And Then There Was Light

We are really lucky. Lucky to have friends with talent. Case in point #1. Our friend Adam came to our rescue on the lighting subject. He toiled away (on his day off nonetheless) for five hours.....

...had to crawl in here for a large portion of that time. Eww. I felt really guilty about this. He'll probably be sneezing for a week.



By the end of it all we had this!!!!! Three lights.....that all work....turn off and on......just waiting for drywall and then our beautiful light fixtures can be hung!! (Please ignore the rest of this wall....it's next on the agenda.) Cabinet paint is to be purchased promptly.

Hip hip hooray for Adam!!

Today's Report

Before.

After.

The east wall is almost officially complete. :-) It's taking every bit of restraint I can muster not to put up the pretty dark walnut roman bamboo shade on this window....but cleaning drywall dust off it is even less appealing.

Dirty work first.....dirty work first.
Details later....details later.

Bright and Pretty

Before. When I still had a ceiling (and some REALLY snazzy faux wood paneling). he he he.

Today. I'm getting there. It may be snail pace.....but I'm getting there.

Boxes Here, Boxes There, Boxes Everywhere

It's entirely possible our UPS guy could back up our driveway blindfolded at this point. ;-) We've been a popular stop on his route lately. All fun stuff. I figured, I'm doing ALL the work myself (ok except for the electrical/plumbing/drywall) that I could splurge a teensy tinsy bit on some of the finishing touches. Can't wait to use them all.

The lights....two big ones over the "island" table...one smaller one over the oven.

The oh so pretty dark walnut bamboo roman shade for the big east window....no more squinting into the morning sun while eating cereal. This is one of my proudest shopping moments.....original $90....got it for $35.....thanks Mom!!!

Rejuvenation oil rubbed bronze switch plate....and matching outlet cover. Guess what that puppy goes over.

THIS little beauty. Am I a total weirdo for getting excited about a switch? Weird or not, I'm in luuuuvvvvv. It looks like the originals in our house, except for one super sweet detail. The top button turns the lights on and off and the bottom is a DIMMER knob!!! So for all those romantic moments I have in the kitchen I can turn the lights low....ok I don't really have romantic moments....I have two kids instead. ;-)

What do you think of this? I'm thinking of ordering four of these to scootch under the island table. I like the industrial look....easy to wipe off....indestructible and stable. And scootchable.

Oh and then there's this beauty. I first saw this piece of table heaven over at Kim's. If you like to look at cool stuff, awesome inspiration photos, awesome remodeling and like to laugh while you do it, check out The NewlyWoodwards.

And here's the best part.....my dad asked for the link to the photo today....do you know what that means? He's putting it in his brain....do you know what that means? I'm going to have a perfect gorgeous awesome table when it comes back out.

And the kitchen marches on......

Beginning. Ick.

Midway. Yikes.

As of today. :-) Getting there.

I'm starting to panic a bit about the ceiling however. The lights need to be wired....then the drywall needs to be installed. My super neat friend Jamie was over today.....do you have a friend who you're pretty sure could fly if she decided it was on the "to do" list? That's Jamie. This is what she did earlier this year. She's amazing. Well anyway....she's one of those people....one who sees no task as unconquerable. Including ceiling drywall. She ALMOST has me talked into doing it ourselves. She's offered to help....offered her husband (and mine) as muscle....and she knows how to do it, which is even better. How awesome is that? Two girls running the show with man muscle as assistants. ;-)

Now if I could just find someone to wire the cotton pickin' lights I'd be set.

Twins

As of late we have noticed that Clancey seems to be more and more like his daddy. Right down to picking at hangnails on his thumbs...just like dad. Same boisterous personality....same dare devil antics....same funny sweety pies.

Girls Can Do WHAT?

Saturday was lumber day.....and ReStore day.....and grocery store day. I have funny stories from the ReStore and Menards. I went alone....a GIRL all alone, to the ReStore and Menards. I know...did you realize they let women in those places ALONE?

The conversation at the ReStore went like this..........

Guy who came out to help me load: Are you here alone?
Me: Yeah.
Guy: Well how did they think you were going to get these cabinets in this truck alone?
Me: I must look strong.
Guy: Hm. Go girl power.

The conversation at Menards went like this..........

