What I Did On My Summer Vacation by Amy Jo

I know it seems silly to be recapping my summer vacation when the season only properly began a few days ago, but trust me we've already crammed an entire summer's worth of stuff in! At the time of my last posting, the big children were just wrapping up school. We got them home just in time to ditch the boys with their grandparents and whisk the girls away to Hilton Head for a few days. It was non-stop beach going, swimming, sandcastle building fun.

We got home early Tuesday afternoon, said hello to the boys, got cleaned up and headed out for a fun filled night at the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, featuring Ben Folds. We were exhausted, but it was amazing!

We slept like a ton of bricks that night, got up Wednesday, and got straight to work. SOB was off the rest of the week, and we had many projects to tackle. We planted EIGHT MORE SHRUBS (we've been kind of on a shrub planting tear around here), we spread 8 yards of mulch inside the garden and around the new shrubs, we pulled up all of the carpeting in the basement and on the stairs leading there, then SOB fixed the sub floor down there in anticipation of our brand new carpet that was supposed to be installed yesterday but still isn't here, we bought new couches, we mowed and weed whacked many blades of grass, harvested many peas, cleaned out the entire garage, and SOB (with the help of my dad) built me an amazingly awesome new chicken coop out of reclaimed doors from this very house that we live in! 

The little chickens aren't so little anymore, and keeping them in the garage was keeping the garage very filthy. Now they can all live happily outside! 

(Related: do you know anyone who might want a few roosters?) 

Oh, and I also shot a wedding all day Saturday, with the help of my lovely and talented new assistant, my sister-in-law Tori!

Then first thing Monday morning, I dropped three kids off at camp and headed to court for the very first time in my life! It was nerve-wracking, even though I knew the outcome mattered nil. I just had to make an appearance so that one of many bureaucratic boxes could be checked off. 

Today Sam is off on an amazing adventure, and I'm all super mixed emotion-y about him growing up and having experience on his own, but that's another post for another day. I'm stuck here waiting (still) for the afore mentioned carpet to arrive and be installed for a little bit longer before camp pick up. If the sun stays out maybe we'll go swimming tonight. 

Summer, you're pretty bitchin' so far.

New Year's Renovations

It seems like instead of resolutions, we make renovations for new year's. Last year was the big kitchen remodel of '13. Since we never ended up re-doing the floor in there, we finally decided it was time. We had to put down area rugs since the new counters weren't in the exact same places as the old ones, and the only area rugs we had were brown. The kitchen is already a small room, and it only has windows at one end, so putting dark rugs down makes it seem even darker. So sometime next week we will be switching it out for big, bright tiles.

And since we were going to have the tile guy out here already, we decided to go ahead and re-do our first floor powder room. One of the lovely things about this old house of ours is how many pink bathrooms we have…THREE! The master bathroom is pink, the upstairs hall bathroom is pink and our powder room is pink, too. With maroon and brown accents. Observe...

Isn't that special? Here are some closer looks...

True confession time: I love this sink. If we could somehow re-enamel it and re-chrome the fixtures, I would keep it. While those are actual things you can do, they were not very cost effective, and so a new, similarly shaped sink and faucet was purchased. But it isn't as cool.

This is the medicine cabinet. This also doesn't offend me, as it is very true to the style of the house. However, the edges are kind of yucky, especially at the bottom. The back of the mirror is metal, and after years and years it's gotten rusty. We are replacing it with a simple oval mirror with a beveled edge, like this one. Here is a closer look at the lights...

These lights wouldn't bother me so much if the crystals were original. When we moved in there were more missing then not, and we couldn't find a good match, so we ended up replacing them entirely. I have the old ones in a bag because they match another old chandelier we have. Also, they are incredibly dim. The replacements will look something like this. 

And finally, the pièce de résistance, the toilet. 

In all of it's maroon glory! First of all, you can't ever really tell if it's clean. It's maroon, and it's located in a dimly lit room. Secondly, it's incredibly low to the floor. Good for the kids, annoying for the adults. Thirdly, like all of the old toilets in this house, it's got a big water tank and takes forever to refill. Since this is the only toilet on the main floor, it gets a lot of use. The kids aren't patient enough to wait for the tank to refill to flush, so it can often be found with wads of toilet paper floating around in there. It's getting replaced with a standard issue white toilet. Easier to clean (or at least know it's clean), higher and with more efficient water usage. Oh, and that pink, brown, beige and maroon floor tile? OUT! It's getting replaced with black and white hexagon tiles on the floor. The pink and brown wall tile? OUT! Replaced with white subway tile with a black bull nose. Oh, and we'll have to paint the top parts of the walls. Right now they are a light beige, but they will be painted a very light gray, eventually.I'm hopeful that this project won't take too, too long. I mean, the room is only 4 feet wide by 8 feet deep. The demo might be a bit dodgy, but our tile man works quickly, so hopefully I'll have new photos to share next week! 

