~~ They're leaving the nest, sew it's time for a trip - or two - or three...~~ D~'s bag ~9/22 ~~

[Terkina]

Good luck today with counter top installation, sink installation, and dishwasher plumbing day. I hope it goes well and Josh don't have too many problems

 

[Born 2B a Princess]

Sounds like it's going to be a big day for lots of visible progress! Yea!!! I know you're excited and ready to have it all finished!

 

[Ladyfish77]

Can't wait to see the counter installed. Hope it went well!

I took photos of the menu at Evergreens and before I could post them here for you someone on FB posted this:
http://www.shadesofgreen.org/menus/MENU_EVERGREENS_WEB.pdf

Exactly the menu I took photos of. Hope you see some things you like on the menu!

 

[DMGeurts]

Good luck today with counter top installation, sink installation, and dishwasher plumbing day. I hope it goes well and Josh don't have too many problems

Thanks... I think it went OK? I wasn't here for the actual carrying in and setting it part - they are all still alive and the counters look great - so I can only assume it went well. LOL

Sounds like it's going to be a big day for lots of visible progress! Yea!!! I know you're excited and ready to have it all finished!

Yes!!! We were able to get so much done yesterday! I am thrilled!

Can't wait to see the counter installed. Hope it went well!

I took photos of the menu at Evergreens and before I could post them here for you someone on FB posted this:
http://www.shadesofgreen.org/menus/MENU_EVERGREENS_WEB.pdf

Exactly the menu I took photos of. Hope you see some things you like on the menu!

Thanks - I am so excited for how it looks!

Ooooh!!! Thank you!!! So... Did you eat there? Did you enjoy it??? Inquiring minds... I hope you had a great trip!

**********************************************************************************************

So... I have one big reveal for you all today... I am so excited!

Yesterday morning - first thing I did (after coffee, of course) was to put the last coat of primer on the cabinet doors that needed it.

Then I ran to town and grabbed some groceries... Sandwich supplies - salads - easy stuff to make while my kitchen is a disaster. When I pulled up at home - the counter was no longer sitting on my front porch... Josh pulled a fast one on me and had Allison help him carry it in and set it while I was gone. Oh you guys... It's so beautiful - I could not be more proud of Josh... It looks so fantastic in here - the colors are amazing... Everything about it just makes me so happy that we chose to do our counter tops this way. Not only is it beautiful - but yet again, I have something amazing in my house, created by Josh's two hands...

And then it was time to cut out the spot for the sink. I don't know if anyone has ever had to do this before, but it's a very difficult thing to do... Not because it is hard - but mentally and emotionally, it's hard to wrap your mind around cutting a huge hole in a long and beautiful piece of wood... One mistake and it's time to start all over. But - Josh is awesome, and perfectly executed the task.

While Josh was doing this - I was painting the cabinet doors. That went really well and I was able to get them all finished. They look very nice.

The sink... Oh yes... This was NO picnic at all. So, several weeks ago when I purchased this sink of of Craigslist - I was so excited! This was the type of sink I grew up on... As many of you know - I grew up living with several relatives and in a few foster homes - well, across the board - they all lived on farms and they all had this same sink... So, even though this isn't a "true farmhouse" sink - as it's known today - to me, it's a farmhouse sink... And I couldn't be more thrilled with it. Buuuuut.... As popular as they were, back in the day, this type of sink is almost unheard of now and rarely - if ever - installed anymore. So, finding anything useful on the internet about how to install one of these beasts - well, it was impossible. Thankfully Sue has a sink just like this - and she was kind enough to brave the area under her sink to take pictures for me... This was a HUGE help - so thanks again Sue! Anyways... We hung this sink in place (yes - this is actually how they used to do it), caulked the whole darned thing - and began to install it...

Yah - this didn't go well at all... I heard profanity come out of Josh that I never knew existed... And believe me - we do our fair share of swearing in our house (I know... bad, bad....) - but after an hour, and a lot of pain, with me covered in caulk, and a lot of heavy maneuvering - Josh was able to get the sink in and it looks perfect!!!!

Something I didn't realize when I visualized this project, is the sleek lines it would give my kitchen... The counter top is totally flat and shiny.... The sink is totally flat with the counter top... I have a ceramic stove top.... All of these things together make this space very sleek and just nice... I really love it!

When taking pictures last night - I tried hard to get a photo of the top of the cupboards too - so you can see the color that the walls are going to be... but it didn't go well - so you get your own picture.

And then the whole thing... And V's dinner. You can really see the last 4ft section of counter top here - and the space we've been living in for a week - half of which is taken up by the microwave (I cannot wait to get rid of this beast too!).

Pictures just do not do this space justice... In photos - the counter top looks so dark, but IRL - it's beautiful... You can see the grain and the different colors. I could not be more thrilled with how this is coming together.

By the time we were done with the sink last night - it was 7pm... between cutting out the sink and just installing it - it literally took 7 hours!

So, today - our plans are to plumb the sink and the dishwasher - so we have a functioning kitchen again. Josh also plans to install the wainscot in the 12 ft section. Then build the 4 ft. counter top... So during the week, I can work on staining that one and Waterloxing it.

