Like many, I've put my time in with old appliances. Baking sensitive Christmas cookies became an exploration in scientific guesstimation, unable to peer into a window or know the precise heat of the oven. On the top side of things, having access to one large burner and two smaller ones was child's play- who really uses four burners at once, I pondered? No matter that we didn't have a circulation fan outside of an opened patio door for seven years- natural air, I speculated, worked just as well.
Upon noticing a fan above our range in our new home, I nearly jumped for joy until I learned that using it was akin to understanding what deafness might be like ("I can't hear you, darling... the fan's on!"). Yes, after a decade of marriage it was time to splurge on two appliances that see daily use.
The purchase of our new range, complete with four working burners and convection oven, was indeed exciting. After browsing the large inventories of every brick-and-mortar and online retailer imaginable, we settled on a new LG range with a matching over-range microwave hood. They looked gorgeous with the sleek and modern lines that we craved. Even better, we knew that cooking would never be the same again. We could nearly taste the sublime tastes that would soon ooze their way out of the kitchen.
There was, however, one catch. A minor, trivial dilemma that we hadn't anticipated. The microwave hood was not compatible with our kitchen's upper-hood cabinetry. After scratching our heads, moving them from side to side so that we could see every angle of the space necessary to fit the new appliance, we knew we were doomed. Our cabinets simply would not work.
True love, in the making for a dozen years, was suddenly slapped in the face. There was no way we were going to return the appliances, as shiny and new as they were, of course. Clearly, the only option was obvious: sayonara kitchen cupboards.
We had hoped to remodel the kitchen before we settled on minor fixes that would hopefully appease our desire to tear down the builder's special cupboards from fifteen years ago. I spent hours trying to cajole the grease stains out of the grain with oil. I carefully stacked food items in the small cupboard like a house of cards- god help you if you wanted those crackers in the right-bottom-back. Each time I pulled myself onto the countertop to reach into the upper corner cabinet, I was sure I'd fall and break a bone.
And so it was that our reluctance to renovate was quickly brushed aside by our dash to redo all of the cabinets... so that one single microwave could be accommodated.
As our remodel progresses, we will have updates, photo's and more for everyone to see. But mostly, this is a place for us to document what we've done, what needs to be done still, and to look back fondly (yeah... haha) on the experience of a kitchen remodel.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Friday, October 23, 2009
Great Finds, Tetanus & "Udachi"
After a month of dwelling in our new townhome, the place is finally beginning to feel like home. What began as a hope and prayer that the rather ubiquitous space circa 1996 would become an urban retreat has finally started to happen. Taking it room by room, and in some cases piece by piece, we have seen a huge transformation of the once dingy and dirty interior become something that we can very nearly be quite proud of. It's still certainly lacking a few more essential fixes (window screens and treatments, anyone?) but the overall look and feel is getting quite to close to what we had imagined.
Attending to the little practical solutions that make life at home a wee bit easier has indeed paid off. Among the things that I list as 'cheap fixes' is the master bedroom's bathroom flooring. Once covered in the filthy grey carpeting that existed throughout the entire second story, we did not put in the Ikea laminate tundra floors in the bathroom as we did in the rest of the house due to Ikea's own disclaimer: not suitable for wet environments. I say that while sighing a deep breath and blowing a wisp of hair off my face, for while countless pictures in the Ikea catalog and online exist of people utilizing the laminates in kitchens and bathrooms, we decided to make life a little trickier by taking them at their word. True to our tragically hip taste (aka being too poor to afford the good stuff we yearn for), my husband and I envision an overhaul of the master bathroom in the next few years at which point 'better' flooring will be utilized. At this point, however, there are bigger fish to fry, our money only stretches so far and we had a bare bathroom floor that might have given us tetanus thanks to exposed nails.