Guy in line in front of me: Big project huh?
Me: Yep.
Guy: Did you pick out all that lumber by yourself?
Me (a little confused): Um, yeah.
Guy: Are you going to use it all yourself?
Me: YES.
Guy: What are you going to do with it?
Me: I'm remodeling my kitchen.
Guy: Oh. (then proceeds to stare at me for the duration of our time in line like I just said I'm planning the lunar launch from my backyard at 6.)

So anyway, apparently girls aren't supposed to do this. I'll admit I don't do things the "typical" way....but this is progress in my book.

Primed upper wall.

A little beadboard.

Finished beadboard. The cabinet installed to the left. That's going to be topped with shelves and a solid oak countertop.

Beadboard capped and painted!! And the upper wall painted a pretty blue grey. (looks more grey here....trust me it's blue grey)

Cabinet one.

Cabinet two....more on these later.

In My Free Time ;-)

Just so ya know I haven't been slacking.....

two BIG OLE signs out the door.

Lots of Progress on the Eastern Front (er....wall)

Start of yesterday. Paneling....bleck.

Midway through yesterday. Paneling gone.

Spackle....lots of spackle.

See there on the wall...next to the fridge outlet? There to the left of it.....

Was this. UNDER the paneling. Just like this...no cover....no nothing. (enter sarcasm) I have a good idea...there's a switch on the wall that we don't really want to deal with. Let's just put paneling over it. (end of sarcasm) Sheesh. Thanks.

Can you tell I'm getting a little snarky? That's what happens when you sort of just stop sleeping and keep working. I'm going to bed....right now. Oh wait, I'll finish the post first.

Anyhooo.....I got out my handy dandy voltage tester....guess what ladies and gentlemen. It's still live. LIVE! Let's cover a LIVE swith with PANELING. This is why not everyone should DIY. If you're lazy, don't DIY.....at least not at my house please.

Primed upper walls!!!

And the beadboarding shall ensue.

more tomorrow...same bat time. same bat channel. over and out.

Sayonara Breakfast Bar

This is where I started....two days ago. Goal....get rid of the "breakfast bar". That's how it was advertised in the literature about our house when we looked at it. Why would you be at the bar at breakfast? I don't know. Anyway, my plan was to get rid of it and put a long skinny table with bar stools that slide under, in the kitchen. Seriously....have you checked out CSN Stores? I'm totally coveting the bar stools there....I see a review in my future. Does anyone need a sign painted? The kitchen fund is getting low. ;-)

More on that when I figure out how to build this table.....might be checking in with Ana.

Anyway, by the end of the afternoon the island was finito.

I used the short section of the island to fill in a space that had originally been for the fridge.....when fridges were about the size of my purse. Getting our fridge to fit in that spot would be like squeezing an elephant into a phone booth. I digress.

No fridge there, moved the base cabinet into position...now the new counter can reach ALL THE WAY to the end of the wall. Yay.

This may be my crowning achievement so far. I know, it doesn't look exciting.....but do you remember what this looked like before? It was a GIANT.GAPING.HOLE. straight to my roof (the kitchen has it's own one story roof). Now it has been patched, insulated and ready for drywall. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to hold drywall above your head, fish it through the drop ceiling support boards, hold it against the original ceiling and screw it in place BY YOURSELF? This has been the part of the project that I have procrastinated.....and it turned out to be just as horrible as I had dreaded.

I'm thinking a cruise may be in order... just sayin'.

I need an ibuprofen just thinking about it. I'll be right back.

So after I had noodle arms and could go no further with the whole ceiling show I worked on the floor. Got the mess off the entry floor. Only another 489 bajillion square feet to go. ;-)

Oh....and I thought I'd share my snazzy gloves. A girl's still gotta be cute while doing DIY.

This is how I ALWAYS look when I do DIY...happy, smiling, no cursing, strength to hold a camera at arm's length without grimmacing in pain....you know, I'm a professional.

If you'd like the real show, stand under my window at 11pm tonight when I sound like a sailor on shore leave with arms that no longer function. ;-)

It will be worth it....it will be worth it....it will be worth it.......

The Back Entry Hall.....almost done

This is where it started......
Then emerged as this.....

...then this......

AHHHH........now spreading to the kitchen.....check back soon...I'm on a roll. But too exhausted tonight to be witty or clever. More full kitchen pics soon for you Margaret. :-)