Our kitchen project
continues to linger. We started demo on
June 9, 2012. Today is August 12 (still 2012, despite how long it feels)—nine weeks and
a day. Yesterday was a banner day. We finally unpacked our boxes of dishes, pots
and pans. Yeah, some of those spices had expired. Buh-bye.
Mind you, I hadn't seen some
of these things since we moved from Burbank.
We knew we'd be undertaking a kitchen reno, so we packed some of the
items for long-term storage in the garage. Of course, by the time we unpacked, I
was ready to let go of some of them. It's amazing what nine months can do for
your perspective. Also, I've been doing
some shopping (presents for my kitchen) aand some of the old had to make way for the new. So today we made a donation run and passed some
treasures along to the next lucky owner.
For those
who have dined chez moi, you may remember the blue dishes I have had since I
lived in New York (the pattern is called Mesa,
and apparently there is a market for them on eBay). Truth be told, they weren't even new when I
got them, but were hand-me-downs from my dad and stepmom, Anna. A few years
after that, I had a thrift-store miracle of sorts and found an assortment of
that same pattern at St. Vincent de
Paul. Fate. But after eating off those
dishes (off and on) for 30 years or so, it was time to say goodbye. Maybe they'll complete someone else's set of
Mesa.
But back to
the kitchen…yesterday was also our last day with Contractor Don. We had some scope-creep and added his
list of projects, so he ended up being with us longer than planned. In addition to removing the load-bearing
wall, doing the drywall and electrical, and repairing the stucco (to
seal up the holes), he also installed the cabinets and generally consulted
on all of our DIY stuff. Hopefully I
didn't annoy him with too many questions (ahem). Our dog, Diogy, will miss him
indeed—and not just because she consistently
begged part of his lunch. They’re buds.
So now we're
on our own, with a ways to go yet. We
were set to paint this week, until Lalo tweaked his shoulder playing
hockey. Probably not the best time to
paint a ceiling. I certainly wasn't going to undertake it on my own—I paint trim on my own (frequently) but when it comes to walls
you have to have a team to do it well.
I'm the cut-in pro, he's the roller.
And so, painting will wait until he's off the bench.
This is a
big week, though: the counters are coming! Don set us up with plywood counters so we
have something to use in the meantime. With
the counters, we get our sink, at long last.
We've been using the laundry room sink—better
than the bathtub, but no comparison to a real sink and—sigh—a dishwasher. I don't know if this falls into the category of
"first world problems," since I feel like we have been camping for
over two months. At least I don't have to go outside to cook anymore. Now we have
a fridge and stove indoors like the fancy city folk.
The list
goes something like this (the pros are only doing the first item, namely the
counters):
- Counters/sink
- Plumbing
- Paint
- Lighting
- Tile backsplash
- Window treatment
So we're
getting closer. Of course, there are
knock-on projects in all the surrounding room as a result of this one. But I'll think about that tomorrow.
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