As all great architects and designers say, a tight budget and space usually lends itself to the best innovation and solution. I wonder if they would think cheap laminate tiles would fit into that equation. Nevertheless, we do so we took a trip to Lowe's to purchase a single box of laminate, adhesive-backed tiles for a quick $25 fix. To be fair, we could have spent $12 on a box of cheaper tiles, but $25 gave us a slight upgrade to 'Euro Tiles' (it's gotta be good, right?) and tiles that would slightly match the dark laminates in the adjoining hallway. The job was relatively painless, though the tiles did not succumb to the sharp razor as readily as the box suggested. Like most all household fixes, being meticulous with measurements is essential here. In two hours, our new bathroom floors were complete for the price of a dinner at the local taqueria's (and that's saying a lot if you know how dirt cheap those places are!). What's more, it was a job that even I could do once I mastered the technique of cutting the little buggers:
Turning away from the various fixes required of converting the space into a cheap modern marvel, decorating is equally as important as anything. While it's often tempting to believe that money can buy a perfect setting, Nate and I choose to believe that a little ingenuity when it comes to interior decorating can be much more rewarding and give a better overall impression than the cookie-cutter stamped versions that cost a small fortune. Couple this belief with the fact that we had to buy most furnishings all over again (yup, we parted ways with much of our furniture prior to moving from Seattle) and we had one heck of a time managing to find 'just the right stuff'. We searched high and low for our new dining table and chairs and our sofa. We agreed upon a white pedastal dining room table very much in the same vein as the comparable vintage Saarinen one that sells for over $2,000. Easy it might have been to couple its sleek 60's modernity with matching white chairs, we kept resisting despite the fact that many of them were in our price range and readily accessible (FYI Target has a great Scandinavian inspired dining chair available in numerous colors for around $70 which was so tempting). Browsing one of my favorite sites for new vintage, inmod.com , I discoverd a wealth of Eames-era style chairs including my alltime favorite Eifel (god it's pathetic that I know the designers an their work this well by now!). Still, I resisted. Nate and I originally thought of incorporating something 'green' into the mix- be it by using second-hand pieces or wood. We're really not the neo-hippie types so much as we are into the idea that practicing sustainability looks tres chic and lasts a lifetime. Still none of them floated our boat, or at least a price range that we could afford.
A meander into San Jose's antique row gave us a glimmer of hope until SMACK! We were hit with four gorgeous 60's era teak and black vinyl chairs straight out of any grandmother's house. With a few scratches on the vinyal and teak in desperate need of some loving, we snatched up the set of them at a bartering deal of far less than we might have paid for new (and far better than most new modern chairs on the market). While we haven't noticed any mark of the maker on their undersides, they are the sturdiest chairs we've ever owned (our last ones literally fell apart after 5 years). An hour spent coaxing out the gorgeous teak glow with teak oil revealed a hidden gem that tickled us silly and contrasted beautifully with the stark white table and Ikea lamp:
Buying vintage pieces evokes a sense of duty to the furnishings- a respect for their age and (in the case of our chairs) every bum that has ever sat in them as well as an obligation to keep them in the tip-top shape they are in. With more love and affection, they will survive another forty-five years if we have anything to say about it.
Lastly, our "Udachi" moment. Meaning Good Luck, I have always loved this Russian word and use it whenever I get the chance to impart some Russo-lingua into my fellow American capitalists. One thing that we recognized a need for is a new dishwasher. The current one is possibly the worst I've ever had the experience of running across, and that includes all of the city apartments I've resided in over the years. Old, noisy and incapable of actually cleaning a single dish, I began checking out dishwashers and compiling a list of 'must have's' when we find the good fortune to purchase one. Thanks to my karma-good husband and his predilection of entering into GiveAways and his absolute favorite go-to site for modern ideas and inspiration, apartmenttherapy.com , we have apparently won an outstanding new Whirlpool Resource Saving dishwasher... and not a moment too soon! When the new super efficient food-grubbing washer arrives, I will be sure to post up pictures. Until then, THANK YOU APARTMENT THERAPY! The ideas you've given us is more rewarding than most things, but a brand spanking new dishwasher might rival it!
Attending to the little practical solutions that make life at home a wee bit easier has indeed paid off. Among the things that I list as 'cheap fixes' is the master bedroom's bathroom flooring. Once covered in the filthy grey carpeting that existed throughout the entire second story, we did not put in the Ikea laminate tundra floors in the bathroom as we did in the rest of the house due to Ikea's own disclaimer: not suitable for wet environments. I say that while sighing a deep breath and blowing a wisp of hair off my face, for while countless pictures in the Ikea catalog and online exist of people utilizing the laminates in kitchens and bathrooms, we decided to make life a little trickier by taking them at their word. True to our tragically hip taste (aka being too poor to afford the good stuff we yearn for), my husband and I envision an overhaul of the master bathroom in the next few years at which point 'better' flooring will be utilized. At this point, however, there are bigger fish to fry, our money only stretches so far and we had a bare bathroom floor that might have given us tetanus thanks to exposed nails.
