The Renovation Building is Complete + Kitchen Details & A Miracle!

Hi Everyone,

Okay, the renovation building is complete– except for the den where I am currently sleeping.

Also, when I say “done,” there are still a few things, like adjusting the kitchen pantry shelves. And, there, all the new flooring

around the stairs will be replaced. Brendan and Eugene removed it today.

By the way, I updated the living room guardrail rendering from Sunday with a new sofa. Please check it out here.

 

So, for the next two posts, we will look at all the new details and much more that’s going on.

 

One of the most gratifying is that the toe kicks were put on the cabinets last week, and the dishwasher was installed with its panel. Today, on the new Blomberg fridge, they installed the fridge panels that were created ON SITE for the lemon Bertazzoni fridge.

And let me tell you.

Never mind, I don’t have to tell you. You can see for yourself. ;]

 

I was all prepared for the guys to have to do something creative to get those panels on there. It did take them a couple of hours, but I’ve never seen such a masterful job of paneling on a refrigerator. Never mind that I held my breath that the new Blomberg refrigerator would fit inside the small allotted space. I measured like ten times, and the space I had was 3/16″ of an inch larger than the minimum allowed for the height and width according to the Blomberg specifications.

Well, as you can see, it couldn’t all fit together more perfectly!

How is this fridge, Laurel?

 

It’s wonderful! The door actually closes with zero effort and requires a light tug to open as it should. The hold on the Bert fridge was so weak that half the time, when I shut the freezer, the fridge door would spontaneously open, but not enough to notice. Then came the ensuing cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo… alarm that the door was open.

 

That grating cuckoo always sounded like: Hey idiot cuckoo; you left cuckoo the door cuckoo open… hehe cuckoooooo…

 

Well, you little POS (It really is), I did no such thing! You opened it yourself and then dared to blame it on me. Nice try, but I’m not taking any crap from a whiny refrigerator that cost me nearly two thousand dollars!

Now, onto the new toe-kicks that have been chilling in the closet since last August!

 

Okay, both kitchen designers I worked with at Crown Point Cabinetry urged me not to do this low of a toe-kick because getting one’s toe caught in the toe-kick space is not fun.

Alas, they are correct, IF wearing a shoe with a platform.

 

My Dansko clog sandals are terrific to slip on because walking barefoot is dangerous around here.

 

Well, so are open-toe clogs with my new toe-kicks. They’re very comfortable sandals, but they raise my toes well over an inch higher than normal. And you guessed it; I banged my toe but good week. Normally, I walk around with only socks on. Then, there’s plenty of room. So, for now, I am “hoist by my own pitard.”

I fell in love with this lower-than-average toe-kick many years ago when I worked with another (unnamed) company in Greenwich, CT. You can see their work in the image below, which is from a bathroom I designed in 2013.

 

You can see more of this bathroom here.

That contractor was fantastic. He was from Scotland. Alas, when I contacted him a few years later, he said he was doing something else.

 

In case you are wondering, we did not do the shaped toe-kick everywhere in my new kitchen.

 

The reason is that with nine cabinet bases, plus the dishwasher, I feel 18 shaped toe kicks would be too much. So, we did the shaped toe-kick on five of the cabinet bases only, and I love how it turned out.

 

You can’t do a toe-kick for the dishwasher, or the door won’t open. So, for variation, we did the squared-off one for the two little cabinets flanking the sink, which does have a shaped toe kick. I’ll add that for tomorrow so you can see. Normally, we would do the return for this toe-kick, but it’s not possible. I’ll show you the entire sink wall on Wednesday so you can see how terrific it looks.

 

I only had the two lamps on for this image because the overhead bulb and sometimes the hood light, which is usually on, cause so much distortion.

 

I’ll take more detailed shots of this, as well, for Wednesday’s post.

 

There is also news about the downstairs vanity. I have to admit that there are times when I feel a certain amount of rage regarding the floor downstairs. I mean, I’m spending all of this money, and while I don’t expect perfection, I don’t love being told that the floor slopes three inches from where the new door is across 15′-4″ to the back of the shower and toilet.

THREE INCHES.

 

Why was I only told this when it was too late to do anything about it?

 

Infuriating!

One inch, okay. No one is going to notice such a gradual slope. However, it is quite noticeable in the entry and as we’ve already gone over several times, the bathroom.

So, please stay tuned for what happened when the guys set up the new vanity. Temporarily, that is.

 

Now, for the best news one could ever hope to have after a renovation in its 13th month.

 

One, the renovation building—the massive dust-making kind is finished. Yes, I just had to have zillions of mouldings. Well, I don’t regret doing that for one second, but… I did a happy dance for real when I saw that the giant buzz saw had been put away for good.

That is for a few weeks. There is still work to be done in the den. However, I expect that to take maybe three days at the most. That will happen after we can move everything downstairs at the end of the month.

For Wednesday, I’ll also have an update on the painting and the floors, too.

 

But, I saved the very best news for last.

 

My lovely neighbor upstairs goes abroad for five weeks every summer. Last year, she offered me her place for July. So, last week, I asked her if that offer was still available.

It is.

Today, she gave me the keys to her apartment for five weeks. And she’s refusing to take any money. She says she’d rather the place not look like no one’s living there. I will need to get her a very nice gift!

 

Remember a couple of weeks ago when everything was crashing down on me at an alarming rate, and I handed everything over to God?

 

 

Well, I must say, He certainly stepped up to the plate and then some. I am incredibly grateful for this massive break!

This means we can speed things up a little because some of the dirty work could get done upstairs, as long as the stairs are covered.

Isn’t that the best?

 

Hey, you could throw a big party, Laurel!

 

haha, yes, I could. Or, at least, have a place to sit down with a friend or two. At the very least, my son Cale can have a quiet place this week. He’s going to NYC for two days and then will be back for a few more days before heading back to western Mass.

There’s much more for Wednesday.

xo,

 

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