Today - I will be working on a few last minute things with the cupboard doors. I will also be putting paint on the wainscot (I also primed that yesterday) - so it's dry in time for Josh to install it. I am not sure what else I will be doing today? I do know - through out the week, I will be moving boxes out of my office and back into the kitchen - so I can have my office back to work out in. And at the same time - I will be clearing out the last set of cabinets in the 4 ft. section of our kitchen - sanding and prepping those for paint before next weekend. I am hoping to have everything ready to go - so that we can - hopefully - finish up the bulk of the kitchen next weekend. I am sure we will still have painting to do on all of the other walls that aren't around the cupboards - unless Josh gets to that during the week? I've just been trying hard not to make him do much during the week - because I know he is tired from work - then I just try to do as much as I can to keep us on track.

That's all - I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday - today is our last day of fabulous weather.

D~

 

[ljcrochet]

It looks amazing.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I'm so glad that you were able to install the sink. It looked like it would be a little tricky. And seven hours was probably about six hours more than you thought it would take. But the result is beautiful.

 

[Tinkercc]

Everything looks incredible!

 

[Clio]

Your counter and sink look beautiful. Josh did a great job. The kitchen will look great once it's put back together.
Liz

 

[LittleFlounder]

Oh my! Your new counter looks incredible!!! You did such a great job! I can't wait to see how your whole kitchen looks when it's done. I'm going to have to share your pictures with my sister...she lives in a turn-of-the-century home and has never been happy with her countertop...I think she will love yours and wanted her own just like it.

 

[amytech]

Everything looks fantastic! That counter! My goodness-it is gorgeous! I'm so impressed with how much you guys are managing to get done in such a short amount of time while still living your life, you know? Great job!

 

[Terkina]

Josh did a great job with the kitchen. The kitchen looks amazing.


Today I've been with a geocaching friend first finding a geocache and then I invited her home for dinner. We had a nice time together.

 

[Ladyfish77]

I knew that counter would be beautiful!

We didn't eat at Evergreens, just stopped by SOG for a few things and to take a look around. Next time!

 

[DisneyTeacher01]

I absolutely LOVE how it's coming out!!!!

 

[anniebean]

Wow!! The counter top looks amazing!!

 

[DMGeurts]

It looks amazing.

Thank you!

I'm so glad that you were able to install the sink. It looked like it would be a little tricky. And seven hours was probably about six hours more than you thought it would take. But the result is beautiful.

Me too - I was a bit concerned there for a little while.

Hahahah.... It did take a bit longer than I thought it would... And the plumbing did take a bit longer too... We didn't get hardly anything done yesterday that needed to be done... Yet - we got some stuff done that didn't need to be done either. LOL We'll get there.

Everything looks incredible!

Thanks! I am super happy with it so far.

Your counter and sink look beautiful. Josh did a great job. The kitchen will look great once it's put back together.
Liz

Thank you - I really love it, and I never thought I would love anything in my kitchen... For that matter, I never thought I would love anything in my house - besides my sewing room.

Oh my! Your new counter looks incredible!!! You did such a great job! I can't wait to see how your whole kitchen looks when it's done. I'm going to have to share your pictures with my sister...she lives in a turn-of-the-century home and has never been happy with her countertop...I think she will love yours and wanted her own just like it.

Thanks - it was mostly Josh - I just stained and sealed it - which took 5 days, but he did all of the hard stuff. Please do share with her - I am loving it so far... It did receive a few scratches coming in the house - but we were able to cover them to my satisfaction with just a stain pen. Not sure what they did getting it into the house though? LOL - I haven't had any problems with scratching at all.

Everything looks fantastic! That counter! My goodness-it is gorgeous! I'm so impressed with how much you guys are managing to get done in such a short amount of time while still living your life, you know? Great job!

Thank you - I love it so much... I never thought a new counter top could change a room so much. Quite honestly - Josh and I did sit down before we started all of this, and we did work out new cabinets and how much they would cost - even where we would put them. And as I was looking at what we were buying - we were buying exactly what we have now... And I knew we'd never get the quality of our cabinets in the price range we could afford... and why buy exactly what we currently have? Which is ultimately why we decided to just paint what we have and keep it... It was then, that I decided to embrace my vintage love and I realized I DO have authentic vintage cabinets... LOL I am pretty excited with how everything is turning out and how it all looks.

Hehehehe... I don't feel like we are living life at all. LOL Literally - our grass hadn't been mowed in almost 3 weeks! Finally - Josh was able to mow last night... I am sure our neighbors appreciated that. We only have 2 working weekends left before the party - and I am pretty sure we are not going to finish. I am very nervous about this.

Josh did a great job with the kitchen. The kitchen looks amazing.


Today I've been with a geocaching friend first finding a geocache and then I invited her home for dinner. We had a nice time together.

Thanks - I am really loving it! I cannot wait to get it all decorated and put back together!

It sounds like you had a great day!

I knew that counter would be beautiful!