As all great architects and designers say, a tight budget and space usually lends itself to the best innovation and solution. I wonder if they would think cheap laminate tiles would fit into that equation. Nevertheless, we do so we took a trip to Lowe's to purchase a single box of laminate, adhesive-backed tiles for a quick $25 fix. To be fair, we could have spent $12 on a box of cheaper tiles, but $25 gave us a slight upgrade to 'Euro Tiles' (it's gotta be good, right?) and tiles that would slightly match the dark laminates in the adjoining hallway. The job was relatively painless, though the tiles did not succumb to the sharp razor as readily as the box suggested. Like most all household fixes, being meticulous with measurements is essential here. In two hours, our new bathroom floors were complete for the price of a dinner at the local taqueria's (and that's saying a lot if you know how dirt cheap those places are!). What's more, it was a job that even I could do once I mastered the technique of cutting the little buggers:
Turning away from the various fixes required of converting the space into a cheap modern marvel, decorating is equally as important as anything. While it's often tempting to believe that money can buy a perfect setting, Nate and I choose to believe that a little ingenuity when it comes to interior decorating can be much more rewarding and give a better overall impression than the cookie-cutter stamped versions that cost a small fortune. Couple this belief with the fact that we had to buy most furnishings all over again (yup, we parted ways with much of our furniture prior to moving from Seattle) and we had one heck of a time managing to find 'just the right stuff'. We searched high and low for our new dining table and chairs and our sofa. We agreed upon a white pedastal dining room table very much in the same vein as the comparable vintage Saarinen one that sells for over $2,000. Easy it might have been to couple its sleek 60's modernity with matching white chairs, we kept resisting despite the fact that many of them were in our price range and readily accessible (FYI Target has a great Scandinavian inspired dining chair available in numerous colors for around $70 which was so tempting). Browsing one of my favorite sites for new vintage, inmod.com , I discoverd a wealth of Eames-era style chairs including my alltime favorite Eifel (god it's pathetic that I know the designers an their work this well by now!). Still, I resisted. Nate and I originally thought of incorporating something 'green' into the mix- be it by using second-hand pieces or wood. We're really not the neo-hippie types so much as we are into the idea that practicing sustainability looks tres chic and lasts a lifetime. Still none of them floated our boat, or at least a price range that we could afford.
A meander into San Jose's antique row gave us a glimmer of hope until SMACK! We were hit with four gorgeous 60's era teak and black vinyl chairs straight out of any grandmother's house. With a few scratches on the vinyal and teak in desperate need of some loving, we snatched up the set of them at a bartering deal of far less than we might have paid for new (and far better than most new modern chairs on the market). While we haven't noticed any mark of the maker on their undersides, they are the sturdiest chairs we've ever owned (our last ones literally fell apart after 5 years). An hour spent coaxing out the gorgeous teak glow with teak oil revealed a hidden gem that tickled us silly and contrasted beautifully with the stark white table and Ikea lamp:
Buying vintage pieces evokes a sense of duty to the furnishings- a respect for their age and (in the case of our chairs) every bum that has ever sat in them as well as an obligation to keep them in the tip-top shape they are in. With more love and affection, they will survive another forty-five years if we have anything to say about it.Lastly, our "Udachi" moment. Meaning Good Luck, I have always loved this Russian word and use it whenever I get the chance to impart some Russo-lingua into my fellow American capitalists. One thing that we recognized a need for is a new dishwasher. The current one is possibly the worst I've ever had the experience of running across, and that includes all of the city apartments I've resided in over the years. Old, noisy and incapable of actually cleaning a single dish, I began checking out dishwashers and compiling a list of 'must have's' when we find the good fortune to purchase one. Thanks to my karma-good husband and his predilection of entering into GiveAways and his absolute favorite go-to site for modern ideas and inspiration, apartmenttherapy.com , we have apparently won an outstanding new Whirlpool Resource Saving dishwasher... and not a moment too soon! When the new super efficient food-grubbing washer arrives, I will be sure to post up pictures. Until then, THANK YOU APARTMENT THERAPY! The ideas you've given us is more rewarding than most things, but a brand spanking new dishwasher might rival it!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Tween Oasis
One project that was particularly important to us was ensuring that our nine year-old's room was his personal enclave- a place he can retreat and be himself. Flipping through a few design magazines with him, I was hoping to gauge what this soon-to-be tween thought of as a cool bedroom. I came across a picture of a teenager's room- complete with dark mood lighting and lots of music paraphrenalia. "That," he informed me as he pointed at the picture, "is cool." I realized then that he had outgrown the adorably bright primary colors of his last room. His new space would have to be a bit more mature and encompass his unique interests and style rather than just be 'cute'. Defining his new space was challenging, if not extraordinarily rewarding for this tween oasis. A guitar enthusiast (the kid plays a mean guitar and idolizes Angus Young) who also loves hockey, reading and art, we made certain that these interests would take center stage in his new room. Lots of comfy spots to hang with friends or solo while participating in his favorite activities was imperative, so that's what we gave him:
Lighting plays a key role in Keag's room. We chose to use dangling IKEA light cords which we carried up in an industrial way along the wall- one of the few rooms of the house where that might actually be considered cool. Installing dimmer light switchplates makes the mood go from bright and active to relax and subdued whenever he wants.
