I was VERY excited to stop over at Andi and Neil’s yesterday to see how things were going. So without further ado here is a peak (I will take more detailed photos once the kitchen is truly finished).

View from the Dining Room (looking south). Sink doors haven't been installed yet.

East Wall (missing cabinet doors are being painted). Look at the shiny refinished floors and the beautiful brick!

North Wall (stone tile backsplash will be continuous on this wall). You can also see the creamy wall color.

Close up of North Elevation w/ new Kenmore Slide-In Range

Beadboard Ceiling and Beautiful Schoolhouse Pendants

Detail of Brick w/ under counter lighting and granite counter

There are a bunch of miscellaneous items that need to be ordered and installed in the next couple of weeks but all of the big stuff is done! The contractors cleaned up most of their stuff yesterday (minus the paint cans for final touch up) and removed the tarps on the floor. They will be back once the last of the panels are painted and delivered, the handles and knobs are ready, and the tile backsplash is decided on and delivered. In the meantime, Andi and Neil can start using the kitchen! It is REALLY nice to see the kitchen without all of the construction clutter. And with another day or two of work it will be completely finished!

Handle choices (left is bright nickel, right is brushed nickel) & granite counter

I think we decided on the handles for the drawers, a traditional style handle with a brushed nickel finish (to coordinate with the faucet). We are still reviewing knob options. I think we should go with something fun and colorful for the knobs. They are at eye level and are the one thing that can be changed out quickly at a later point. For most of the choices on the kitchen we went fairly safe with the finish and coloring (which is good for items that you can’t change easily) but the knobs I think could start to bring some of Andi and Neil’s colorful style back into the room.

"Biltmore" Marble Tile in 2" Hexagon Pattern

"Biltmore" Marble Tile in Basketweave Pattern

Carrera Marble Subway Tile, 3"x6"

We are in agreement that we should use a marble tile for the backsplash behind the stove. The backup is to use a carrera marble subway tile but I prefer the hexagon or basketweave “Biltmore” Marble from The Tile Shop, but Neil is not convinced (at least not yet). I think we should be able to come to a consensus in the next few days though.

William Morris Inspired Fabric for Window Valance

We still need to look at accessories for the kitchen too. We all love this William Morris inspired fabric, that I think will make a lovely window valance. We also need to look at the space above the opening to the Sunroom and figure out what would look nice above there. I like the idea of vintage plates hanging or possibly a long shelf holding some fun accessories.

East Wall: The fridge is currently pulled out so it looks more jumbled then it actually is.

North Wall w/ new microwave (the trim for the underside of the upper cabinets has not been installed yet)

West Wall w/ new window casing

Southwest corner (need to pickup butcher block for the existing radiator cover)

Detail of Cabinet w/ brick and beadboard ceiling. I think the combination of these look great together! (touch up painting for the crown molding still needs to be done)

I stopped by Andi and Neil’s house yesterday to see how things were going. They are getting close to being done! The cabinets and trim look fabulous thanks to all of Chris & Kent’s hard work.  The to do list is getting much shorter and the end is almost in site (although I’m not sure Andi & Neil would agree with this right now). The countertops were templated last Friday, unfortunately we are looking at another 1-2 weeks before they can actually be installed (it appears that one of the downsides of using the Ikea countertop companies is that their cue is quite long). The contractors will be finishing up most of what they can do until the countertops are installed today.  The items left on the list:

Miscellaneous Trim:

-Undermount trim for the upper cabinets (we need to get the clips for these, for some reason Ikea didn’t supply them like they should have).
-Missing side panel for one of the upper cabinets (we need to get this and then have it painted)
-Last of the crown molding for the upper cabinets (waiting for missing side panel)
-Make removable side panel for fridge. This will have a tackboard on the upper part and a chalkboard on the lower part.
-Pick up last set of doors and drawer fronts at painters

Walls:

-Finish Priming Walls (scheduled for today)
-Paint walls creamy yellow

Floors:

-Finish sealing wood floors

Ceiling:

-Install pendant lights (after a couple of weeks on backorder they are finally ready to be picked up at the store)

Countertop:

-Install countertop
-Pick out small piece of butcherblock for counter above radiator (possibly at Home Depot or Ikea)

After countertop:

-Install sink and dishwasher
-Install range
-Patch walls after counter in installed around opening to Sunroom

Miscellaneous:

-Decide on knobs for upper cabinets and handles for drawers. We decided to wait on this until we see the countertops in place.

Backsplash:

-We decided to wait on this until the counters are installed.  Tile will go on the north wall backsplash behind the stove.

Ceiling & Drywall Progress: the first bay has the beadboard plywood installed & they have added drywall to the wall

Andi and Neil’s kitchen is still in the not so exciting to look at phase. The contractors should be there all week which is good news! The ceiling is partially done. They ran into a small hiccup, the the old florescent light that is providing temporary light is hooked into the old knob and tube wiring. They are getting ready to disconnect this, but the new lighting has not arrived yet. So they can’t finish the rest of the ceiling until the new lights arrive. Fortunately they should be here today (fingers crossed). They have installed the 1×8 trim piece around the top of the ceiling. I had them put this in to make sure any uneven wall conditions would be covered up. We will be adding 3 “beams” at approximately 4′ intervals. Not only will this provide visual interest but it will give us a place to seam the beadboard. Most beadboard paneling comes in 8′ lengths (although you can get longer 3/4″ thick pine beadboard pieces in up to 12′ lengths).  The kitchen is about 9 1/2′ wide (so we couldn’t run the beadboard in that direction). The 4 “bays” that are left are designed to have lights centered in them (except for the one over the fridge). We centered the bays such that the light over the sink could also be centered in the bay. It is always a little tricky to get the beadboard spacing right. Unless you have a perfectly symmetrical room you usually have to decide what takes precedence. In our Dining Room we centered the ceiling on the room (and the light fixture) but our windows were not centered on the room, so they don’t align with the ceiling. Andi & Neil’s case is similar. The door openings and opening to the sunroom don’t align with the panels but the lights will all look nicely centered in the ceiling.

The beams will be created out of a 2×4 and then covered with a 1×4 piece of mdf or poplar. Then crown molding will cover the sides. It is a pretty simple system that provides a lot of interest.

East Wall

West Wall

 
I stopped by Andi & Neil’s house yesterday to see how things were going (sorry about the photos being blurry, they were taken with my phone). We are now at the point in the renovation where things appear to slow. It is not that things aren’t happening but electrical work and prepping for the final surfaces is not very exciting to look at! The contractors were busy yesterday putting in the electric for the light fixtures and electrical outlets. They have also finished furring out the north wall where the stove will be, patched the floor and installed the plywood on the ceiling for the beadboard.  They were also finishing up some miscellaneous drywall patching. Next on the list is the beadboard/beam ceiling. Then comes paint (which there isn’t a whole lot of) and refinishing the floor. Then finally the cabinets can be put in.