Friday...1...2...3!

Today was a good day.  Got a major "to do" knocked off the list.

A visit to the US Consulate.

George applied to become American.  And Jake renewed his US passport.  All should be official in 2-3 weeks.  Yesssss.

It's not that getting there is hard.  It's all the hoops you jump to walk in the door.  The list of "not acceptable items" is longer than the airport (no remote car keys...whaaa?).  The number of doors buzzed by a guard to let you pass.  The strange feeling you've entered a time warp to 1970 when you've entered the inner sanctum. 

(this is where I would insert a picture, but -you guessed it- no cameras or mobile devices allowed)

As an American, I felt like a VIP.  As a Canadian, Steve probably felt like a terrorist.  In 1970.

But they were courteous, kind, apologetic for the wait and even cracked jokes with me that I married a Canadian.  Awww.  And the official guy who reviewed my forms was from...drumroll...GREEN BAY, WI.  He knew where New Berlin was and even went to Marquette. 

Icing on the American cake. 

As for the 1...2...3:

My Artist!

1) Jake drew this picture this morning - it's daddy throwing George in the air.  I was wildly impressed because he gave his dad lovely, thick hair.  Also because his people drawing skills are getting so much better.  Yes, people are still sticks, but they do more than just stand there without hands. 

Yum.

More!

2)  George likes BROCCOLI!!  This boy only likes to feed himself.  And his foods of choice are cheerios and cheese.  AKA: carbs and cholesterol.  I was over the moon that he couldn't scarf this stuff down fast enough.

We love pizza...almost as much as mom.

3)  Pizza Friday.  Daddy had to "work late," so we were on our own for dinner.  Can you see the joy in Henry's closed eyes? 

Around here, Friday is known as "treat day" since the daily request for treats got overwhelming.  Tonight, pizza was the treat and we all loved it. 

We live around the corner from a Tim Horton's, so can you guess what tomorrow is?

"Donut Saturday!"

(AKA: double-double saturday - picture me with closed-eyed joy)

Kitchen Progress. Done. For Now.

Mom left this morning.  Jake actually woke up at 6:00am to give her a kiss goodbye.  I was dead asleep... 

Although we didn't finish the kitchen entirely (I still have 6 doors in the basement waiting for the 2nd coat on front), we did hang all the doors on the right side. 

Hallelujah.

Here's where we started yesterday morning.

Above the stove

I was scared to death about hanging the upper doors.  Everything is off.  Every single door and opening is the opposite of square and level.  How the heck do we make it look somewhat normal???  Well, start with finding the center.

Center

I measured the width of the cabinet opening and taped where the center was.  That way, even if the doors are off, I could make the seam between them true. 

My mom and I hung them one at a time, lining the door up with the edge of the green tape.  We screwed in one screw at the top hinge (make gravity work for you) and double checked the hang before screwing in the bottom hinge.  Then the other door went on.  Same procedure. 

Wouldn't you know, it worked. So. Well.

Lookin Good

In fact, we were able to hang 7 doors before George got up from his nap.  Amazing.

Unfortunately (or fortunately), when I was painting the 2nd coat of grey on the right side of the upper skeleton, I got a splash of liquid on my face.  Yup, found a leak in the ceiling inside the cabinet.  Above that cabinet is our bathroom. 

The bulkhead that runs up the corner of the wall -and inside that right cabinet- houses a main drain.  It's the top corner of the bulkhead that is wet, ripped and bulging.  I'm not happy that I found it, but I'm happy that I found it now so we can address it. 

The door won't be hung on that cabinet until the plumber has come and gone.  I'm already worried he's going to wreck the new paint job.  Why throw a freshly painted door into the mix?

So...aside from the 6 doors still curing in the basement, the drawer handles that are "in the mail" and the leak in the upper cabinet, the kitchen work is...done.  For now. 

Here are some semi-reveal shots until it's complete (hopefully in the next 10 days).

Before: Yellow walls and Country Blue

Very Blue

Ready?

After

The view from my table

I'm really happy with it.  It was so much work and I am still so exhausted.  But every time I look at it, I get that warm fuzzy feeling.  Love.

My favorite part?  The fact that we were able to straighten out the bowed/warped doors as much as we did.  It's nothing short of a miracle.  I mean, look at the crazy spaces between those blue doors! 

I see plates

Not anymore

The color is beautiful and the knobs are sparkly. 

Can't wait to finish it off and share every inch of my "new" kitchen!


*Thank you to mom and to Steve for your manual labor and childcare.  Without you, we'd still be seeing a whole lotta blue.*

More Than Halfway

That's what I keep telling myself.  I'm more than halfway done.  Light at the end of the tunnel.

I'm so tired.

