Sunday, April 4, 2010

Down to the Essentials

image A few have asked how Raven and Shadow are getting along.  And my answer would be. “Quite well considering the amount of changes that they are being put through.”  We’re about to hit week four since Raven came to live with us.  She learning all sorts of things and so are we.  I couldn’t pass up this one of them “holding hands”.  They really do have some sweet moments – and then there are others, but overall they both seem happy with the deal.

So what have we been putting them through?  A kitchen renovation – might I say a complete kitchen renovation.  I mean complete in the terms of take it all out and start all over.  I’m afraid I don’t have a photo from the very beginning – but you can at least see how we’ve started today.  You can see a hole on the end.  There was a set of top cabinets there above the range and freezer.imageI can tell you I’m so ready to get rid of that burnt orange.  I was cleaning out the attic and found pictures from my high school home with this same color.  I figured I must have lived over 20 years with a kitchen this color – it must something from the 70s or 80s. One layer of linoleum has been taken up with plywood on the back.  We found there are another 3 layers before one gets to the pine wood flooring.  Above is layer number 2 from the top.imageBack to today’s work – first we took out the bottom cabinets.  These had been built in place, so the only recourse was to take them out piece by piece – see the pile of wood waiting for me to remove the nails????imageThen we took out the top cabinets on the wall and around the sink.  I just loved the parallelograms James was making as he worked them off the wall.  Then sheetrock was removed and the blown insulation bagged up to be placed in the attic.  We’ll replace these with pretty pink rolls – you can see how the blown insulation sinks leaving gaps.  Oh and there used to be a window in that wall!imageHere’s how we ended the day – leaving one grouping of bottom cabinets so we can have a sink and dishwasher as long as possible.image Shadow is inspecting the work, but Raven is satisfied and let’s us know with an enthusiastic tail wagging.

imageShadow comes to give his report that it has been a productive day – but where’s dinner???  (I love the perspective in this one – his feet look so tiny compared to real life!)

imageTomorrow James builds the cabinets and takes them over to a refinisher who will paint them for us in his spray booth.  Hopefully we’ll be ready for them when he delivers them.  We’ve got to get the floor and the remaining walls down to studs, then rebuild back up to start putting in cabinets.  If not, every room may be graced with a cabinet awaiting their turn to be installed!

There you have it – I feel like I’m living in that campervan in New Zealand again – trying to figure out how to live on very little!

4 comments:

Theresa said...

A fine and noble Easter Sunday for sure! I can't believe you have lived with those cabinets for as long as you have. Our old,old house in NE had a 70's kitchen, Avocado green, Harvest Gold and Burnt Orange wall paper and burnt orange shag carpet. You've never seen anything faster than the blue and white and tile that went into the kitchen. :-)
Great paw shot and both are looking quite lovely and happy. Will you be changing the configuration of the kitchen at all? Colors?. BIG kudos to James for building your cabinets. They are bound to be beautiful. Kitchen renovations are never easy but they are so worth all the effort. The dogs will adapt as long as the food bowls hit the floor daily, they are usually all in with projects!

Jennifer said...

Theresa - I am not certain how I've lived with these colors for this long - but I'm looking forward rather than back. The kitchen will be rearranged and colors will change. I've loved the names of the colors - Labrador contertops will be on Jogging Trail colored cabinets in Cordoba flooring. I'm looking forward to seeing it for real - maybe by the end of the month this part will be finished!

kaiteM said...

the paws tell the whole story. |<.

Susan said...

Oh, my dear... you have my full sympathies on the kitchen reno. We are just coming out the end of what was a long, long process. I did dishes in my bathroom sink and when not eating cold food, we either BBQ'd or ate out.

Your helpers are there to cheer you when the times get tough...
Keep focusing on the end goal!

Susan