Kitchen: Stage 1, Wall work #2

This week some more wall and electrical work. A small but not insignificant bit. Something required to do prior to installing a floor. The pocket door. A solution that is a bit better then the current door that happens to ALWAYS be open and blocking light. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I almost took it down, fed up with its uselessness and water damaged bottom, but thought better of it considering guests may want some privacy while using the loo.

I am aiming for a non-framed seamless opening to half-bath and the rising sun flowing thru ALL of the eastern exposed window. Painting the wall portion magnetic paint w/ chalkboard paint on top.  Yeah, I could have painted the brown frame window trim and door trim when I first bought the house, but I didn't want to exert effort over something that eventually will all come down. To note, this huge window needs replacing. The two small windows are swollen and do not shut. The first winter I was here, the kind insulation installer climbed up his ladder and pushed the window in for me. Of course I opened the window in the summer and now I cannot shut it from the inside.

My job: clearing and moving the wooden tall cabinet.
I had this made about 10 years ago by the Pine Man @ the Farmers Market. Actually, this one was already made, but later on he designed a changing table / storage piece for the nursery.  This piece has been used in many rooms, including my sons nursery, 9 years ago, the front hall in my other house and the current kitchen where plates and glasses and recipe books reside for the time being. (took before picture, mid-task)

Contractors job: taking down wall, rewiring and moving electrical outlets and installing pocket door.
Unfortunately he was sick this morning and couldn't come in. He sounded horrible. Luckily the 5" snow  fall yesterday will melt today / tomorrow and contractor will not be side tracked by plowing, his main winter job.

My job looks easy, doesn't it. But my dining room table is now trashed again with all the kitchen excess. I had just cleared it and wiped down the last spec of dust from lasts weeks stuff (spices, oils, cooking utensils), that I had moved to dining room so the cooking wall could get sanded and prepped.  Dining out this week. Hmmm, still sounds easy. (ha, ok, I'm trying to complain, but I got nothing ;) ... its almost beyond my capabilities)

 

I can't wait for a proper place for my recipe books and dishes.

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For a while I have been looking for a leather storage bench. I once saw one at Marshall's. It was beautiful, camel coloured leather. I didn't scoop it up. I wasn't aware that hot items go fast. Since then I have been returning to the store in hopes of finding another one. 6 months later, no such luck. I realized I already had a type of storage bench seat unit thing so I moved that upstairs to my bedroom and the idea of the leather tufted seat storage bench faded. AND thats when I saw a NEW cool bench this past weekend. I scooped it up, forgetting I had already come to terms using my other bench.

new, cool fake leather storage bench.

Lucy, peaking in for a "cheeeezzeee" op.

details. love.

This one hasn't left the kitchen, it may never. We love it here and its getting lots of use. I love the details; the leather straps for handles, the tufted seat, nail trimmed edges, the antiqued stained leatherette and the curvy legs. Apparently and sadly my cat loves it too and has already scratched a corner...argh. Not real leather, but still.

Lucy making a run for it.

If you can, peel your eyes away from the bench and imagine for a moment, look beyond the bench and past the wall and the soon to be pocket door and to the window. Now imagine that 78" wide window turned into a slim double exterior french door opening outwards to a small Parisian type balcony. Step outside with your garden scissors and trim the chives, pull a couple basil leaves off the plant and a few rosemary clippings. Glance around the backyard, a natural willow whip fence line, a few scattered trees, a lilac tree growing beside the arbor, a small gathering place and a stretch of greenery for football; an urban backyard that has the feel as spacious as country. And then turn around, step back into the kitchen and over to the prep station where you lay the fresh herbs on the cutting board....

Now, if I can only imagine what kind of floor I am walking across.

A time in my life

13  years ago and 4 months I lived in a redbrick converted housed on Gilmour Street, centretown, Ottawa, Ontario. The bachelor was on the third floor of a converted house. And it wasn't the only room up there (that is how small it was); mine facing the street and another facing the backyard. Three of us showed up to view the room (a few months prior) and we all wanted it.  The landlord deduced that I had called first and therefor it was mine.

Last night I was thinking of my first real (not student housing, not shared housing, not a bed in the furnace room ... my OWN place) apartment on Gilmour.  I was making 24,000, paying about 750 for this bachelor. I owned a bike, one student loan and no other debt. Occassionally I went to the movies. We shared pitchers beer after work on Fridays. And sometimes mid week. I was happy.

