Kitchen drapery, Parker knits

The drapery install guy came just now and put up the drapes in the kitchen dining nook.  They look really nice and really help bring some warmth to that back corner.  The fabric is a print, you can't really tell until you are close up.  Here's a scan of it.

...it reminds me of a dress I used to have when I was little  that my mom or sister made  (although the dress was purple).  Looks a little busy close up like that, but from a distance, it 'reads' as a solid.

And here's a quick Parker pic, working on her latest craft project.  I got her a long loom and she's 'knitting' a scarf for her stuffed animal.  You have to wrap the yarn around the loom just so, and then use the little hook to slip one loop over the other.  We watched some Youtube videos for instruction and she can nearly do all the wrapping part by herself, but she needs someone to check her work just be sure it's wrapped right.  The slipping of the loops with the tool she can do totally on her own.  Her legs look so long in the picture!

Kitchen Pictures

We are FINALLY nearly complete. There are still some decorative things I need to get done and the kitchen table needs to be moved back in.
More comentary coming soon.

Progress

The kitchen is still sloooowly creeping along.  Today someone was here for several hours just filling in nail holes with wood putty. I think he has turtle DNA.

We finally have a couple areas that we can 'move in' to this weekend if we want. The bar and the laundry room are pretty much complete.  There are a million areas over the entire kitchen that need little bits of trim or little paint or caulk touch ups...and that's before Bob make HIS punch list. 

Tile

Here's the tile floor. Bob designed the pattern (not a lot of patterns for rectangular tile) and the holes you see will be filled in. It's a slight upgrade from the sheet vinyl that was there before. Tile Guy left his levels there so we could see that everything was even.

Kitchen Progress

Here's the kitchen progress as of yesterday. There was more done today, but my camera battery is dead. Once it's charged, I'll try to get another picture.

So far they've installed some of the cabinet doors/drawers/shelves and primed some of the walls and woodwork, and done the backsplash. Most of last week things were covered in plastic, and the week before that we were basically homeless because of the smell from the spraying of the lacquer.
Today they installed 2 of the 3 faucets and some of the tile. It is so strange to have running water in those rooms that I'm afraid to use the sinks. Hopefully with in the next week we'll have the disposal done and all the appliances in. That will make a HUGE difference in the quality of life around here.

Granite install

Heeeere's the granite! It's super busy looking, which I'm sort of worried about, but it's really pretty with all the different shapes and colors. Sure beats the ~blue~ surface we had there before. The cabinets are stained too, but still don't have doors on yet. Do you think I overcompensated for having such short cabinets before?

Let there be light,cobbler

Here's a straight-on shot of the new window. I need to get a 'before' picture up there of the old, small, square one. Outside the window is the prettiest Japanese Maple that gives us beautiful spring and fall color, so it will be great to be able to see more of it.


Here's a picture of the cobbler i made in the toaster oven the other day. I'm really missing my oven, and I couldn't let summer go by w/out making a baked peach dessert somehow. I used cinnamon tortillas for the 'crust' and it was quite tasty. The Blue Bell Vanilla didn't hurt either.

Kitchen Progress - week 4

The kitchen remodel keeps crawling along at a slow steady pace. This week they finished installing additional lighting and they tape, floated and textured the walls.

BEFORE

DURING: (One guess what Parker wants)

AFTER

There's a greenish color cast on the back wall, I guess from the window. Everything is white right now.

We're getting pretty bored around here. In the evenings Parker rides her bike around in the driveway while I wash dishes in the garage (bob dries). This is a picture of a fun game of Throw The Icecube Up In The Air And Watch It Smash On The Sidewalk. Helmet required.

Happy Cabinet Day

The cabinets came today! It was a long day of hammering and sawing and people in and out.

BEFORE

DEMO

INSTALLATION

(The doors and drawers aren't installed yet, and countertops are a ways out too)

Kitchen remodel - Demo Day

The kitchen remodel offically started today. They came and took out all the existing everything, and tomorrow they'll remove the decorative beams and some other stuff. We spent all weekend packing up everything and setting up temporary space in the dining room. So for 3-6 weeks we'll be using this as the kitchen, dining and pantry:


Turns out that packing up and moving stuff from one room to another is just as exhausting as moving it across town. I was happy to not be 7 months pregnant this time at least.

quick catchup

Nothing new to report really. We are still keeping very busy it seems. Parker is spending more time upside down than right side up. Her cartwheels have gotten very good also, I'll try to get some pics of those up soon.

New kitchen planning is moving right along. I've mapped out where everything will go in the new cabinets. We're still finalizing quotes and materials, etc and will probably start for real in a month or so. That will hopefully give me time to brush up on my crockpot skills.

drapery pictures

At loooooong last, the new draperies were installed today. This portion of the room is nearly complete. We still need a table and lamp for inbetween the chairs, throw pillows, and some rippled glass for the door, but this part is mainly done.

BEFORE

AFTER

Close up swatch of drapery fabric


And here's a cute picture of Parker dressed up in a Hannah Montanna wig and makeup at a recent birthday party. She wants more than anything in the world to have long straight hair.

Her confusing questions of the day was, "Does only God know what is inside your shoes?"

Normal Monday

It seems like every child in the metroplex EXCEPT Parker started school today. Her school doesn't start until next Tuesday. That leaves us with a loooong week to fill. Today we just hung around the house, mainly because we were waiting on the shutters to be installed in the family room. They were a last minute add, and that has sort of pushed everything back, but they are are worth it. They look great! I bet we get a thank you note from the neighbors now since they can't see us running on the treadmill anymore.

Of all the pictures i took, this one turned out the best, so pardon the weird angle. There will eventually be 2 chairs and a table underneath these windows.

I"m not sure if I've done a picture of the finished built-ins yet. They are grand. They'll eventually have decorative stuff in the open part and on top. The middle doors close too, I just forgot.

I'm LOVING all of the storage. We're trying to put everything away in an organized manner and purge a lot of things we don't play with anymore.

Here's the inside. Ignore the yellow color cast.

Close-up. (photo by Parker)


Another close up, showing off her music drawer. This was last week prior to the carpet installation.

Enjoying her new space. I have no clue why she's wearing a Santa hat.

Progress Report

Here's a quick update progress report on the family room remodel. We replaced the old windows and door and added recessed lighting....

BEFORE

AFTER


And we had new cabinets built on the other side of the room. The old cabinets were in the opposite corner (on your right when you walked in the door). These are on your left when you walk in. There are drawers that go on the fronts in the middle, they're just not installed yet. The picture doesn't really do them justice...they look really nice and will look even better when painted I'm sure.

BEFORE (nothing)

AFTER (in progress)

And here's a Parker pic so no one has a fit. This is her and her waitress game that she played NON-STOP for a week. Notice the detail....she has a pad and pen to take your order (I have an old sushi menu she uses) and she insists on having a dishtowel tucked into the back of her pants. She's seen waiters do this to use when handling hot plates. There was much hysteria when she tried to play waitress in her nightgown and didn't have anywhere to tuck in her dishtowel. She's using a little wooden sushi set... they have velcro in the middle so she can pretend to slice them and everything. After sushi, she serves (toy) ice cream, and then brings the check and runs your credit card. And then we start over.