the finishing touches

we got our sliding glass door and windows installed yesterday. what a huge difference! but because i can't find my camera at the moment, this post is going to be about things on the internet. :)

the last few weeks have been a whirlwind of things to pick out. to be honest, sometimes i suffer from the problem of too many options. i second-guess myself and wonder if there is something out there i would like better. so ben has been reassuring me that we are making the right choices.

here's what we went with for cabinet hardware. the cup pulls are for the drawers. i like how they are kind of old-fashioned in style, but with an updated finish. they are sturdy, too! the knobs are super basic. nothing fancy.
ben likes the oil-rubbed bronze finish on knobs, but i like anything silvery. we compromised and decided to get oil-rubbed hardware for the front door. i feel like every decision we make reminds me of how different our tastes are. but he's been really easy to work with on this. it's been a blessing.

hmmm...what else. we picked out our kitchen sink last night! after i stalled for weeks and weeks, we finally just went and bought one at home depot. one thing ben and i could agree on was that we both love apron sinks, like this:

i was so excited that we agreed! however, the more we researched, we found out that they are kind of risky. first, they are super expensive. the one above is like $1,150. second, you have to have a special under-sink cabinet made, and your countertops are also designed around the sink shape. apparently, no two apron sinks are exactly the same, so it posed a problem if anything were to happen to the original. (i have been trying to think worst-case scenario for all these decisions: what happens if it breaks, etc.) so the apron sink was out.

i personally like the undermount sink, but ben vetoed those. so, we consulted consumer reports (which we have been using a lot lately, and i highly recommend!) and found that cast-iron, enamel sinks are highly rated. so that is what we got. they are a standard size, so easy to replace if need be. i wanted one big sink, but my mom and mom-in-law convinced me that i would want a sink with a divider. so when i saw this one at home depot with a low divider for soaking pans, i was sold.

it's simple. nothing special, but i think we'll be happy with it. at 10% off and $225, it was a good value.

finally, we picked out our paint for the kitchen. this is a really big deal. ben doesn't like the all-white kitchens that i do, so with white cabinets and white countertops already ordered, we needed something with a lot of contrast. i'm not gonna say what color it is until i post pictures, but it satisfies my need for something graphic and crisp, and hopefully ben's desire for something warm (not a sterile, modern kitchen).

i did get a sample of it last night and painted a few patches on the walls. i wanted to see what it looked like in natural light and at different times of the day. it looked a little light in the bucket, but when it dried, i was totally sold. ben is happy, too, so i'm happy.

so tonight, we prime the walls. then, this weekend, we paint!

weekend update

the lack of posts of late is not due to lack of work on the house. no, the lack of posts is due to lack of a computer. that's right - our fantastic mac crashed! but not to worry, all is well as a result of applecare.

here's what has happened in the last week or two:

*we finished drywalling the kitchen, mudroom, closet, and half bath

*we finished drywalling the living room

*we tore out the racetrack ceiling and drywalled that, too

*a contractor came to mud, tape, and spray the whole shebang

*ben mowed the lawn!

*we primed the ceiling in the kitchen, mudroom, closet, and half bath

*contractors came to patch in, sand, and refinish our hardwood floors

*we finalized our cabinet order, picked out the paint color (for the cabinets), and the knobs/pulls

*we narrowed down our appliance order

*we got a corian estimate

whew. it's been a lot. i think the floors might be my favorite part - they look absolutely amazing. i usually favor dark floors, but ours are light. there is actually no stain on them, i don't think...just a finish. whatever that means. but considering how beat up they were before, they look pretty darn good.

we are heading up to the cabin tonight, but we'll put in plenty of work on monday. here's to long weekends as a homeowner!

we have walls!

this past weekend was an eventful one. on saturday, we had a crew of guys come over to help us drywall. it was exciting - a very marked occasion of putting our kitchen back together again.

my mom and i did some surveying of the garden while the guys worked. we got lunch ready, and then i went to a wedding shower for kaylee while the menfolk slaved away. on saturday morning, the house looked like this:



we worked most of sunday afternoon, too, and at the end of the day, the kitchen looked like this:



the vision is coming together! really, i got so excited as the sheets of drywall went up. i spent most of sunday screwing in the drywall and i was starting to lose steam. but i got a second wind (after i went downstairs and ate a cookie) and we finished up a lot of the smaller pieces in the closet and bathroom.

we are hiring a taper - that is definitely not something i'd like to attempt. later this week, we'll be finalizing our cabinet order, as well as appliances. i have some paint colors picked out for the walls, as well as ideas for tile for the mudroom/closet/bathroom. we're on the brink of really starting to see the changes come quickly!

insulation=fish

hi! i know these posts are semi-boring. stick with us - we'll hopefully be getting to the fun stuff (cabinets, countertops, paint, etc.) soon! (like end of may or beginning of june?)

we came back from our trip out east to a strange smell. when we opened our front door, it smelled like fish (and feet, according to beth wilson, who recently visited).

but not to worry - it was just the spray urethane insulation. it looks like lumpy frosting, but it isn't soft. supposedly it is much better than fiberglass or other types of foam in keeping the house from leaking air. in minnesota, that translates to comfort in the cold winter and saved money. yippee!

here's a few shots of the kitchen. it is up for inspection tomorrow.