I'm so tired, I even promised Steve I wouldn't start another project for a long time...because this has been a big one. 

Did I really do that...!?

Here's where we are as of this morning.

Upper right skeleton done

Upper left skeleton done

Both upper skeletons are completely painted.  Two coats. 

They were harder than the doors - they have sides, bottom, corners, etc.  Which made them less automatic, but not as monotonous.  Don't know which I prefer.  Maybe when I catch up on my sleep, I'll be able to tell you with a clear head.

Back to the left side.  You noticed something in that second picture?

DOORS!

Yup, they're back on.  These puppies gave me a run for my money. 

I did the left pair first.  The right door of the left pair is totally off.  There isn't a square corner on it.  So before I hung them, I made a list of priorities in order of importance.

1)  make the seam between the doors true (it looked like an inverted triangle before)
2)  make the tops of the doors even with each other and parallel to the countertop
3)  cover the opening

Since the hinges were in a good spot before, I just used the same holes on the backs of the doors.  I filled the holes on the skeletons, so if I hit those original holes (I didn't hit all of them based on the priorities above - yes, they were THAT OFF before), they had some grab when the screws went in.

It all worked well until the right door of the right pair.  The lower screws didn't grab completely, so I had to use longer screws.  For some reason, the longer screws shifted the door to the left which made the doors touch.  AHHHH!  But, it wasn't something the electric sander couldn't handle.  After a pile of sawdust and some paint touch-ups, the doors swing freely.  Yesssssss.

Want to see that gorgeousness up close?

Looks square

Love the jewelry

The knobs look great.  $2.99 each at Home Depot.  I couldn't be happier with them.  They hide the fact that the hinges are a little off.  And that the outside edges of the doors don't line up with the edges of the skeleton...or each other. 

But funny enough, when you look at the doors, you don't see that.  Your eye sees a "T" - the top edge of the doors and the seam.  Straight and straight.  With beautiful circular knobs.

Which is nothing short of a freakin' miracle given how crazy these doors are.

I also ordered the handles for the drawers yesterday. 

Restoration Hardware's "Bistro" Pull

I only have 4 drawers...and on sale for $11.00 each...I couldn't resist.  They're gonna look great.

Ok, back to work.  It's mom's last day here.  I have to paint the 2nd coat on the right upper doors and (gulp) hang the 8 upper right doors today. 

Wish us luck!

Someone Is Six

That would be Jake.  Yesterday was his sixth birthday.

!!!

Big boy

Make a wish

Even Henry got into it.  This was the first birthday I can remember where he was happy for Jake instead of crying and screaming that he wanted a birthday today, too.  Phew.

Brothers

Hams

We had pizza for dinner and cake for dessert.  Upon opening his present - a remote controlled helicopter like the one his Bubba has (my dad) - he screamed, "this is the best birthday ever!" 

Love it.

Honestly, I think it was the huge bunch of balloons sent by his cousin Charlie (Uncle Joe & Auntie Peggy, too) that made it so fantastic.

Sweeeeeet!

Who wouldn't love that??

Kitchen Progress. On A Roll.

Or should that be "on vapors"? 

I am tired.  But I'm definitely on a roll.

The weekend was a flurry of activity.  Here's a big long recap:

Nice look

I sanded.  And sanded.  And sanded. 

At least the mild weather worked in my favor.  Those are gardening gloves to keep my hands covered and relatively warm while I worked outside.  The rest of the outfit is just high style.

I found another few objects to reinforce my need to do the heavy duty sanding.  

Now you see the blob

Now you don't

Eliminating those are worth all the effort.  It's so great to have a smooooooth surface.

Just before the Superbowl, I sanded my last cabinet door.  Boy, did that feel good.  While I love the outcome...I really don't need to sand anything else anytime soon.  Sanding fatigue has set in.

LAST DOOR

After the sanding outside, came more sanding inside.  No rest for the weary.

Getting the skeleton nice and smooth was key.  I enjoyed it less because the mess was crazy.  But it felt less strenuous because although it was all sanding block, I could move around and get at it from different angles.  Less monotonous than those doors....

Then came the clean up.  I had big help.

Can't live without him

And we ended up with this.

Are we done yet?

Look closer...

What's missing?

I decided to take the bad moulding off.  No, it wasn't part of the immediate kitchen "to do" list...but I was planning on replacing it this summer.  So instead of ripping it out later and damaging my paint job, I thought I would just remove it now and replace it when I can. 

So for now, it will remain unfinished at the top.  But at least it will make me get it done sooner rather than later. 


Then we primed.  Yes.  We. 

Thank you, mom.

Upper left side

Full view

Here's where we kinda did a step back and went...hey...what if....