An avid guitarist, it was mandatory to include a spot to house his amps, guitars, picks and tab books. Various rack and rail systems at IKEA were the inexpensive way to offer up little containers, hooks and magnetic boxes for extra storage. Combining this area with the new lights and a few fun stripes of orange and grey paint brought the look together.
Painting more grey and orange race stripes on the opposite wall, over his bed, matched his new Target brand bedspread perfectly. We also put to use an old orange wall shelf (I deliberately matched the orange paint to this shelf) and we hooked up an old IKEA spotlight underneath to give him a personal reading lamp.
The artwork was done on the cheap and turned out fun I think. I ordered guitar amplifier cloth grill (almost 3 yards for $15) and stapled it to blank canvasses I bought at Michael's for an equal price. I then affixed a couple of the cheapest volume controls I could find ($2.50 each) with a hot glue gun and voila!
I similarly covered smaller canvasses and frame stretchers with IKEA fabric to integrate the orange theme again and brighten up any bland walls.
Repurposing an old red mobile over his bed made the tall ceiling corner come to life. A few more little add-on's for cheap proved to make his new space a fun retreat for our growing man:
As always, check in to our photo site for the full sized versions and more pics: http://s101.photobucket.com/albums/m70/MotoSvetka/Our%20New%20Home/
Lighting plays a key role in Keag's room. We chose to use dangling IKEA light cords which we carried up in an industrial way along the wall- one of the few rooms of the house where that might actually be considered cool. Installing dimmer light switchplates makes the mood go from bright and active to relax and subdued whenever he wants.
An avid guitarist, it was mandatory to include a spot to house his amps, guitars, picks and tab books. Various rack and rail systems at IKEA were the inexpensive way to offer up little containers, hooks and magnetic boxes for extra storage. Combining this area with the new lights and a few fun stripes of orange and grey paint brought the look together.
Painting more grey and orange race stripes on the opposite wall, over his bed, matched his new Target brand bedspread perfectly. We also put to use an old orange wall shelf (I deliberately matched the orange paint to this shelf) and we hooked up an old IKEA spotlight underneath to give him a personal reading lamp.
The artwork was done on the cheap and turned out fun I think. I ordered guitar amplifier cloth grill (almost 3 yards for $15) and stapled it to blank canvasses I bought at Michael's for an equal price. I then affixed a couple of the cheapest volume controls I could find ($2.50 each) with a hot glue gun and voila!
I similarly covered smaller canvasses and frame stretchers with IKEA fabric to integrate the orange theme again and brighten up any bland walls.
Repurposing an old red mobile over his bed made the tall ceiling corner come to life. A few more little add-on's for cheap proved to make his new space a fun retreat for our growing man:
As always, check in to our photo site for the full sized versions and more pics: http://s101.photobucket.com/albums/m70/MotoSvetka/Our%20New%20Home/
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Floors Floored
Clearly I must have some time on my hands amidst our renovations to relax over a cup of red chai tea with our trusty laptop. While it's utterly tempting to surf the net for new decorating ideas and furnishings, I find myself typing up the latest details of our hard work. Make that my husband's hardwork. While I battled a case of head flu this weekend, Nate saw to it that the flooring in our new home would be completed. While it had taken him quite some time to complete our new Ikea Tundra floors in the upstairs (thanks both to the difficult corners and his gradual acclimation to laying flooring as a novice), the downstairs living and dining areas took only two days to complete. What a payout, too!
The prepping involved clearing the floor of the existing snap-together laminates which, as we agreed, was much easier than the upstairs prepping had been with carpet to rip out. For starters, the laminates came off like puzzle pieces, just as the new laminates were going in. There was no glue, no nails and no under-carpet to worry about. Upon manhandling the old pieces up from their slumber, there only existed the insulated foam padding and cement. Interestingly, the cement did throw us a curveball, as it had some damp (make that slightly wet) paint on it, no doubt left over from when the walls were originally painted with the exposed cement. Thanks to moisture and heat, the paint never sealed on the cement and had, accordingly, sat moist for some 14 years. Lovely! We might have waited days for it to dry, but we opted for a few hours. It obviously wasn't doing any harm- only causing our socks to dirty while we were working.
Along with tearing out the old laminates, we also decided it best to rid ourselves of the salmon-hued marble tiles that surrounded the floor infront of our fireplace. They also surround the fireplace wall itself and will find the same fate as their lower counterparts- though not immediately. Some tiles decided to go out with a bang, though most cooperated. Unfortunately, the tile adhesive underneath was a true you-know-what. A trip to the hardware store to purchase the largest chisel known to man and a couple of good hours work brought it all up.
Laying the Tundra was relatively painless. After laying down the vapor barrier and underpadding, the laminates were ready to go down.
