While things are not put back in place completely, and the pantry isn't replaced. Here's a sneak peak at what the wall color looks like in the daylight w/ our planned window coverings.

The contractor comes tomorrow morning actually to replace the pantry cabinet and finish up the molding around those units attached to the pantry. Then, we'll be able to really settle in! ... Just in time for Thanksgiving. I'm still looking for artwork for the walls, so if anyone sees cool French Country-inspired fruit prints (combining red, green and yellow), let me know. :)

What a blessing to have a spiritual family willing to help. Erica and I selected a color for our kitchen, and our mid-week Bible study group offered to come and help us paint on a Saturday morning. They asked for updates we tried out colors on the walls, and once we chose one they asked for possible days. Give our schedules, I selected Saturday morning expecting that some of them would come. Not the case because they all came! It was such an encouragement to have them come and help us get our house in order before our son arrives. Here are some photos from the packed kitchen.


The crew arrived at 10 AM, and we were done by noon. We chatted and laughed about many things, and we were blessed by their willingness to help.

Now, our kitchen is a nice shade of green, and I'll post some pictures of the finished project once the pantry is replaced this week. The countdown to our son's due date is into single digits, but that is an update for our other blog.

Updates to the kitchen have been slow, but we finally have everything in cabinets and cupboards. We also brought the kitchen table into the room yesterday. Drew & I ate dinner last night IN our kitchen AT our kitchen table. Now that there is a defined space for the table, it's much more comfortable to sit and eat there. (Generally we were always eating at our dining room table or on the couch.) On top of eating dinner at our table, I also hosted a friend for a cup of hot cider and conversation last night at the kitchen table. No, it isn't as cold as it is up north (there's snow on the ground in Michigan), but it's getting into the 50's at night - perfect fall weather! We have fall such a short period of time in Texas, we really have to relish it!

There is still progress to be made (aka paint needs to get on the walls), but we're totally functional (all appliances have been put to use) and looking up. Now the focus is shifting to being ready for a totally dependent little boy to come into our home. Check out the baby blog for updates there.

Also, if you're curious ... you can be praying that Drew and I find the time and energy to get everything done. Things at IBM are not wrapping up smoothly for me and are keeping me much more engaged (read: stressed) than I'd like, and Drew's project is in the final **crazy** stage that always has him working too much and too hard. We both want to crash at night, but we just can't yet.

Nov 1: Window coverings and wall color.

Here are a couple options I've started to mull over. Drew likes the plain yellow check, and I like a combination of the red fruit fabric with the yellow check. Either way seems to point me toward a soft, rich yellow or a soft green. We'll keep you posted.

One thing we haven't touched on during the remodel is how big the space is under the sink. It's cavernous! The baby's bathtub is 33" long, and it completely fits under the sink!

Day 16 (October 26)
We have fully functioning plumbing and shelves installed in all our cabinets (minus the damaged pantry). With that and finished crown molding, kick plates and base board ... the guys left and the kitchen is done!
... sort of ...
We still need to clean it. Wow, has three weeks of work left the floor exceedingly dirty! And there are wood shavings & dust pretty much everywhere. Then we'll paint. One vote has come in for moss green on the walls. Any other suggestions? I'll send before and after photos later.

Day 16 (Oct 25)

Well, we didn't quite get finished on Wednesday, but the finishing touches are all going in. The drawer and door hardware were all installed, and the microwave was installed along with the dishwasher. The plumbing wasn't hooked up - that's for Thursday. In addition, Doug hung the pendant over the sink. What do you think of it? We still haven't figured out the color for the walls, but the plan is to have splashes of red in the room - most notably our retro red table. :) Molding is half-way up around the room, and shelving needs to be installed in all the cabinets. The guys are pseudo-complaining about all the shelving to install. At this point we don't even know how many shelves go into the tall pantry cabinets on the south wall ... so that should take some time.

The plan is to be done with everything on Thursday - so look for more photos later this evening. I should be able to wash dishes, cook and everything by the end of the day! Pumpkin bread sounds good, doesn't it?