I loved my one room with three nooks, kitchen in the closet and the white bathroom bested by the natural light flooding in the fireescape window through the shower.  Each morning I would go down the two flights of stairs and decide whether I wanted to bike or walk. Biking consisted of going down to the basement and  hauling the bike up. The walk was about 35 minutes or more ... down the street, through a greenspace that took up one city block and had concrete chess boards and an early morning tai chi class. Through china town, over a bridge to Holland St and into the pleasant concrete and green glass office building. The bike ride was much faster. I equally did both, bike and walk.

I was proud of my work. At the busiest, I  managed 5 document conversion projects at the same time. I  worked with the programmers to code a program to convert the manuals (from legacy source to sgml). Write an instructional manual. Send project to production with instruction manual. And then quality check the returned work. Eventually I oversaw an assistant do this part.  Make sure each book or manual was converted to electronic format as required. Return work to  client.

Days were fulfilling and rewarding. Life at my digs was simple. Bed to sleep, table to eat. Clothes to wear.  Stereo and vinyl. And my beloved bike. My only transportation.  No car. No TV. No phone. Yep. I didn't even bother setting up a phone. I recall this now and tie it to the fact that I am one of few that do not own a cell now.

A friend was organizing a birthday party. A small group of people at a restaurant.  If I do the math I could figure out which birthday it was, maybe 32nd? My sister gave me a phone and a phone line gift card. I guess she wanted to be able to call me.

Shortly after that, I was offered a job south of the border. I apologized profusely to the very understanding landlord and moved into a hotel in my current town and set up a production facility down there. That happened mid October.

Just before the job offer, my only goal was to work another year in the industry and then look for a job in reforestation up north and find a cute home to live in. I imagined my time divided between trudging through forests,  an office and my small cute home with children.

I recall all of this last night as my sweet pea cuddled in my arm, falling a sleep and my son at a sleepover. I love my children. That is all I ever wanted. I imagined the three of us living in my bachelor and how we would be just as happy there.

Although I have always owned a camera, getting my first one when I was around 18 I do not recall taking pictures of my room on Gilmour Street. I would have to scan those in anyhow.  So instead of a photo of that place,  a couple recent photos of my little loved ones, cheesy grin Lucy and my camera shy boy.

 epilogue: Yes, I was 32 with my first salaried job and my first own apartment. I think I will try to write more about times in my life...

Bacteria bay

Besides spending too much company time designing my kitchen online. And then the required end of year tax filings for company, online.  I have been searching for best airline prices to Puerto Rico and Little girl dresses to wear in sunny, sandy, beach town. The little dresses are for LUCY, not me.  And Puerto Rico because I stumbled across $245.00 tickets and now I HAVE to go, but I had the wrong dates and am obsessively looking for something as close as possible to that price to justify going.  All this online researching and by late afternoon, I can barely see. My eyes are tired and strained and over worked, so I may as well post pictures of the pretty things I have found.


2x2 hex honed marble for kitchen floor. But I am not really going to tile the kitchen floor in this. (trying to convince myself not too) I JUST LOVE IT. And the tile sample arrived yesterday. I can just hold on to it and caress my thumb over the little hexes for the time being.

While debating Puerto Rico or not, my friend sent along an email with things to do in P.R. She has relatives there and has gone several times. I merely picked the place because of the hot airline deals; I didn't realize this interesting bacteria bay was there!

via pinterest

She also recommends hiking in the El Yunque National [rain] Forest. I love a rainforest.

via

And Playa Flamenco (you know, to frolic and twirl across the sand in cute new dresses)

Can it get any better? Check out little dresses for a beach vacation.

Cool stool

Look at this beautiful stool, perhaps for soon to be new kitchen counter. Leather tacked on to chestnut sycamore. LOVE. the colours, the texture. the design.

via Anthropologie

Little dresses

Little blue sweater dress

Little green celery dress:

Little spotted sparrow dress:

(Source: Kate Quinn Organics)

Kitchen mockup

THIS floorplan may just be my long term goal. It requires changing a 78 inch long window to exterior french doors. And building a tiny Parisian balcony for easy access to my herbs and garlic plants. A balcony has always been in the plans, but off of the dining room.

The current kitchen and WIP looks more like this ... I did leave in the balcony, cause its soo sweet. And the dimensions are completely wrong. There is not as much counter space as these pictures depict. And the pocket door - hopefully we install that the correct way, not backwards like the image. And the cabinets...well you get the picture. A very amateur mockup.