While there was a closet, fireplace and stairwell to work around, much of the open floor plan proved to be a breeze to lay.
Some more things that needed mending were doorstoppers, replacing a leaking faucet with a shiny new one and various little things that really make a big difference in an aging home.
Last but not least (and certainly not inexpensive!) came the staircase. While we had hoped to lay wood on the old carpeted rag-a-muffins, the exposed stairs left little hope that they would be easy, quick or inexpensive to salvage. So, we turned to carpet- the only area of the home with it. Pouring over what kind would work best and the economics of our choice, we settled on the idea of doing commercial grade carpet. Not necessarily what you'd expect in the average home, though cost effective, durable and comfortable enough to represent the modern philosophy. Not just any old office space crew cut carpet would do, though. After pouring over modern lifestyle magazines like cheap cups of coffee, we found a few samples that we were hellbent on finding. Like most things we tragically adore, they were all pricier than the rest of the home's interior combined and/or they were virtually impossible to aquire in the U.S. market. A trip to Bay Area favorite S&G proved fruitful as they tracked down a few Euro style modern commercial grades that were pleasing on our eyes and pockets. The most expensive part was the installation (which after much debate we decided to go pro, thanks to the fact that our staircase is actually mismeasured and the carpet has a pattern... two things that add up to no fun for staircase amateurs). We're ecstatic over our choice, especially as it matches our flooring perfectly.
And so, minus the custom trim that we will be installing in the next week, the floors are complete in the home. And with our latest decorating purchase (a modern sectional sofa), the place is really coming to together nicely...
The prepping involved clearing the floor of the existing snap-together laminates which, as we agreed, was much easier than the upstairs prepping had been with carpet to rip out. For starters, the laminates came off like puzzle pieces, just as the new laminates were going in. There was no glue, no nails and no under-carpet to worry about. Upon manhandling the old pieces up from their slumber, there only existed the insulated foam padding and cement. Interestingly, the cement did throw us a curveball, as it had some damp (make that slightly wet) paint on it, no doubt left over from when the walls were originally painted with the exposed cement. Thanks to moisture and heat, the paint never sealed on the cement and had, accordingly, sat moist for some 14 years. Lovely! We might have waited days for it to dry, but we opted for a few hours. It obviously wasn't doing any harm- only causing our socks to dirty while we were working.
Along with tearing out the old laminates, we also decided it best to rid ourselves of the salmon-hued marble tiles that surrounded the floor infront of our fireplace. They also surround the fireplace wall itself and will find the same fate as their lower counterparts- though not immediately. Some tiles decided to go out with a bang, though most cooperated. Unfortunately, the tile adhesive underneath was a true you-know-what. A trip to the hardware store to purchase the largest chisel known to man and a couple of good hours work brought it all up.
Laying the Tundra was relatively painless. After laying down the vapor barrier and underpadding, the laminates were ready to go down.
While there was a closet, fireplace and stairwell to work around, much of the open floor plan proved to be a breeze to lay.
Some more things that needed mending were doorstoppers, replacing a leaking faucet with a shiny new one and various little things that really make a big difference in an aging home.
Last but not least (and certainly not inexpensive!) came the staircase. While we had hoped to lay wood on the old carpeted rag-a-muffins, the exposed stairs left little hope that they would be easy, quick or inexpensive to salvage. So, we turned to carpet- the only area of the home with it. Pouring over what kind would work best and the economics of our choice, we settled on the idea of doing commercial grade carpet. Not necessarily what you'd expect in the average home, though cost effective, durable and comfortable enough to represent the modern philosophy. Not just any old office space crew cut carpet would do, though. After pouring over modern lifestyle magazines like cheap cups of coffee, we found a few samples that we were hellbent on finding. Like most things we tragically adore, they were all pricier than the rest of the home's interior combined and/or they were virtually impossible to aquire in the U.S. market. A trip to Bay Area favorite S&G proved fruitful as they tracked down a few Euro style modern commercial grades that were pleasing on our eyes and pockets. The most expensive part was the installation (which after much debate we decided to go pro, thanks to the fact that our staircase is actually mismeasured and the carpet has a pattern... two things that add up to no fun for staircase amateurs). We're ecstatic over our choice, especially as it matches our flooring perfectly.
And so, minus the custom trim that we will be installing in the next week, the floors are complete in the home. And with our latest decorating purchase (a modern sectional sofa), the place is really coming to together nicely...
Sunday, September 13, 2009
The Odds and Ends
Doing home renovations has a habit of prying every last ounce of energy from you. What starts as a jolted day hopped up on high hopes and triple Americanos ends with little more than dragging yourself into a warm shower while anxiously awaiting sleep. Thoughts of the day's work and tomorrow's promise to keep you awake if only for a few minutes more, thus depleting even more strength. Blogging can compound the issue as there is a never-ending list of things we've accomplished that regretfully don't always make it to the blog.