Day 15 (Oct 24)
This was the Drama Day! Counters were scheduled to be installed today, and the guys were supposed to arrive betw 9-11am and would take somewhere between 2-4hrs to finish the work. Turns out I had a 1:30 mtg at IBM that was face-to-face. This rarely happens anymore. 99.9% of my meetings are teleconferences to which I call in. So that made for complicated scheduling. Someone needed to be here to approve of the final work, but there was really very little chance I could coordinate that with my schedule. Add on top of that, the installers called in the morning and said they were running behind.

Remember the glitch from yesterday ... the sink? I called Home Depot in the morning and they had it. Getting there (against traffic) wouldn't be a problem in the morning, but getting back home in morning traffic was not something with which I wanted to deal. So I decided to wait until the guys arrived to install the counters. I'd let them in and run up to get it so they could cut the hole out for the sink. That all fell apart when by 11am they had not arrived and I had no update as to when they would arrive. Thankfully our designer, probably trying to win back points she lost in other execution issues w/ the kitchen cabinet order, offered to go get the sink for me. We ordered a cast iron sink. Even between the two of us, it would be too heavy to lift. She's a very petite woman, and I am restricted from lifting heavy things and this point. So she went to HD and had them put the sink in her trunk. She also finally got ahold of the installers to find out they were very delayed. So I left for my mtg and she agreed to be around when they needed to be let in to start on the counters.

After 4pm I called our designer. She was at our house but just about to leave. They guys were installing the counters but wouldn't be done until 8pm! Crazy! So, she left them to work and I came home a little after 7pm to monitor things and sign-off on the installation. When I arrived home I was greeted (more like a smack in the face) by very heavy fumes from the adhesive they use on the laminate. WOW! Luckily I had closed off other rooms in the house and could retreat to the office on the opposite end of our small home. Around 8pm the counters were done. I inspected them and headed out for some dinner.

I think the counters look really nice. Doug and Gary agree. :) They provide a real grounding sense to the kitchen and help balance out the light cabinets and flooring. Here is a photo I took this morning. I was waiting for daylight to take the photos, but we're having all-day rain here ... so the sun is nowhere to be found.

Day 14 (October 23)
There has been no kitchen progress today. We're currently in a holding pattern waiting for the counter top installation. One glitch with the potential for disaster is the sink. Despite being told it would come in a few days after we ordered it, 10 days later we still don't know if it's even in the surrounding area. Drew called Home Depot Monday morning, and they called back saying it would for sure be at HD sometime on Monday. However, by the end of our childbirth class (@ 9pm) we still hadn't heard anything, and HD was closed. So that is an adventure to be resolved on Tuesday, after Drew leaves for Kalamazoo ... again.

Day 13 (Oct 20)

Sorry! I'm behind, and this is a total teaser b/c it is just a couple photos from last Friday.

This week, days 9-13, has been very slow going. After the excitement of cabinet installation on Monday, we had little to no activity for three days. On Friday the refrigerator was moved back into the kitchen, vacating it's temporary spot in the dining room. The water line from the garage to the frig was connected - we have an icemaker again! The ceiling fan was installed as were all the shiney, pricey recessed lights and lenses. The room glows now when all the lights are on, and we like that.

As Doug was putting the refrigerator door back on, after they got it back into the kitchen, I asked how hard it is to switch on which side the door opens ... seeing if they'd bite and swap the door for me. As you can see in the photo, it now opens against the main portion of the cooking area, and that doesn't make much sense. Doug, looked at me and said, "It's not hard," with a tinge of concern in his voice. Then Jeff piped up, "It's wouldn't be hard at all for your husband." Doug liked that idea and chimed back in, "yeah - it would be easy for your husband with all those tools out there in the garage. You just pop off these plastic covers and move the door handle to the other side ...." Suffice it to say, they didn't swap the door for me, and that is now on Drew's pre-baby honey-do list. :)

I also noticed that the frig is ... leaning (name that movie!) backwards toward the wall. It's fairly obvious in comparison to the cabinet housing around the refrigerator. Drew will need to figure out how to get that leveled out. The joys of home improvement!