We didn't eat at Evergreens, just stopped by SOG for a few things and to take a look around. Next time!

Thanks! I am sooo happy with it! I cannot believe how much it has changed the look of our kitchen!

I am excited to check it out... I was happy to see they brought back the onion ring tower - this is a HUGE thing for SoG, IMO - it's a big reason why I stayed away for so long... I am happy to see they are upgrading their food choices a bit. I hope you had a fantastic trip?

I absolutely LOVE how it's coming out!!!!

Thank you - I am so happy with it! I cannot believe it's my same kitchen!

Wow!! The counter top looks amazing!!

Thanks so much! I just love it! I can't believe how much counter tops change the look.

*******************************************************************************************

Let's see... So, yesterday - what did I do? Oh yah... I flipped my cabinet doors over and did a quick coat of paint to the back sides... The fronts - we had completely stripped and then sanded down to bare wood... We are running out of time quickly - so we made the decision not to strip the backs and just put a quick coat of paint over what we had to clean it up. I am glad we did this - however - I made the mistake of painting the fronts first... I should have painted the backs first. Oh well - I was very careful about flipping them all over and not wrecking the new paint. This was my life yesterday...

I was also priming, painting then sealing the wainscot for the back splash... I am doing the wainscot a bit darker of a color, and it's authentic wainscot paneling. So far, I am very happy with it. I can't wait to see it go up! (See, our deck needs to be done in a bad way!)

While I was doing all of that - which took a good portion of the day... Josh was redoing our drain plumbing under the sink... Which also took a good portion of the day. But finally, by 3pm, I had a fully functioning sink and dishwasher! I wasted NO time running my first load - I'd been saving up dishes all day. So far - I love it! It's so quiet... I was literally sitting on the floor in front of it - helping Josh put the cabinet doors back on - and I couldn't hear it running - I could hear it draining, but not running. I am starting to wonder why I waited so long for this purchase?

Then - we started to assemble the kitchen again... Josh put on cupboard doors.... I put in the drawers (with out handles, until they arrive) - and I even started unpacking a few boxes from the office... I am sooo happy with how it looks so far, I still cannot believe that this is my same kitchen! Now, we just need to get the back splash up - hopefully during the week... but we have lots to work on, which we didn't get done yesterday...

We did, however - get the yard cleaned and mowed - it was a jungle out there! I think our grass went to seed last week? Terrible! Thankfully our neighbors are all pretty understanding, and they know what we are up to.

Tired puppies from working all day...

Yesterday - it was super important that we get that 4 ft counter top built... We did not get that done. I sure hope we can get it done tonight or Wednesday night... As I need to get it stained and sealed - that's a 5 day process, as you all know. We should have done that, instead of putting on cupboard doors - but we were just so excited to "see" it - we couldn't help ourselves. Josh is just as much of a visual person as I am.

So, today... I will be working out... I think I have enough space to work out in my office - just barely. As it's supposed to rain today - and storm later.

I will take some time to unpack a few more boxes in the kitchen, and do my Monday morning house cleaning - to relieve the house of some of the dust and dirt from our working weekend.

Then I will be upstairs all day working.

I do have to run errands this afternoon...

And hopefully - *fingers crossed* we can build the 4 ft counter top tonight.

That's about all - I hope you had a great weekend! Sending out prayers and good thoughts to all of you!

D~

 

[Wood Nymph]

You have been lucky with the gorgeous weather this weekend. It must have felt great to have the doors back on the cabinets, a functioning sink and a quiet dishwasher. It is all coming together nicely. Have you taken the microwave out of the box yet?

 

[mymainmouse]

The kitchen is looking wonderful! I showed my husband your countertop because I think it looks so nice. He was very impressed. We are looking at ideas for our kitchen but don't want to break the bank in the process of remodeling. We may be stealing some ideas from you.
You guys are doing a great job!

 

[dalmatian7]

Wow that counter top is amazing! We are getting ready to build and you have me rethinking what I think I want in my kitchen. I may do something similar on my island.

I know you are a little down over your exercising, but you are also walking, hauling boxes around, painting, moving heavy items, etc, so it isn't like you are sitting around. Sometimes a little rest time is good for the body. You will be ready to attack those weights, and your body should see it as a jump start. When we redid our kitchen ourselves, we had no stove for over a month and the fridge was in the living room, so if you couldn't cook it in the microwave or order take out, that was it. I was so sick of take out after that.

We finally have a good week of weather coming up here in PA. We sadly have not had very good weekends in two months. Yesterday I worked in my garage just to get my flower boxes done in between rain showers. I hear you on the deck. Ours is painted and a huge bubble popped up over the winter that needs to be sanded and repainted. Plus we got two new doors that also need to be painted and I have to purchase a tiny amount of trim paint (unless I can find and salvage a small amount from the basement).

Good luck, it looks great!

 

[Terkina]

Sounds like you got a lot done during the weekend. How great that you love your new dishwasher.
How great that you had so good weather this weekend so you could paint outside.

 

[Pluto0809]

Wow! I am so impressed with how much you guys got done over the weekend. And everything looks beautiful!