While my better half spends the day in San Jose putting in another day's work, I am spending the time researching more information for our upcoming tasks, updating the blog and, of course, finding some pool time with the best kid around. While I'm here, I'll take a minute to share all of those delightful little projects that show up unexpectedly and consume hours on end like a circus side show. Sure, they aren't the main act, but attending to them does infact make a little difference that goes a long way.
The builder's of our townhome community had an affinity for wood trim and built-in cabinetry. Both popular, trendy items in 1996 (the year of our home's conception), but not really looking that great after fourteen years. And nowhere near the unique, modern approach we're taking with our new digs. While we hadn't immediately anticipated ripping out wall cabinetry, it became apparent that if we ever intended to do so we might as well do it now so that we could extend our new IKEA Tundra flooring into the voided coves for a finished look. One such cabinet resided in the upstairs hallway:
While we both liked the extra storage space it offered, it would clash immensely with our flooring and our furnishings. An hour of dismantling (via screws) and lugging it downstairs and into the garage (where it will serve as a storage cupboard and eventually be joined by the matching kitchen cabinets) gave the hallway a new open feel that will get some accent paint and modern shelving in the not-too-distant future. The second cabinet to go served as a linen closet between the Master Bedroom and the en-suite bathroom. Less of a cabinet and more of some trim with attached cabinet doors, Nate unscrewed the doors and did the same on the trim, giving way to an open closet with freshly painted shelving (yes, we had the painters give a fresh coat to every corner!). A future trip to IKEA will probably see us covering this open shelving area with a system of industrial hooks, pullies and textiles to offer us a modern look and privacy for storing a bunch of junk (aka. toiletries and cleaners). Being rid of this built-in allowed for Nate to avoid having to precisely cut the Tundra flooring to fit around cabinetry while allowing him to extend it into the hallway and closet spaces giving the area a finished look (pictures to come).
We've been debating a few details, such as the floor trim to use. While IKEA offers a matching Tundra trim (which we utilized as a stairnose piece already), Nate wasn't keen on the look. Likewise, we weren't impressed with the assortment of trims at Home Depot, which were either too small or too intricately detailed. A nice, flat piece of 4" trim (painted to match the walls) will work perfectly for the look we're trying to achieve and should be readily available and inexpensive at a lumber supply store. Once they are installed sometime in the next few days, the floors will no longer lack the trim and the upstairs will be complete:
Burnt out lightbulbs are a petpeeve, so a trip to the local Orchard Hardware Supply led to the purchase of numerous bright, energy efficient bulbs to replace those darkened areas. Also on the list were sets of new doorstoppers (which were altogether missing and necessary to avoid drywall damage- apparently not a concern to the previous owners!), more cleaning supplies and a welcome mat. It will be great to call this place home next weekend when we move in... for now, it's pool time!
While my better half spends the day in San Jose putting in another day's work, I am spending the time researching more information for our upcoming tasks, updating the blog and, of course, finding some pool time with the best kid around. While I'm here, I'll take a minute to share all of those delightful little projects that show up unexpectedly and consume hours on end like a circus side show. Sure, they aren't the main act, but attending to them does infact make a little difference that goes a long way.
The builder's of our townhome community had an affinity for wood trim and built-in cabinetry. Both popular, trendy items in 1996 (the year of our home's conception), but not really looking that great after fourteen years. And nowhere near the unique, modern approach we're taking with our new digs. While we hadn't immediately anticipated ripping out wall cabinetry, it became apparent that if we ever intended to do so we might as well do it now so that we could extend our new IKEA Tundra flooring into the voided coves for a finished look. One such cabinet resided in the upstairs hallway:
While we both liked the extra storage space it offered, it would clash immensely with our flooring and our furnishings. An hour of dismantling (via screws) and lugging it downstairs and into the garage (where it will serve as a storage cupboard and eventually be joined by the matching kitchen cabinets) gave the hallway a new open feel that will get some accent paint and modern shelving in the not-too-distant future. The second cabinet to go served as a linen closet between the Master Bedroom and the en-suite bathroom. Less of a cabinet and more of some trim with attached cabinet doors, Nate unscrewed the doors and did the same on the trim, giving way to an open closet with freshly painted shelving (yes, we had the painters give a fresh coat to every corner!). A future trip to IKEA will probably see us covering this open shelving area with a system of industrial hooks, pullies and textiles to offer us a modern look and privacy for storing a bunch of junk (aka. toiletries and cleaners). Being rid of this built-in allowed for Nate to avoid having to precisely cut the Tundra flooring to fit around cabinetry while allowing him to extend it into the hallway and closet spaces giving the area a finished look (pictures to come).
