Kitchen Reconfiguration

As the idea of a second bath loomed over the house, we decided that, it was, indeed, too much for us in this house. We hope to upgrade to a bigger house in the next few years, so maybe a house with a second bath then? *fingers crossed*

So, then, what is so very important that would make life and living easy until we move up and out?

Well, after an extensive list of pros and cons... Just kidding. No list needed. We (and by WE, I mean Heidi) were desperate for, predictably, laundry.

The only issue was the space, and after a few scrapped designs, I decided the spare wall to the left of our kitchen was the perfect space. Tie in to the bath, vent through the wall, cut into the gas line next to the stove...

Here is the kitchen area before we bought the house (pretty generic):

Of course, we put floors down before moving in, but since then... it pretty much stayed the same.

The Renovation

DEMO:

New copper plumbing, and a replumb of the maze of pipes that made up the original mess:

Framing:

Washer hot & cold, and drain; dryer vent:

Plywood and raised counters:

Stacy helped.. (a little):

Framing (cont'd):

Cabinets:

The laundry center:

Extra shelves:

Stain:

Granite:

(and the hood is raised)

(baby halogens! Thanks Chris!)

Lighting quandries...

(it needed one more)

Details shmeatails...

Glorious bookcase shelves:

A whole lot of "disaster area":

(I got a new camera for Christmas [Thanks Dad!], so please excuse my playing with settings and lighting for the rest of this photo blog.)

More Details:

(yes, an ironing board!)

*whew*

So there you have it... Just a few finishing touches, and that's that for the laundry fix.

In a few months maybe we will get on to working on the yard...

*sigh*

Spare Room Fixup

The small little spare room had to be fixed up... It had ugly carpet, bland walls, and bare windows. Check it out!

Before:

Walls were a dull tan, with no moulding or trim. Beige carpets. Yum.

Moulding:

Heidi's paint pick in progress (a very subtle creamy yellow):

Turns out, under the carpets were hidden hardwood floors. Unfortunately the bank had hired spray painters to do the house a neutral, enticiting the lay person with a "new paint" listing. The hardwood floors were covered in a sheer layer of latex, and it proved quite difficult to remove. It took another two days of scraping and emulsifying the paint off the newly found floors before a degree of accomplishment could be had. After a few afternoon of heffalumps and woozles, it isn't perfect, but most probably, after some putty and varnish, it will be difficult to tell. Especialy since we will put an area rug down to hide our erroneous work!

So, with the finishing touches complete, and blinds in place the spare room is finished.

It was nice to have a totally empty back bedroom, until, of course, London got her little tail injured. So, now it's the cat's healing room... or screaming room; whichever she prefers. And she usually picks screaming. All night.