Kitchen Remodel: Almost Done Edition!

OMG you guys! We have back splash!!!

It wasn't nearly as hard as we thought it was going to be to pick it out. And it wasn't nearly as expensive as we thought it was going to be to have it professionally installed. And it didn't take anywhere as long as we thought it might take! 

We debated about getting a stainless back splash here above the stove, but it was as expensive as we though it might be, so we went with tile. I really like the way it looks, and it's all sealed so it should be stain proof. 

Oh, and some where along the way (like waaaaaay back two whole weeks ago when we were getting ready for our florida trip) our upper cabinets got installed, too! I finally got to put my dishes away and clear off my dining room table, HOO-fucking-RAY!

Some final painting will be done next week (see that bulkhead between the ceiling and the cabinets? THAT) and that hole in the ceiling you see in the top right there needs patched, but we have the tiles cut to the size of the hole. Scaredy cat tile guy wouldn't put them up for us because of liability, but he was nice enough to cut them for us, saving us from having to buy a wet saw. SOB was a little disappointed, I think. He always loves adding to his saw collection.

The floor, which is hardly ever pictured, will be professionally done sometime soon, but not in the next few weeks. SOB is going to install some under cabinet lighting and fix the ceiling hole, and we're just about finished! Which is perfect timing since we're having a big birthday party for Fred on the 10th. I love giving myself a reason to get shit done.

Speaking of getting shit done, I need to order a cake!

Kitchen Remodel: The Counters Are Here!

We used to have these really super cool custom counter tops. They were made of a cool composite consisting mostly of pieces of dry wall...

And reclaimed cabinet doors. They were really quite stunning. 

However, they were a bear to keep clean, and the dry wall wasn't staying too dry, which was making it lumpy. So we finally caved and got some new counter tops.

These ones wipe clean, and don't have peeling contact paper on top, which is a real plus if you ask me!

Plus our sink is a new and permanent fixture now, instead of a random piece of particle board counter with a recycled (read: trash picked) sink. I like that.

Next week the rest of the cabinets arrive, which means we're in the home stretch! Now we just (really) have to figure out that to do with that damn back splash...

Kitchen Remodel: Appliance Edition

Yesterday morning we had a hole where a refrigerator should be...

By yesterday afternoon the hole was filled!

Yesterday morning, we had a hole where a stove should be...

And by yesterday afternoon the hole was filled! 

And then we cooked dinner! We made the kids home made mac and cheese last night, and we had some juicy steaks, potatoes and lovely a mushroom sauce. 

Now if we could just decide on a backsplash...

Kitchen Remodel: Day Five-ish?

Yesterday we got the new ventilation hood installed! I'm quite giddy, because the appliance come TOMORROW! Until then, don't let small children walk too closely to this thing while it's on, or else they might get sucked in...

Next up, figuring out back splash. Since our cabinet guys were awesome about preserving the tiles they removed, part of me wants to try and use them again, despite the fact that it would probably be a terrific pain in the ass. For SOB. I don't know the first thing about tiling. That's probably why he wants to go with option two: ANYTHING ELSE. I'll let you know what I we decide. 

Kitchen Remodel: Weekend Update

On friday we got cabinets!

Things were starting to look like a real kitchen again! Then on saturday we got some bonus work done by our contractor, who just wanted to finish up a few thing before monday. He brought us a temporary sink and piece of countertop so that we could have running water, and he put all of the handles on the drawers and cabinets! 

See???

Then, because my husband and father are totally awesome, I got new lights! For some reason, the previous owners put ceiling fans with these hideous brown and yellow glass lamps on them in the kitchen. 

The net effect was that everything in my kitchen took on a semi-jaundice appearance. Now I have two lovely mercerized glass flush mounted lights, which not only makes things look a normal color, but also  makes the ceiling seem higher since they don't hang down so far.

The only big drawback to installing these lights was that we realized just how disgusting our glass ceiling was. Remember the other day when I mentioned how the vent fan was not actually functioning all that well? All of that food vapor had settled on the glass tiles, which is why I found myself swiffer'ing my ceiling on Saturday afternoon.

That was fun. You know what else was fun? Washing dishes in a dishwasher!

And throwing things into a real live trashcan!

And having new, non-scary looking wires sticking out of the wall instead of the ancient ones from the day before!

My dad and husband spent the better part of the weekend toiling away for me and I couldn't be more grateful. Although to be fair, they did have a little extra help...

Until tomorrow!

Kitchen Remodel: Day Two

There isn't much to look at today, because it's mostly just drywall. However, it is a whole lot nicer looking than the black plaster with big holes in it, like you see further down. Today they are actually putting in cabinetry, so the next installment should be more interesting to look at. In the meantime, we're headed to Lowe's for new light fixtures and a garbage disposal! YAY! You never truly realize how useful a garbage disposal is until you don't have one.