White on top, grey on the bottom?  But, no.  Can't change midstream.  Gotta press on and keep with that grey inspiration.  Full steam ahead. 

But something to think about when -and if we ever really- gut the kitchen.

After these pics, mom primed the other upper skeleton and I put the second coat of grey on both lower skeletons.  Finally, a second and final coat on something.  That felt great.

This morning, I woke up to this:

World of doors

Back at the painting.  So here you can see the 4 groups of doors. 

1)  Leaning on the back wall - DONE!  Lowers under the sink side.  Soon to be hung.
2)  Middle four grey on the floor - second coat on today - curing and DONE!  Hung tomorrow.
3)  Front eight on the floor - first coat of color coming today. 
4)  Back six on the floor - first coat of primer coming today. 

As hard as we've been working, those last six doors won't be ready to hang before mom leaves.  But that's ok.  Either I'll recruit Steve or wait 2 weeks when my mom comes back for Jake & George's birthday party to finish them up.  She and I are a good team.

So those doors that are done...wanna see them now?

I think I can

I think I can

I did it!!!

Oh my god.  It's perfect.  Just perfect.  I'm so freakin excited. 

The grey you see here isn't the same as what's in my kitchen.  It's a deep, rich, dark grey.  And it's gorgeous.  I have to keep taking pictures in different light and will post when I get it right.

Here's more.

They fit!

Yes, I know, they should fit.  I just screwed them right back into the same holes.  But it was dicey.

And yes, there's a drawer front missing.  He was the one who was having so much trouble, being in two pieces.  Well, here he is. 

Feeling better

He's finally in one piece and right now is drying after a coat of primer.  With any luck he'll be on before mom goes home on Thursday morning. 

Back to the hanging.

These doors were hard

Hallelujah

My first pair of doors.  YIKES was it hard.  We propped them up on magazines.  Then mom held them tight to the skeleton.  I marked where the screw should go and then held my breath and drilled. 

Amazingly enough, even with the crazy bowed wood and not-really-square doors, the seam down the middle is bang on.  No more wonky gap.  I'm over the moon.

Here's the end pair.

Looking good, too

I need to finesse my technique.  But the magazines, the pressing and the holding my breath worked again.  I can't believe it.  They look terrific.

So here's where my kitchen stands.  Right.  Now.

Come in!  But look only below eye level.

I'm really happy with how it's turning out.  Seeing this section come together is giving me more energy to move on. 

And move on I must...there's a world of doors in my basement...

TGIF

My legs are wobbly. 
My knees are weak. 
My back aches. 
And I have paint in my hair. 

I love it.

Today was full of work.  More sanding, priming and painting.  But I just put the paintbrush down for the last time today.  Mom's kicking me out for a date night.

Anyhow, here's a run down of today (for you, dad):

My new frenemy

Sanding:  I'm on better terms with the electric sander.  We've got a rhythm.  This guy not so much.  But he's a necessary evil to get in the grooves on the edges of the doors.  Curse you sanding block!

Priming:  I did more priming on the skeleton of both left and right cabinets.  Ok, it was mom again.  I can't stop her.  But the day flew by and I forgot to take pictures... 

Instead, let's see color. 

Ta Da!

I know.  I'm freaking out, too.  The grey on the bottom LOOKS A LOT LIKE THE BLUE ON TOP.  Nooooo!

Hmmmm.....????!!!!

I'm telling myself I'm not even halfway done.  It's only one coat.  The doors aren't on.  The blue on the inside of the cabinets are skewing the view.  Anything to keep me from thinking this is all for nothing. 

The only spot where the blue is completely gone is the column of drawers. 

Grey, right?

Still hard to see.  Get closer. 

Yup. Grey.

The color in this picture is the closest to real life that I can capture.  So, yes.  I'd say it's grey.  Just don't put it next to the country blue...

We also got to the left cabinet today.

Primed and painted

Far side

Paint is still wet in this shot.  I'm not just saying that to myself.  It's true.  Really!  It's grey!!!

So here's the kitchen now.

Hi Jake - WET PAINT!!!

Those boxes again

And here's a shot of the basement.  Fully loaded.

The door floor

First coat of primer on the uppers above the sink.  First coat of color on the lowers below the wine.  Second coat of color on the lowers below the sink.

Not bad.

Today mom and I were talking.  She said the cabinets weren't so bad in the first place.  I think she was inhaling too many primer fumes.  But that made me want to try to capture the knots in the plywood before and after. 

Before

After

They're so hard to see in pictures.  But the little you can see here, I think they look so much better.  They'll never totally disappear, but I can hide them until we demo the kitchen!!!!

Ok...off to shower, get dressed and head out to La Societe with my favorite man. 
Yesssssss.