Dining Room Built-ins

Our Dining Room has seen some great progress in the last few weeks. We finally got our built-ins completely done.
As a reminder, here's what we started with:

Gotta love that green carpet!

After (a whole lotta work...) ;)

Here's a breakdown of what we did:

* New floors (obviously)

* Whitewashed the brick -- There are a million tutorials online for how to do this. I ended up doing two light coats of watered down white latex paint because the orange brick color was still pretty strong after the first coat was done.

* Removed about 80% of the trim on the existing bookcases. -- Most of it wasn't the style we were going for, especially the fluted trim. It was a little too fancy, so I wanted to make it just a little bit  simpler.

* Installed mirrors in the back of the bookcases. -- When we decided to make this room the dining room instead of a formal living room, I thought it would be fun to make these existing bookcases have a "china cabinet" or "hutch" feel to them. The mirrors help create that look. It also helps brighten this room up quite a bit because it is the only room on the main floor that doesn't have a bunch of windows.

* Stained shelves and top of the cabinet. -- I wanted to warm up this wall a bit with some stained wood, otherwise I was afraid it would end up way too white. I really like the contrast and it helps the dishes and things stand out a lot more than if it were all white.

* New trim and several coats of paint. -- We installed the new trim and gave everything but the shelves a nice bright coat of white.

* Unpacked some of the boxes that have been waiting to be opened for over a year so I could style these new shelves. :)

I am pretty fickle when it comes to styling, so next week it will probably look completely different, but for now it was nice to have some fun playing around with some different looks.

So, the Dining Room is ALMOST finished. But we have a few things left to do.

* Baseboards. You probably noticed we're lacking these. This is the case everywhere, so this is towards the top of the list right now.

* Add electrical box for chandelier. I have a chandelier my mom gave me for Christmas last year that is just waiting to get installed. Can't wait to see it!

* Decorative elements:

I put together a little design board of my plan

* Wallpaper: I'm planning to install this pinstripe wallpaper on the walls to give the dining room a cozy feel and a some subtle texture. 

*Lighting: The chandelier is the aforementioned one that has sat in a box for 8 months. 

*Chairs: The chairs pictured here are similar to ones that I already have. I picked up some vintage ones for a steal on Craigslist a couple of years ago and I painted them white and reupholstered the seats. 

* Table: The table is the only thing we don't have yet. This one is what I have in mind. I found one very similar to this at a local furniture outlet store, so I think that is what we'll do. I've got to save up for it first. :)

So. That is our dining room. We're getting close.

Progress

Summer has hit and our lives have gotten busy -- which means that progress on the house has not been a quick as we'd like.
But, we've been working hard on our floors and we're getting close to finishing the main area. We'll still have to install them in the pantry, hallway and on the stairs, but the majority of the first floor will be finished. Again, another whew!
Luke's parents have been in town this weekend/week, and they've been a huge help. We got all the shelves installed in the pantry  --

We still have a few things to finish before I can actually start using it -- finish trim on the shelves, install a cabinet below the bottom shelf, floors and of course, install the doors -- but, it is turning out pretty much as I imagined. It is much-needed storage, so I'm antsy to get it finished asap!

Luke's parents have also been working extremely hard on getting our backyard shaped up. It has been neglected for years, so the work involved was pretty overwhelming. Especially considering the mess we've been making inside. :) But, they've helped us clear out all the weeds, unwanted plants and even helped us level out a huge part of the backyard that we wanted to turn into more grass for the kids. Tonight we seeded it and now we just start praying that it grows...

Hopefully I'll have some "after" pictures soon of the yard, but mostly of the inside. We've got quite a long list of things that have to be done before we can say it is "finished" but we're getting there. My goal is to be done by Seth and Luke's birthdays at the end of August. But, we'll see. I always under-estimate how long a project is going to take...

Ceiling Finished!

After months of working on our ceiling, it is finally done. Whew! Can we get a hallelujah?? We'd better enjoy it in this house because...never again! (famous last words...)

It was probably one of the most time consuming and uncomfortable (neck and back aches for days) projects we've taken on during this whole renovation. BUT, I think worth it. It makes the whole main floor look so much more updated.

I am so excited to get all the lighting installed soon. I've had a chandelier ready for the dining room since Christmas. It has just been sitting in its box, wondering if it will ever get a chance to shine. Soon, I promise.

Our next project is the floors. We started them a few months ago in order to get the stair railings installed, but now we can get them all done. For me, getting the floors installed will be the signal that it is the beginning of the end. Hooray! We're getting close!

Back wall plans

So, in my last post, I mentioned that we were talking about switching up our back wall configuration a little bit. The original plan was to stick the refrigerator on the end of the wall and then have the range and flanked by two lower cabinets between that and the tall pantry. I liked this plan because of the symmetry -- two floor-to-ceiling cabinets on either end with a range feature wall in the center.

But, when we sold our old refrigerator and that spot was open, it felt so much better! It was essentially removing a 2 1/2 foot wall on the end of the kitchen. I began to think about that a little bit over the next couple of weeks, but I was reluctant to really commit to action because I still liked the symmetry with the refrigerator on the end and the tall pantry on the other end.

