A Teaser

Below is a photo of Farid sealing the grout on the backsplash. The refridgerator is in, and everything is done. We hope to have some final-final photos soon!

By Popular Demand...

...or at least requested by Isabel, here is a photo of the fridge in all her massive, stainless, steely glory! We're waiting to post more pics even though the kitchen is basically done, we want to have a "Reveal" blog after the cleaning lady comes. I know, life's tough...

Working tonight to finish the "Punch List" to review with Farid. This is important because once we make the list and he completes the items on the list, we are done. Done, as in, if we need him to do anything more we will pay. So it's important that we get the list right. Planning to have the Punch List walk through on Thursday. Cleaning lady on Saturday.

Finally got the living room put back together. There were so many boxes piled up. I knew it was making me feel crazy, but I think the impact hit me when my lovely, pregnant sister-in-law, Joni, came over and said something about how chaotic the room felt. We've become used to it to some degree but it was also feeling crazy to us, too. Because our living room was being used as storage we had to do all TV watching in our bedroom and we also ate our meals there too. But now we have reclaimed the living room and it feels so good! Reclaimed the bedroom, too...

By the way, Thanks to everyone who reads our blog and also for the comments. Can't wait for everyone to see our improved home in-person!

Love to You!
lauren

Fridge Update (no photos)

Guest blogger: Mark

The fridge arrived yesterday morning. Looks great. Interesting note: the wholesaler originally said it would take nine days to deliver and arrive some time next week. I left them a message and said this was by no means "expedited" delivery as promised, and they need to do better.

They did. A got a call back the next morning saying the would have the fridge delivered within the next 24 hours. One one hand, I feel bad as I assume we took someone else's fridge. On the other hand, new fridge!

We haven't taken the plastic off it. This week Farid will hook it up, finish some small stuff and we're done.

It's All Over But the Fridge

Well, we're almost done. We're expecting the fridge this week. Once that's installed, we have just a little bit of touch-up work and that's it:

Here are some shots with the under-cabinet lighting on:

Get a Handle on Things

Two days, and more progress. All of the doors and drawer fronts are on. The finish pieces are in place. A bunch of the handles are on. It looks, aside from the empty fridge space, like a kitchen. Whoa!

Above is the family room, complete except for the lighting (on the counter) and the drawer handles.

Below you can see the (former) mahogany wall, now painted white:

Above you can see just one handle installed on the sink side -- that's the integrated dishwasher. It matches the cabinetry and looks REALLY cool. You can't even tell. Here's a closer look:

Pretty neat, eh?

Next steps are putting in the remaining handles, installing the lighting, installing the baseboards and then the detailed finish work to make it all look pretty. Oh, and the estimated ETA on the fridge? Valentine's day.

Getting Closer

Guest Blogger for the Week: Mark

Lauren is out of town on business, so I'm left to my own devices. Assuming I don't starve myself or burn the place down [miss you sweetie!], I should be able to preside over the rest of the construction.

Today they installed most of the doors and drawer fronts. BIG change. It actually looks like a kitchen.

A few minor heart attacks this evening: when I came home, Farid said "Oh, good Mark, I'm glad you're here." That's never a good sign. It appeared as though we were missing some pieces, namely the drawer fronts on the unfinished cabinets below. Turns out Ikea labels the packages according to the total dimensions. So two 12x24 cabinets are listed as one 24x24 piece. Wow. That took about an hour of going through every piece we ordered and bought (if you've been following you know the count is above 250) AND a trip to Ikea. So we do have what we need. It's a super-good thing too, because there simply aren't any more out there. The line is discontinued. Phew.

It turns out I did need to go to Ikea -- the planning people did not clearly label the waste-sorting drawer and, thus, it didn't make it on our product list. So I bought the materials tonight.

Here's the eye candy for today:

The photo above is VERY close to what the finished product will look like, save for a two-inch strip at the cabinet-bottom line, behind which will go the lighting system.

The photo above didn't translate well -- the grout lines appear zig-zaggy. They aren't.

More Appliances and Completed Backsplash

Next step: the range, dishwasher, sink and faucet are in. And the backsplash is complete: grout and electrical finished. Here's the latest round of photos:

That's a little piece of tape reminding us not to use the sink.