In the next few weeks we will be working on the pocket door to the little bathroom. I want this hidden door as the current one is always open, blocking the light from the window. And its ugly. And its water damaged. I almost took it down, but considered that guests may appreciate some privacy while using the loo.

We (as in my new super professional contractor) need to remove the outside of the wall, move light switch around the corner and then install pocket door. Doing this so we can move along to tiling the floor, stage 3. Speaking of tiles, any day now. Any day the samples will be on my stoop.

AND the cooking area. The wall is prepped and powered up. The other day I posted that the wall was completed. I was excited and little hasty. He came back two more times to skimcoat and sand. It looks much better.

I also met with a kitchen designer and although they were masters at using the design program, they really didn't have any other ideas for this awkward space. She was careful in making sure I had enough cupboards vs high cabinets vs pantry etc. But my biggest goal, maybe shortsighted, is new appliances, better lighting, flooring, countertop and then fill in between with cabinets. Meaning, I'm not too fussy about what goes in between. Something paintable, perhaps something non-commital. I will be checking out Ikea and if their cabinets are versatile and compatible with other appliances, I can grab the three pieces I need - two 15" cupboards and one oven cabinet and then well on my way.

After seeing the huge price for cabinets and the commitment to the kitchen being done all at once, I am convinced that my kitchen is more suited to the pieced together look as in my oodles of inspiration images. A big open prep table beside the fridge and a proper cabinet and counter around the oven and another one around the sink (as in the first 2 pictures).

I had a few more layouts but somehow the final images were corrupted. Maybe a sign.

Age

Longevity the new middle age?

When I was a kid I remember "middle age" well. We talked about it with my parents, They were middle aged. They joked about it, questioned it and my dad surely denied it. I don't recall my mom and middle age; something a woman has the option not to discuss. Sealed lips and that knowing look in her eye.   My  kids must be too young to know about this thing called middle age.  Maybe it is something they will learn in mid grade health class - for us (people my age) that didn't happen until highschool, but I am pretty sure health classes start earlier now. 


I am 45 and I don't feel middle aged at all.  I have a 9 year old and a 23mth old. But how long do I think I am going to live? I dunno.  When my first born was 3, I reassured him that I will live until 103. This satisfied him. He was reassured I wasn't going anywhere, for a long, long time. And if this is the case, I am far from middle age. Phew.

Or maybe he will understand it, retrospectively, after I bring home a yellow convertible car. I really need one of these. Pronto.

Blue wall

What ever happened to the blue wall I was painting?

Moving along swimmingly. Until...

A corner shelf. A conundrum.

The going-oh-so-well painting job has abruptly halted. Actually, it was not sooo abrupt. I knew I was going to take down the shelf. One can procrastinate for only so long.

I painted as much as I could. I got out my ancient power drill and managed to unscrew some nail-screws. A few at a time, before I had to recharge the battery. And then a few more.  I managed to get most of them out and loosen a few that would only turn around but NOT come out. And then, a few are stuck in there. I wasn't really sure I knew what I was going to do once I took it down. Sand the wall? Prep the wall? Wing it.

Now I am just waiting for the "winging it" to kick in. I hope my personally mixed, evening blue and chantilly lace paint doesn't dry out before I figure out plan b.

Kitchen: Stage 1, wall work #1

Electrical and wall prep in new "cook" station ... done.

this am

this pm

This required all of rearranging the stove and fridge ;) (easy). Rewiring the stove outlet to the new location (hired out). New grounded plugs on wall (3) (hired out).  Not as easy as it sounds. Gotta finnd the right contractor to work with you. We also discovered there is already a gas line in the basement, which goes directly under the new cook station area. Woot!  Up until today I had resigned myself to a smoothtop electric. Let's see where this new information leads me in the appliance selection.

That's a 24 inch stove, by the way. And a 60 inch wall. I'll be upsizing to 30" although I would be satisfied with 27" and more counter top/cabinets. 27" is rare. I found one cooktop by Fagor. Wouldn't mind the Fagor, but there were only three elements. Maybe I will have more options with a gas cooktop.

And the other angle... yeah, I need to do some more re-arranging; I did just walk in to the house to the new layout.  Tried out the old stove in the NEW location by making a grilled cheese and then over to the computer. ...  more then likely I will have all new appliances in less then a month so I can wait to shove that fridge into the corner.
 