This is where the sink will be...

And this is where the range is going...

The newly drywall'ed bulkhead...

And the yet to be drywall'ed wall...

Looks much better on this end, doesn't it???

Kitchen Remodel: Day 1

Well, we spent all day on January first emptying out the kitchen. It looked almost nice when it was all cleaned out, see: 

However nice it looked, the appliance still didn't work for shit, so bright and early Tuesday morning some men arrived with crow bars.

And just like that! It was all gone. Naturally, not even one day into the project and we have already encountered some significant problems. For starters, the cabinets that were ordered are too small. Now, the kitchen was measured by professionals, who told us what to order. And the guys who are installing the cabinets are the same guys that did all of the measuring. BUT since we signed the papers to submit the order it's all our fault, of course. So everything that goes above the counters has to be sent back and new, bigger ones have to be made. Not a huge deal, but we will have to pay for the difference on the larger cabinets.

The other main issue is that the bulkhead you see up by the ceiling basically fell apart in several places, so it's currently being re-built. AND! Since the old wall tiles were applied with some sort of crazy epoxy, most of the wall came off with the tiles, which means everything has to get new drywall. Plus a ton of electrical work has to be done. And the hole for the new hood has to be cut. And and and.

Prior to Tuesday we were debating having the floors done at the same time, but now we're really glad we're not. The floor money has now been spent! Here's hoping for not too many more surprise expenses! 

The Great Kitchen Remodel of 2013

This morning Maggie came to me and asked tearfully why daddy was making us move again. Why might she ask that, you wonder?  Because our dining room is filled top to bottom with boxes. Now, I know that these boxes contain our new kitchen cabinetry, but Maggie is only 3, and she wasn't home while the boxes were being delivered, hence her confusion.

After calming her and showing her what was inside the boxes, she asked why we were getting our kitchen all 'changed up.' So for her, and for those of you out there wondering, let me explain...

We bought an old house. And it has an old kitchen. A really old kitchen. The wall and ceiling tiles are original 1930s Carrera glass, and are the only thing we're hoping to keep. The cabinets, counters and appliance (minus the fridge) are from the 60s, most likely. They were working pretty well when we moved in, but the previous owners barely ever used them. Now, after three months of daily use they are starting to show their age. 

Here you see our deluxe Thermador four burner electric stove, which is integrated into our stainless steel counters. The burner all the way to the left works most of the time, however the temperature control is weak. It's dialed from 1-7, but in reality, 1-6 are about a 1 and 7 is a 36. The burner on the right works a bit, but not if any of the other burners are on.

Look at this fancy, cruddy knob! It's for the ventilation fan over the stove, which works at about 30% capacity. There are two big, disgusting issues with this hood and fan. #1: Since the fan only works marginally, any time you boil something, the steam condenses on the inside of the hood and drips back down into the food you are cooking. When we first realized this, and we looked at the underside of the hood, we threw away the food we were making. Since it's been cleaned, it's not quite so terrible, but yes, it still is. #2: When the fan isn't on, cold air blows back down in from outside into our kitchen. But don't worry, just turn on the oven and it warms right up!

Ah, the ovens. Don't get too close to the when they are on, because there is almost no insulation on those doors! The thermostats in these babies are also, um, awful. We bought an oven thermometer for them and have been consistently amazed at the inconsistency of the temperatures. No matter what temp you set them for, they cycle between 200 and 650, with no real pattern. Which is why I didn't make any christmas cookies this year.

Our current cabinetry is wood veneer over metal. Durable, and likely pretty high quality when they were purchased.

Despite having a much smaller kitchen than before, we have a good amount of cabinet space. Probably on account of multiple lazy susans. 

And all of them filled with delicious rust on the inside!

One of the major flaws of our kitchen, aside from everything I've already mentioned, is it's awkward layout. Tables and counters jut out at random places...

I can maybe understand why someone would have wanted this little prep table, but not really. We're getting rid of that, and that whole wall will become pantry space. This should open up the area around the sink a little more and give us more food storage space.

This fridge is going to the basement and being replaced with a counter depth model. All of the cabinetry here will be gone, including the space where the ancient trash compactor used to be. The new fridge is taller and wider and will take up almost all of this space.

Our counter are composed of three different materials.

Some is ancient butcher block...

And some is stainless steel. We also have formica, which you can see in the photo with the microwave. Honestly, if we could find a way to refurbish the non-formica areas that wouldn't cost more than just replacing them, I would consider it. But since we are replacing the stove/ovens with a single unit, we have to reconfigure the counters anyway, so new stone it is!

So that's about it. The cabinets are here, and the demo starts on Januray 2. Wish us luck!