Days 10-12 (Tuesday - Thursday): Our first snag! The cabinets were ready for counter top measurements on Monday afternoon, but the measurements didn't take place until today (Thursday) at 1 PM. Some poor planning took place between the counter top vendor and our designer. We basically lost a couple of days due to this. Nothing happened on Tuesday or Wednesday, but the floor was repaired today along with some electrical work. Erica took some photos during the day, and I included one as well.

We went to Home Depot tonight and bought a new fan, disposal, and some light bulbs. We weren't prepared for how much the bulbs were going to cost, but we are excited to have better lighting in our new kitchen. We should have our appliances installed tomorrow. That will be nice!

Day 9 (Oct 16)

THE big day. Jeff, Doug and Gary made quick work of the cabinet installation. Can you believe they got them all in and level in one day? It's a lot of new storage and work space, and we're very excited! The light wood really brightens the room, too. The tall pantry on the right side of the room is damaged and will have to be replaced, but everything else looks in good shape. We just have a few things to fix - swapping doors, installing full shelves and pull-out trays. However, we're hoping that will be easy. (fingers crossed) We don't know if the counter top people came to make a template today. I guess we'll find out tomorrow morning when the guys show up again. The sink should arrive mid-week, and we'll pick up extra tiles tomorrow to fill in gaps on the floor.

Day 8+ (Oct 13-15)
On Friday our contractor sent over one guy to paint the ceiling. Over the weekend Drew primed the walls. We haven't decided what color to paint the walls yet and will decide once the cabinets are in and the countertops are installed. We're open to suggestions.
I steered clear of the kitchen again over the weekend. We had fans blowing all the time, and yet we still vacated the house as much as possible because primer is smelly!

Day 7
Thursday the cabinets arrived, and they clearly do occupy the garage. Today they also textured the walls and ceiling. The barrier between me and the kitchen is just a thin piece of plastic, but it tells the tale of a messy afternoon. I am steering clear of the kitchen at this point, which makes doing laundry a bit more challenging.

When Drew and I started our kitchen remodel in April 04 we had a split personality kitchen, half pale yellow and half blue. We've sort of returned to that state.

Day 6
Wednesday was a fairly uneventful day in the remodeling scheme of things. If the guys had not moved things in the house, I would have wondered if they showed up at all. They arrived after I left for the morning and left before I got home. However, evidence of further mudding and sanding was on the floor when I walked into the kitchen.

In other news, Ann (the designer) sent us an email Wednesday evening that the cabinets would be arriving on Thursday morning and occupying our garage until Monday. That's progress! Too bad it's supposed to rain this weekend.

Day5 (10/10/06): Let there be light!

Day4 Update (10/09/2006) : The ceiling has been stripped, and the drywall has been taped and floated for the first time. The lights have been covered, and some of the boxes have been installed. Erica is very excited to have the popcorn ceiling gone. She is also glad to not stare at the "sky before a tornado" light. You'll have to ask her to explain.

Day 3 Update: they hung more drywall and worked on lighting. We are looking forward to replacing the ugly lights.

After making lots of progress on the first day, the advancements on the second day were not as obvious. The guys spent some time working on the electrical requirements for the kitchen. This pictures shows the wall where the sink will be in the far corner. They had to take out more of that wall than I thought they would, but removing the drywall sure makes the wiring easier. Fishing lines through finished walls is not a fun job.

Erica and I will be traveling to my alma mater, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, this weekend. We will update you with more photos on Monday.

Here are the first pictures from the demolition of our kitchen. We are pleased with the design, and the installer has been very accomodating. Erica was the photographer today since I am out of town, and I'll let Erica post her funny story from today about the crew needing a diaper (I'm sure you are all on the edge of your seat!). The pictures show: the wall without cabinets and the sink; the pantry removal; the pile of old cabinets. The new cabinets will be delivered next week, and the workers will work on the wall and ceiling repairs for this week. Stay tuned for more updates.