The Cabinets are UP!

Our cabinets are more or less installed! There was a measuring error (or a few), so the upper cabinets near the kitchen windows aren't up because they're being rebuilt (at no cost to us).


In the middle photo, you can also see the gap between the pantry and the glass-front cabinets above the desk area. Due to another pesky measuring error, we have a gap of about 5 inches. The kitchen company is going to put some cubbyholes and a tall shelf for cookbooks in that space. Yay!

The Cabinets have arrived!

The cabinets are here, and they look great! They'll look even better installed, we believe!

Unfortunately, some of the measurements were a bit.... off. The small window in the kitchen proved to be a bit perplexing - the upper cabinets on either side are the wrong size. Also, there was another measurement error in the sunroom - to correct the problem, we're getting little cubbyholes above the desk in the sunroom. Once it's installed, we'll post photos with the plan, and the reality. It's not the end of the world; the mis-sized cabinets will be re-made, and we'll have cubbyholes!

Patrick's Wolf Cooktop

The appliances arrived on July 23rd, and have been waiting patiently to be installed.

The most anxiously awaited is Patrick's dream cooktop, the Wolf, currently taking up space on the living room floor. The Wolf is 36 inches wide, and has a grill in the middle of the four burners. Patrick is very, very excited about it.

Our Colour Palette

At long last, we have settled on the colours!

The top photo has the colours for the downstairs: kitchen, sunroom, powder room, dining room (dark green), the dark grey is for the stairway, and the pale grey/blue is the living room.

The bottom is: the spare bedroom in pale yellow, the boys' room in dark blue, landing in grey, upstairs bathroom in pale lilac, office in green, and our bedroom in light blue. Now, we just need to paint the bloody walls upstairs. Sigh.

Who says that you have to stick with a paint colour once it's on the wall?

After having the contractors paint the living room "Glazed Green", the inevitable happened. We went to cousin Mary's, and her pale greyish-blue paint colour (which we've seen whenever we go there, for at least a dozen years now) looked sensational, all of a sudden. So, Monday morning dawned with a colossal scramble to the paint store to a) find a new paint colour, b) buy a new gallon of paint, and c) rush it over to the house so as not to cause the reno to fall behind schedule. The new colour is "Silver Cloud", Benjamin Moore 2129-70, and it's quite lovely.

We have a Sunroom!

After months of calling this back room the "sunroom", it is now a reality. Previously, there was one lovely big window that overlooks the backyard. Now, after uncovering a window that had been covered over, and putting in a glass door, we have wall to wall windows.

Spruced up Radiators

The contractors lugged these beasts out to the front porch to get them out of the way when the house was gutted. There, they power-washed them, and lugged them back into the house. There, they were painted a white semi-gloss, which will keep them not only fresh-looking, but easier to clean. Now, they have to be lugged back out onto the porch again, then lugged back in. We are very excited not to be doing this work ourselves in our spare time.

New Windows!!!

The new windows are arriving!! The living room has one new window on the right, and the original on the left. The two kitchen windows are in, and the upstairs bathroom, too. The place looks sensational!

Presto - Steps!!

One day, no steps, the next day - STEPS!!!



Coming soon - a door!

Kitchen Hardware - and the Kitchen Sink!

Oh, the horror. After much soul-searching and browsing of catalogues and websites, we have chosen some drawer pulls. We love the shell pull (shown here as "B", in antique nickel finish) from Lee Valley, and the art deco drawer pull, shown here in satin nickel. So, the question is, can these 2 different nickel finishes co-exist in the same kitchen? We love the look of both, and weren't able to find them both in the same finish. So, what now? Do we incorporate them both in our kitchen? Will unmatched cabinet hardware render the kitchen a disaster? Will 2 different kinds of nickel ruin the entire house? Please, advise!!






We have also, at long last (not because we were spending so much time deciding, but more so because we got behind on things) chosen a kitchen sink. We really like this one - it's very pretty and is cast iron. We also really liked the first one we chose, but as it would likely be installed 2 weeks AFTER we moved in to the house, we decided we liked this one best, as it's going to arrive at the house well before we move in - God willing.

Sunroom and Kitchen - Introducing Paint!

Just as we were getting used to drywall tape, the kitchen and sunroom are given a new look - "Butter Milk" and "Glazed Green"!

The Dining Room - Mossy Green and Getting There

The dining room is a darker shade of green - right now it houses the main floor's radiators. The rads have been power-washed this week, and will be spray-painted white to match the trim shortly.

The Upstairs Bathroom - Primed

Ready for paint...

The Painting Begins!

Suddenly, the house is ready for a lick of paint!! The painters arrived this week, and made short work of painting just about the entire downstairs. They were clearly relieved that they weren't going to be responsible for painting the upstairs bedrooms, all of which require the walls to be sanded, holes patched, and likely several coats to cover up the blood-red paint.

The Living Room - Glazed Green!