We've been debating a few details, such as the floor trim to use. While IKEA offers a matching Tundra trim (which we utilized as a stairnose piece already), Nate wasn't keen on the look. Likewise, we weren't impressed with the assortment of trims at Home Depot, which were either too small or too intricately detailed. A nice, flat piece of 4" trim (painted to match the walls) will work perfectly for the look we're trying to achieve and should be readily available and inexpensive at a lumber supply store. Once they are installed sometime in the next few days, the floors will no longer lack the trim and the upstairs will be complete:
Burnt out lightbulbs are a petpeeve, so a trip to the local Orchard Hardware Supply led to the purchase of numerous bright, energy efficient bulbs to replace those darkened areas. Also on the list were sets of new doorstoppers (which were altogether missing and necessary to avoid drywall damage- apparently not a concern to the previous owners!), more cleaning supplies and a welcome mat. It will be great to call this place home next weekend when we move in... for now, it's pool time!
Saturday, September 12, 2009
For the Love of Floors!
A week has come and gone and we now have fresh paint and new floors to show for it.
The pro's came in to take over our otherwise miserable job of cleaning the atrociously dirty walls and painting them. What they accomplished in two days would have taken us several weeks- along with ample sneezing, tennis elbow and crooked necks from peering up at the vaulted ceilings. We were thrilled to no end to see the home in a new, fresh light of light 'Swiss Coffee White' (a great bright shade for walls, and superb for trim).
After several evenings of work (though not many keeping in mind we own a townhome and don't want to make enemies with our neighbors so quickly), Nate has just about finished the entire upper floors of our new home. We chose IKEA's Dark Tundra flooring at $1.15/sq. ft... an unbelievably extraordinary price that gave us the value and modern looks combo. Reminiscent of an exotic zebra-wood, we kind of fell in love with it the minute we saw it.
While the first day was slow as Nate became accustomed to the work,
the second day picked up. A good deal of finesse is required, along with a rhythm that comes from laying floor board after floor board. Of the 25 Ikea Tundra boxes we purchased, 2 of them were probably a wash through human error alone. Nate did a meticulous job measuring and planning, nonetheless some boards were not quite salvagable for use after a few hacks with the table saw. We had assumed that it was safe to give an extra 10% to error, so this keeps up with our own experience thus far. The most tedious and time consuming areas are, not surprisingly, areas with doorways and other obstacles. In other words, our upstairs filled with four doorways, five closets and a staircase railing were as tough a job as we would expect. The downstairs would be a piece of cake after these angles!
Somewhere in the midst of the flooring mayhem (which took up about 8 hours of time on Friday and another 10 hours on Saturday), our shiny new Samsung refrigerator was delivered. Having hoped to avoid a new fridge purchase right away, our dreams were dashed by the most disgusting food-storing spot I've seen to date (as you may recall from my previous post). Luckily, the new bottom-mounted freezer is sleek, black, the highest Energy-Star rating possible and all around splendid. And for little more than $700, I think I pulled off a great score:
Besides that, this is our first ever brand-spanking-new refrigerator, complete with the new fridge smell. Someone ought to make Smelly Trees of New Fridge Smell... can't get enough of it (though that's soon to change).
After some coffee time, some park time (me taking our exceptional kiddo out of the house so he might actually enjoy his weekend time) and a few store runs, the house was really coming along. In lieu of a stairnose piece for the upstairs floor leading down the steps, Nate chose to use a standard IKEA threshold kit that matches our Tundra flooring to serve as the top of the steps. Despite our best efforts, he appeared so enamored with his choice that we couldn't pull him away from prayer:
We'll have the molding up in the coming days, and we'll have to make a decision on the staircase carpeting (a saga in and of itself) in the coming week. For now, the walls are slick and like-new, the floors upstairs are va-va-voom and the place is really coming together. With the trim to come and the downstairs on tap for its own makeover in the Tundra wood, the place is really coming along...
The pro's came in to take over our otherwise miserable job of cleaning the atrociously dirty walls and painting them. What they accomplished in two days would have taken us several weeks- along with ample sneezing, tennis elbow and crooked necks from peering up at the vaulted ceilings. We were thrilled to no end to see the home in a new, fresh light of light 'Swiss Coffee White' (a great bright shade for walls, and superb for trim).
After several evenings of work (though not many keeping in mind we own a townhome and don't want to make enemies with our neighbors so quickly), Nate has just about finished the entire upper floors of our new home. We chose IKEA's Dark Tundra flooring at $1.15/sq. ft... an unbelievably extraordinary price that gave us the value and modern looks combo. Reminiscent of an exotic zebra-wood, we kind of fell in love with it the minute we saw it.