In case the cheery ceramic spoon holder diverted your attention away from the dirty side of the stove ... #1 reason for cooktop stove, besides sleekness ... it prevents spillage from running down the sides that are typically hidden between a cabinet. Several people, as in the kitchen designer and the contractor, have asked me why I want the cooktop (as they cost much more then a range). And they both laugh at me when I explain that I am not the kind of person who will drag out the range to clean its sides.  Shrug. Hire a cleaning person or put that extra  money on the cook top. Problem solved.

Two kitchen ideas

Collecting samples, organizing my likes and likes and likes. Picking appliances. Meeting with kitchen designer with corrected measurements and honed ideas. Expecting contractor this week for electrical and wall prep. And a chest full of butterflies. Well, not quite the chest, thats too high, but stomach is too low. Butterflies in my diaphragm? A little too much excitement for me as I attempt to put this on "paper".  That is the step before making it real. Committed. Organizing all the likes and putting it together is tricky,exciting and a bit overwhelming but oh so close.

The main decisions are counter tops (black or white), and then cupboards (white by default) and floor. Had wanted black slate, but am unsure about the black white black look.

Idea 1
Black counter, white cupboards.
Black slate floor, dark gray grout - (red turkish carpet to warm things up) (approx. 160 square ft)

Not sure about the black white black combo, thinking of other floor options - right now my kitchen is down to the oak that had a layer of plywood and vinyl pasted to it. The oak was sanded but definitely damaged. Maybe I can just sand it more, stain it and and see if I like that. BUT there is an added section of the kitchen that is ply wood, and then the connected bathroom ... not sure how to work that in. I do like the look of this stained wood.

Cook area - Oven, single, True convection. Undecided between paying the extra for stainless steel or going with black. But I do like the square windows. Ordering the appliances after the meeting this friday, (encouraging myself to move along, bite the bullet...)

Frigidaire Gallery

Whirlpool

Smoothtop Cooktop - not going to switch to gas, as much as I love gas top cooking. Some other time. Doubt I will pay the extra 100 for a bit of stainless steel trim. And deciding on 5 rings versus 4. I do like the simmer option and the extra warming ring.

Frigidaire Gallery

Whirlpool Gold

White floating shelves around cook area. Perhaps a "chimney" vent.  Some kind of stainless steel backsplash behind cooktop.

Washing, cleaning area - White sink - a la homedepot - saw a pretty white sink, kind of farmhouse / apron , but more modern. I also like the stainless steel apron sink. Vintage dish rack above sink (etsy), Slim dishwasher (18"), track lighting,

Fridge and prep area - stainless steel (softens black white black look), microwave beside fridge, above counter. Prep counter and some floating shelves above

Pantry, storage - slim (14" depth), aligned with wall

Inspiration:

Source: sara-another100yearoldhousereno.blogspot.com via Sara on Pinterest

Source: themarionhousebook.com via Sara on Pinterest

but not sure about black white black, hmmmm

Source: georgicapond.blogspot.com via Sara on Pinterest

Idea 2
White cupboards, concrete looking whitish counters

Thinking about 2x2 hex hone marble ... perhaps too luxurious. But mostly I couldn't find any kitchen inspiration photos. Not one kitchen with hex marble floors, which makes me think its not the right kind of flooring for a kitchen... But look at this. Absolutely GORGEOUS. The floor of a restaurant. SO why not a kitchen.

Source: desiretoinspire.net via Sara on Pinterest

Cook area: Frigidaire Gallery cooktop and stove or Whirlpool, same as above

Washing, cleaning area - white sink - a la homedepot, vintage dish rack above sink, slim dishwasher (same as idea 1, guess that is settled). Possibly hang chandelier w/ recessed lighting

via Etsy

Fridge and prep area - stainless steel, micro above counter, beside fridge. shelving over fridge and micro, prep counter and floating shelves (same as idea 1; one small, minute issue, that huge window has to go  and become a door that would lead to mid air. would have to build a balcony. hmmm)

Maytag EcoConserve 17 cu ft.

Summit, 13 cubic feet

Samsung 17.8 cu ft

LG 20.7 cu ft.

Right now, I am leaning towards the Maytag EcoConserve. The Summit is out because I do not want a swinging freezer door. Other then that I think its sweet. The two french door possibilities are counter depth. If I put the fridge beside the window as currently planned, I don't need counter depth, I'll make the counter "fridge-depth" instead, for that extra counter space. I need to see these babies live.

Pantry, storage - some kind of vintage piece. (perhaps in teal :))

Inspiration:

Source: ruevintage74.com via Sara on Pinterest

Source: desiretoinspire.net via Sara on Pinterest