Gallery I

These are a few of the images that I found interesting.

Wired

Mick, from Think Electric, spent most of the day cutting holes in the walls and pulling wires through them. He did run into a couple of issues, but was able to solve them quickly.

Large pieces of scrap sheetrock were discovered in the interior wall. It seems some construction workers stash their trash behind walls. Steve stopped by to see how things were progressing. He confessed to having stuffed sheetrock in walls as an apprentice, Of course, he says, he doesn't do that now.

It's the next morning and I'm awaiting the inspector's visit. Nothing can proceed without his OK. Guy, the electrical inspector, was in and out in ten minutes. No complaints about Mick's work. This afternoon, Steve is back to patch all the holes in the walls and ceiling. He works fast. All these guys work fast. We started four days ago. If I was doing the job, I'd still be tearing out cabinets.

Dust to Dust

As I sit here, writing, it is pouring down rain. Why couldn't Steve, the drywaller work here yesterday when it was 80 degrees? The kitchen is closed off. Sealed off with plastic and tape like the scene of some biological weapon explosion. In order for me to do laundry, I have to go out the front door, around the house, in the garage, and finally to the laundry room. I should've done laundry yesterday when it was warm and sunny and the clothes could dry outside on the line.

Steve is making a big mess with the soffit removal. Old insulation and white dust covers everything in the kitchen. I cringe when I hear him cough. Did I really think that Gary and I could handle that job ourselves? The dust has seeped out into the rest of the house. It's a pain to have to vacuum the dining and living rooms every night. I'll save the dusting until after Steve is done with the drywall.

Out with the Old

Potential energy in the kitchen has been extremely high lately. So much so that I felt the need to remove all the cabinet doors. Unfortunately, the doors were mostly removed when I remembered that I promised someone that I would take before and after pictures. Apologies to you, Sam. Tim, from Built To Last Woodworking, came by and, with much effort, tore out the rest of the well-nailed cabinets.

Gary and I have differing ideas as to how we'll adjust to having no stove, oven, or kitchen sink. The weather's turned warm, so I won't mind eating lots of salads, sandwiches, yogurt and fresh fruit. Gary's visions may include restaurant pizza, burritos and burgers. I'm sure we'll work it out.

Now, we have a cooktop, a fan hood, an antique dishwasher and oven to get rid of. Craigslist, anyone?

Happiness is Glass Knobs

Another trip to Portland. This time we visited Rejuvenation, purchasing lighting, cabinet knobs, and drawer pulls. All the fixtures we got are retro style new products. Rejuvenation specializes in home parts, old and imitation old. Mid-century, Arts and Crafts, Victorian, they have it all.

The knobs and pulls are emerald green glass. You remember those six-sided glass cupboard knobs? If you do you're at least my age. We thought they would complement the white painted maple cabinets.

One of the light fixtures is called Chase. Hand painted glass cover, kiwi on white. The Cove is a cool looking metal shade to go over the sink. It's a new model so they have to manufacture one for us. It should be here in two weeks. We still need to decide on under cabinet lighting. We're leaning towards xenon. They are cooler and more energy efficient than halogen. Not as energy 'green' as fluorescent, but we've heard from several people that fluorescent light of any color makes granite look bad.

Shiny and New

Our new faucet came via UPS and the range hood by FedEx. I feel like a bird lining my nest with shiny, new things.
Gary found the stainless steel faucet for a great price because it is a discontinued model. It was shipped from the CSN Store in Boston (small world). This on-line store has an immense number of wonderful, mostly expensive products. There are the occasional good deals for the eagle eyed, like Gary.
There is one faucet I liked better, by the same company, Danze, but it cost a small fortune. Check out the 'Sirius' model for yourself. The model we bought, Parma, will fit our kitchen better. It's 10.5" high and reaches just to the bottom of the window moulding. It really is a thing of beauty. And skookum, too, at 14 pounds.
We weren't sure if the wall mounted, chimney type range hood would work with our low ceilings. After measuring it on the wall, we figure it will look balanced. Gary found the range hood at Euro Kitchen.

Verde Bamboo

We visited Ele Mar, a granite warehouse in the Portland area. It was like viewing a solidified rainbow. Cobalt blue, brick red, salmon pink, sparkling white and ebony black. If we hadn't been set on green, we would have been overwhelmed. Green Peace, Rainforest, and Turtle Green were a few of the greens we considered, but we fell in love with Verde Bamboo before we ever went to Ele Mar. And you know how it is when you fall in love. Our hearts were with Verde Bamboo. Especially after seeing a full size slab. We had only seen it as a small sample in Eugene. I would describe Verde Bamboo's color as mellow celedon and soft charcoal, with small veins of emerald.

It was interesting to watch how the slabs were moved. A clamp hung from a fork lift was put on to the top of the slab. One man guided the slab along as the fork lift driver moved it away from the stack. They separated a few of the slabs so we could inspect each one. Having been cut from the same piece, they were all similar and at the same time amazingly different.