While the first day was slow as Nate became accustomed to the work,
the second day picked up. A good deal of finesse is required, along with a rhythm that comes from laying floor board after floor board. Of the 25 Ikea Tundra boxes we purchased, 2 of them were probably a wash through human error alone. Nate did a meticulous job measuring and planning, nonetheless some boards were not quite salvagable for use after a few hacks with the table saw. We had assumed that it was safe to give an extra 10% to error, so this keeps up with our own experience thus far. The most tedious and time consuming areas are, not surprisingly, areas with doorways and other obstacles. In other words, our upstairs filled with four doorways, five closets and a staircase railing were as tough a job as we would expect. The downstairs would be a piece of cake after these angles!
Somewhere in the midst of the flooring mayhem (which took up about 8 hours of time on Friday and another 10 hours on Saturday), our shiny new Samsung refrigerator was delivered. Having hoped to avoid a new fridge purchase right away, our dreams were dashed by the most disgusting food-storing spot I've seen to date (as you may recall from my previous post). Luckily, the new bottom-mounted freezer is sleek, black, the highest Energy-Star rating possible and all around splendid. And for little more than $700, I think I pulled off a great score:
Besides that, this is our first ever brand-spanking-new refrigerator, complete with the new fridge smell. Someone ought to make Smelly Trees of New Fridge Smell... can't get enough of it (though that's soon to change).After some coffee time, some park time (me taking our exceptional kiddo out of the house so he might actually enjoy his weekend time) and a few store runs, the house was really coming along. In lieu of a stairnose piece for the upstairs floor leading down the steps, Nate chose to use a standard IKEA threshold kit that matches our Tundra flooring to serve as the top of the steps. Despite our best efforts, he appeared so enamored with his choice that we couldn't pull him away from prayer:
We'll have the molding up in the coming days, and we'll have to make a decision on the staircase carpeting (a saga in and of itself) in the coming week. For now, the walls are slick and like-new, the floors upstairs are va-va-voom and the place is really coming together. With the trim to come and the downstairs on tap for its own makeover in the Tundra wood, the place is really coming along...
On the Third Day...
The sun was shining and the temps were creeping up into the triple digits, yet there we were at the new home, armed with cleaning supplies and wrenches and hammers- ready for a full day's work. One might think that ripping up old carpeting is cake-walk, and one would be wrong in so thinking. I was proven completely whacky when I failed to consider the task of carefully prying off every last glue holding on to the fourteen year-old floor boards for dear life. The act of ensuring that each and every floorboard was free of glue and debris was no insignificant oversight.
Nate, being the methodical planner that he is, luckily had a way with a hammer. As a teenager, he apparently worked for a construction company one frigid Alaskan winter. It was during this experience that he was entrusted with some nails to "make sure the floorboards don't suqeak." Thanks to his personal repertoire of screwing long nails into bare floors to prevent those annoying sounds that have a habit of making themselves apparent when one is trying to watch a movie or get some sleep, our son and I spent some time walking the gangways of each board and marking with a Sharpie those that needed nails.
But really, any excuse to use a new drill is good enough for Nate, and I swear he was nearly giggling as he hunched over the black marks and drilled away.
After a bit more work prepping, it became apparent that our garage was sorely lacking (or so I was told). A new shop vacuum was just what the doctor ordered and didn't do any damage to our wallet. The place was beginning to look like a blank canvas. In the morning, the painters would arrive to give the place a fresh coat. For now, floors were completely prepped, house was cleaned and trim was off. A good feeling to know that for the next two days, we'd resume our daily lives 30 miles away while someone else did some work on the new place.
Nate, being the methodical planner that he is, luckily had a way with a hammer. As a teenager, he apparently worked for a construction company one frigid Alaskan winter. It was during this experience that he was entrusted with some nails to "make sure the floorboards don't suqeak." Thanks to his personal repertoire of screwing long nails into bare floors to prevent those annoying sounds that have a habit of making themselves apparent when one is trying to watch a movie or get some sleep, our son and I spent some time walking the gangways of each board and marking with a Sharpie those that needed nails.
But really, any excuse to use a new drill is good enough for Nate, and I swear he was nearly giggling as he hunched over the black marks and drilled away.After a bit more work prepping, it became apparent that our garage was sorely lacking (or so I was told). A new shop vacuum was just what the doctor ordered and didn't do any damage to our wallet. The place was beginning to look like a blank canvas. In the morning, the painters would arrive to give the place a fresh coat. For now, floors were completely prepped, house was cleaned and trim was off. A good feeling to know that for the next two days, we'd resume our daily lives 30 miles away while someone else did some work on the new place.
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