Problem solved!

Some of the readers of this blog have been to our home and have seen the small breakfast nook. It is a small area where the previous owners built out the kitchen. When I say it was a small area, I truly mean it is a small area. Prior to the remodeling projects, we had a 36 inch diamater bistro table and two chairs in this nook. However, the area was so small that the table was practically unusable. You could not sit at the table without hitting the wall. The space is too small to sit and eat a meal, but we thought that a small diameter "pub table" and a couple of stools might fit perfectly in the nook. Thus began our quest: to locate a 30 inch diameter table and a couple of stools.

I thought that this would be a simple task. How wrong I was. Last weekend Deirdre and I went to the following stores to look for such a table: Holland Bar Stool Company, Furniture Etc., Art Van, Bed Bath & Beyond, Meijers and Ethan Allen. We say lots and lots of tables, but all of them were at least 36 inches in diameter. After our unsuccessful search, I turned to the internet to locate a smaller table. I was able to find a tables, but each of them had cheap particle board tops and metal legs. I was ready to order one of those cheap tables, but I thought I would stop at one more place to see if it had what we were seeking. We went to a woodworking store (which happens to be located about 300 yards from one of the stores we visited the previous weekend!) called The Wood Source. The Wood Source sells unfinsihed furniture as well as anything and everything for somone who does woodworking. The place is amazing. Lots and lots unfinished furniture, wood stains, woodworking tools, books, and it also has a mill room. A mill room is a place where they can basically make darn near anything you want out of wood.

Deirdre and I located an beautiful unfinshed wood table, but its diameter was... you guessed it 36 inches. We were looking at this table when one of the workers came by and asked us if we needed help. Clearly we looked like we did and she was able to quickly tell us, "OK. You need this table to have a 30 inch diameter, not a 36 inch diamter. No problem. We can mill this table top down to that size. It might take us a week."

Needless to say, we were thrilled with this news. The table is made out of adler wood, which looks a lot like maple. We also selected a couple of stools which have a rectangular top. So in about a week, the table and stools will be ready for us to pick them up and then the fun for me will really begin. I will stain the table and chairs with the same stain I used on all the trim for the kitchen. Attached is a picture of an example of what we will soon have in our breakfast nook. Updates to follow as conditions warrant.

Dinner

Check it out here. It is going to be a great week!

The Kitchen is done!

I am happy to report that the kitchen is done. Jim finished putting grout on the backsplash, installed the cabinet hardware and nailed in a few remaining pieces of trim.










































Yeah, we know that the fridge looks like the Tot has been here, but in the course of the next day or two we will get ahead of all the smudges on the stainless appliances. Dee and I will now spend the next few days moving stuff back into the kitchen. We are trying to take a very Zen approach to the move of the plates and pots and utensils. We are going to have to let the chi move around a little as we slowly put things away. We have a brand new kitchen with a completely different fit, form and flow than our old kitchen. Life agrees with us.

Soggy Sunday

It has been raining here in the Motherland since Friday morning. The rain began quietly, a little after 8AM and has been falling, on and off, for two days. It has been a warm, fall rain. At this point of the year, you sort of expect it to be cooler. I was hoping to cut our grass this weekend, but it would appear the earliest I can cut anything will be on Monday.

Back to the rain. I enjoy days like this. I enjoy the sound of the rain hitting the roof and the windows. I also like the way that the rain seems to muffle all other sounds. Today is a day that Hemingway would have liked. On a day like today he might have written:

Why did the chicken cross the road?
To die. In the rain.

The Kitchen

The kitchen is not done, yet, but it is operational. On Friday, Roper Electric hooked up the dishwasher and the disposal. I cannot tell you how great it is to no longer have to do the dishes in a deep sink. Roper Electric still has to work a few finishing touches to some switches. Persnickity Jim still has to grout the backsplash, install the door hardware and a few pieces of trim. Jim hopes to be done on Monday. Later today, we will head out to pick up a few things for the kitchen. Our next assignment after Jim completes his work will be to move the plates, cups, pots & pans from their current locations to a new spot in the kitchen.



Again, the transformation of our old nasty kitchen to what is looks like today is nothing short of amazing.

Dan

It has been seven years since my friend and shipmate, Commander Dan Shanower, USN, was murdered at his desk at the Pentagon. The fight continues.

Requiscat in Pace

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/dfshanower.htm

Countertops

Today was a major moment in the remodeling of our kitchen. The quartz countertops were installed. The countertops are actually about 95% natural quartz, with the remaining 5 percent color flecks and a binding agent. The countertops were measured, molds made and then a quarts slurry was poured into the mold and allowed to harden. They are amazing.











Jim continued to work on trim and he started to tile the backsplash. The plumbers from Grandville Plumbing also installed the sink and hooked up supply and return lines to the dishwasher, as well as the disposal.

Jim has a few more days of tiling to do, along with some final trim work. On Monday, Roper Electric will return to finish their work on the puck lights, dishwasher and disposal. The transformation is almost complete!

GE Profile Appliances

Today was a big day in the remodeling of our kitchen. Jim installed three of the remaining four appliances. He took the appliances out of the boxes in the garage and he installed the fridge:









The range/stove:











And last but not least, the beverage fridge:








The pictures for not do justice to how the kitchen looks. Tomorrow, Jim will grout the tile in the Mud Room, then work on more of the finish trim. Each day we are more and more impressed with Jim's craftmanship and the quality of his work.

Home again

I drove to Grosse Pointe on Saturday to spend the day and night with my parents. The drive to GP was uneventful and the weather was simply great. I wanted to capture a few images of Lake St. Clair, so I drove to the Lakeshore Drive and took a few happy snaps. It was good to see Lake St. Clair again.

Simply amazing...

The photos speak for themselves. Each day we come home from work, the kitchen looks even more amazing than the day before.









That is Persnickty Jim in the image to the left installing the tile. On Friday, he will grout the tile. Today Jim put the trim around the breakfast nook. The pictures do not do the work he did justice.










Jim also installed the pocket door:












And Roper installed all of the lights in the ceiling and a few under-counter lights. Amazing.

Tile update

More tile was installed today. However, the tile supplier shorted us a couple boxes of tile. The extra coupel of boxes of tile will be delivered on Friday at noon. No worries, there is still plenty for Jim to do. Paul from Roper Electric will be back tomorrow for some more electrical work and Jim has lots of trim to install. I spent an hour or so in the garage buffing down all the wood trim with 000 grade steel wool to rub out all the "bumps" in the clearcoat. Look for photos showing the floor and Jim's progress in tomorrow's posting.

Tile and such

OK, we are now starting to see the kitchen really take shape. Jim started to put the tile down and he got a lot more done than he had expected to get done today. Apparently, the floor was a lot more level than he thought, so he was able to do a lot of "open field running" with the tile. He plans on finishing up the tile tomorrow.

Grout cannot be far behind!