Last weekend, we had to move everything out of the way in order to work on the ceiling, so I figured when we put the refrigerator, range and lower cabinets back, we might as well just try the new idea -- mostly just because I couldn't stop thinking about it. Then, if we hated it, I'd finally get it out of my system.

Well, I didn't hate it. I loved it! It really does open up the kitchen a ton. When we walk in from the garage or even the entryway, it feels so much better. So, the reason that we were "in negotiations" (Luke and I) was because by moving the configuration again, Luke has to redo pretty much all the electrical and move the plumbing line for the pot filler. He's not thrilled.
But, one more reason I'm convinced this is the better configuration is because he's willing to do it now, after seeing the difference. ;)

So, here's my plan for the range wall now that it is on the outside part of the back wall. I don't want to do anything to lose the open feeling, so we have decided to nix upper cabinets. I know! No uppers. But, we have moved everything back into the kitchen and we don't need them anyway. Our plates and glasses, etc. are in the large drawers next to the dishwasher. Best idea ever. Unloading the dishwasher is so much faster. Pretty much everything that comes out of the dishwasher goes into those three large drawers and I can unload the entire thing in about a minute.

Here's the system:

 I put non-slide liners on the bottom of all the drawers and it keeps all the dishes in place really, really well. Luke was a bit skeptical at first when I told him my plan, but he's liking it now. No more hefting heavy stacks of plates and bowls up to a high cabinet.

Anyway, back to our plan for the back wall -- sorry, I got off on a tangent -- This is our new configuration as it is now:

Pretty rough, I know. But, the idea is there. This is my plan for what it will look like in the end:

The wood surrounding the lower cabinets illustrates our butcher block countertops with a "waterfall edge" -- meaning it runs down the sides of the cabinets as well. I've seen this done before -- mostly on islands though -- and I'm hoping it will look as good in reality as it does in my head. (That's always my hope!)

We've got a lot to do before we get to that point, but I think we're heading on the right track!

Dishwasher Panel

We finally got our dishwasher panel on last night. It was kind of a pain. Mostly because the template they supplied was incorrect and off about 11/16". That seems like a small amount, but it caused a lot of delay and frustration. But, we got it adjusted and remounted and thankfully, it all worked out in the end.

We also got our hardware installed on the island cabinets a few days ago, which means I can finally start moving our stuff back in. Hooray! Today marks the 8 week mark since we ripped out the old kitchen. 2 months without a kitchen! Whoa. It actually went pretty fast and wasn't as bad as I was expecting. I think mostly for two reasons: 1) We had a kinda-sorta kitchen in the basement.
Yes, this fancy setup:

And 2) It has been amazing to see the kitchen that I've had in my mind for months, become a reality. It definitely has been stressful at times (I've mentioned a few of the reasons why in my last post), but for the most part I've been fascinated by the process.

Right now we are in the process of tweaking our back wall arrangement a bit. I've been mulling over a new option for a couple of days and I'm currently still in negotiations with Luke. :) I'll keep you posted on what we decide to do...

Island Cabinets

Whew, the island cabinets are all painted! I'm not going to lie, it wasn't an easy job, but it is SUCH an improvement.
I set up a spraying room in the basement (basically just taped up plastic on all the walls and the floor). Spraying definitely made the job easier, and I think the cabinets came out better. The sprayed finish is pretty much flawless.

We just have to install our hardware (that has been a saga and a story for another day...) and then we can move some of our kitchen stuff back upstairs. I can't wait! Running up and down the stairs for every little thing is getting quite annoying.

Oh, and our dishwasher won't look like that forever. We actually bought a dishwasher that is designed to have a cabinet front attached to it, so when it is installed, it looks like a cabinet instead of a dishwasher. I'm hoping we'll get to install that this week as well.

Countertops are in!

Whew, after over a month without real countertops, ours were finally installed this morning -- and I'd say, it was worth the wait! They look even better than I'd hoped.

It is interesting. I can pick out materials and items for clients all day long, but when it comes time to commit for my own house, I am the worst of the worst of clients. I changed my mind countless times, visited pretty much every stoneyard in the area and even after making the commitment, agonized over whether or not I had made the right decision.

See, I've had in my head my dream kitchen for years. If you look at my Pinterest Kitchen boards you'll see the one thing that most of them have in common: Carrara Marble. It is absolutely beautiful in person. White and gray with stunning veining and movement. It isn't over-powering, but it definitely demands attention.

But, I cook -- a lot. I have kids.
Marble does not like either of those scenarios. It stains, etches and can even chip.

So, I had to get over my "dream kitchen" in my head and switch gears a bit. When I saw this quartzite, I was immediately intrigued. It was still a little busier than I'm usually attracted to, but it had incredible movement and "veining" instead of the splotches that granite typically has.
It also had some great colors to work with. Instead of just white and a light gray, it also has dark grays, black, a little brown and tan and even a slight grayish-green tone in some of the veins.
Bonus for Luke: it was A LOT cheaper than the marble I had fallen in love with. ;)

Now that it is in, I can make some more decisions about cabinet colors, hardware and lighting. It really is the jumping-off point for the entire kitchen -- now everything else should be a little easier to commit to. (Or so I'd like to tell myself.) I really am the worst client.