Let the games begin!

Over the weekend we took out the old cabinets with the help of my brother Bill. Also helping out were our sons, Chase and Bryan. Quinton and Maggie came along for the ride and had fun running around an empty house. As we took out each cabinet, we put it out on the deck. Soon, Quinton started arranging them, climbing in and out of his new found fort. Great fun for a 5 year old!

It only took about 2 hours to take out the 17 boxes. We kept the gas oven, sink, and dishwasher for the plumber to disconnect on Monday. I'm surprised how small the kitchen now looks without anything in it.

Today the plumber and electrician were scheduled to come and do disconnects. We all left for work before anyone had arrived, so I was anxious to see if anyone had showed up. I scooted home mid-day and found the plumber hard at work. He had done all the disconnects and was working on relocating the plumbing to the sink. We are moving the sink over several feet and it will be centered under a new 6 foot triple casement window. The plumber discovered a hornet nest in the duct work for the downdraft venting we had for our old Jenn-Air. Luckily, no one was home!

Before












Bryan and Bob helping out Bill.

Chase and Bill trying to figure things out.

After

Demo starts tomorrow!

The plan is to take down our existing cabinets tomorrow. Most of these will be recycled, going to our basement and relatives. I have sold the stove and microwave. Those will be picked up on Sunday and next weekend. Have some interest in our sink and dishwasher. On Monday, the plumber and electrician will be at the house disconnecting whatever needs to be done. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures tomorrow.

The good news is I received a call from the Building Inspector. All set with the permit. Yea!

Can't wait!

Building Permit

The City we live in has extremely strict building codes. Anything over $1000 done to your home requires a building permit. Personally, I think they are just try to boost their fee income, but that's a discussion for another day.

Since we are knocking down a load-bearing wall between the kitchen and dining room, a beam will be necessary, and the Building Inspectors office needs detailed info on it. Finally gathered what I hope is all the necessary information and dropped it off today with the City. They said that it will take 1 1/2 to 2 weeks to obtain the permit. I'm hoping it's 1 1/2. Don't want to hold up progress!

Finally a sink decision!

I finally have made a decision on the kitchen sink. The winner is...Kindred undermount model 1930. It's 18 gauge stainless steel. This is a picture taken in the plumbing showroom.

Tile

Last weekend we went to a local decorating center and quickly looked through tile. We plan to do a tile backsplash behind the cooktop. We also plan to finally tile around our gas fireplace as well as replace the existing tile in the half bath floor. We grabbed a few boards that caught our eye and brought them home. Yesterday, I went to our kitchen designer's showroom along with my sister-in-law to view some additional tile options that the decorating center had dropped off. We also finally got a sample of our granite. While the sample is not from the exact slab we had picked out (this is polished rather than antiqued), it certainly gives us a better idea than my poor quality phone camera picture. This was taken with my phone camera, but you can see a bit of the blue flecks. It's called Blue in the Night.



Through process of elimination, we decided that one of the two tiles that I had quickly chosen was a winner. At this point, I'm thinking that we will use the 2"x2" version on the backsplash and the 6"x6" for the fireplace surround. We also want to add a hearth, so will go with the 12"x12" for that. This is the tile. It's a glazed porcelain mosaic. Probably will go with a darker gray grout.















I did a mockup of our fireplace.
























This is the tile that I'm thinking about for the half bath floor. We will have natural cherry beadboard going up 50 something inches.

Craig's List

Last Monday we had a snow day, so I was busy cleaning and taking pictures of old appliances and fixtures to post on Craig's List. I was able to post the kitchen sink, microwave, stove, and dining room light. I also posted a small under cabinet TV. Good results in the past week. The TV has been sold and I have a deposit on the microwave. I'm currently talking with people on the stove as well as the sink. Most of the items are still currently in use, so I need to negotiate pickup. It's a learning process.

More Decisions

Kitchen Sink
I've been struggling over what to get for a kitchen sink. You wouldn't think this would be such a difficult decision, but I have found this to be the hardest thus far. Currently, I have a Kohler enamel over cast iron sink with two bowls, one large and keep and the other small and shallow. This sink has served me well over the past 15 years. I had a similar sink in our previous home, which is why I decided on this when we built. My current sink is almond color and since we are going with stainless steel appliances, I wanted to carry that through in the sink. I also had decided to switch to a single bowl. For Christmas I received new cookware and find that this does not fit so well in the current size sink. Thus the decision to go with a single larger bowl. Initially I was looking at apron front sinks, but after pricing these, I've convinced myself that an undermounted model makes more sense...less apt to drip on the base cabinet. Right?

So, the search for undermounted sinks began. I like the looks of the pro style sinks with straight sides and square corners, but was reminded that cleaning the corners might be an issue over time. I have narrowed it down between a Kindred and a Blanco sink. Including the grate, one is $200 more than the other, but is also 2" wider and 1" deeper. Who would think settling on a kitchen sink would cause such anguish. Stay tuned.

Kitchen Faucet
The faucet is another matter. I've been leaning toward Kohler products, with the Vinnata in brushed nickel as the leading contender. Yesterday we went to a local plumbing showroom and were shown a Hansgrohe model that we both liked. It's a Swing higharc single-hole with 2-spray pull-out. I think this is the one.

















Bathroom Faucet
While we were at the showroom, we also looked at bathroom faucets. Since we will be going with a vessel sink, I'm finding that there are not so many options with faucets due to the height required. Again, I was leaning toward Kohler products and had found that I liked the Fairfax. The salesperson showed us the Santec Caprie model (which I was not familiar with), and this is now the leading contender.























Bathroom Toilet
Didn't think I would ever get excited about a toilet...but I've found one that will be good for the environment and help my water bill. Toto has dual flush toilets. I happened to see one installed on an Ask This Old House episode, but didn't realize what the model was until I happened upon it in the plumbing showroom we visited.

Stools

I may be jumping ahead, but I've already ordered stools for the new kitchen. We need four stools for the island and two for the raised peninsula. I decided to keep the same style of back on the island stools as I have in my dining room chairs. They are not the same manufacturer, however, I think they go nicely.


This is the stool for the island.

This is the stool for the peninsula. I'm thinking about going with black legs.

Both stools are cherry and have swivel seats, which my husband said is a must.