OMG!

I practically hit a parked car pulling into the garage tonight, looking up through the kitchen window. Mr. Woo and his team rocked today.


View from the hallway into the kitchen:


Views from where the dining table will be:





Still debating our selection for the countertops. Isao likes the brown, I like the speckled white.



Here's a closer look to help you decide :)




The small 1x1 tile sample is for the backsplash.

woo-wheeee

Mr. Woo and his crew arrived this morning and were still working when I got home at 7.30 tonight! Lots of holes in the wall and ceiling with wires hanging out. Looks like they also set up the connection for the dishwasher and the range, put the new hole in for the vent, added a few electrical outlets and upgraded old ones, patched the wall where the old backsplash tile was, installed the ceiling lights, took out the ironing board in the wall, installed new plumbing for the sink... Whew!

finished with finishing?

Hard to tell from the photos, but today's coat of varnish looks less shiny, which is good. They basically blend in now with the old floors.


But, Yury's tools are still here, so maybe we're getting another coat tomorrow? The saga continues.

not fair

My impulse purchase arrived this afternoon, and I'm trying desperately to ignore the biting pain. They're flats! They aren't supposed to hurt!

These might end up going back to Amazon. But look at those sassy asymmetrical bows! And that beautiful matte teal satin! My shoe closet was really looking forward to making your acquaintance.

shiny floors!

Yury is quite the perfectionist, but he finally finished staining today and also added the first coat of top coat. The flash on the first photo makes the floors look a bit orange, but the second photo is more accurate.


E3 has started building our cabinets and should be here to start work on Monday or Tuesday. We're making progress.

first coat - take 2

Apparently, Yuri and Boris didn't like the way the first coat looked, so they resanded the entire room and stained it again on Saturday. Guess that means coat #2 goes down tomorrow.

Appliances were delivered on Saturday, too.

first coat

First coat of stain went down yesterday, Yuri and Boris will be back for the second coat in 30 minutes.

Kitchen:

Dining/Living Room transition:

And they fixed the floor in the closets!

And everything is reeeaaaaaallllly dusty.

new floors, new dooors

The doorway between the living and dining rooms was expanded today, and new floors laid in the kitchen. First coat of stain goes down on Friday. And everything is dusty.

lucky friday the 13th

So, without a kitchen, eating out is the easiest option. I met Chachi after work on Friday (the 13th) and we had a bite to eat at Puerto Alegre in the Mission. As we finished, we decided to check what was playing at the Roxie theater around the corner. Just so happens that the premier of Throw Down Your Heart was about to begin, and the director would be answering questions after the film - nice!

We really enjoyed the film - who knew the banjo was so cool!? Then, not only the director, but Bela Fleck himself answered questions afterward, and then played for us as well - way cool. We couldn't have planned this any better. What a fun night.

gone baby gone

The kitchen was demolished on Friday. Guess there's no turning back now!

kitchen demo: T-1

The kitchen demo is scheduled for noon tomorrow. Here's one last look at the kitchen:

Stuff we won't be using for a few weeks is in the guest room:

Stuff we will be using is in the living room:

Our last home-cooked meal for a while:

presto change-o

Chachi wasn't crazy about the dresser I brought to the relationship, especially since there's no room for his clothes in it.


So now instead of this Ikea dresser:


We have these, from Ikea:



And now Chachi gets two drawers. He's a lucky man.

a different kind of remodeling

We interrupt this program with an important message.

Inspired by dramatic changes on the home front, Joni decides she needs some remodeling of her own.

From this unruly mop:

To this stylish 'do:

We now return to your regulary scheduled programming.

Joni's handsome problem solver

Oh hiiii. Chachi here. Sneaking on to Joni's blog to show you my latest project.

So lately she's been working really hard on giving the bathroom a makeover, so I wanted to help. I put this cabinet together (almost) all by myself.

One small problem, though. It blocks the sole electrical outlet in the bathroom.

That's going to be a big problem when Joni goes to do her hair. Not that she doesn't look fabulous the moment she gets up in the morning...

One trip to the hardware store and bingo. Problem solved!

And no one will ever know how the magic works.

simply better

The hallway has been slathered in Benjamin Moore Simply White (eggshell for the walls and semi-gloss for the doors and trim) and it looks so much better!


Why did we wait so long to do this??



Before:
After:







We're still working on the doors, aiming to finish them and rehang next weekend.

bye bye pink!

From this on inspection day:

To this when we started the bathroom makeover:

My fabulous slave labor:

Even primer looked better than those pink walls!

Here's where we stand today:

Remaining to-dos:

• Remove shower door, replace with shower curtain/rod
  
• Finish painting vanity door and reinstall
  
• Install towel bars
  
• Replace toilet seat (current one is dotted with floor stain)
  
• Re-do floors - stick-on vinyl tiles?

Oh, and we still have to put the door back on. Chachi sanded and painted it, and scrubbed all of the paint off the hinges. Thanks Chach!