I can concentrate on the 'decorating'!

So, without further ado, here are a few (badly lit) pics, enjoy!



Of course, I had to add one of Madra enjoying her kong on the rug!

New floor!

Since we moved into THATC, we have been longing to tear up the stained beige carpet in the living room. It wasn't very attractive, and was only good for soaking up the occasional beer spillage.

2 weeks ago I happened upon an ad on CL for 230sq ft of solid oak flooring for $50. It wasn't enough for our living room, but I can't pass up a bargain :)

After emailing, it turned out to be at Lumber Liquidators. The store manager was really helpful, and said he thought he could find us more stock to use with the oak, and create some kind of border. I thought he would try to sell us more flooring at a close to normal price, so we were pretty happy when we got there and the guy who helped us found us another end lot of 270 sq ft of teak, which he sold us for $100!

So we had enough wood to do the entire living room and passageways, but had to be a little creative about how we laid it out. After laying it out in autoCAD, we decided to use the oak to border the teak, and hoped we would have enou

gh!

Ripping out the carpet and pad (with a million staples holding it down) then smashing up the tile (only 2 whole pieces came up) was painful. The 2 days it took us to install the wood was even more painful.

We still have to put all the furniture back, poor A-Rod has had his basement taken over. The kitchen is full of furniture, and the dining area stuffed with couches.

Madra hid in the bedroom for most of the time, with the noise of the pneumatic nailer, air compressor and chop saw, she wasn't too happy! When she did occasionally venture halfway down the stairs during quiet periods, she assumed the position of supervisor:

We are 98% done now, with just some pieces still to be face nailed in. Here is how it looks now, along with a 'before' picture which I used to give away the old carpet on CL :) A nice girl came and picked it up today! This pic is a little dark, but it's close to the colours. The teak is really beautiful, with lots of natural variation. We are pretty happy with the results.

It's Finally Safe To Leave The House...

By the back door!

When we bought the house, the 'deck' (really a glorified landing) was crumbling and falling apart. Boards were rotted through, the handrails were no longer attached, and there were even steps missing, which led to people (and pets) falling through a couple of times!

We basically avoided using them as much as possible, and prayed that no one would get severely injured on them before we had a chance to fix them.

Watching a 75lb dog run up and down a couple of times a day, and the steps bowing under her, we realised we would have to replace them, now.

After a trip to HD and Lowes, we found the stand

ard stringers were only premade up to 6 steps - we needed 8. We visited Tart Lumber, who told us they would happily make the 8 step stringers, at a cost of around $78. Per stringer. We needed 3. (Although the old stairs had only 2 - deathtrap!)

The wood itself was only $17 per length, so T decided we were doing it ourselves.
We bought the pieces of wood needed (12"x2"x12') and drove them home sticking 4' out the back of the Versa at 50mph. That was fun.

Out came the skilsaw, jigsaw and drill. We used the old stringer with the least chunks missing as a template. I marked up the new pieces of wood and T cut the triangles out. We then lined them up, made a few adjustments here and there, and screwed them to the deck using metal brackets (a little more sturdy than the 25 yr old nails holding in the previous ones!)

We then attached the 8 brand spanking new treads (premade from Lowes) with screws.
We reattached the handrails and added some support to them at the bottom posts, so they are now pretty sturdy.

I then ran up and down the new stairs repeatedly. They are very sturdy!

They passed Madra's inspection.

Poochums!

On September 12th, we became proud parents to an Alaskan Malamute, Madra! She came from a puppy mill where she was being bred from, and kept in pretty sad conditions. I haven't written about her yet because she was very sick when she first arrived, and we weren't sure what was wrong with her. I'm happy to report that the vet is very pleased with her progress, and she is settling in great at THATC.

Here she is on her new 'Coolaroo' bed, with Sheepy (sticking out under her head). The Coolaroo is great for her - Mals do not like to be hot, and this keeps her off the floor with airflow. As the days have gotten cooler this week though she has also enjoyed lounging on the wool shag! :)

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

I wasn't able to post anything at the end of August, as I was working on an episode of Extreme Makeover in DC with Burch Builders Group, where I have been interning.

http://www.burchbuildersgroup.com/

We rebuilt The Fishing School in one week. It was a great project, very tiring but extremely worthwhile! The original school was around 2000sq ft, and the new building is about 6500sq ft. All the extra space will make a real difference to the after school and community support program.

I can't post proper pics yet as the show hasn't aired, so it's still pretty secretive. We were scheduled to be aired in November, but it's now looking like February. The new season has begun, so keep watching!

Here is a sneak preview of the close to end result:

paint it black

The little tin of black paint I bought last week has almost gone!

We are planning to rip up the vile carpet on the stairs, and when we do, I intend to paint the risers white and the treads black. We may end up using some FLOR tiles on the treads too, especially when the pooch is on the scene.

In preparation for the blessed day when the carpet bites the dust (although from the state of it, I suppose that day came many years ago...) I decided to paint the stair rail and the newel posts black. When we arrived they were mostly white, but some parts had rubbed away to reveal they were once black.

Now they are nice and shiny :D What else can I paint black?

monee comes to stay

Dad isn't going to be pleased about this one, but I had to...

Monee loves him some Pollock chair ;)

powder room primping

The toilet on the main level (or powder room, for our Yank friends) has been in a state of unrest for about 6 months now. Just after Christmas we began its renovation by removing the hideous wallpaper border that crowns every bathroom in this house (except the basement, which escaped this treatment). We then painted the edges... and that was as far as I got.

Last week I finished painting (guacamole!) and tried painting the vanity. The pic probably doesn't make the doors look that bad, but they are actually veneer over nasty particleboard, which is obvious in person. I messed it up a bit - I accidentally let some paint dry on one side before I was ready and it became lumpy. I had to wait for it to dry, sand it down and repaint it. It's all good now.

I added some stainless steel handles, a towel ring and tp holder, and voila!

I also picked up a great piece of soapstone for $20, from which we are going to fabricate a new countertop and mount a vessel sink on it. But for now, it looks a million times better already!

The New Table

Within 2 days of selling the faux-guchi, I had 2 new coffee tables. The sweet little danish table has now found a new home, and we love the new silky smooth spherical slab! The new table was custom made in the Phillipines (maybe by some Mercer cousins eh?!) for a couple who live in Sterling now. It has a Saarinen style white steel base and is one fat hunk of wood on top. I am not sure what, but I would guess teak. It is very pretty! And bonus - it swivels like a lazy susan!

"Pass the remote"-"SPINNNN!"

We also now have an oh so soft new zealand wool shag under it - it is realllly shaggy!

T-Rex's 30th is coming up next week so there is much prep going on for the party, including painting and gardening. Updates to follow!